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Guglielmo Marconi is popularly known as “the inventor of radio,” a mischaracterization that critics and supporters of his many rivals are quick to seize upon. Marconi was actually the first person to use radio waves to communicate. His first patent was for “Improvements in Transmitting Electrical Impulses and Signals and in Apparatus Therefor,” and he considered what he was doing to be a form of wireless telegraphy.

The post 15 surprising facts about Guglielmo Marconi, the man behind radio communication appeared first on OUPblog.

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क्लिक कीजिए और सुनिए दो मिनट और 11 सैकिंड की ऑडियो   बीमार का हाल अच्छा है उनके देखे से जो आ जाती है उनके आने से जो आ जाती है चेहरे पर रौनक वो समझते हैं कि बीमार का हाल अच्छा है. अगर आप भी किसी बीमार से मिलने जा रहे हैं तो इसे जरुर सुनिए कुछ देर […]

The post बीमार का हाल अच्छा है appeared first on Monica Gupta.

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सुनिए ऑडियो 1मिनट और 42 सैंक़िंंड की. मुझे पता है कि आप बहुत व्यस्त हैं और सांस तक लेने की फुर्सत भी नही है इसलिए मैं नही कह रही कि आप पढिए  पर आप सुन तो सकते ही हैं…  ऑडियो  पर क्लिक करके अपने काम भी करते रहिए और सुनते भी रहिए… व्यंग्य- सकारात्मक सोच […]

The post व्यंग्य- सकारात्मक सोच और नेता – ऑडियो appeared first on Monica Gupta.

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Today I met up with the winner of last year's Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration, William Grill, to talk about this year's Greenaway shortlist. We were hosted by Resonance FM 104.4 radio, with Down the Rabbit Hole presenters author Katherine Woodfine and agent Louise Lamont. (Oh, and Will's 13-year-old dog, Barney.) Across the desk here are Louise and Will in the station's Borough High Street studio.



And you can listen to the half-hour radio show here!



Here are the books we were discussing:



That was fun, thanks, everyone!

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The entire episode (above) is amazing. Here is my segment:

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Because I enjoy eating and living indoors, I have a day job.

I’m in the marketing and communications departments of a regional health system. Part of my job involves media relations. Most weeks, that means interacting with reporters from local television, radio and print media. Recently, we had calls from reporters Cosmo and the Huffington Post, but that was a weird week!

What does all this have to do with you, my little parfait? Well, because I arrange interviews, I also help to prepare the interviewees, many of whom are new to the experience and naturally nervous. Since there may be interviews in your future, I thought why not share these tips with you?

TV interview

• Practice with a friend. Video your interview. Look for what you’re doing
  

  Doodle by Vicky Lorencen

  well and do more of that!

• Look at the interviewer, not the camera.
• Bring a copy of your book with you. Don’t assume the interviewer will have one.
• Don’t wear checks or stripes.
• See tips for radio interviews.

Radio interview

• Smile as you speak.
• Be sure you know how long the interview will be, so you can pace yourself.
• Ask if you can send questions ahead of time. The interviewer may really appreciate it, and you’ll know what to anticipate and how to prepare.
• If you can’t send questions ahead, it’s absolutely okay to ask the interviewer the direction of the interview (is it more about your book, about you, about your writing journey, about advice, about your favorite panini–you just never know).
• Prepare yourself a cheat sheet with answers to anticipated questions, but DO NOT write out every word. Make it more a “grocery list” of prompts. If you create a word for word script, you’ll be too tempted to just read it and you’ll come off sounding stiff even when we all know you are super cool.
• Have a cup of water handy. (A bottle takes too much time to open.)
• Thank the interviewer.

Phone interview

• Use a landline, if available, so you don’t have to worry about your call being dropped mid conversation.
• Try to be relaxed and conversational. Listeners will respond to your personality, not your perfect diction.
• See tips for a radio interview.

For any type of interview

It’s easy to get flustered. Make yourself a cheat sheet with basic information so if your mind goes blank, all you have to do is read–

• The title(s) of your book(s)
• Web site name and address
• How readers can can contact you
• Where your books are available
• Details about the event or signing you’re promoting (date, time, place, etc.)

And finally . . . 

It’s not uncommon for an interviewer to wrap up an interview with a question like, “Is there anything else you’d like to say?”

Think about using this as an opportunity to promote someone else’s book. David Sedaris does this every time he goes on tour for his own newest book. Isn’t that a beautiful, generous gesture? It’s a delightful chance to pay it forward for an author or illustrator who has been especially supportive of you.

Now, if you have an agent, publicist or your publisher’s marketing team advising you, please listen to them and learn. Use my suggestions when/if they seem useful to you. Most of all, no matter how an interview turns out, remember you, my little blueberry scone, are still one of the coolest, most talented people on ten toes.

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

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I was interviewed yesterday for Monocle Radio.
We talked about what makes a good children's book, and I read a bit from HOW TO FIND GOLD, my new picture book...

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 As I may have already mentioned, I've been cleaning up my house recently. It fell into disrepair due to neglect (by me) and now I'm giving it some much needed attention. I've put a deadline on getting it done too; August. I have decided to do an Open House then, to show off all my hard work - decorating and drawing - and you're all invited. I need to, not only paint the whole place, but, get my work together to frame and hang. I came across this radio drawing whilst sorting through stuff. I made it, about six years ago, whilst in Italy. It was on that trip that I met lapin for the first time too. I also drew his hat. But that hangs in his home.
 Anyway, I decided I'd like this drawing to be at my Open House exhibition, so last night I played around with it a little. I upcycled this old radio, if you like. There were practical reasons for doing it; the brown pens I used back then (my beloved Pilot G-tec) are just not light fast, and so, as I wanted this radio hanging on my wall, in August, it too needed a little attention. I went over it all in brown light fast fine liners and added a little colour pencil. An improvement on the original? I don't know. That's all subjective.
Now, I haven't got time for all this. I've got walls to paint. AUGUST?! The whole house by August

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March is looking to be a great fun Month with lots of Theater all over the country, appearances in Amherst, MA and, for the first time, New Zealand! But first a quick look at last month: RECAP! What a fun month February was; starting out with a surprise call from the Geisel Committee informing me that Elephant & Piggie's WAITING IS NOT EASY! had garnered a Geisel Honor!  This was a

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APPEARANCES/EVENTS! Lots to do this month.  Hope you can make it to one of these events in Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Amherst. Thursday, Feb. 5, Pasadena, CA 11 am- READING & SIGNING AT VROMAN'S BOOKSTORE   695 E. Colorado Blvd Pasadena, CA 91101 I'll spend the morning reading, answering questions, & signing books in my only LA area appearance for a while.  If you're in the area,

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HAPPY NEW YEAR! Thanks for making 2014 such a great year at Knuffle Manor.  2015 promises to have lots of exciting events, theater performances, books, and more.  Here's a taste of what's scheduled this year as of now. Productions of ELEPHANT & PIGGIE'S WE ARE IN A PLAY! in Nashville, TN; Syracuse, NY; Orlando, FL; and Washington, DC plus a production of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical

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Well known is music’s power to stir emotions; less well known is that the stirring of specific emotions can result from the use of very simple yet still characteristic music. Consider the music that accompanies this sweet, sorrowful conclusion of pop culture’s latest cinematic saga.

When the on-set footage begins, so does some soft music that is rather uncomplicated because, in part, it simply alternates between two chords which last about four seconds each. These two chords are shown on the keyboard below. In classical as well as pop music, these two chords typically do not alternate with one another like this. Although the music for this featurette eventually makes room for other chords, the musical message of the more distinctive opening has clearly been sent, and it apparently worked on this blogger, who admits to shedding a few tears and recommends the viewer have a tissue nearby.

This simple progression has been used to accompany loss-induced sadness in numerous mainstream (mostly Hollywood) cinematic scenes for nearly 30 years. This association is not simply confined to movies, yet inhabits a larger media universe. For example, while the pop song “Comeback Story” by Kings of Leon, which opens this movie’s trailer, helps to convey the genre of the advertised product, the same two-chord progression—let’s call it the “loss gesture”—highlights the establishing narrative: a patriarchal death has brought a mourning family together (for comedic and sentimental results).

Loss gestures can play upon one’s heartstrings less discriminately; they can elicit both tears of joy as well as tears of sadness. Climaxes in Dreamer and Invincible, both underdog-comes-from-behind movies, are punctuated with loss gestures. As demonstrated at 2:06 in the following video, someone employed by the Republican Party appears to be keenly aware of this simple progression’s powerful capacity for moving a viewer (and potential voter).

Within the universe of contemporary media, the loss gesture has been used in radio as well. The interlude music that plays before or after a story on National Public Radio often has some relation to the content of the story. A week after the Sandy Hook school shootings, NPR aired a story by Kirk Siegler entitled “Newtown Copes With Grief, Searches For Answers.” Immediately after the story’s poignant but hopeful ending, the opening of Dustin O’Halloran’s “Opus 14” faded in, musically encapsulating the emotions of the moment.

How the loss gesture works its magic on listeners is a Gordian knot. However, it is undeniable that producers from several different corners of the media world know that the loss gesture works.

The post Scoring loss across the multimedia universe appeared first on OUPblog.

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November is going to be a busy month, with a new book plus appearances in Amherst, MA, Northampton, MA, & Brooklyn, NY. So let's get to it. NEW BOOK! November 4th, 2014 will see the release of Elephant and Piggie's newest adventure, WAITING IS NOT EASY!   Gerald is careful. Piggie is not.Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can.Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have

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UPCOMING! November 4th, 2014 will see the release of Elephant and Piggie's newest adventure, WAITING IS NOT EASY! It sure isn't.  So.... APPEARANCES! Because waiting really, really is not easy, I'll be giving a sneak peek reading and signing of the new Elephant and Piggie adventure 2 days early! DON'T WAIT! Come on by: Sunday, November 2nd at the ERIC CARLE MUSEUM OF PICTURE

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COMIX! One of the real fun things about my last year in Paris was being able to share sketches, gags, and photos from the trip on uclick as a comic strip called PARIS DOODLES. In fact, it was so fun, I've decided to keep sharing drawings and ideas on uclick with a new strip called FROM THE MO WILLEMS SKETCHBOOK.   I'll be sharing drawings from my sketchbook, dining room dinner doodles,

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The Kim Pagano Show Radio Interview

What a great pleasure it was to be on The Kim Pagano Show where I was interviewed about my book, Samuel T. Moore of Corte Magore.  If you are interested in hearing the interview, scroll down to the PM Show and listen to the whole show, or if you are pressed for time, move up to the 36 minute mark where my interview begins.  Thanks Kim! It was fun being on again!

Tonia Allen Gould

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Go figure. Here I was under the impression that the BBC International Playwriting Competition was on hold or cancelled altogether. Much to my surprise, read on Facebook to stand by since they are about to announce the details of this year's competition.

While this is great news and under the assumption that the competition was cancelled, I've been re-thinking entering "Old Soldiers" as my entry.

"After all that waiting - you're going to abandon us?" Joe would probably ask. The issue is whether or not 'soldiers would be radio-friendly due to the necessity of sound effects.

A while back, I wrote a short play entitled, "The Lemon" focusing on the trials and tribulatiion of a female owning and trying to unload her car, which as the title infers, is a "lemon." A comedy, it's a fun story line and the characters would lend themselves to radio. At present it would run about 20-30 minutes but it wouldn't be difficult to add to the story.

This week I'm going to re-examine The Lemon with a critical eye to see if and how the story can be expanded. Meanwhile, I'm waiting for the announcement of the new deadline. Progress reports to come.

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Turns out that GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE DINOSAURS has been awarded the Sid Fleischman Award for Humor by SCBWI! What a great thing for there to even be an award for humor and what a greater thing that it be named after humorist Sid Fleischman and what an even greater thing that, somehow, Goldilocks managed to be recognized. Some past winners have been pal's books, all have been funny,

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I'm back from a great trip, digging out (literally & email-i-ally) from the avalance of stuff that I need to attend to. So, quickly: Thanks to everyone who came out to MoMA, SCBWI, The Grove in LA, & Sketchfest in SF.  Every appearance was great fun and very different, Here's an image of the DON'T LET THE COMEDIANS DO STORYTIME! class picture.  As you can see Patton was upset he didn't get to

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I'm off for a quick visit to NYC, LA, & SF. I hope you'll drop by one of the events if you're in the neighborhood!  And don't forget to Tune into West Coast Live on Saturday Feb. 9th (or come by the show in San Francisco and see it live).  I'll be talking about the comedy show and mo'. Pal, Dave Barry will also be doing his thing.  It should be fun. (Note the San Francisco Sketchfest show,

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Thanks, Resonance FM and its Panel Borders host Alex Fitch for featuring a panel of us talking about our fabulous collaborative 252-page comic book, NELSON, published by Blank Slate Books.



If you missed hearing it on the radio last night, never fear! You can listen to the podcast here. I think my favourite bit is around the 30-minute mark, when one of our co-editors, Rob Davis, is talking about what he did when he had disagreements with the other editor, Woodrow Phoenix. "It's like a marriage, isn't it..."



You can follow Alex on Twitter at @panelborders.

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A few months ago - seems like longer - I vowed to finish my "Old Soldiers" play, with the intention of entering it (again) in the BBC International Radio Playwriting Competition. The play, based on a short story written a while back, has a magical effect on my psyche and although procrastination has set in, the "gang" is there, calling me.

"So when are you finally going to give us some type of resolution?" one of the characters asks me regularly, just before falling asleep at night."We've been in limbo for years now."

Don't I know it!

The dilemma is deciding upon a plethora of endings and possibilities, and which one would be best suitable for dramatic impact. The characters themselves are well defined and no tinkering is necessary in this area. Then there is the issue of writing for radio.

Radio requires sound effects to propel the story along and although my dialogue is strong (IMHO), not sure whether there is sufficient sound or action. When writing the dialogue, I hear the characters speak and envision their movements but the challenge is how to translate this into audible action.

In any case and for no other reason than to force myself to make a decision, I've decided to choose the ending, good or bad. Since the next deadline would be next April (2013), there is time to work out the details.

The angst of indecision!

Will provide regular updates as to my progress. Where have you read that before?

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Well, this is certainly one of the most British things I’ve ever heard. Please whistle the theme tune to The Archers while you read this article.

Yesterday Neil Gaiman announced on his blog that BBC Radio 4 have gathered a stunning collection of actors to record a radio adaptation of his story Neverwhere, which was first seen on television in the 1990s. Co-written by Lenny Henry, the story was sort-of simultaneously adapted into a novel by Gaiman, which was subsequently rewritten and adapted into radio plays and, well, all sorts of stuff happened with it, really.

This adaptation for radio, however, has managed to gather an incredible line-up of actors – several of whom sent this message across to Gaiman, which he shared earlier:

Which sight excites you most? Manly David Harewood? Game of Throne’s Natalie Dormer? James McAvoy? Giles from Buffy? Benedict Crumpetpatch? Hold on tight, because this photo only skims the surface of an utterly incredible cast.

Also appearing will be Andrew Sachs, Sophie Okonedo, Christopher Lee, Don Gilet, Johnny Vegas, Bernard Cribbins, Lucy Cohu and Romola Garai. And that’s still not all! Gaiman also teases that there will be a few other secret cameos and appearances tucked in amongst everything else. Zoinks.

Scheduled for release as a 6-episode series in 2013, Neverwhere will be produced by Dirk Maggs. Okay, you can stop whistling now.

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I recently joined a group of "celebrity" judges (including pals & neighbors Tony DiTerlizzi and Jarret Kroscoczka) to look at a slew of awesome stories written by kids from across the country for PBS KIDS. It was fun to read what kids come up with, although pretty tough to choose (which is the point and drawback of 'judging'). PBS KIDS has announced the national winners.  You can see the

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Maybe you heard it on your drive to work as I sat down with Morning Edition's Renee Montange to talk about my work.  If not, you can hear it (& read the article) here. Another bit of our conversation ran yesterday at the tail of a piece about what makes a picture book a picture book with Martin Salisbury. You can hear that here. It's great to chat with the folks at NPR.  There is time to

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