I woke up this morning to find an anonymous donor bid £251 for a signed first edition of my book ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’. The money raised goes directly to BBC Children in Need, where it is carefully monitored.
Books listed in the category Auto Biography/Biography
Nearly eight hundred amazing books had been donated to the Children in Read charity auction organised by Paddy Heron, which raised a staggering total of £24,888.
Online bidding began about seven weeks ago and was advertised by the authors themselves on social media.
Rare copies of my first edition paperback of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’ are often priced highly on Amazon so, when the bidding went above £75, I promised to include a signed first edition hardback of my memoir ‘Funnily Enough’, which includes a brief section on appearing in the film.
‘Funnily Enough’ an illustrated diary by Sophie Neville
When the bidding went above £101, I promised to add my third illustrated memoir about Swallows and Amazons style adventures in Africa, written in letter form.
‘Ride the Wings of Morning’ by Sophie Neville
However, £251 is so very generous that I am off to my archive store to see if I can find a hand-painted map to include in the package.
Map showing the film locations around Windermere
I drew three different maps showing our film locations in the Lake District and reproduced them in different colour-ways, using one on the cover of my original ebook entitled ‘The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons (1974)’, which is still available on Kindle and any of the ebook outlets.
Everyone needs at least one pair of socks for Christmas. I have had the greatest fun designing a whole range, including a few pairs of socks featuring ‘Swallows and Amazons maps here.
The selection of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ themed socks are printed with hand-painted maps of locations from my book, which you can see here
These high-quality goods are manufactured by Red Bubble in Australia who offer excellent service. Please click on the image you like to be taken to the sales portal.
Being custom-made they cost from £12.89 a pair but please use my discount code: CYBER5
I am honoured to have become a patron of COVID Reflections, a charitable project inviting writers and artists to contribute to an anthology celebrating the positive aspects of the pandemic. The hope is to make a difference by raising money for worthy causes affected by Lockdown and giving a voice to those that are heard the least.
COVID Reflections was founded by Ash Subramanian, a consultant breast surgeon from Sussex, who has gathered an impressive team of volunteers and trustees, profiled here.
Ash Subramanian on the South Bank
Their aim is to publish a coffee table book and multi-media ebook that can be sold to raise funds for charities that have taken a hammering in the last year. You are invited to submit a poem, diary entry or piece of prose.
Think of sending in 200 words on what Lockdown meant for you. I wrote:
There were no tests available when I contracted COVID-19 early March 2020. I stayed at home, puzzled about being unable to smell. Although the virus wiped days from my life, Lockdown proved a golden time. My step-son brought his tiny twin boys to live with us for nine months. The two-year-olds thrived while we dug up the lawn to plant vegetables, enjoying the birdsong and wonderful weather. I let my hair grow, turned the spare bedroom into an office and devoted my daily exercise to collecting litter – which became horrendous – and coastal plastic – which diminished slightly. I donated clothes to women in need, was interviewed on Zoom and enjoyed church on WhatsApp. We raised funds for those seriously hit by the pandemic and prayed for friends admitted to hospital. Released from the tyranny of my usual diary, I learnt how to say ‘rainbow’ in Portuguese, regained my sense of smell and wrote a novel. We spent Christmas alone and had no holidays, but for me, the ‘Time of Corona’ felt like a year off, enabling me to remain at home with my family, where I was needed and needed to be.
PPE I collected from the coast
You could submit a painting, drawing, photograph or audiovisual contribution be it music or film. Here is Piers Harrison-Reid with his brilliant poetry. He works as a nurse in A&E at Norwich Hospital and has been supporting COVID Reflections by appearing in virtual concerts.
The aims of COVID Reflection’s projects are :
• To give those effected by this pandemic a lasting voice and platform to express themselves.
• To bring communities together, encourage collaborations and to spread positivity.
• To raise significant charitable funds to support organisations on a national and local level .
Dr Kate Grant’s painting or Jenny Liston, Nurse Practitioner, making a car-side consultation in a pop up tent, Suffolk
I sent in a shot of a home-schooling project that took on a life of its own.
Carrots from our Lockdown garden
The project has the blessing of the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and will have a Foreword by Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter. They are collaborating with The Sussex Constabulary, The Sussex Ambulance & Fire service, a growing representative of MPs, every major religious group, The Royal Society and The Royal College of Surgeons.
National Covid Memorial Wall in London – photo by Roff Smith
Anything submitted will be published either in a printed book or in electronic format.
You can find submission details on COVID Reflection’s website here
‘Hope’ by Kieran Gandhe aged 12, taken at the beginning of the pandemic
COVID Reflections hopes to make a real difference by raising money for worthy causes and providing support to individuals and businesses who have been adversely affected by the pandemic. They will do this by making grants to local, small national and large national charities, to enable them to help those who need it the most, allowing them to continue to do the amazing work that we know is being carried out every day. We hope that, together, we are able to make a difference. If you would like to be involved, please email C19voices@gmail.com or visit their website www.CovidReflections.org
The year 2020 began for me in Portugal. I was recovering from a broken arm and disappointed to have to cancel my annual charity ride through southern Africa. However, a lovely girl flew over from the Waterberg in South Africa to work for me and we had fun designing gifts, using the illustrations from ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’.
Mugs printed with maps used to illustrate Sophie Neville’s books
When news of the Coronavirus broke out, we launched an appeal to help families in rural South Africa, which proved a huge success.
Carefully monitored by a qualified nursing sister, and with the help of volunteers from St John’s Church, food packages are still being distributed to needy families, feeding about 150 people a month. Read the latest news here.
Nursing Sister Grace Ismail reporting back from rural South Africa
Tests were unavailable in March, but I might have had a light version of Covid-19 whist we were working on this fund-raising campaign. I certainly lost my sense of smell and developed a weird blister/rash on one hand and foot after spending ten days in bed with fatigue.
Sophie Neville reading Lockdown Tales while self-isolating in the garden
My talks, planned for the summer, were cancelled but I read a story for Lockdown Tales, produced by Wildbeast for BBC Radio Suffolk and made available on BBC Sounds. I took part in an online reading of ‘The Picts and the Martyrs’ by Arthur Ransome, recording a chapter at home.
As literary conferences went online, I led a workshop on photographing books for instagram, when we were joined by the award-winning author Claire Wade.
While devising exotic recipes for my next book, I began baking cakes successfully, for the first time in my life, adding cardamon and cloves.
We rolled up a circle in the lawn to make a Lockdown vegetable garden so the children could see how different plants developed. Our dancing carrots became a hit on Instagram.
I photographed one of my husband’s artichokes, winning the Create! competition, organised by the literacy charity SchoolReaders and judged anonymously by Harry Cory Wright.
The prize-winning photograph of an artichoke
I was Highly Commended for a collage made out of sea plastic I’d collected when beach cleaning, which was awarded by Emma Bridgewater. The winning entries were exhibited at the Wilson Stephens and Jones Gallery in Notting Hill. I also won a prize for taking part in a socially distanced archery match, but otherwise had a year off on the sports front.
SchoolReaders invited me to become an author supporter of their work instilling a love for books in the next generation, along with other authors including Joanna Trollop and Sophie Kinsella. We are encouraging people to make a gift in their will.
I began loading illustrations and some of my sketches onto instagram. Do follow this here.
Hailed as ‘the feel-good film of lockdown’,’Swallows and Amazons'(1974) was broadcast on BBC 2 in both April and August. It was screened in Australia in January 2021. The Radio Times used this shot of me rowing Swallow with Sten Grendon who played the Boy Roger.
Radio Times ‘Film of the Day’ billing for ‘Swallows & Amazons’
I was invited to talk about the movie memorabilia in a socially isolated edition of BBC Antiques Roadshow at Windermere Jetty, which hopefully will be broadcast in March 2021.
Writer Marc Allum with Sophie Neville at Windermere Jetty in Cumbria
It was wonderful to be able to spend a few days in the Lake District, where Arthur Ransome’s first draft of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ is on display.
Sophie Neville with Arthur Ransome’s first draft of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ at Windermere Jetty
In the autumn, a signed First Edition hardback copy of ‘The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons (1974)’ was auctioned online, raising an astonishing £201 for BBC Children in Need, exceeding bids for signed copies of books by bestselling authors such as Bernard Cornwall, Jeffery Archer and Adam Kay.
Lakeland Arts organised an online event to celebrate the 90th Anniversary of the publication of ‘Swallows and Amazons’, selling tickets for an evening ‘In Conversation with Sophie Neville, which you can listen to here.
Kett’s Books invited me to speak on Zoom for their ‘Books at Lunchtime’
The greatest days of this unusual year were spent on the Solent, litter picking with my extended family, who came to live with us through lockdown. Although some dreams were grounded, we had time to go for long walks and were able to explore the South Coast where we live.
Reviews and photos from readers are always appreciated, especially on Goodreads and Amazon.
After Christmas, I heard that a historical novel I am currently working on was awarded a prize in the Association of Christian Writers’ novel competition and was shortlisted for the Eyeland’s Book Awards, who have offered me a writer’s residency in Crete.
As we entered Tier 3, I was recognised as ‘Beach Picker of the Year’ by Litter Pickers of the New Forest, a high accolade that marked the end of a quiet but busy year.
‘Beach Picker of the Year’ – Sophie Neville and her dog Flint on the Solent.
I’ve gained 3 pounds and haven’t been to the hairdressers for eighteen months, but we kept safe in our little bubble and are looking forward to a better future when there is no need to wear face-masks. You can find my post on finding elderly litter here
You may have already seen this set of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ mugs printed with hand-painted maps of locations featured in my book on ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974)’. Redbubble, the manufacturers often have discount coupons, which you should be able to find here.
Mugs printed with maps used to illustrate Sophie’s books
The three different designs are now available in a ‘classic’ or ‘tall’ style, as a travel mug or a water bottle. The full collection is available here.
You can see these designs on women’s clothing and men’s clothing with other useful items that make good presents or stocking fillers such as coasters:
The cover image of ‘The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons’ is now available on a mug and on other products.
These high-quality goods are manufactured in Australia by RedBubble who take care of customs charges. If you are asked to pay customs, send them a picture of proof of payment of customs charges and they’ll sort it out.
Since the hand-painted maps I drew to illustrate ‘Swallows and Amazons’ locations have been so popular on mugs and t-shirts, I decided to release a collection of women’s clothing. They are not cheap but the quality is good and you should be able to find discount codes for Redbubble, the manufacturer here.
To view the collection, which is perfect for birthday gifts, please click here.
These high-quality goods are manufactured in Australia by RedBubble who take care of all Customs charges. If you are asked to pay customs duty, send them a picture of proof of payment of customs charges and they’ll sort it out.
These high-quality goods are manufactured in Australia by RedBubble who take care of customs charges. If you are asked to pay customs, send them a picture of proof of payment of customs charges and they’ll sort it out.
Sophie Neville 