1. I came across a wonderful interview in the New York Times Sunday Book Review entitled 
    Orhan Pamuk: By the Book. The author of  Istanbul, The Innocence of Objectsand “Silent House” apparently was trained as a painter.  He caught my attention by suggesting that the reigning US President should read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsigwhich I thought a wonderful idea, but when he states that painter Pamuk has taught writer Pamuk a number of important lessons I was all ears. 

    1) 
Don’t start to write before you have a strong sense of the whole composition, unless you are writing a lyrical text or a poem. 
    2) 
Don’t search for perfection and symmetry — it will kill the life in the work. 
    3) 
Obey the rules of point of view and perspective and see the world through your characters’ eyes — but it is permissible to break this rule with inventiveness. 
    4) 
Like van Gogh or the neo-Expressionist painters, show your brushstrokes! The reader will enjoy observing the making of the novel if it is made a minor part of the story. 
    5) 
Try to identify the accidental beauty where neither the mind conceived of nor the hand intended any. The writer in me and the painter in me are getting to be friendlier every day. That’s why I am now planning novels with pictures and picture books with texts and stories.

    Keep tuned-in to this blog for a conversation between the resident painter and the resident writer and watch out for my new website which is in the process of being redesigned.
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About Me
About Me
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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
I am a Canadian author/illustrator of fiction and non-fiction for both trade and educational publishers in Canada, the US, and abroad. I have written 4 trade books for Orca books, illustrated and written over 2 dozen picture books and am coauthor/illustrator of an environmental middle-grade fiction series for Harper Collins Children's Books in India. Email: steve@stephenaitken.com
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PUBLISHED BOOKS
PUBLISHED BOOKS
PUBLISHED BOOKS
Sonu & the Metal Elephant
What a Tree Has Seen
What a Tree Has Seen
What a Tree Has Seen
Santillana USA
The Ice Berries
The Ice Berries
The Ice Berries
Puffin Book of Bedtime Stories
The Mountain that Loved a Bird (Chinese Edition)
The Mountain that Loved a Bird (Chinese Edition)
The Mountain that Loved a Bird (Chinese Edition)
Hunan Juvenile and Children's Publishers
Rat Race
Rat Race
Rat Race
Zaner Bloser
The Pond
The Pond
The Pond
SRA McGraw Hill
Let's Learn Hindi
Let's Learn Hindi
Let's Learn Hindi
Sterling Publishers
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