It’s not every day you get to work on a book as big important as Borderlands while still being a student. I am in the third year of my writing degree and working on Borderlands: Riding the Slipstream has been an eye-opening experience. With over 40 contributors who are all very well-known children’s authors and a whole stack of stories, I had my work cut out for me.
What I didn’t expect was to be completely blown away by the diversity the book offered. From talking dogs, unicorn farms, swoony love spells, spine-tingling horror and even poetry, this anthology has everything. I shouldn’t admit it, but I think I spent more time reading for fun than I did working!
This was my first time working on an anthology, which meant I had to be prepared to continuously adjust to a new author’s voice and style. While some of the stories in Borderlands only span a few thousand words, the complexity of each story never lacked. In Dianne Wolfer’s ‘Shifting Edges’, a young Japanese girl leaves her home and faces her fears in a foreign country, while Shaun Tan’s ‘The Bird King’ explores a creation myth as old as time. The shifting genres and tones only allowed me to develop my skill set as a copy editor, and I found myself working in certain genres that I had never before such as Sci-Fi.
The ‘short story’ form is one that I believe gets overshadowed by novels. And yet there is so much joy to be found in them. As a child, I often read so ferociously it seemed as if my mother could never buy me enough books. Furthermore, my taste was constantly evolving, and I was at an age where escapism was at the forefront of my desire to read. An anthology of this size and variety only encourages this sort of childish exploration, where magic and reality meet in a union of wonder. Through each story, I learned something not only as a proof reader and copy-editor, but as a writer, and while the anthology is intended for young readers, one can’t presume they are completely naive. I believe this is a fundamental element to any good children’s book; an appreciation for the reader and a nod to their interests.
Most importantly, Borderlands allowed me to be part of a lengthy process that took time and commitment. With 560 pages, Borderlands is a hefty book that required multiple rereads and correspondence with a never-ending list of authors. This only highlighted the amount of effort that goes into publishing a book of this quality, and made the end result all the more worth it.
The cherry on top? My name in the special thanks at the beginning of the book. I think any student would find that absolutely incredible after months of work (although is it still considered work when you actually enjoy the job?).
Borderlands: Riding the Slipstream is out now and waiting to be read!
Available at all good bookshops or via the publisher’s website: https://fordstreetpublishing.com/book/borderlands-riding-the-slipstream/ RRP $29.95
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