Questions for Book Clubs ~

Tonight the Quay Book Club will be discussing 'Ride the Wings of Morning'.

Here are a few questions from the author:

1. 'Ride the Wings of Morning' has been put together from letters sent between Sophie, who was travelling in Southern Africa, and her family back in Europe. Do you think this works as a format?

2. This is a true story. How much does that matter?  How would you feel if you were told it was a novel?

3. Being real life there are hundreds of characters. Who was your favorite? Which relationships interested you most?

4. If it was a novel the narrative would probably be stronger, there would be a plot and probably more romance. Real life panned out in a different way. Did you still find it a satisfying read?

5. There are about 240 illustrations in the paperback - more in the Kindle version where many are in colour. Do you like the idea of illustrated books for adults?

6. What age groups do you think would most enjoy the book?

7. Would you recommend this book as holiday reading or a for someone ill in bed?

8. Do you think this book would make a good gift?

9. Did you prefer it to the prequel, 'Funnily Enough'?

If you have any questions you can add to the list please use the Comments box below.

  

A New Review ~

Chris Warne's review of 'Ride the Wings of Morning' by Sophie Neville for the Stroud News and Journal ~ 19th Septemebr 2012

Riding with rhinos ~

Of all the amazing things it is possible to do on this planet, riding with rhino has to be one of the most exciting. Marnie Steffny has just written with news of the recent sightings that Sarah-Jane has been having in Namibia.

“We couldn’t believe our luck.  Out on the rocky plains of Damaraland stood the most endangered of Africa’s Big Five, ears flicking and head raised in typical short-sighted stance.  SJ’s daughter, Zoe, 11, was the first to spot it.  At a safe distance, we sat quietly on our horses, ready to gallop away in an instant.  SJ speaks softly about why this is such an incredible sight.  “Each time we do this ride we find their tracks.  To see a black rhino anywhere is a huge achievement, but to do so on horseback is something that few will ever experience.”  As the sheer enormity of our good fortune sinks in, we’re rather glad that our horses are literally taking things in their stride.

"We gave him a wide berth, as black rhinos are unpredictable and very curious, with notoriously bad eyesight.  If we’d needed to gallop out of danger over such rocky ground, the horses would’ve had difficulty – fortunately we had enough distance between us, and both horses and rhino stood their ground.  Then he caught our scent and crashed towards us like an army tank, covering about forty metres in a matter of seconds before calling off the charge.  This individual is usually relaxed in the presence of game viewing vehicles, but a combination of horses and humans would have been new to him."

"Another highlight of our ride was an encounter with a herd of elephants as they crossed the plains ahead of us, returning from water to browse.  Young bulls, protective cows, and tiny calves in procession had the tips of our horses’ ears almost touching, and when an elephant spun face-on with a volley of head-shaking, the wind changed direction and carried the scent of the herd towards us.  This proved too much for one mount, who sped off in the opposite direction.  At times like this, it’s absolutely clear why these rides are only suitable for very experienced riders!

"Namibia’s Damaraland region is a unique ecosystem, and supports a staggering variety of desert-adapted creatures, both large and small.  We were fortunate to get to the heart of the action on horseback - and delighted that photographer Torleif Svensson was with us to capture these remarkable images.

I rode across the Namib Desert some time ago, drawing up this map of the 400 kilometer ride as well as the Damaraland Trail that goes through black rhino country further north. It was here that I once went tracking with Save the Rhino Trust (see previous posting).  

Reit Safaris simply means Riding Safaris in German. Sarah-Jane Gullick, who I first worked for as a guide in South Africa twenty years ago, now runs the Namibia Horse Safari Company, leading the most exilerating rides across the vast wilderness areas of south-west Africa. Some rate her rides as the toughest and most challenging in the world. As she says,  'there’s little to beat the freedom and thrill of covering distances at a good gallop.'  

To read Marnie's full story please click here



Sophie Neville riding with the calmer white rhino in S.Africa

Drawing Rhinos ~

She was called Tracy. Tracy the white rhino. She was wearing an earring when I first met her, quietly grazing on lucerne in a boma constructed of gum poles. I whipped out a pencil and paper and started to draw her. I was working as a safari guide and took any chance I could to take visitors back to see her, encouraging them to draw too. There was a population of fifteen white rhino already in the game reserve where I lived. In the reserve across the river they had black rhino who thrived in the dense bushvelt. I visited them too, sketching away from the back of an open Toyota Landcruiser. The warden's wife adopted and brought-up an abandoned baby black rhino she called Bwana who we fed with milk from a huge Cola Cola bottle. His saliva made out finger-nails become coarse and ridged.

In the mid 1990s I set up a wildlife serial called 'Dawn to Dusk' for the BBC Natural History Unit. I decided that it would be good to dedicate one episode to the work of Save the Rhino Trust in Namibia.

These are my sketches of some of the 2,500 ancient rock engravings made by Stone-age hunter-gatheres in the Kunene Region of Namibia about 6,000 years ago.

I had time to quickly draw copies of these remarkable bushmen engravings at Twyfelfontein when I was on the BBC recce but didn't manage to do more than take photographs when I was tracking with the game scouts. At one point we were charged by a cow - a rhino cow - called Rita. It was all I could do to hang onto my nerves whilst scrabbling up a tree.

Blythe Loutit, the Director of Save the Rhino Trust kindly invited me back a year later to take part in a rhino census. It was then that I was able to sketch the rare black rhino of Damaraland as well as the elephant roaming the desert. I was also able to use the unique wealth of ID photographs that the scouts had collected and filed.

Some of the rhinos had developed the most amazing shaped horns.

I translated my smaller ink drawings into silhouettes that the Rhino Trust could use for graphics.

This ink and watercolour sketch was drawn from one of Blythe Loutit's photographs. I executed a similar one in a grey platee which was auctioned at Phillips of Bond Street to raise funds for the charity Rhino Rescue.  It isn't brilliant but they entitled it 'Rhino's Bottoms and it brought a bit of laughter to the auction room.

This ink drawing of a white rhino was part of a set made into grettings cards sold in aid of The Born Free Foundation. As you can see they have a confirmation not unlike that of a horse ~ quite different from elephant who have four knees. They operate their pig-like ears independently, as shown here, rotating them like RADAR receivers, listening out for poachers.

If you need graphics of rhinos for any reason - let me know. I have a huge amount of drawings that have never been used.

Here is a shot of me riding past three white rhino who used to graze outside our house ~

All sketches on the blog are featured in 'Ride the Wings of Morning' and are (c) Sophie Neville. Please contact me if you need to use them on sophie@sophieneville.co.uk

Geese I have drawn ~

I have always loved sketching geese. I drew these when I was exhibiting at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge. I was there talking on otter conservation. With out two otters. I am sure you can understand that not that much was achieved in the way of painting and can only imagine what happened when one of the otters escaped.

My South African friend Rupert Baber - who appears in Ride the Wings of Morning - bought five geese as a security measure. They wandered around the garden honking at strangers. I thought they were lovely. The only problem was that they had to be shut up on the tennis court at night so that they were secure themselves. It actually made them easier to paint.

An acrylic on canvas.

Back in England I drew a goose standing on the ice, executed by using a glass tube ~ thick black ink on smooth cartridge paper.

I made prints and experimented with different backgrounds. Many of the resultant geese were auctioned to raise money for charity.

The end result was an award-winning painting. We used the image for invitations and charity Christmas cards. I framed and exhibited black and white prints in a number of galleries, including the shop at Slimbridge. It proved the goose that laid the golden egg - or golden prints anyway.

All sketches on the blog are featured in 'Ride the Wings of Morning' and are (c) Sophie Neville. Please contact me if you need to use them on sophie@sophieneville.co.uk

Pages from a wildlife sketchbook

Watching badgers one evening in the Cotswold hills

while sheep graze

and geese rise from the water meadows in the valley below.

All sketches on the blog are featured in 'Ride the Wings of Morning' and are (c) Sophie Neville. Please contact me if you need to use them on sophie@sophieneville.co.uk

Otters and more otters ~

One of the most notable things about our otters is that their sense of touch is of primary importance. It may be that they are adapted to feeling whilst looking around for signs of danger but I am always struck by the fact that they will feel without looking. On the whole primates, including human beings, look at what they are touching. But otters are otters and have a different way of life. This is a line drawing I executed of our Asian short-clawed otter Bee.  I knew her for over twelve years. She was a beautiful creature who brought joy to many.

This line drawing of Jims, Bee's companion, was drawn from a photograph taken whilst he was swimming under water, his back legs tucked underneath him. I'm not too keen on drawing from photographs but needs must. He was very much a boy with an ever inquisitive personality and in this instance was in his element.

The BBC Natural History Unit made a wonderful drama documentary with our otters, entitled 'The Day in the Life of the Otter' which was repeated many times.  Hannah Gordon starred in the feature taking Bee's voice, Denis Lawson played Jims. The aim of the piece was to try and express animals' motivation and thought patterns without becoming anthropomorphic. However when Spike Milligan arrived to play the voice of our dog Jake these good intentions dissolved and laughter took over. My mother was given the small part of a furious hen, one of our ex-battery hens, who in the drama had her eggs stolen by the two otters. They were rather fond of cracking open and eating any eggs they could find. In real life this involved raiding our kitchen. They were cautious and a bit frightened of the hens, natural behaviour which is quite funny to watch with or without Spike Milligan. I have written about this and other stories in Funnily Enough.

The highlight of the film is a sequence in which the male and female otters meet in the water. This was beautifully shot, in slow motion. I could only draw their companionship, capturing the fact they even when together they hunt for food by touch whilst keeping an eye out for danger of any kind. One would not imagine that they have many preditors in Britian. It was only when I was keeping an eye on a pair of very young otters that we were hand-rearing that I realised they really were cautious about birds - not hens but birds of prey. No doubt eagles and owls, buzzards and kites will be a threat to young otters. This must be why they look up whilst turning stones under water.

Our otters are rather frightened of deep water - where in the wild preditors do lurk. European otters will not swim under a road bridge. They like to get out and walk along the bank. If they can't do this they will cross the road, which has lead to numerous casualties, usually young male otters looking for new territory. We have been supporting projects to build ledges under road bridges for otters to use, so that needless fatalities can be avoided.

All sketches on the blog are featured in 'Ride the Wings of Morning' and are (c) Sophie Neville. Please contact me if you need to use them on sophie@sophieneville.co.uk