YA AUTHOR

Just a quickie to let you know that I have a new website and won’t be updating this anymore. 

Instead I’ll be blogging on the new site and all new info will be over there too. 

I’m absolutely thrilled to be the first stop on the MG blog tour for the UKYACX this and AND to have the wonderfully talented illustrator James de la Rue. 

I love this ghost ship!

James de la Rue has illustrated dozens of books for readers 7-12 years old since 2008. These include the Spy Dog books for Penguin, which have recently ended, as well as series including: Darkmouth (HarperCollins); Myth Raiders (Little, Brown); Archie Greene for Faber; Gladiator Boy (Hodder); Rascal (Egmont); also plenty of Terry Deary titles for Bloomsbury such as World War Tales, covers of Puffin Classics, plus more for Barrington Stoke, Walker Books, Orchard and others.

What beautiful colours! 

He works from his ‘posh shed’ in the garden, which also goes by the name of ‘Armasheddon’ and ‘Daddy’s Special Drawing Room’ (well, he heard that once at least). His intention is to join the ranks of book authors, despite accounts of the mental torture that will likely ensue, to develop and illustrate his own book at some point this side of the grave. The sooner the better.

Grim Ghost He lives in Nottinghamshire, where the sun shines (at the time of writing).

Justice

What an incredible skill and talent. I’m in awe of illustrators who can capture such emotion and atmosphere in a drawing. Wow. 

Do follow the rest of the blog tour. Info is here - 

I’m absolutely thrilled to have YA author Caighlan Smith over on the blog today. 

Caighlan’s new book CHILDREN OF ICARUS is out now from Curious Fox, but I was lucky enough to be given a proof copy. 

CHILDREN ON ICARUS Is set in a post-apocalyptic city where the ancient legend of Icarus is worshipped, and each year children are chosen to enter a maze, told that the few who manage to complete the labyrinth will become angels.      

And it has the most spectacular cover - 

It’s edge-of-your-seat exciting, with some fabulous monsters, and some great characters. It’ll appeal to fans of THE MAZE RUNNER or THE HUNGER GAMES. 

Summary -  Clara, bright strong and fearless enough to take on any challenge, is desperate to enter the labyrinth. It is no surprise when she is chosen. But so is the girl who has always lived in her shadow. Together they enter but within minutes, they are torn apart forever. Now the girl who has never left the city walls must fight to survive in a living nightmare, where one false turn with who to trust means a certain dead end.

Here’s a little more from Caighlan - 

“I went for a walk with my mom the other day, and on our way through the park we passed a little league baseball game. Just as we went by this kid caught the ball in the outfield, and his parents went wild. Clapping and shouting—as much noise as you’d expect from a crowd of thousands. But the kid didn’t go crazy until he and the rest of his team were leaving the field. Then it was like it hit him: he’d actually just done that, he’d caught the ball. He screamed “WOO!” and started partying on the spot. That’s kind of how I feel about Children of Icarus coming out. My reaction was super delayed. While my family and friends were pumped for me, the idea of the book actually being a real, physical entity with a (pretty) cover was way too abstract. But then it got a cover, and a publication date, and the editing was done and people started reading it and now anyone can read it, if they want, and that’s made it all incredibly real and ignited the “WOO!” factor in my asthmatic author chest.”

Caighlan Smith

“I’ve been really lucky with Children of Icarus. I had the original idea for it back in junior high, and it very easily could have turned into one of my many throw-away ideas from that time. Instead, I resurrected it the summer before last and have adored every moment with it since. From the writing of the first draft through the editing of all that followed, to everything else involved with the book, I’ve had a blast—of course, it helps to have an awesome publisher and an amazing editor! I’m now genuinely pumped to release this story and these characters, which have grown so precious to me, into the world. I hope you enjoy this little taster!”

So, yes, to echo Caighlan, I do hope you all enjoy this taster. I loved the book and would highly recommend. 

file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/Children%20of%20Icarus%20extract.pdf

Next up on the blog tour is Bibliomaniac - details below. 

Well, that’s it then, 12 miles in 24 hours, done. And I think, thanks to lots of cake, I’m recovered! If you’d still like to sponsor me, which would be ace, the link is still here. Huge thanks to all those who’ve already sponsored me - Book Aid International is a fantastic cause.

The challenge was to complete one mile, every hour, starting on the hour, from 7pm Tuesday 21st June to 7pm Wednesday 22nd June. Some people did it solo, some in pairs, others in teams of four. I did it in a pair with my friend from Louth Tri Club, Tracey Wilkinson. 

Myself and Tracey

There were nineteen people entering the water every hour, but with some completing the mile in around 22 minutes (wow!) but others closer to 50, we all soon spread out. Although this challenge wasn’t about speed, for those doing it solo, more time swimming meant less recovering.

All the finishers

Thankfully the weather was good most of the time. During the night, when the air temperature was cooler, the water felt gloriously warm, yet as the daytime air temperatures reached 21, the water felt cooler when entering, even though it stayed around 19. 

Lake as night fell

Swimming in the dark was a great experience. For safety, each swimmer towed a lit-up float and had a kayaker on the water with them during the hours of darkness; me and Tracey were watched over by club mate Martin (Working Class Triathlete). As you can see from the photo, the buoys were illuminated, but when they’re about 400m away from you, they’re not that easy to spot.

This dark

Easier, was to use the streetlights as a guide. It was beautifully quiet and the water was calm and still. 

Early morning

It was a tough challenge. My arms were heavy, my shoulders hurt; I wondered at one point, how many strokes I’d actually done. I did manage to nap here and there. 

Bloomin’ sneaky photographers!

Friends were great - turning up to say hello, ‘keep going’ and ‘well done’. Others arriving in the early hours with McDonalds (apparently too early for their breakfast menu - we ended up with chicken burgers!), some with cake, brownies - it was wonderful to see them. 

Martin - Working Class Triathlete, kayaker, swimmer, supporter, chicken legend eater.

With club mate, Jackie who was doing it solo! 

I made friends with other swimmers too. People you found yourself swimming next to you, but not able to speak to; it was still nice to have their company. 

Swam half a mile with this lady - never found out her name though

About half way round my 9th mile, there was pain in my left arm, and I struggled to lift it and pull through the water. I hobbled on, wanting to get to the end of that mile and get it sorted, but I was worried the final two would be too painful to front crawl and had images in my head of struggling around one-armed! Thankfully, the physio there got me sorted and I managed to carry on, and really, with only 2 miles left for us, there was NO WAY I was going to give up.

Every swimmer towed a float for safety

More friends started turning up towards the end, and for the last two miles, member of the public were allowed to swim too. A few swam with Tracey on her last mile.

The end of Tracey’s final mile!

At the beginning of my last mile I glanced left and recongised a swimmer from the tri club. He pulled in front of me and let me draft him. Then as I came to the last 400m, our kayaker and supporter, Martin joined me with his daughter - one on the left of me, one on the right, and they escorted me in! 

My last mile (c/o Roger Taylor Photography)

Although I did feel a little like an old warship being brought in for scrap by much younger, fitter, faster tugs, it was wonderful, and, being that tired, quite emotional - I managed to hold back the tears.

Done

It was a fantastic event. Huge thanks to Paul Fowler of 100% Swimming for organising, to Activities Away for hosting, to the wonderful volunteers and supporters and massive thanks to my team mate, Tracey, who was fantastic. Congrats to everyone who took part, especially my buddy Jackie Hall who swam 24 miles in 24 hours, what an achievement!

Total respect (c/o Roger Taylor Photography)

Is that it then? Or what’s next? 

Dory has the answer - 

Hello all! I’m very proud to be part of the Tommy V Cancer blog tour today.

Tommy Donbavand is the author of the Scream Street series as well as Zombie!, Fangs, Uniform and loads more, and has also written the How To Books - Quick Fixes For Kids’ Parties, and Making A Drama Out Of A Crisis (Network Continuum). 

He’s also written a shed load of plays that have been performed to thousands of children in places such as Nottingham Playhouse and The Hackney Empire. And he’s an actor. And he writes for The Beano. And he plays blues harmonica. And he can make a balloon poodle.

 I’m a little (well, more than a little) in awe. (Although I can make a balloon poodle!)

Here’s how (NB NOT ME!!)

In March this year Tommy was diagnosed with inoperable throat cancer; he set up a blog to raise awareness and for people to follow his journey. It’s an inspirational read - well worth popping over - and I wish Tommy and his family all the very best.

Following on from this, Viv Dacosta of Serendipity Reviews and Faye Rogers set up this blog tour - again to help raise awareness, and also to help raise funds. It is so heart-warming to see the blogging and author community come together to help and support someone at their time of need.

It’s sometimes forgotten that even when someone is ill, bills still need paying, and other expenses (such as petrol to hospital appointments) leap up from nowhere. As Tommy says in his blog, much of an author’s income is made from school visits and workshop, but if you’re too ill to do those, then that income disappears.

If you’d like to help, have a look here for different things you could do.

So for the blog, I had a look through Tommy’s book history, but deciding what to read was so hard because there are so many and they all look fantastic. 

Finally though, I settled on this one –

The first of the Scream Street series, it starts at a ripping pace (quite literally for one character!), introducing schoolboy Luke Watson, G.H.O.U.L., Resus Negative, Eefa the witch and the concept of Scream Street. And what a fantastic concept it is – a street where vampires, werewolves, witches and all manner of others are sent – but what a scary place that would be to find yourself if, like Luke’s parents, you were normal.

The story is fast-paced, full of action, adventure and a touch of gentle black humour and very entertaining even for someone like me who’s well over the intended readership age.

I love the cleaning spiders, the black hairspray one vampire has, the ‘Bill and Ted’-esque zombie...so much! As Darren Shan’s quote on the front says - ‘I wish I’d been able to visit Scream Street as a kid!’

This has since been made into a children’s TV series on CBBC and I can see why. This is funny stuff, perfect for kids to have a good laugh after a long day at school.

You can watch an episode here –

I LOVE the take on the Mission: Impossible!

With only sixteen days left until the 24 hour sponsored swim, yesterday morning I drove down to Activities Away in Lincoln for some training.

You can sponsor me on my Just Giving page here. 

You’d think (hope) that with it being June, the temperatures would be a bit higher, the sun would be out, and the water would be warmer. But no, it’s still only a fraction above 15 degrees.

NB - there are no palm trees really, and there was no sunshine.

Getting changed the question ‘is it a two hat day?’ shouldn’t still be relevant, but  doesn’t even need to be asked. Yes, it’s still a two hat day.

There’s little sympathy for plunging myself into the lake without the warmth of the sunshine. Declaring ‘it’s a bit nippy’, just had people reminding me of the cold water training through winter, so I thought I’d share with you what an experience that was.

A few of the members of the triathlon club were training for Phish (a cold water event in London), at a local pond, and somehow (along with some other swimmer friends), I ended up joining them.

The Pond.

I’m still not too sure how this came about, and why I thought it’d be a good idea - driving to the middle of Lincolnshire in winter to swim in a pond without a wetsuit on? 

To experience something new? To push myself? Because it was mostly men and I wanted to prove women could do it too? 

Probably all of the above. 

Getting ready. Yes, it was raining too. 

Going back a couple of years, in A Dream of Lights, I wrote about a character crossing a near-freezing river. At the time I thought I’d described it well, but having done this now, I know I could’ve written it with far more realism. 

Cold water swimming is the strangest experience both physically and psychologically. Forcing yourself into the water when it’s only 5 degrees you can’t listen to the part of your head telling you to get out, put some clothes back on and have some coffee and cake. 

Realising it made very little difference if we wore swimming costumes or bikinis, we decided to go for it and embrace the bikinis!

Somehow you ignore that voice and push on, making yourself get changed and get in the water. The first breath is pushed out of you in some kind of guttural, involuntary, yell, and your body wants to keep gulping and gulping at the air but you force yourself to concentrate on breathing in, breathing out, and to relax. 

And so, now past the first buoy (see pic), it’s concentrating on each stroke until you reach the end, and turning around again, all the time being aware of your body and how it’s responding, the numbness growing in your arms and legs, the heaviness, and how far you, personally, can push it without endangering yourself. 

As you do - in a lake, in the cold, in winter.

The endangering yourself thing is an important one though, and not something to be taken lightly. We had shore support, and experienced cold water swimmers with us, including the Working Class Triathlete. DON’T GO DOING THIS ALONE OR WITHOUT ADVICE. (See Outdoor Swimming Society.)

Oh, what fun we had.

Getting out again the challenge is to get dry before the shakes begin. Lots of layers, head coverings, scarves, thick socks, and then trying to drink hot coffee from a flask while your hands shake uncontrollably. 

We had no changing rooms, no electricity and no shelter; ladies were at one car, men at the other. There was something about the simplistic element of it that really appealed to me.

But why put yourself through that? I hear you say.

Well, apart from the reasons above, it’s the experience, the thrill, the sense of accomplishment, the camaraderie of looking after each other. And I suppose they’re also some of the reasons for volunteering for this 24 hour swim.

And because I want to see if I can do it. 

And in doing so, I’m also supporting an excellent cause - Book Aid International. Every penny donated will go straight to Book Aid themselves, to fund the work they do getting books and educational material to communities in Africa who are so in need of it - helping them, help themselves.

I’m promised the water at the 24 hour swim will be warmer than yesterday and most definitely warmer than the swim above - this challenge isn’t about cold water, it’s about endurance - swimming one mile on the hour, every hour from 7pm Tuesday 21st June, until 7pm Wednesday 22nd June, alternating between my team mate, Tracey, and myself - keeping going through tiredness, and keeping getting in that water when a warm bed sounds so much more welcoming.

Hopefully I’ll be tweeting through the event, so do send messages of encouragement - and thoughts of sunshine please! 

And if you can spare a pound - just a pound - then please do donate. 

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Kerry-Drewery1

Hopefully it’ll be like this on the night - 

I came to the conclusion the other day that I really need to learn to shut my mouth sometimes, or at least think before I open it and reply to people. At 43 you’d think I’d have learned that by now, but it seems not.

You see, the reason this comes to being now is that about six months ago a friend of mine, Tracey Wilkinson, said to me ‘do you fancy doing a 24 hour swim with me? As a team?’. Without even pausing, or putting my coffee cup down I replied ‘yeah, why not?’

One of my first open water swims.

I suppose the seriousness of the event should’ve dawned on me when filling out the mountain of paperwork, medical questionnaire, found two ‘buddies’ to support us - one for land and one for water - and signed a disclaimer saying I will be doing this at my own risk. But, y’know I’ve done other stuff - a half ironman, run 52 miles in 12 hours - so really, how much harder can this be? And there’s aaaages to train. And it’ll be much warmer then.

Won’t it?

Won’t it?

SURE it won’t be as cold as this though. January 3rd in a friend’s pond. Non-wetsuit, 6.5 degrees. Raining. Photo c/o Working Class Triathlete.

There are eight weeks to go and out of the window at the moment, spring weather - let alone summer - seems a long, long way away. It’s sleeting.

I’ve stopped thinking if this is going to be harder, or easier, than events I’ve done before - it’s going to be challenging in a whole different way. 

The event is held at Activities Away in Lincoln, it will begin at 7pm on Tuesday 21st June and finish 7pm on Wednesday 22nd June. The aim is to complete one mile (which is two laps of this lake) every hour, beginning on the hour. As there are two of us, we’ll each be doing one mile every other hour, so if we succeed both of us will swim 12 miles. The rest of the time you can do what you like - rest, eat, toilet, sleep - but the advice that keeps echoing is about warmth.

Activities Away on a warm day. Beautiful clear water. 

‘Twelve miles?!’ my agent, Jane Willis, said to me. ‘In 24 hours?’

‘Yeah,’ I replied, ‘I’m only doing half of it.’

Only. Doing. Half. 

Only 12 miles.

Right now, I’m thinking ‘only twelve?’ And there are lots of swear words in my head. 

I popped down to Activities Away on Sunday. The surface temperature was 9 degrees and the water temperature 11.7. A friend of mine is doing the 12 hour version of this next Saturday and she’s doing it solo. The thought of getting back in that cold water hour after hour is truly horrific to me - I’m one of her buddies for this and frankly bloody glad I’m not doing it! 

Coffee and cake. Absolutely necessary to help warm up. 

When I’ve done events in the past, people have often asked if I’m doing it for charity, I never have before but this time I’ve decided to raise money for Book Aid International. This is a charity which works within African countries helping fund and support (amongst others things) mobile libraries, books in classrooms, for refugee camps, medical and health care books for education and provide training for librarians there. 

Do pop over to their website and read about their work and projects they support.

Mobile library in Ethiopia. Photo c/o Book Aid website.

This is taken from their site - 

The need for our work

Across Africa, millions of people are unable to fulfil their potential because of a basic lack of books and reading resources.

Literacy and access to information have been shown to reduce poverty, providing opportunities for work, increasing household income, even improving the health of children. A child born to a mother who can read is 50% more likely to survive past the age of five.

We understand the pleasure and opportunities that reading can bring and we believe everyone should have the opportunity to read. Through reading, people can change their own lives for the better and shape their own futures.

School library in Zanzibar. Photo c/o Book Aid website

There are lots of demands on people’s finances - I get that and don’t expect much - but if you could spare just a pound that would be fantastic. Pounds all add up and all make a difference. 

My Just Giving page is here. 

To stress that ALL money donated goes directly to Book Aid International. Any expenses related to the event (entry, training, equipment, etc, etc) I’m funding myself.

I shall be down at the lake again this Sunday so fingers crossed for some sunshine! I’ll keep you posted and talk more about the work Book Aid do, in the next post.

So excited and thrilled that the delightful Michelle Toy has done a final cover reveal for Cell 7 today over on her blog! 

I’m so excited (and relieved) to have a first review for Cell 7.

The thought of it going out to readers is fantastic and petrifying in equal measure, but very, very pleased that North Somerset Teachers like it. 

(Btw, this cover is not *the* cover, although this one is ace)

Cell 7- the last place you want to be!

April 14, 2016

What scared me most about  this book is the thought that it might actually happen!

Set in a world where the justice system has been replaced by a reality TV show- An Eye for An Eye- where viewers vote by phone or text to decide whether criminals live or die (live on TV!), this is an unsettling read. Corruption is rife and humanity is being neglected in the name of 'justice'. Offenders start in cell one and over seven days move from cell to cell as the viewers decide their fate.

The novel follows the fate of Martha, a teenager who admits to killing Jackson Paige, a millionaire well known for his good works. Why would she admit to this crime? What is her relationship with his adoptive son? Was Jackson Paige the man everyone thought he was? Will Martha survive?

The novel is seriously thought provoking, raising the issues of the death penalty, the role of the media in our lives and the privileges money can buy. It doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of this alternate world which parallels our own and is a stark reminder about what could (and does)  happen when justice is not justice.

An excellent, absorbing read, I am sure there will be more to come; without wishing to spoil things for anyone,  Martha's story can't be left like that!

Cell 7 by Kerry Drewery

Hot Key Books    Published Autumn 2016

I’m going off to do a happy dance now! 

The tradition in our house with Easter eggs is to follow clues of some sort.  We’ve had maps that take you around the house, clues that take you to washing machines, fridges, inside wardrobes and all sorts, but the last few years we’ve had clues taking you to books or films, one clue leading to another until the final egg hiding place.

Just for fun, I thought I’d share this year’s clues with you. The little logo in the corner tells you if it’s a book or film and the link underneath takes you to the answer. 

Good luck and do let me know what you think.  

Nice easy one that.  Answer could actually be a book or a film.  The answer is here. 

And here’s the next clue which would’ve been found in the pages of the above book.

 Another book one.  And the answer is...  Which is one of my all-time favourite books. 

The next one is probably a bit trickier.  Although again, one of my favourite books, and if you haven’t read it, you really, really should! 

Tricky? Well if you want a little help with that pop of to twitter and give me a shout.  Here’s the answer.

Moving on to films for clue four - 

Beautiful film.  Always gives me goosebumps.  Here’s the answer.

And for clue five we’re sticking with films.  I watched this again for the first time in years the other night - it really is such fantastic story telling. 

And if you haven’t seen that one, then you’re really  missing out, BUT don’t google it - you’ll find out the twist. Answer is here. 

And the final clue.  Another fabulous film.

Got it?  The answer is here. 

And if you’d managed to follow all those, you’d be lead to this - 

Which would mean you could have ALL these!! 

Well I hope you enjoyed that! I’m off to eat some chocolate now! 

So for National Poetry Day I thought I’d share some of my favourite Spike Milligan poems.

This one, The Ning Nang Nong, was voted Britain’s favourite nonsense poem in 1998.

Great clip of Spike reading it here 

For the next, one that used to make me think ‘well, if that’s true, why can’t we just bung the holes up to have a dry day?’ 

Of course, as well as his nonsense poems, he had some very serious, very melancholy ones. 

And those about his time during war...

But let’s finish on a happier note...

Last weekend I was lucky enough to get a last minute ticket to attend the second ever Writing East Midlands Conference.  Held at Loughborough University, there was a great timetable of events and talks, with plenty of time for refreshments, catching up with people and eating of cake. 

Timetable for the conference

The Keynote speakers were fantastic, and it was great to listen to author Mike Gayle speak of his tough journey to publication and remember how we’ve all been at that point. 

Mike Gayle

Author Sophie Hannah was hilarious in with her tellings of advice she’d received from very well-meaning people too.

Sophie Hannah

I thought I’d share with you some snippets from the final seminar I went to which was agent Carole Blake talking about the journey from pitch to publication and advice she would give to authors.

Now, I’m not especially speedy at handwriting and taking notes, and my shorthand is so rusty it’s fallen to pieces, so mostly all I have a sentence long clips for you, but you can also get Carole’s book here or here. 

I hope they are of interest, help and guidance. 

Here’s a little of what she said - 

(On subbing) “Be patient.  I have to respond to my clients before my not-yet clients.”

“Learn how to pitch.  Have an elevator pitch, but also a good couple of paragraphs to put in a letter.”

“When I take on a client I want to take on someone who presents themselves professionally.”

“No agent can make money out of one book from an author.  I want to develop an author’s career.”

“An agent wants to know that you’re serious about your writing career.”

“We’re all individuals with individual taste.  If someone says it’s not for me, it doesn’t mean it’s unpublishable.”

“Don’t write for trends, because whatever’s on trend would’ve been signed a couple of years ago.”

“It’s incredibly competitive for agents to take on authors.  Make sure you meet the agent or have a long phone call in case you don’t get on.  I wouldn’t take anyone on who I wouldn’t invite to my house for dinner.”

Carole Blake

“I find it astonishing that anyone would submit to an agency they don’t know about.”

“Don’t stalk agents on social media; it’s social, you don’t want to be pitched at.”

(On synopses) “I must know the ending.”  “Most agents read the chapters before the synopsis.”  “I want to know what happens in the plot, what happens to the characters.  In simple language.”

“I do have sympathy with people who struggle with synopses; it is very very tough.”

“Editors don’t want to take a book to acquisition unless they think it’s an absolute yes.”

(On writing courses)  “Make sure the person on it knows what they’re doing.  Buyer beware.”

(On working with publishers) “Many publishers expect authors to do a lot of their own publicity.  Know what your publisher’s expectations are.”

It was a great day and as always at these things, one of the best things is meeting people, and although I knew nobody when I arrived there, I got talking and bumped into friends of friends in a very warm, welcoming environment. 

Huge thanks to the team at Writing East Midlands who do excellent work for writers.  Check out their website.  Maybe I’ll see you there next year. 

And by the way, the lemon cake was magnificent! 

To celebrate World Book Day I thought I’d share some of my favourite reads so far this year.

The first is Sarah (Fox) Benwell’s beautiful LAST LEAVES FALLING.

This actually came out last summer so I’m a bit slow on the uptake here. I got my copy from the last UKYA Extravaganza in Nottingham so was fortunate enough to have Sarah (Fox) sign it for me.

It’s a story about Sora, a teenager with ALS (a progressive neurodegenerative disease) who is facing the end of his life. Isolated from other people of his age, he tentatively reaches out through the only way he knows how - his computer - and slowly and carefully makes friends. The portrayal of these friendships is gentle and thoughtful and as the novel progresses their importance to Sora is really shown. 

It is a sad book, but it’s a heart-warming, life-affirming book too. Simply written, yet so effective, I wanted to stay in Sora’s world at the end.  A real treat. 

Follow Sarah here 

My second book is DEMONS OF GHENT by Helen Grant. 

This is another that’s been out for a while - published in 2014.  It’s also the second in Helen’s Forbidden Spaces trilogy, and although it’s probably better to have read the first (Silent Saturday), I hadn’t and it worked just fine for me. 

It follows Veerle, who after the happenings in Silent Saturday has moved to Ghent to live with her father and step-mother, but although she had hoped to leave everything behind, after a series of mysterious deaths she begins to wonder if, in fact, death has followed her.

It’s a dark, atmospheric thriller that brilliantly depicts Ghent with all it’s scary, gothic rooftops and castles. I adored the writing, the characters, the sense of fear it gave me while reading it alone at night; it was an absolute treat and most definitely not just for a YA audience. 

Find out more about Helen here.

My final choice for World Book Day is SONG OF THE SEA MAID by Rebecca Mascull.

This is Rebecca’s second novel (The Visitors was her first), and is set in the eighteenth century.  

It follows the life of an orphan girl, Dawnay Price. Initially starving, homeless and uneducated, Dawnay is given a life-line by a wealthy benefactor, and with this she thrives, desperate to learn and to experience.  We tumble along on her journey with her as she throws herself into danger; boarding ships, travelling to Portugal, getting caught up in an earthquake and making a startling discovery.

It’s a beautifully written, deeply researched novel with an inspiring main character who shows quite unequivocally that science is not solely a man’s pursuit.  Loved it. 

You can follow Rebecca on twitter here. 

Well that’s it for my World Book Day reads. I’m now off to make a coffee, and grab Beth Miller’s WHEN WE WERE SISTERS off the shelf.  

I thought I’d share with you some things I love doing when I’m not writing, and if you’re a writer and would like to do a guest blog on what you do when not writing then please do drop me a line - [email protected]

Writing is a very sedentary job and it seems the things I love to do when not doing this are the complete opposite.

I started running about ten years ago when I realised that I was incredibly unfit, also as I have an extremely sweet tooth and adore cake and biscuits it does mean I can get away with it a bit more!

I’ve done all sorts of races, 5km, 10km, half marathon, Nottingham Robin Hood marathon, a Tough Mudder and a zombie survival run but perhaps the most bizzare was this one - 

‘Hell on the Humber’ is a six, twelve or twenty-four hour endurance race crossing the Humber Bridge (a four mile loop) as many times as possible within that time.  This photo is from the Halloween version (or Helloween on the Humber) running from 6pm til midnight in fancy dress!  The theme this year was...well, you can probably guess from the photo...clowns!  That’s me left of centre in the purple and black with the white mask.

Can you guess the previous year’s theme? - 

Well, perhaps the theme was stretched a bit by some runners, but it was Superheroes.  That’s me dressed as some kind of Batgirl! 

Another thing I love to do is open water swimming.

I only learnt to swim a few years ago and really never dreamed I’d be actually swimming outside in lakes but I absolutely love it now.  It’s so calm and peaceful, and I’ve made some fantastic friends.

The photo above is the North Sea.  It was a bit nippy.

With friends in a lake in Lincolnshire.

But my huge love away from writing has become triathlon.  The thing with writing is that it can be very solitary, and after spending days alone in my office, getting out and meeting friends and having a laugh while swimming, biking and running is brilliant.

Last year a few of us did the Outlaw Half triathlon in Nottingham (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike and 13.1 mile run) and a lot of people who don’t do the sport said to me ‘I don’t know how you could go that far’, and in the same vein people who don’t write often say to me ‘I don’t know how you could write that many words’ and it struck me that the two things do have their similarities.  

When I stand at the start line, I don’t think of the whole distance ahead of me, I just think of one thing at at time, and when I sit in my office staring at the very first (blank) page of a novel, I don’t think of ALL the words to come.  Some how I write one word, which becomes one line, one page, one chapter...and before I know it I have a full novel.  With a sport event, one step becomes one mile, becomes two, becomes the whole race.  The better thing with writing though, is that I can go back and edit! 

The relief at the end of the race last year!

When I crossed the finish line at the Outlaw Half last year, I swore I would never do it again, but last autumn I signed up for it again this May.  Just like writing, it’s the urge to do it again and do it better!

Not only that, of course, but this amount of exercise does mean guilt free cake eating! 

To celebrate National Libraries Day myself and author Rebecca Mascull met up at a lovely local library in Humberston. 

A community hub took control of Humberston library after the council faced cuts two years ago and it now houses a cafe and a boutique as well. 

While Rebecca had a massive (as big as her head - honest) slice of cake, I plumped for a very nice home-made scone...

I also spotted some very nice boots for sale, but unfortunately they weren’t my size...

But as ever the books are where it’s at for us. 

We found some great UKYA books on the shelves...

FRACTURED by Teri Terry

THE NIGHT ITSELF by Zoe Marriott (Another local author!! - Yipee!) 

THE YEAR OF THE RAT by Clare Furniss

And then got ridiculously excited when we spotted our own! 

THE VISITORS and SONG OF THE SEA MAID by Rebecca Mascull

A DREAM OF LIGHTS by me.

Trying not to squeal too much (no, seeing your own books on a shelf NEVER gets boring!), we wandered over to the lovely children’s area.

So today saw me meeting up with that lovely Emma Pass author to discuss all things UKYAX.  Seven months might sound like a long time, but the time last year flew by and we’ve got lots of exciting things we’re hoping to sort for the event in Newcastle.

So we met up this time in Lincoln (a kind of half way point for us) and between eating and drinking and discussing UKYAX we found the time to have a quick shop.

We stumbled across a gorgeous shop called EGO and Emma ‘forced’ me to buy a dress. 

A very nice dress.

As always when we meet up, we HAVE to pop into a bookshop, and whenever in a bookshop, you just HAVE to do shelfies, so here are a few for you -

The first up is Rebecca Mascull’s brand new to paperback SONG OF THE SEA MAID!! What a stunning cover. 

Song of the Sea Maid is Rebecca’s second novel and is the set in the C18th and concerns an orphan girl who becomes a scientist and makes a remarkable discovery. It’s wonderfully researched and a fantastic adventure of a strong and willful woman.

The second shelfie is Emma Pass’ magnificent ACID - 

ACID is a brutal and controlling police force. They rule supreme, and without complete power. Jenna Strong lives in their world, or did, until she was accused of bloody crime she can’t remember and sent to a high-security prison where she is the only female prisoner. She survive she must use any means available.  ACID was a winner of the North East Teen Book Awards.

The next shelfie and looking utterly gorgeous is COUNTING STARS by Keris Stainton

COUNTING STARS is about 18 year old Anna who seems to have landed her dream job in a theatre after leaving school and home.  Things might seem shiny and exciting but they’re also overwhelming and a bit scary, especially when she spills a bigger secret than she really should...  Keris is hilarious fun on twitter and I’d really recommend following her - @keris

Next shelfie up is a leap to the thrillers with...

NOW YOU SEE ME by Emma Haughton is inspired by a true story.  Hannah's best friend Danny vanished without trace three years ago. She doesn’t know if he’s alive or dead and struggles to move on; her life is shrouded in secrets and suspicions... But as hope returns to haunt Danny's family and their desperation is used against them, can Hannah bear to expose the painful truth? Or is it better to live in the dark?

NOW YOU SEE ME was nominated for the Carnegie Medal.