23rd November 2007 - being ill and wonderful school visit
I know, I know - it's been ages since I last wrote, but I have had a very good reason - I've been completely flattened by a mystery virus, and scrolling through internet pages has made me feel sick! However, I am on the mend now and it's a good thing too because I really should write about the wonderful visit I made to St Christopher's CofE school in Langford at the beginning of the month.
It's always nice as an author when the children know who you are and when they have read your books and are excited about you coming - and boy, were these children excited! Not only had their teachers read them the story of Moondance, but the Reception class had actually made ears and tails to be worn whilst doing the dance itself! I talked to everyone in Assembly and then I went round some of the different classes. We did dancing and storytelling, and the children also designed new front covers for their own Teeho story. I had a really great time, and many thanks to the fantastic teachers there and the very lovely children, who also bought lots of copies of Moondance, hurray!
This is me reading to the Reception class:
and this is us all doing the Moondance!
26th October 2007 - school inspection draws near, and I visit Faber
Well, it's nearly the end of half term (sob!) and not only is there the usual school business to get on with, but in two weeks' time, we're being Inspected, and oh the jitters! Not from me, admittedly, but from lots of my colleagues. The staff room is a tense place to be at the moment! However, the Head has scheduled an end-of-inspection party, which I'm sure will brighten everyone up!!
Yesterday I went up to visit Faber. I had a very useful meeting with Helena about marketing ideas for SCREWED, and it was interesting that we'd pretty much both come up with the same ideas! Am going to start plugging it on MySpace and Facebook around the February half term. We're also planning on sending out postcards to head girls around the country! I do hope we don't annoy too many schools! But it's the difficulty of actually targeting the teens themselves on this book - with Red Tears, there were lots of organisations who were interested (i.e. run by adults) whereas this is far more 'mainstream' I suppose. The girls I teach all suggested I should put adverts on radio, TV and in magazines - bless! I don't think the budget stretches quite that far!!
Then Julia took me out for a very nice lunch (although I didn't feel like noodles, so she was deprived of her current craving for salt and pepper crispy quid!) and we talked about what I'm going to write next. I said I'd really like to do a series, and lo and behold! that's exactly what they want to concentrate on in the next few years! Having said I'd like to do 9-11s, I think actually I might try having a bash at the 7-9s. I've got an idea that nobody seems to have done yet (and there aren't many, believe me!) so I think I shall try to get some concrete thoughts down asap. It would be good to have something in place before Christmas, although I realise that's not really very far away now! (and yes, I have already started my Christmas shopping...)
I haven't felt much like sitting in my shed the past week - have been struggling with Half-Term-Itis, which mostly consists of me wanting to sleep a lot! But I do feel bad about neglecting it, so shall make an effort in the coming week. Got a school visit next Thursday, so am very much looking forward to that.
3rd October 2007 - MY SHED ARRIVES!! oh, and Alton Towers was good
Of course, I should have written immediately on return from Alton Towers, because a far more exciting thing has happened since then - my shed has finally arrived! Here is a little teaser:
But before I say too much about the shed, I should say how much I enjoyed the trip to AT - really good fun, and Phil and I felt quite queasy from all the rollercoasters. My favourite was Air - where your seat is tilted forward so you're facing the ground - and you really feel like you're flying! Wonderful, and I would have gone on it again if the queue hadn't been so long. Also enjoyed Rita, but found Nemesis a bit too crazy (rather like Space Mountain at Eurodisney). I told Phil I didn't want to go on Oblivion, which is the one where they drop you vertically into a hole in the ground - so he went on it without me and then said 'no, it's fine, really - you'll like it'. So, much against my better judgement, I went on it with him - and hated it! I was so afraid my contact lenses were going to fall out. You know when they take your picture on the ride and try to sell it to you afterwards? My eyes were squeezed tightly shut! However, I did very much enjoy Hex, an indoor ride which plays with your senses - I can't tell you too much, but it's very, very clever and I was muchly impressed. Not too scary either. And it's always fun to go on The Flume, which has been redesigned since I last went and now incorporates large bathtubs! I have a mousemat of me and Phil in our tub - great fun.
That night we stayed in a beautiful hotel about an hour away, called The Moat House. And we splashed out on their Tasting Supper - oh my, how do people actually manage to eat seven courses? It was simply delicious, and Phil and I both fell in love with foie gras, which is funny because I'd had it once before and thought it disgusting. However, we were so full we had to walk very slowly back to our room and then lie down completely still for a while! Can you believe the waiter asked us if we'd like cheese and biscuits to finish?! But I highly recommend it - we don't normally do things like that (because we can't afford it!) but it was all a very lovely treat.
So now - on to THE SHED. It finally arrived on Thursday after several agonising weeks - and it's wonderful. Here are some more pics:
And the piece de resistance - the view from the desk!
Not bad, eh?!
I spent all of Friday in the shed, writing - and wrote 4000 words!! Which is very fast for me. I do think it helped not being able to waste time idly reading things on the Internet. I can't connect out there, which is a Good Thing, and the only thing I can do to procrastinate is to play Spider Solitaire. Which I do quite a lot, I confess, but I still waste less time doing that than surfing. Plus, I carry on thinking about the story even whilst playing SS, which is good.
So now I am a Proper Writer (yes, I know I was one before but this feels like I'm official now) and every Thursday and Friday I Go To Work in my Shed. It's great!
So two things for you to help me with:
1. I think the shed needs a name. Something slightly poncy, if you know what I mean, like The Imagination Lab, or the ThinkSpace. After all, it's my place so I can be as outrageous as I like!
2. Whilst writing, I listen to a lot of music, but it can't be anything with words because I get distracted. I have discovered that film music is the best sort, and current favourites are the soundtracks to Titanic, Jurassic Park and Harry Potter. I've added Gladiator and Enigma to my iTunes wishlist - do you have any favourite soundtracks that you can recommend?
Answers through my contact page, please!
21st September 2007 - a salutary lesson
Well, that'll teach me. The answer is, of course, to get on the phone. Emails can be ignored, but if the person you want to speak to is actually sitting at their desk, then once they've picked up the phone, you've got 'em! I managed to speak to Emily, Julia's assistant, yesterday, and she has sent me an updated front cover by email. It's still not perfect, but it's much better than the previous version and I am pleased that they are finally moving forward with it.
And I also just spoke to Helena in Publicity, who told me that RED TEARS has been entered for all the major prizes and awards, which was something I had been wondering about. We're going to get to together at the end of October to discuss marketing plans for SCREWED.
So now I am feeling far less out-in-the-wilderness, and I suppose that'll teach me to just RING up in future!
Right, must log off and get packed for the Alton Towers weekend - whee!
19th September 2007 - tumbleweed and new project
I have heard nothing from Faber since I told them I didn't like the font. I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason for this - their whole office has been swallowed by a blue whale, or they've accidentally deleted all my contact details, maybe - but it's still scary to be on the outside, knocking on the door and saying, 'hello? is anybody there?' And my editor is now on holiday for two weeks, so I can't ask her. Instead, I stew at home in my paranoia, watching the tumbleweed blow past the window (actually that isn't true - there isn't any tumbleweed, but there are some cows, do you think they count?).
I'm not really a paranoid person, but this is one of the hard things about being an author - you hand over the book, and then it's nothing to do with you any more. It's someone else's job to look after it. But in the meantime, you worry that it's not getting the care it deserves (and then you wonder if maybe it isn't very good after all and they were just being nice when they said they'd accept it, and actually they've just put it in the recycling bin and all this discussion over front covers is just to reassure me).
Oh, somebody slap me! I did ring my lovely agent, Penny, who gave me a virtual slap and was very sweet about it all. She said it was very unlikely that I'd have upset anyone with my criticisms of the front cover. I suppose I shall have to believe her, although it's going to be a long wait until my editor is back in the office!
In the meantime, I have started work on my new project - that series idea. When I was young, I read the Famous Five and the Three Investigators over and over again. I loved the fast-paced stories with lots of action and things like ghosts that turned out to be people in disguise (a la Scooby Doo). Anyway, it occurred to me that it might be rather fun to write those sorts of books, so I've made a start. And that's ALL I'm going to say about them, because I find talking about my plans in advance sometimes takes the magic out of them.
But the two exciting things I'm now looking forward to are the imminent arrival of my SHED (a week tomorrow!) and a weekend away at Alton Towers, hurrah! My sweetie of a husband decided to surprise me, but he couldn't bear to keep it a secret and just HAD to tell me! We will go on all the rollercoasters and eat junk food and it will be FAB (although probably freezing). In fact, I'm off to Google Alton Towers now and work out which rides I want to do most...!
I'll leave you with some photos of the garden at the weekend - we had a bonfire, and the cows in the next field were simply fascinated with it! And the last pic is of my dad, showing just where the shed will go!
10th September 2007 - Book signing and worries about SCREWED front cover
This is me and Mark Robson and Mary Hoffman at Waterstones in Witney on Saturday - my first book signing! It was good fun, if tiring, and I really liked that there were three of us because it made the whole thing more convivial. Mark is an old pro at this kind of thing, and to be honest, Mary and I just went along to see how he did it! I honestly don't know where he gets the energy - just two hours and I was exhausted, whereas Mark stayed all day! It was tremendously useful though and I do feel more confident about doing this kind of event in the future. It was also very interesting to see the sorts of people who come into bookshops - and the huge numbers of children between the ages of eight and eleven (more than any other age group). It's useful to know these things when thinking about projects for the future...;-)
I have been hesitating over whether to mention the progress on SCREWED. Julia liked all my edits, so that was great news as it meant I'm sort of officially 'signed off' - and then they sent through a rough copy of the front cover. And I don't like it. Let me qualify that - I do like the image, very much - it's a photographic shot of a schoolgirl and it's perfect - not too tacky or sleazy (I had been worried about that). It's the writing (I mean the font) that I don't like. I can see why they've gone with that particular style, but I just don't like it. I told Julia (whilst screwing up my face in anticipation of her reaction) and she said 'Oh. Oh dear. The design department got some really famous nightclub poster designer to do the writing' - so I felt even worse. But I still don't like it. And now I just wait to hear whether they're going to do anything to change it or whether they'll go with it anyway.
It's hard letting go of control at this stage when you're not convinced. A very large part of me says 'well, they're the publishers, they must know what they'll be able to sell - they know more about cover images than you, just let them do their job!' but that small voice is still whining 'But I don't liiiiike it.'
We'll see. In the meantime, school has started again and it's all going smoothly, as these things tend to when you actually get down to it. I have a very large mixed-ability class for my Y10 English this year though, so I do hope I can do a good job. The class is so big I have had to move from my usual classroom up on the third floor and into the Geography Room and the English Room (which is surely the only classroom in the country still to have a BLACKBOARD!!) I'm doing a project with Y11 about the September 11th attacks, which is harrowing but they are coping very well. It was nice to see the girls again, and I do like teaching really ;-)
So now I need to get cracking on my next project. Trouble is, I still haven't quite decided what it's going to be! There's a kind of luxury in finishing one project and casting your net of ideas for the next, but I also feel a bit lost, as though there's something I should be doing but I don't know what! Please don't suggest ideas though; I have far too many to choose from, that's the problem! I think it may be time to take stock of where I am right now and figure out what I want to achieve from my writing in the future. A long-term plan, that's what I shall do. Rather like my plots for my books, which never turn out the way I expected! Never mind, I think it's good to have something to aim for.
Time to stop blathering on and get on with the first lot of marking - did I say I was pleased to be back at school?? Hmmm...
28th August 2007 - Back from holiday and oh dear term starts soon
Well, I've just come back from a lovely two weeks oop north, visiting friends, going to the Edinburgh Book Festival (drool) and doing lots of sleeping and reading in a friend's cottage in Morpeth. Lovely.
I love the Book Festival. There's just something about a number of tents grouped together and everyone is there to talk about BOOKS and buy books and read books on the lawn (when the sun's out, which sadly wasn't much this year). I even gatecrashed a publishers' party, which was great fun (free cocktails! hic!) and I got to meet some people from Barrington Stoke face to face, which was great because as they're based in Edinburgh we always correspond by email. Plus I got to catch up with some fellow Scattered Authors. I'm currently doing the SAS website, by the way, so soon you'll be able to find all of the SASsies in one place...it's taking a leeetle longer than I anticipated, oh well!
Whilst away, I saw:
Cinema: Tranformers (fun but the plot was ridiculous and made very little sense), Rush Hour 3 (can't remember much about it so it can't have been that good), the Bourne Ultimatum (excellent, very gripping)
Theatre: Jo Coffey 'My Dad's Caravan Is Rubbish' (Jo is a friend from uni and it was great to catch up with her after ten years! Also her show was funny, so that was a bonus), NewsRevue (always very slick and very funny), an adaptation of Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl (performed by an American High School who did their best with a frankly uninspiring script), Vivienne Grout's Adventure in Another Metropolis (written and directed by a friend, very good but quite disturbing!) and Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus (another children's book adaptation, very imaginative with a great set and an excellent Pigeon performer!)
Book Festival: Matt Whyman, Tim Bowler, James Jauncey, Nicola Morgan, Graham Marks, Sherry Ashworth, all talking about teen fiction and various connected issues, as well as a 'Publishing Scotland' look at the future of publishing (lots of discussion of digital media and publicity)
Goodness, it's a wonder I don't feel exhausted after that holiday! Yesterday was a Working Party in the garden in preparation for my new Writing Shed, which will be arriving...umm...well, I don't know yet. There was a bit of a mix-up with the delivery dates, so it won't be here for another couple of weeks, which is a shame.
And now school looms its pimpled head over next week and oh dear, I have to start thinking about lesson plans and text books again. However, my GCSE English class all got excellent grades, so I am feeling very positive about the coming year.
Goodness, I almost forgot the most important piece of book news! The new novel (the one about sex) will be called SCREWED. I didn't like it at first but it's growing on me. Now in anticipation of the front cover...
10th August 2007 - Calloo Callay Hurroo Hurray!
PHEW. Julia has just rung and SHE LIKES THE REWRITE. Thank goodness, I shall have to have a lie down in a darkened room with relief. There are five minor points that need looking at, but these are eminently doable and I should be able to get my head round them tomorrow before I take a much-needed break. Lalalalala!
And the sun is out too! How perfect can a day be?!
Oh, we still can't find a title we all like though. Today we all liked EASY but then we discovered there's already a teenage novel called that (with very similar subject matter, bugger). So it's thinking caps back on. Hmm. However, the front cover of MINDSET has just popped into my inbox, so I am drooling over that instead at the moment. Will be able to show you when I have approval etc from the nice people at Barrington Stoke.
30th July 2007 - SAS week at Charney and nose to the grindstone
Last week I spent four days at Charney Manor in Oxfordshire in the company of 25 other children's writers - members of the Scattered Authors Society. I was really looking forward to it but I felt guilty because I knew I was meant to be editing SPLINTERED BLUE! However, the week actually helped my editing no end, because not only did I come up with a possible new title (Faber would like to change the current one because it sounds too 'literary') but I also realised two or three major problems with the plotline that I hadn't noticed before! So even though I only managed to do a bit of writing while I was there, I actually came away with a much better grip on what I needed to do.
Of course, there were lots of other reasons to be at Charney apart from my latest epic! For a start, it was wonderful to be surrounded by people who really 'get' you, in a creative sense. We had discussions and presentations on things like promoting yourself, managing your career, organising your day, keeping your writing fresh and original - and of course there was a wonderfully convivial atmosphere greatly helped by delicious food and lots of wine!
Highlights for me included: Malachy Doyle's new picture book for Bloomsbury, which he read out on the last day and we all cheered; winning the SAS Quiz simply by being in the same team as Adele Geras and Mary Hoffman who know EVERYTHING ever (I contributed only my good eyesight, which is ironic as I wear contact lenses!); Celia Rees denouncing a favourite book of mine, which made me realise that I have no judgement at all and of course she is right; being introduced to the art of poi, which is kind of like juggling with balls on strings, by Liz Kessler - an experience I much enjoyed and which has prompted me to order my own set of poi; being overwhelmed by the amount of promotion Mark Robson does (he was originally self-published so I guess he had to learn all this stuff otherwise he would have sunk without trace) and being very grateful that he was so willing to share all his tips and tricks with us; and doing a collage to help me figure out where my book is going, which really did work!
So now I am back I have spent the last two days writing furiously, and I have to say I think the new draft of whatever-it's-called will be VERY much stronger than the one Faber accepted, and I am getting just a tiny bit excited about it. However, there is still a lot to do, and not much time to do it in, so I had better get back to it!
22nd July 2007 - online interview
I have been interviewed by WriteAway! about RED TEARS and you can read it in full here.
20 July 2007 - Editing begins and the rain keeps coming...and I want a shed!
School is out, which is great because it means I can finally get down to work! Last Friday I received the emailed notes Julia had made on SPLINTERED BLUE - and oh dear, there are a LOT of changes to be made, as expected! However, I didn't disagree with a single thing she said, which in a way is good because it means we feel the same way, but on the other hand I now actually have to rewrite the damn thing! However, I have made a start, and I'm feeling fairly positive that the rewrites will improve it muchly, oh yes.
I went to look at garden sheds the other day. Phil and I have been discussing putting a shed at the bottom of the garden for a while now - so that I can write in it. I like the idea of being able to leave the house to go to work - even if it's just a few yards. And I wouldn't be able to get the internet in the shed, which would mean I'd get a lot more done...! So I have settled on a shed that I like very much and which is the perfect size and shape for the space we have for it (well, there isn't actually a space there at the moment, but there will be by the time the shed arrives, I'm sure). Now I just have to order it - and I don't know why I'm hesitating. I think it's because it's quite a lot of money, and although I know I want it, I'm naturally stingy about spending all that much at once!
However, I think a shed would be the perfect thing to have at the moment, what with all the rain. The shed I've selected has a huge sloping window, and I can imagine watching the rain slide down it whilst I'm all snug and cosy inside (assuming it didn't leak). I am SO glad that we live on a hilly bit. I do feel terribly sorry for the poor people who are being repeatedly flooded at the moment. My parents' old house flooded a couple of times while I was still living there, and although as a child it was all quite exciting, it took weeks to sort everything out. We were lucky that it wasn't that bad - I can't imagine how people cope when they lose everything. There was a lady on the news yesterday saying she'd just discovered a video of her son when he was little - beyond repair. And still the rain comes down...
7th July 2007 - Splintered Blue accepted! and Faber party in London
Oh dear, it's been a long time since I updated, but I've been keeping shtum because SPLINTERED BLUE was a bit up in the air. However, we finally have a firm offer from Faber that I have accepted, hurrah! BEST news of all is that they want to publish it in Spring 2008! Which is an even faster turnaround than RED TEARS, so I shall have to get cracking on the edits very soon. Fortunately, school holidays start next week, so I should have lots of time to devote to the rewrites.
It was the annual Faber Summer Party on Thursday, and again I felt rather lemonish to start with, but plucked up the courage to go and talk to a group of strangers - who turned out to work for Faber and who knew all about the next book! So that was nice as they all said lovely things about it and were very encouraging. Hello to Anna, Molly and Becky and thanks for making me feel welcome! I was also able to give Julia a big hug and say how much I was looking forward to working on it with her. She kept saying 'of course, it needs a LOT of work' in this kind of doom-laden voice (OK, maybe it wasn't actually doom-laden; maybe that was my selective hearing) which made me feel alternately excited and petrified. It was nice to see Helena from Publicity too, and she finally told me what people have been asking for months - that RED TEARS is selling very well. So at last I have an answer to all those people! Although I won't know any figures until the end of the year, so don't ask me how many copies it's sold...!
I saw Sam Mills again (having met her at last year's party) which was great as she'd thought she wouldn't be able to come. She'd just been doing some school visits in Bristol that had gone very well. I met Justin Richards, who wrote THE CHAOS CODE for Faber which I read recently and much enjoyed. Having just looked him up on Amazon, I also discover he's done an awfu lot of Doctor Who books, which means I completely missed a trick as I could have asked him about the lovely David Tennant... Instead, I found myself talking about Doctor Who with Nick Green (who has written a book called THE CAT KIN about kids who learn the powers of cats - cool! - which I must try to read soon) who is a good laugh and very easy to talk to. Then I met Sarah Wray, whose book THE FORBIDDEN ROOM came out in January and looks very exciting. I'm sure I met a couple of other people, but really I should have written their names down as soon as I left the room, because embarrassingly I can't now remember them. Plus it's always hard to hear everything clearly in a large room with lots of people, and you really don't want to keep asking people to repeat themselves!
I had arranged to have supper with Leslie Wilson, who wrote LAST TRAIN FROM KUMMERSDORF, after the party. We'd planned to go in to the party together, but she'd been held up shopping (the best excuse ever!) and proudly showed me a wonderful T-shirt later, which carried the slogan LEADERS SUCK (at least, I think that's what it said; anyway, it was hilarious). We did eventually manage to find each other at the party, and then we walked round the corner to Ozer, a Turkish restaurant that served us a delicious meal of lots of different things, like a meze. Very yummy, and I don't know how Leslie managed to fit in apricots as well after the main course! They also served an extremely good mint leaf tea. I didn't have the nerve to ask how they made it, but seeing as we have lots of mint in the garden, I might have a go at making it myself.
I stayed overnight in London so that I could go to lunch with Penny, my agent, the next day. We talked about books to start with, but as usual with us, that soon progressed to all sorts of things I couldn't possibly tell you about! But it was lovely, as always, to see her, and we swapped party stories because she'd been to Orion's party the night before, on the top floor of the Gherkin! (I was quite jealous).
By the time I got home yesterday, I was mega-tired, partly because I'd decided to walk everywhere instead of taking the Tube (not because I am afraid of terrorism or trains jumping the tracks, but because I take virtually no exercise and thought it would be good for me). Of course, my body held up fine, but the oh-so-comfortable shoes turned out not to be after an hour or so, so I ended up with two blisters. Ouch. Still, it was a great trip out for me, and nice to touch base with so many people. Now I am going to try to do a bit of writing before I find myself drawn to the Wimbledon Ladies' Final and possibly the Live Earth concert. I don't hold out much hope for the writing!
8th June 2007 - trying to fill the time whilst waiting for decision
I am really hesistant to write this in case I jinx it, but my editor at Faber really likes SPLINTERED BLUE and will be taking it to the editorial meeting next week...! For those of you not au fait with the process, my editor needs to get everyone in the publishers on board - the sales and marketing people have to be totally confident they can sell it, and publicity and design etc. and basically everyone needs to agree that they want the book. So although it's got one step further down the road (hurray!) it's still got a few weeks to go before I will hear definitively one way or the other...
So in the meantime, I am trying to keep busy by starting something new. I spent last weekend thinking about plotlines for a series, but blow me down if today I didn't get hit by a totally different idea, so I wrote 1000 words on that instead. I sometimes wonder if I have a butterfly mind?! I want to get back to a historical novel for teens that I was writing too - there simply aren't enough hours in the day! Never mind, only about another five weeks until the end of term, and then I shall have WEEKS to fill with writing, yay! God bless summer holidays! Speaking of which, I see the sun is out at last, so let's hope it stays around this time. I've got a picnic to go to on Sunday and it won't be much fun if it's pouring!
19th May 2007
Well, even though I know there's more work to be done on it, I sent off my new draft of my novel on Thursday to my editor at Faber. At the moment it has a working title of SPLINTERED BLUE, which I quite like but I'm not sure it's snappy enough. Penny (my agent) has read it and likes it, although she recognises it's got a little bit more work to be done. Reassuringly, she said it was miles better than my previous effort back in October, which made me feel better! So I hope to hear from Faber in the next few weeks - fingers crossed that they like it!
The school production, MISS PRINCE, a play wot I wrote, went well in the end, although I felt so exhausted from volunteering to do practically everything that I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped. Because I spent the performances checking stage management and making sure lights/sound/projections happened in the right place, I didn't actually get to sit back and just watch. The girls seemed to enjoy performing it though, and I had lots of nice comments afterwards, so that was nice. I suppose I just felt it was a bit anticlimactic from my own point of view. I am wondering about polishing up the script and seeing what Penny thinks of it. It would be nice to get it published, even if it didn't make any money. Maybe other schools would be interested in it?
So this weekend I am taking TIME OFF, which is a rare occurrence and something I am much enjoying. I have felt like a zombie the last few days, so it's nice to curl up on the sofa with a duvet and watch episodes of 'Angel' or the Saturday film - which today was 'Casablanca' - perfect!
Of course, whilst taking time off, my brain is busy thinking about a new writing project... This would be an ongoing thing, and I've had enthusiastic feedback from agent and publisher about it, but obviously it needs serious development before I know if it's going to work. Nice to think about something other than teenage 'issues' for once though!
29th April 2007
The London Marathon was fun but exhausting, and not just for the runners! I don't think I'd ever appreciated how difficult it is to get around on the day - people just EVERYWHERE. Everyone very good-humoured, but still difficult to meet up with friends. Anyway, all three of my friends finished, which was fantastic - congratulations to Jonathan, Richard and Theo!
I meant to do some work on my draft over the last week but have only managed to fit in reading it rather than doing anything practical. It's the school production in just under two weeks' time, and I'm producing the whole shebang, which means lots of props-making and coming into school on my days off for rehearsals and rigging lights. Technical rehearsal yesterday, which was scrappy but we got through everything we needed to. The director and I are at that panicky stage of 'nobody knows their lines, this is going to be AWFUL' stage, but anyone who knows anything about theatre will recognise it as a necessary step on the way to performance! I wrote the script, and it's very interesting watching your own words performed. I can see why playwrights like to have a preliminary reading with actors before polishing the script - there are a few changes I would make in certain scenes. The pacing sometimes drops and I can't work out whether that's due to the acting or to the script. I suspect both are at fault in different ways!
Phil is in the States at the moment but comes back on Friday - suppose I shall have to tidy the house!
Oh, I almost forgot - I did another radio interview, this one over the phone. The Vanessa Feltz Show (on London 94.9) rang to talk to me last Tuesday morning (24th) as they were discussing self-harm (alongside cycling...hmm) on the show. The interview was disappointing from my point of view because they hadn't realised I'm not and never have been a self-harmer. I got the impression that as soon as I said it wasn't based on my life or anyone else's, Vanessa wasn't interested. I did manage to explain a bit about the book, but I wish they'd known a little bit more about me before putting me on the radio. It wasn't satisfactory from either of our points of view!
21st April 2007
I'm back at school but I quite like this term in a number of ways - the sun is out, there's more time for fun in the latter part of the term and at half term my Year 11s go on study leave, so I get some extra free lessons! Which is always nice. The school is being inspected in the autumn though, so I am busy bringing all my paperwork up to date.
But the BEST news is that YESTERDAY I FINISHED MY NEW DRAFT!! It took much less time than I expected - I think over the holidays I was averaging 4000 words a day, which is very unlike me (normally it's more like 2000 words a day). But somehow it all got on a roll, and yesterday I put 'The End' and felt very good about it. I don't know yet how strong it is, but I shall read it several times over the next week or so and then start self-editing.
Tomorrow I am off to support three people I know who are running in the London Marathon (amazing, I could never do it) and will have to stock up on suncream as I gather the forecast is 23degrees! Wonderful for the spectators but not much fun for the poor runners. Still, it should be a nice day out.
7th April 2007
Oh dear, it's been a while since I updated! But there's not much to tell, really. The writers' weekend in Coventry was wonderful, and I came back with that much-needed inspiration. The school term ended and, with pencil in hand, I sat down to read the first draft of my next novel again.
It was awful. Not awful all the way through, but the plotline didn't hang together, events didn't sequence properly, and worst of all the characters didn't seem realistic. I had to chuck out the whole 55 thousand words and start again.
The bad news is that writing a new book from scratch, so to speak, takes AAAAGES, and I'd thought I was nearly ready to submit it! The good news is that the new draft is now 33k words, and is SO much better than the first one, it doesn't even compare. The characters are more rounded, and the central relationship makes much more sense. Much to my surprise, it's becoming quite a romantic storyline, although I hesitate to say that because the subject matter is mainly about young people behaving rather stupidly a lot of the time. But hey, at least it's under way, and I have another week of holiday to get even further! Though at some point, I have to start planning my lessons for next term. Hum!
10th March 2007
Well, I have nearly recovered from my mega-busy week. I have been going to bed EXTREMELY early and am finally feeling human again!
Yesterday I did an interview over the phone with the Big Issue . It was quite short, so I don't know how much there will be in the magazine - it should run a week after next, so from Monday 19th March.
Barrington Stoke has asked me if I would like to do another reluctant reader story for them (which I most definitely would!) so I am putting together a synopsis and first draft at the moment. I have NOT forgotten my second novel, which is screaming to be revised, but there's only another two weeks of school before the Easter holidays, so it will have to wait until then.
Next weekend I am going to Coventry for a writers' meet-up. It will be lovely to see and hear from other writers - writing is such a solitary activity, you sometimes feel as though you're working in a vacuum. I expect to come away with renewed writing vigour!
4th March 2007
I am totally knackered! It's been an extraordinarily busy week - much more so than I had expected. There's lots to tell, so this entry is going to be mega-long.
On Tuesday 27th February, I left school at 4pm and went straight to London, where I was a guest on The Late Show on BBC London 94.9FM. It was really enjoyable - I was in the studio for about an hour (from 10.30pm) and the presenter, Jumoke Fashola , was just lovely. Her programme lasts from 10pm to 2am, and on Tuesdays she just looks at one 'issue' - this week, self-harm. Listeners are invited to phone in too and give their own experiences or viewpoints. It's so wonderful to be able to talk about the topic in such depth and for it to be given such a big slot on a radio show.
I stayed in London that night and on Wednesday morning I met Sarah Costello, a 17-year-old who said she was happy to be interviewed about her self-harm. She'd been recording the Lorraine Kelly show the day before and it was lovely to meet her. I took her for coffee and then said goodbye at the Tube station before heading off to meet Penny (my agent), Julia (editor at Faber) and Helena (publicist at Faber) for lunch. I ate FAR too much - so much, in fact, that I didn't need to eat again until the next morning!
Heading to Victoria to catch my coach back to Oxford, I suddenly picked up a text from Sarah saying that GMTV had asked her to stay another night in London and go on the live show at 6am the next morning! She was panicking rather, and I was worried because no one from Faber could go with her the next day (Helena had accompanied her to the LK show but there was a big sales conference on Thursday so no chance of missing that!). So, rather hesitantly, I suggested staying on myself another night and going with Sarah to the studio the next morning.
To cut a very long story short, I did indeed stay in London on Wednesday night (taking Sarah to see Dreamgirls at the cinema - don't bother, apart from Jennifer Hudson it's awful!) and then got up at the horrendous hour of 4.30am to go to London Television Centre. Poor Sarah was very nervous - kept saying 'Oh God, I'm so scared!' and forgetting how to answer the simplest questions. But in the end she was absolutely wonderful - I think she came across really well on screen and I was very very proud of her.
Having said goodbye to Sarah, I then got on my coach back to Oxford, picked up my car from the car park and drove straight back to school, where I taught three GCSE classes before driving home to collapse into bed. Oh, and I had to answer an email interview from a teenage magazine in Singapore too!
On Friday I was on the radio again, this time rather more locally at BBC Radio Oxford. Fortunately I didn't have to get up too early this time (wasn't on the air until about 2.20pm) and it was also fortunate that it wasn't televised as I looked awful! I think the interview went OK, though I felt as though I didn't answer some of the questions very well.
And so to this weekend, which has involved some socialising with university friends (exhausting but lovely) and going to bed at about 8pm!
There was a really great article about me in the Oxford Times on Friday 2nd March, which I have scanned in and posted onto the 'press and publicity' page of the Red Tears website. You can read it here .
So, as you can see, my feet have hardly touched the ground this week! It's been exciting and exhausting in equal measure, but it's so wonderful to be getting such good feedback about Red Tears. I've had some heartbreaking emails through my website, and it's all convincing me that I was right to write the book - it needs to be out there because people will be helped by it.
17th February 2007
Back from Egypt! It was a wonderful holiday - managed to see all sorts of amazing sites, combined with a river cruise on the Nile - blissful!
The TES Magazine has printed my article - pages 20-23 - and it looks great. I am really pleased with it, although part of me does also cringe at the rather graphic picture they have included with it. Warning to self-harmers - this picture may be triggering. I am slightly disappointed that there is no mention of the article on the front cover of the magazine - you wouldn't know it was there unless you were actually flicking through it - however, they have printed exactly what I wrote, and there is also a little fact box of advice from someone else, which is good.
The Observer review has now been added to the press and publicity page of the RED TEARS site. I am delighted with it.
I have also just heard that the May edition of the Bookseller magazine has selected RED TEARS and BABYFATHER as recommended reads - wonderful! Am hoping to get my hands on a copy and will post those up when I can. Better make a new page for publicity on this site!
The final copies of PERFECT were waiting for me on my return and I am absolutely thrilled with them. They look wonderful. I had completely forgotten that I had dedicated it to the girls I teach at school - must take in some copies tomorrow to show them!
Publicity-wise, it's all go in the next couple of weeks. I should have a couple more interviews this week, but the one I can definitely confirm will be on radio on the evening of Tuesday 27th February on BBC RADIO LONDON 94.9. The slot is 10.30-11.30pm so if you fancy listening in, I shall try to say something sensible! Go to this page and select Radio London 94.9 and you can listen online.
Will update in the next few days with further publicity news. Must try to get myself organised for the school week ahead now though!
PS Is it bad that I am childishly delighted that RED TEARS is currently at no.7 on the Amazon Bestsellers Children's Fiction List (Issues section)?
13th February 2007
Just a quick note from an internet cafe in Egypt! I hear that the TES wants to run an article that I originally wrote for the Sunday Times Magazine (that Big Newspaper I told you about earlier...) - and it's supposed to be in this Friday's edition - 16th February. Keep an eye out!
I have also just heard that the Observer newspaper printed a review of RED TEARS on Sunday - will copy the review onto the site when I get home, but it was very complimentary - phew!
Will update with all my latest news in a few days' time.
7th Feburary 2007
Last week, I had an interview over the phone for Country House magazine and one here at home with the journalist for the Oxford Times. Both went very well and I actually rather enjoyed having to think up answers to new questions. This week I was supposed to have two more interviews, but they haven't happened. I shall be away from my desk for the half term week, so I guess that means there will be lots of publicity when I come back - only two weeks before RED TEARS is published!
I heard yesterday that PERFECT is still on schedule for 28th Feb, and that they are expecting copies to arrive in the office next week. Reluctant readers are rather a niche market (for those of you who aren't familiar with the term, it basically means short stories for kids who either don't like reading or find it difficult. I specialise in writing for teenagers with a reading age of below 8) so books published in that category don't make much of a commercial splash. It's a shame in a way, because they're still books in their own right, and they can be enjoyed by kids of all levels. It was nice to be asked about them by the Oxford Times, although I don't know if that bit will make it into the final cut.
I have a MySpace page now! You can find it here - and there's also a page for Emily Bowyer , the main character from RED TEARS. I was very excited to find Malorie Blackman, Melvin Burgess and Kevin Brooks online - and have added them to my 'friends'!
27th January 2007
Yesterday was a very busy day! I went up to London to meet Julia (Faber editor) for lunch (ah! business lunches, what a great invention!) and to discuss My Writing Future with Faber. It all went swimmingly well. I told her about my next novel (the one that needs rewriting) and she got very enthusiastic about it and kept saying 'so when can I see it?' which is EXACTLY what I needed. I suggested April as a tentative deadline, and she said that would be perfect timing because that would mean that if they liked it, they could release it around 18 months after RED TEARS, which is apparently a good length of time between books (anything longer than 18 months and the publicity has to start from scratch because the readership has forgotten about me...!).
I also told Julia about an idea I've been mulling over for a series of books for the 8-12 age range. I don't want to say any more at the moment, but I believe I have found a tiny gap in the market, and I'd be keen to fill it. Julia got very excited about that idea too, which was lovely. All in all, it was a very successful trip, and we talked about all sorts of things and not just books.
Then yesterday evening, I went out to a Writers in Oxford party which was held at Philip Pullman's house, only 15 minutes from me. It's nice that I now know quite a few writers by sight, so at least I don't feel like an absolute newbie each time! Philip's house is fantastic, and I am very jealous of his huge kitchen (I'd love to be able to fit a table into my kitchen) and the walls and walls of bookshelves in his study. It was strangely reassuring to see that his house is rather untidy, like mine - piles of CDs and paperwork on the side in the kitchen and piles of books on the floor in the study (thus proving the rule that however many bookshelves you have, you will always have at least twenty books left over). His study is full of the wooden things he is making - a boat and a horse - and a parlour bagatelle set , which made me feel very nostalgic as I used to play bagatelle when I visited my grandparents.
Philip himself was simply glowing over being given the Freedom of Oxford recently and made a great host. It was nice to catch up with Cindy Jeffries too, and she and I had a lovely chat about the perils and pitfalls of writing series books for the 8-12 age group. Dennis Hamley was there too and I was able to show him a copy of RED TEARS, which he was very interested in as we had talked about it at the Christmas party.
As a final coincidence, I happened to meet the journalist who is going to interview me for the Oxford Times! Considering there were only 30 or so people at the party, what must the odds have been on that?!
22nd January 2007
I am starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the media interest in RED TEARS. Now, it's all preliminary at the moment (very little is confirmed) but even so, there seems to be an awful lot of newspapers and magazines contacting Faber. I am finding it very difficult to concentrate on anything at the moment. I am also desperately contacting people who helped me with my book and asking them if they are willing to speak on TV or to the papers. Understandably, many are reluctant. It's just not the sort of thing you want to broadcast to the nation.
Yesterday, I printed off a copy of the YA novel I wrote just before Christmas. I also printed off Penny's notes so that I can have them to hand when I go through it. That's as far as I got...
I went to hear a local band play last night and I thought they were so good, I should put a link to them on here. They are called The Long Insiders . Great rhythms and guitar playing, and the songs are really catchy. They were followed by a band that has just been signed to a record label, but between you and me, I thought The Long Insiders were miles better. But then, I don't work for a record company, so what do I know?!
14th January 2007
Happy New Year! It's been an exciting couple of weeks already, although I have been getting over an extremely virulent cold (which I gather puts me in the majority of the population this year!) so my head is only just able to take it all in.
RED TEARS is all go go go with regards to publicity and stuff. I have re-written my article for That Newspaper and hope that this version is better than the last one (well, I know it's better - just hope they agree!). To read more about The Newspaper article, check out my Archived News: 2006
Two advance copies of the Final Version dropped through my letterbox about a week ago. Extremely exciting to see the book in all its glory! The front cover looks FAB, and the whole thing is very well put together. The only gripe I have is that the 'trigger warning' for self-harmers (which basically says 'this book could be triggering, please look after yourself') was moved from a very prominent position to the end of the Acknowledgements, where no one is likely to see it (and it's right opposite the Prologue, which is a graphic description of self-harm). I was quite disappointed about this, becuase it's not what was agreed on the final PDF that I approved just before Christmas. I wasn't sure if I should say anything to Faber because obviously it's too late to do anything about it now, and I didn't want to come across as 'moany author' but much to my relief, Julia (my editor) feels exactly the same way I do. Not to put too fine a point on it, any future reprints will have the corrected version. Julia even said she had considered having the entire print run pulped (!!) but we have all agreed that the error shouldn't harm sales and besides, we have just had the fantastic news that Waterstones has chosen RED TEARS to go into its 3 for 2 front-of-store promotion! This is great because it has a guaranteed impact on sales (although of course, the publisher and I get less money per copy because it's being sold at a discount) and we couldn't have qualified for the offer if the books weren't already in.
So that's all very exciting, and there are a few other media possibilities in the pipeline, but more about that if/when they actually happen!
Purely by coincidence, PERFECT, my first book with Barrington Stoke, will be published on 28th February - the day before RED TEARS comes out! My husband is wondering if there is some kind of record for the number of books published by one author in one week...
And as for my on-going writing - well, it isn't really at the moment. Because I've beeen ill, I didn't do any preparation for the start of term and so I am waaay behind with my lesson planning. So the revisions to my next novel will have to wait a bit longer until I'm on top of my school work.
I went to the West Ox Arts Gallery yesterday to meet some people involved in the proposed Story Museum in Oxford project. I've been to Seven Stories in Newcastle and just drooled over it. It would be fantastic if we had something similar here. Hopefully they will contact me in the future. I also met Korky Paul, who I'm sure I've seen at Society of Authors seminars, and had a lovely chat with him. He was very complimentary about the front cover of RED TEARS, which was of course designed by Sarah J Coleman (check out her website, it's beautiful!). He asked me if I'd like to be involved in the Oxford Literary Festival - yes yes yes!
It looks like 2007 is going to be really thrilling for me, book-wise. I do hope I can get another book accepted by the end of the year, otherwise I am in danger of losing momentum. Mind you, with Penny on my back (which is GOOD) there isn't much opportunity for resting on my laurels!
A very Happy New Year to anyone dropping by, and I hope 2007 is good for you too!