Newsletter - August 2005

Hi Everyone,

I can’t believe it’s August already. This summer has just flown by. I’ve just come back from two weeks in West Cork and it was a dream of a holiday. A whole week of blissful sun and another week of sunny/cloudy weather. Back to work now! Blast!

Writing and Books

Take a Chance has just been published in Ireland. It’s the story of three sisters, Gemma, Wendy and Mia, who run an Abba tribute band called Abbafab. I had such fun writing it. There are some quite serious moments in the book but balanced out, I hope, by the lighter-hearted scenes. Do let me know what you think of it. My email address is sarah@sarahwebb.info or you can leave a message on the forum.

Take a Chance Book Launch

The book will be launched on the 10^th August by the lovely Claudia Carroll of Fair City fame. If you’d like an invite, do email me. It’s in Dun Laoghaire at 6.30 and all are welcome. I’ll post some photographs from the launch in the photo gallery.

Open Door Series

I’ve also written a book for the acclaimed Open Door series - books for adult beginner readers. I was delighted to be asked (by the lovely Patricia Scanlon who edits the series) as it’s such a worthwhile enterprise. It’s called ‘The Baby Shower’ and will be published in spring 2006 along with books by Cecelia Ahern and John Connolly. So I’m in good company.

I was also involved with the Moments short story collection, published in April of this year in aid of the Tsunami. It’s a fantastic collection, do buy it if you get a chance. I know there are a few copies left and it’s well worth a read. My story is called ‘One Moment in Time’.

And I’ve been working on my next book, which will be published in Ireland in August 2006 and in the UK in the spring 2007 (2007!! how scary is that?). The working title is ‘When the Boys are Away’.

Sailing

Over the summer I sailed in the Dun Laoghaire regatta with my partner and friends on our J24 yacht. We came a respectable 4^th out of about 16. It was lovely to be out on the water again and I really enjoyed the racing. I hope to do a lot more sailing next year.

Reading

I’ve read a wide variety of books recently, including -

	Second Fiddle by Siobhan Parkinson, an excellent book for nine to eleven year olds about a sassy young teenager, Mags and her rather unusual friendship with a girl called Gillian. A great book for any Jacqueline Wilson fan.
	How I Live Now by Meg Roscoff has just come out in paperback and is well worth a read. The story of a teenager called Daisy, it’s one of the best books I’ve read in the last two years. Funny, sad, tender, thoughtful. Ostensibly a teenage book, like ‘A Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’, it can be enjoyed by readers of any age.
	I’ve also dipped in and out of a book called ‘Writing Down the Bones’ by Natalie Goldberg, a book about being a writer and living a writing life. Thanks to the lovely Aileen in Dubray Books in Rathmines for recommending it to me.
On the romantic fiction side of things - I’ve enjoyed Colette Caddle’s latest, Changing Places and also Sinead Moriarty’s book about adoption, The Perfect Match. Both funny, touching and well written novels.

Upcoming Events

Take a Chance Tour

I’ll be signing copies of Take a Chance in Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Wexford and other places in the next few weeks. So do come along and say ‘hi’ if you’re in the area. I’ll post the dates and approx. times on the forum on my website www.sarahwebb.info and on the Irish Girls’ site - www.writeon-irishgirls.com as soon as they are confirmed.

Readers’ Day

I will also be speaking at a readers’ day on 1^st October at the Great Southern Hotel in Dublin Airport. It’s called ‘Books, the Great Escape’ and should be a brilliant day. Others speaking include my good friends Martina Devlin, Clare Dowling, Tina Reilly, Marita Conlon Mc Kenna, and many, many more. For more information and booking details ring 01 8906237 or email artsoffice@fingalcoco.ie.

Athlone Book Festival

I will also be speaking at the Athlone Book Festival on the 8^th October with Deirdre Purcell, Chris Binchy and Colm Toibin. So if you live in or near Athlone, do pop along to that.

Eason Barney’s Event

Some of the Irish Girls (the group of Irish women writers - see www.writeon-irishgirls.com for details) took part in a special summer reading event in Barney’s Cafe in Eason, O’Connell Street, Dublin at the end of July. It was great fun and a good chance to catch up with some readers and writers.

New on the Website

There are new interviews with Claudia Carroll and Sinead Moriarty on the Writer’s Tips page - and fascinating they are too! If you are interested in writing, they’re a must.

I have also updated Amy-Rose’s Reading Diary, and the All About Me pages. I do hope you like them.

Happy Reading!

Best,

Sarah XXX