More on Literary Agents

I was prompted by a feature by Catherine Heaney in today’s The Gloss (The Irish Times magazine) to write about agents. The piece is mainly about Irish agents and I’ve often been asked why I don’t have an Irish agent. I’m represented by Lucas Alexander Whitley, LAW, and in particular Philippa Milnes-Smith and Peta Nightingale. They are based in central London.

Catherine’s piece mentions the Irish agents Faith O’Grady, Marianne Gunn O’Connor and Jonathan Williams who was the first agent in Ireland (he set up in 1986) and last year received over 2,800 submissions. He says ‘the standard hasn’t necessarily improved. I think the sad fact is that there are more people writing than reading.’

Claire Kilroy is also interviewed. She said she went to London to meet with several agents before deciding on Simon Trewin at United Agents. She says ‘I went with the one I felt I could speak most openly to, and who spoke most openly back.’ Simon also represents John Boyne.

Also mentioned are agents Peter Straus (who represents Colm Toibin and Hugo Hamilton), Ivan Mulcahy (Hugo Arnold and Domini Kemp), Ed Victor (Edna O’Brien and John Banville) and Derek Johns (Sebastian Barry and Paul Murray), all based in London.

So why, like many other Irish authors, did I chose an agent based in London?

1/ They represent authors who write for children and for adults (and who write for both). As I write across the age groups, this was important to me.

2/ They have an amazing stable of authors – Sophie Kinsella on the adult side, Chris Riddell and Paul Stewart on the children’s. Not to mention Justin Somper, Linda Chapman, Steve Cole and . . . you get the drift.

3/ Philippa used to be the MD of Puffin Books, London. She knows her stuff. As does Peta.

4/ They were recommended to be by an author I know well and trust. And he very kindly gave me an email intro to Philippa.

5/ They are based in London. My publishers are based in London. A lot of launches, meetings, and book fairs take place in London. It makes sense to have an agent also based in London if you want to make writing your career.

6/ I met Philippa and Peta in person before signing with them and really liked them both. And they keep me on my toes writing-wise. I’m working harder on my writing than I’ve ever worked before. Which is great.

What you need in an agent:

1/ Someone who knows what they are doing in Ireland, the UK and internationally.

2/ Someone who does not gush about your work and your ideas (unless they really are brilliant of course!). You need honesty. You need to be able to rely on their opinion and their opinion needs to be consistent.

3/ Someone you can trust. They will be dealing with your financial affairs after all.

4/ Someone who is in London a lot for business or is based in London. Or if your main market is New York, is based New York. Or someone who is willing to travel to all the major book fairs to sell your work and keep in touch with the larger publishing world.

5/ Someone with a track record of getting good deals for authors. Ask an agent who they represent. This will tell you a lot.

6/ Someone with proven experience in contract law – book contract law – this is a must.

But here’s the thing – it’s very, very hard to find a good agent. They already have a lot of writers on their books. They only take on people they know they can work with and are serious about writing as a career.

The good new is this – if you book is good enough and if you are dedicated to writing in the long term, and if an agent thinks there is a market for your book/books - you will find a good agent. And agents do take on writers who show great potential but haven’t quite got to the publishable stage yet.

So take heart – there is someone out there to represent you.

How to find a good agent:

1/ Ask any authors you know for a recommendation. A caveat – never use their name on a letter to an agent unless they have given you the go ahead to do so.

2/ If you write popular fiction, there are generally acknowledgements at the front or back of the book. This will tell you who the writer’s agent is – as most people thank their agent. Make a list of these agents, find out where they work - what agency - and approach them.

3/ Any up to date Writers and Artists’ Handbook will list agents – check out the websites and they will tell you how to submit. Only submit to agents who deal with your genre/age group. Otherwise you are wasting your time.

4/ Go to How to Get Published talks that agents are speaking at and approach them. Politely of course. Introduce yourself. Ask can you send them your manuscript. If you join Irish Pen (google it), they hold twice yearly getting published events for writers.

5/ Try some newer or up and coming agents. Find this info in The Bookseller magazine – you can find it in your local library - or google it – it has a website and news pages. If you write for children join Children’s Books Ireland and go to some of their events. Ditto Irish Pen. Talk to other writers – find out a little about the publishing world and new agents that way. (As always, the writers who do their homework win in the end!)

And do meet an agent in person if possible before you sign with them. And don’t be afraid to ask them questions. Be yourself but your best self when you meet them! (And yes, it’s nerve wracking - I was very nervous when I met Philippa and Peta for the first time – it’s natural to be nervous!). You need to know you can work together. You don’t have to be best friends, but you do have to get on and like each other!

15% is the standard rate agents charge. And yes, it is worth it. I often hear quibbles about this from (funnily enough) unpublished writers. Good agents earn their money many times over – believe me.

Best of luck finding a good agent!

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

The Most Overused Things in YA Fiction

As promised, a look at the most overused things in 9+ and YA fiction - with thanks to Joelle Anthony (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Bulletin) www.joelleanthony.com In the latest SCBWI magazine Joelle Anthony talks about the most common things in fiction for children and teens. She reads about 100 YA books a year (impressive!) and has created a list of overused things. Here are some of them:

Do feel free to add to this list in the comments box below.

1/ Boys with long, lush eyelashes 2/ Main character who can’t sing 3/ Fingernail biting 4/ Dead mothers

Here are some others:

1/ Main characters who hate maths (or math in the US) 2/ Guys with green eyes – green is the new blue 3/ Clumsy characters 4/ Main characters who are the only people in the world without a mobile 5/ Gorgeous, popular younger sisters 6/ Poor girls who are scholarship students 7/ A main character with only one best friend 8/ Female characters who are obsessed with Jane Austen 9/ Hot, young looking mums 10/ Characters who like retro music – generally of the era when the author was in school 11/ Irresponsible parents 12/ A red haired best friend

Joelle wrote this list because she wanted to encourage authors to stretch themselves and to point out areas where they may think they are being original, but they really are not!

So, am I guilty of any of the above?

Yes – green eyed boys; a main character with only one best friend; and irresponsible parents. But I love green eyes; Amy Green has only one best friend, Mills, but she also has an aunt and a boyfriend; and irresponsible parents are so much more fun t write than sensible ones! Boys with long eyelashes – Guilty! Fingernail biting – Guilty!

What about YOU? How do you fare?

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

My Favourite Books on Writing

I just did this short piece for my friend's new website - www.writing.ie which will go live very soon - more news on that anon. But for now - some of my very favourite books on writing and some quotes - one mine, one by E L Doctorow.

Enjoy! Yours in Writing, Sarah X

PS Some interesting stuff coming up next week blog wise on the most overused things in YA fiction - triggered by a great piece in the latest SCBWI magazine - including irresponsible parents (Jackie Wilson), characters who like 80s/90s music (of the era when the writer was at school - very common all right!), and clumsy characters (a la Bella in Twilight). Are you guilty? Lots more next week . . . stay tuned!

Books

If you want to or do write popular fiction, or kind of fiction really, the best book I’ve ever read on the subject is without doubt On Writing by Stephen King. It’s funny, inspiring and honest.

The best book on getting published is From Pitch to Publication by Carole Blake, an invaluable guide from an agent who really knows her stuff.

And the best book on living a writer’s life is The Right to Write by Julia Cameron Succinct, direct and truthful, a book I come back to over and over again if I’m in need of a little writerly pick me up.

Others I’ve found useful are:

The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers by Betsy Lerner (American - get on Amazon or order in your local bookshop!) A fascinating book described as ‘a riveting safari through the wilds of a writer’s brain.’ Ever wondered what exactly editors think about when faced with a manuscript, then this is the book for you!

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is more memoir than writing guide, but is very entertaining. And finally, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, billed as how to ‘free the writer within’ is another good writerly pick-me-up.

My favourite writing quote is this one:

Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. E L Doctorow

The true secret of writing: bum glue. A good dollop every day, no excuses, no exceptions. It’s the only way you’ll ever finish a book. Bum glue and damn hard work. Sarah Webb (moi!)

What Children Have Taught Me About Writing

My New Year’s Blog Resolution This year the focus of this blog from now on will be WRITING for both adults and children. It will be aimed at writers of all kinds and all ages – new, old, experienced, just starting out. Those interested in getting published and those hoping to stay published!

It will also cover marketing and promoting your book, author interviews, book trade interviews and reviews. When I work out how to do it, I will a/ come up with a good name for the blog – it is currently The Launch Lizard but as there are less and less of these happening it is due for a change and b/ when I can nab my lovely webguy and get him to change it, along with a lot of other website updates – note to self - must find time, must make time, must get on with it!

This is the first blog of 2011 – so Happy New Year and I hope 2011 is a good writing one for you all. If anyone is interested in guest blogging, do let me know. Laura C? Claire? David M? Luisa? I know you’re out there, you can run but you can’t hide!

If you like this blog, please tell your friends about it. It will also be posted on my Facebook page and Twitter page. Yes, I’m attempting to Twitter this year as I have adult readers and I’m told by David Maybury (www.davidmaybury.com) that I must!

So to: What Children (and Young Teens) Have Taught Me About Writing

As always I must prefix the following post by saying I write popular fiction, and proud of it. For all ages - young and young at heart. But most of this relates to all kinds of writing (but maybe not poetry!).

I met over 3,000 young readers in 2010 and this is what I found out:

1/ The importance of character over plot If I wrote crime fiction or thrillers this might not be the case - but it’s what all young readers remember most about a book – the characters. Make them memorable Make them realistic Make them BIG and have BIG problems My new adult novel (not out until 2012 – sorry, it took a lot of thinking and work!) has some huge but realistic characters. The main character, Julia, is hard work in the ‘If you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure don’t deserve me at my best’ mode.

2/ The importance of getting to the point – quickly No waffling around No over long descriptions No sub plots that go nowhere fast and detract from the main story Story, story, story – and no getting distracted

3/ The importance of using words readers can understand and relate to Yes, be clever with language Yes, of course stretch your readers a bit by using unusual words in the right context so they can work out the meaning Yes, be creative with your descriptions But don’t alienate the reader by using a big, complex word when a simple one will do Even in books for ‘big’ people!

4/ The importance of making your dialogue sing Children like dialogue – when it’s realistic and funny and fast and snappy They hate boring, pointless dialogue – don’t we all?!

5/ Make it FUNNY Number one thing young readers love is funny – a good old belly laugh.

6/ Make it SAD They also love sad (esp the girls) Who knew? Young readers like a good cry just as much as older readers. Don’t be afraid of strong using strong emotions.

7/ The importance of having something to say Sounds simple – well it’s not. Young readers are pretty sophisticated. They pick up on themes, mood, atmosphere pretty quickly. Use this.

8/ Make every word count Children’s books (the Amy Green kind) are 30k to 50k long. There’s no room for messing about. If you’re not sure of a scene, cut it. Cut, cut, cut! If a book works without a scene, it shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

9/ Boring is bad, exciting is good Claudia Carroll’s first commandment of popular fiction holds true for all ages: Thou Shalt Not Bore!

10/ The opening is VITAL If a young reader doesn’t like the first page, she or he won’t read on. Simple as that. They don’t care that their parent has spent good money on a book. They don’t care how many awards the book has won. They have better things to be doing with their time, than reading a sub standard book. Don’t lose your reader on the first page!

11/ Young readers are very loyal and love revisiting characters For young readers, characters are friends. And they love revisiting friends. Which is why they love series. Adults aren’t all that different – look at Marple, Scarpetta (when she was good!), Harry Potter, the Shopaholic books. Maybe adult writers should write more series too! Funnily enough my new adult books are in a series – fancy that – The Shoestring Club, The Shoestring Proposal. And if they do well, there may very well be more Shoestrings in the pipeline. Who knows?!

12/ They love meeting or connecting with the people who write the books they love – that would be me and maybe you (if you’re also a writer). In fact they expect to be able to contact writers, plain and simple and they take if quite personally if you don’t write back. I’ve been told exactly who does and doesn’t write back to readers, folks – the children and teens love telling me this - but no, I’m not going to out them. So be a non-replier at your peril!!! There is no excuse not to have a Facebook page, blog, website, Twitter account (for adult authors – children and teens don’t get Twitter) and to connect with your readers. Besides, it’s fun. And great when you’re looking for a distraction or a water cooler moment when you’re supposed to be writing . . . ahem, that would be me! Better get back to my Amy Green 4 edits . . .

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

How I Write a Book – Step 2

As I’m snowed in with the kids – no school - I can’t write fiction or edit as they are too distracting and keep asking me daft questions about food (daughter’s obsession) and trains (son’s), but I can blog! Lucky you, eh?! This is the second in the occasional series on How I Write a Book – part 1 was on ideas, characters etc. This one is on plotting and getting started. I’ll use The Shoestring Club as an example as it’s the book I’m working on at the moment.

Darn, my fingers are so cold I can hardly type – OK, quick hand heat on the aga and here we go.

Now first the disclaimer: Every writer writes in a very, very different way. This is just the way I do it. And I’m certainly not suggesting it will work for everyone. It doesn’t even work for me sometimes! So take everything I say with a large sea rock of salt.

First comes 1/ The Initial Idea and 2/ The Characters or sometimes 1/ The Characters and 2/ The Idea I will also know my genre and age group – easy choices for me – but maybe not for everyone. For more details see the previous post ‘How I Write a Book Step 1 – you will find it in This Writer’s Life’.

So once I have my initial idea and characters, I start plotting the whole book. Before I start writing chapter one I will have a good idea of the date the book starts – yes, the actual date – 1st May, 3rd June etc – I use a calendar for this to make it accurate and I’ve taken to writing the date of the particular scene after the chapter number – it helps with the editing process and my editors appreciate it. It makes sense really, don’t know why I didn’t do it before. The dates come out for the final edit and book of course.

I then decide how long the book will span – a month, a year etc. Then I pick my starting point – usually this is bang in the middle of the action. I sometimes open with dialogue, mainly involving my main character. But don’t worry about openings yet, get your first draft down, that’s the nb thing!

Back to plotting. I grab my yellow legal notebook – always yellow – and start at chapter one and map out the different scenes. Now, these always change when I write the actual chapters, but it gives me the confidence to start writing. And then I update the plot plan constantly as I go along.

Think about your characters and your plot as often as you can – when walking, commuting, showering, in bed etc. The more you think, the easier it will be to write. KNOW YOUR CHARACTERS. I can’t say it often enough. You will get to know them even better during your drafts too.

In the case of The Shoestring Club I knew exactly how the last 1/3 of the book was going to play out as I’d thought about it so much, and knew the characters backwards, and when it came to writing the scenes, they played out in my head and I just wrote what I was seeing happen. It’s a hard thing to describe, but if you know your characters and know how they will act and respond to different situations, it just flows. Sometimes my plot notes are vague and short, it’s just a quick sketch of a scene – here are the notes for the early chapters of The Shoestring Club. I’ve added bits in brackets to explain a bit.

Chapter 1 In the shop – Shoestring Pandora and Jules (Jules is the main character, Pandora is her sister) Flashback to what happened to Jules at Ed and Lainey’s engagement party (Ed is Jules’s ex and Lainey is her ex best friend) Chapter 2 Arietty comes into shop Arietty and Jules conspire over coffee to set up the Shoestring Club to share the dress The Shoestring Club is a time-sharing club for designer dresses. (Shoestring is the name of Pandora’s shop where Jules works. It’s a second hand designer shop.) Chapter 4 Ed comes into the shop – Jules upset – Bird (her granny who also works in the shop) sees how upset she is Flashback to Jules and her mum – Kirsten – dies when Jules is 9 – background of her relationship with Pandora etc

This all changed a lot and the early chapters are now completely different – but it gave the first draft a structure and allowed me to start writing in the first place.

The Opening

For the first draft, just start writing. Don’t agonise for weeks over your opening, just write. Fix the opening later.

So now you have 1/ your idea 2/ your characters 3/ some sort of plot plan (not everyone plots – if you are the kind of person who likes to know where their passport is weeks before a holiday, you may be a plotter!). The next step is writing the first draft. And to be honest, it’s just hard graft. But next time I’ll deal with motivation and the sticky half way point. Until then, happy writing.

And Happy Christmas and New Year’s of course. I hope all your writing dreams come true in 2011.

Yours in writing, Sarah XXX

On Making Yourself Cry

On Making Yourself Cry (While Writing I Mean!) – Tales from a Blurry Eyed Writer

I often make myself cry when I am writing – and no, not because I’m stuck, or the writing’s not all it should be on that particular day (both which happen sometimes I’ll admit) but because I genuinely upset myself.

Writing Amy Green 4 was a tissue-fest. One of the main characters, Bailey, has a très sad back story and telling his tale got to me sometimes. And yes, I’m a bit softie most of the time anyway, I cry at a lot of things – films, telly, sad things people tell me. I think a lot of writers wear their hearts on their sleeves to be honest. You have to be able to emphasise and really feel what your characters feel on a daily basis or you can’t write good characters, it’s as simple as that. And life can be pretty tough sometimes – and even in books for young readers, you have deal with some seriously sad stuff. So no wonder we’re all so emotional, us writerly people.

This morning I wrote a chapter of The Shoestring Club, my adult book for 2012. It’s nearly finished now and I’ve been dreading writing this scene since I planned the book. I don’t always plan books so carefully, but this one I did as I have a tight schedule next year writing-wise – another adult book to write and an Amy Green, plus another children’s book (possibly), so I wanted to keep tight reins on the book, hence the detailed chapter by chapter plan. And actually, in this case it’s worked really well. And no, I don’t think it has taken from the spontaneity of the book. There are still plenty of surprises in this book, both planned and unplanned.

Anyway my main character, Jules (Julia) is talking to someone about her childhood and the death of her mother (Jules was only 9 at the time) and I found myself sobbing, wiping my eyes with my sleeve and trying to type through the tears. Not easy I can tell you. Then once I’d finished the scene I went back over it several times, deepening the dialogue, giving some of Jules’s thoughts as she’s sitting there, crying herself, and adding some back story snippets of her talking to her dying mother. It’s still not perfect, it needs work, but emotionally it’s pretty strong stuff. And it’s only taken me fifteen years of writing to get to that point! Nothing really. My books are going to be so amazing in another fifteen years! Seriously! Because these days I don’t shy away from scenes that are difficult or upsetting or intense – I just go for it. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t and then I cut the scenes and rewrite, or leave the scene out altogether. But when it works, it’s magic.

So pour your own emotion all over your page. Image you are your character, let their feelings wash through you and make yourself cry. Go on, I dare you!

I wish you all, as always, good writing days.

Yours in writing,

Sarah X

How I Write a Book - Step 1

I’ve just realised I haven’t really blogged about how I write a book from start to finish – from the very first idea to the actual final manuscript. So using the book I’ve just finished, Ask Amy Green: Party Drama-rama (Amy 4) I’ll try to explain how I do this. It might take a couple of weeks as I’m talking details people! ‘Cos I’m that kinda gal. And ‘pologies if I come over all Amy while I’m writing this – she’s 13 and she loves twisting the ole Hiberno English to make it fun. Which is fun to write too. But more of that anon. Now first the disclaimer:

Every writer writes in a very, very different way. This is just the way I do it. And I’m certainly not suggesting it will work for everyone. It doesn’t even work for me sometimes! So take everything I say with a large sea rock of salt!

1/ The Initial Idea This is the number one question I get asked at events and in schools – ‘Where do you get your ideas?’

And it’s a very hard one to answer. If I’m talking to younger readers and writers of say under 14 I tend to tell them about my crazy, mad thought-filled mind and how it never rests and is always spewing up ideas. Like today – I was stuck at home with the kids (snowed in) and thinking about how that might feel if it happened for more than a week – how would we cope. Then – being a writer – I thought, hey, that’s an interesting one for a book. It could be a/ a comedy about a family muddling through and being resourceful and learning to work together after practically killing each other or b/ a Hunger Games type dystopian teen novel where the family really do kill each other – I’d have to throw in some sort of reality tv show then maybe or c/ a romance where 2 neighbouring families are thrown together – maybe a widow and a single mum – and they bond over show shovels. See, my mind works in mysterious ways and there is always, always something cool to write about.

Where was I? Ah yes, ideas. And the idea for Amy 4 in particular.

For me, largely the characters come first. In the case of Amy 4 I already knew all the main characters – Amy, Clover, her crazy 17 year old aunt, Mills, Amy’s best friend, Sylvie, her mum, Art, her Dad, Dave, her step dad and so on.

Before I think about plot, I tend to do a lot of work on the characters. For Amy 4 I had a new character to concentrate on, Bailey Otis. He has a small walk on part in Amy 3 but I needed to flesh him out a lot more. So I grabbed my character note book and started writing pages and pages – what I knew about him – from where he was born, to his childhood, his parents, schools, music he likes, talents, hates, likes etc etc.

Actually – REWIND – the very, very first thing I do is decide what age group I’m writing for – adult, young teen, early reader etc. Sometimes the character or story dictates what age the book will be for – if the character is 13 the readership is likely to be 10+ etc. But for the Amy Green books (Amy is 13), I knew I wanted to write for young teens – about 10/11+.

Oh and genre – for me the genre chooses me, not the other way around. I write the way I write – lots of dialogue, not too much description, fast paced story lines, characters readers can relate to but are still ‘big’ and interesting (I hope) – and I can’t change that. ‘Tis just who I am. It generally fits into the broad ‘popular fiction’ genre. More on that another day but for now . . .

Back to characters. Once I’ve got the main characters firmly in my head I think about the plot and the setting.

Plot

Plot is an interesting one. Some writers – especially crime writers apparently – start with plot. But I do have an idea of the type of thing I’d like to write about before I put pen to paper. It tends to swirl around in my head, picking up momentum and speed, before forming into anything coherent.

I knew I wanted to make Amy Green a problem solver. I also knew I wanted to give her an older side kick who could drive and had a job and some money. Clover was originally going to be 21 until my very wise friend, Liz, said that that was too grown up and younger was better. So I made her 17 instead which worked much better – thanks, Liz!

Once I decided to make Clover a journalist, and an agony aunt for teens, I found my ‘in’ to the problem solving. Basically Amy is brilliant at solving other people’s problems, but not so hot with her own problems.

So then I had my premise and my characters, and I just had to fill in the plot. Which has never been hard with the Amy books as my characters have a lot to say and live very eventful lives!

The Shoestring Club

I’ll use the new adult novel, The Shoestring Club to say a little bit more about ideas. First of all I knew I was writing an adult novel, but I wanted to make the characters younger – 20s as opposed to 30s or 40s. I wanted them to be full of hope, lively and funny – making huge mistakes and still finding out who they are. I find it a very interesting age. I missed out on a lot of my 20s on account of having a baby so young – but that’s another story.

I chose a main character – Jules – deeply flawed but very funny and likable most of the time – a real larger than life character. And her sister, Pandora, and her mad granny, Bird. At the centre of the book is a dress time sharing plan – I wanted Jules to meet and become friends with some very different women in an unusual way. So she finds a girl called Arietty in the second hand designer shop she works in (Shoestring – Pandora’s shop), and this girl falls in love with the same dress Jules wants desperately to wear at her ex-boyfriend and ex-best friend’s wedding (Ed and Lainey) but can’t afford on her own, and they strike up an agreement to share the dress – and hence they become friends. Arietty is very beautiful and it’s been very interesting writing about a character who feels very much an outsider in Ireland.

Friendship and making new friends is very much at the heart of this book.

Where did the second hand clothes shop idea setting come from? I adore this second hand place in Dun Laoghaire called Stock Exchange. I buy and sell lots of stuff in there – it’s a real treasure trove. Some of my favourite wardrobe bits have been someone else’s cast offs! And I like the whole idea of going to people’s houses and checking out their clothes – which Pandora does and Jules will do in the second book – as I’m frightfully nosy. So it was the ideal job for my characters. A lot of the book is set in the shop too which is fun. As I’ve worked in shops before (mainly bookshops) I know all about tills, staff rooms, customers etc – so that bit was easy enough. And I’ve spent so much time in Stock Exchange I know how that works too! And the rest – I researched or made up.

Right, enough for one night, better get to bed now.

But basically – ideas come from everywhere – keep your eyes open and one will bite you on the nose. Now, I wonder if that family getting snowed in idea would actually work? Or a YA novel about a Lockdown in a school . . . my son’s school had a Lockdown drill recently, a new one on me, but common now in the US . . . now that’s an interesting one . . .

Rejection - Get Used to It!

This week a very polite Transition Year student emailed me. He's writing a piece for the Irish Indo on rejection and asked had my work ever been rejected. Well the answer is yes, of course! Most writers if not all have had to deal with some sort of rejection. It's part of the writing game. So you'd better get used to it.Here's what I told him:

My first book, KIds Can Cook was rejected six times before it was finally published by Children's Press. Every time the postman knocked on the door and handed my manuscript back to me in a self-addressed jiffy bag, my heart sank. But I was determined, so I kept sending it out to different publishers. I was twenty-five at the time, and I knew had a good hook and hadn't been done before, so I just kept trying. As Beckett once said 'Try again. Fail again. Fail better.'

Eventually it was picked up and published and became a very successful book. The experience taught me three things: 1/ to write what you love and are passionate about 2/ to do your market research (esp if you want to write popular fiction or non fiction) 3/ to never give up.

Writers must have or develop a thick skin. Even now I get ideas for books turned down by my agent or my publishers, because they are not good enough or not quite right for the market, or it's been done before.

Writing is a tough job, but the rewards - for me, readers who get what I'm trying to say - are worth it. But it's hard work and you have to have a lot of self belief. Being stubborn also helps! Boy does being stubborn help!

I met a professional dancer the other day in RTE who has worked on the X-Factor and other huge shows - we were both on a children's show called Elev8 - and he was asked the secret of his success. Hard work he said. And sticking with it. And going to dance class every day you're not working and keeping fit.

It's a lot like writing. The secret: hard work, daily practice and sticking with it.

Better take my own advice and get back to the writing now!

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

Writing in November

Hi All, Sorry I haven't been blogging much - Oct was manic! I did over 17 different school and library visits and spoke to over 1,000 children about writing - phew! It was fun but I'm glad to be back at my desk now, working on the new adult novel and re-writes for Amy Green 4.

November is a great writing month - it's dark, windy, wet and generally a bit depressing. Christmas is still a long way away (honest!), and there's no better time to get the head down and write. Or so I keep telling myself.

I was hoping not to have to do much Amy Green 4 rewriting and tweaking - but that was not to be. My editors thought otherwise! And I trust them 100% and now that I'm getting started on the rewrites I know that they are 110% right, it needs work. The bones are there, the characters are there, the emotion is there, I just have to wrestle it all into line a bit. I do tend to throw everything into every book I write, which can be confusing for the reader. But I've restructure it, I know what I have to do, and there's light at the end of the tunnel.

The adult novel is 3/4 finished - I've had to take a short break to work on the Amy Green edits - but again, I know exactly where I'm going.

I actually like rewriting once I get stuck in. It's when you start seeing patterns and themes that can be brought out more and woven into the early chapters more. It's a really important part of the writing process. Amy Green 4 has already been rewritten 8 times. This new rewrite is number 9. And I'm sure there will be at least 2 or 3 more before it's finished. Probably about 12 in total which is pretty average for me! Sounds like a lot, some writers do as many as 30 or 40 rewrites before they are happy.

I've pasted an interview with The Star below. As I'm not a reader, I have no idea when I ran (oops), but you might find some of it interesting or useful. At the very least it will keep you off Facebook! Watch out for the bit when she asks me about keeping slim for book publicity!!! As if!!!

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

(From The Star, Ireland)

1) The writing industry is notoriously hard to get into. How did you get your foot in the door?

The honest answer is that I worked hard and I didn't take no for an answer. And luckily for me, what I love to write - popular fiction - is what people love to read. I had published several children's books when I approached Poolbeg with three chapters of an adult novel, which they accepted immediately. But it took me a long time to get my first book, Kids Can Cook, published.

2) Did you suffer many knockbacks? How did you handle rejection?

A lot of publishers rejected Kids Can Cook, but I kept sending it out until I found someone, Children's Press, who said yes. I was 25 when it was published, so I handled the rejection quite well. I'm not sure I'd handle it so well now. At the time I was determined to get it into print, so I refused to take no for an answer.

3) Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?

No. I wanted to be a ballerina for years! But I knew I wanted to work with books. And I did - I was a bookseller for many years and still work with bookshops as a consultant to this day. Bookshops are amazing places to work. Once I was surrounded by books all day, meeting authors, I realised that I wanted to have one of my own books on the shelves.

4) Which authors inspired you growing up?

Judy Blume on the children's book side - she's amazing - utterly fearless. Maurice Sendak for picture books, an amazing artist and writer. And on the popular fiction side, Maeve Binchy was hugely inspirational - she lived down the road and was so loved and so popular world wide. And more recently, Marian Keyes. Another amazing writer.

6) You're a bestseller in fiction aimed at women. How do you come up with new stories to tell? Are your books based on your real-life experiences?

I don't have any problem coming up with characters and plots - my head is full of both! Settling on one idea can be a problem however. I'm blessed with a vivid imagination. Yes, some of my books use real life situations, twisted and changed to suit the plot. So they are not biographical, but real events certainly shape and inform them.

7) Do you watch Sex and the City at all? Do you think the show has popularised the romantic fiction genre and made readers more open to reading about love/sex/relationships? Do you enjoy reading it yourself?

Yes, I used to watch the television series. Hated the second film though. I felt it wasn't in the spirit of the tv series. No, I think women were reading about relationships long before the show. But I'm more of a Grey's Anatomy girl to be honest!

8) What advice would you give to aspiring writers of fiction? What do you think is the key to writing a good popular fiction novel?

Advice - read. And keep reading. Every writer I know is a huge reader. Be honest in your work. Write with joy, approach the page with a good attitude and keep writing as often as you can. The key - brilliant characters that people can identify with and grow to love. For me, fiction is all about fantastic characters. Benny in Circle of Friends, Rachel in Rachel's Holiday.

9) How do you feel about the plethora of celebrities writing autobiographies and tell-all books? Do you think they downgrade the writing industry by relying on sensationalism so much?

I can't comment because I've never actually read one to be honest.

10) How are you finding writing for the teen genre? What made you interested in doing this? Do you find your children are living in a very different world to the one you grew up in? Do your kids read your books a lot?

I adore writing for young teens. They are the best audience in the world. I get dozens of emails a week from young readers, asking me about the books and telling me about their lives which is amazing and I'm so flattered they want to share things with me.

I've always worked in children's books - I was and still am a children's bookseller and I review children's books regularly for papers and magazines. My first books were children's books, I got distracted for a while by the adult fiction, but now I'm back, and doing both!

No, teenagers still have the same feelings and a lot of the same problems - they just have different ways of communicating now with Facebook, Bebo, mobiles etc. Their world is a bit faster, but as emotionally charged as ever. I don't find it all that different at all to be honest, not if you scratch the surface. Luckily I remember exactly what being 13 was like, very helpful for raising teens and writing about them! No, my son is 16 and has no interest in reading any of my books, and my other children are too young.

11) Can you tell me a bit about your children (names/ages/ whether or not they're showing any interest in writing or anything like that)?

None of my children are showing any interest in writing, but all are huge readers, so I'll wait and see. The youngest is only 4, so he's a Thomas the Tank man. The other two read all kinds of things. Sam, 16, is an action adventure fan, Muchmore, Horowitz, Colfer, and especially Landy. Amy, 7, loves picture books, she's very visual.

12) I see you're working on your tenth adult novel and your fourth Ask Amy Green novel. Can you tell me a bit about each? When will they be published?

The Shoestring Club, the next adult novel, will be published in Spring 2012 and is about three very different girls, one very special dress and an amazing friendship. I can't really say any more at the moment as I'm still writing it! But it's set in Dublin and is quite hard hitting, yet funny (I hope!). Ask Amy Green 4: Party Drama-rama is about the hen party Amy organises for her mum and also about a very special boy with a huge secret. It's finished now and I'm a bit in love with it I must admit - I hated finishing it! It's out next May, 2011.

13) When you write a book these days, you're expected to publicise it, go on TV etc. Do you feel pressure to look slim as a result? Do you diet / exercise / eat healthily?

Slim? Jeepers, I've never been asked that before! No, not at all. Healthy, yes. I try to be as healthy as I can. But I am happy with the way I look and don't want to change anything really. I walk a lot and do yoga every week. I think it's important to give teen girls the message that being happy in your own skin is vital. So when I talk to them, I like to be myself, flaws and all!

14) Finally, have you got any favourite beauty products? What are your favourite shops and designers?

I use a lot of Clinique as it works for me and is easy to get in airports etc. My favourite shop is Stock Xchange, a second hand designer shop in Dun Laoghaire. I love second hand shops, you never know what you're going to find! I also like Rococco in Sandycove which has a lot of bright, fun clothes, and great staff; and Seagreen in Monkstown has great sales. Designers - I tend to be a bit of a mix and matcher, so I have all kinds of bits from different designers, mostly picked up second hand.

Approaching the Page with Joy

I'm reposting this from 2009 as I'm just back from tour and wiped out to be honest. But I have lots to tell you on the writing front, lots to share - so back soon, I promise!But until then . . .

Approaching the page with joy

I’ve been having some slow writing starts these mornings. Christmas is looming near and I’m not at all on top of things. No cards sent, few presents bought – apart from the kids’ stuff on Amazon – toys and Xbox games. All Jago, 3 wants is a rubbish truck, bless him. Amy, 6, a bike; Sam, 15, horrible gore-fest X box games. Books I buy from my local bookshops – as a former bookseller I feel it’s really important to support them always and forever but especially when things are a little tough.

Every morning I’ve been taking a walk, an attempt to shake me out of the Munch funk – feeling a little down and slow and sluggish and not all there mentally. I try telling myself how lucky I am, how thousands, millions would give their eye teeth to have one book contract, let alone several.

And I do feel lucky, really I do. But I must admit that now and again it all seems a little overwhelming and I feel swamped with work and scared at what I have to do.

So I have to take a step back (after moaning to some of my fellow writing friends of course, I’m only human), calm the voices in my head (you can’t write, it’s all nonsense, one day someone will realise how rubbish you are . . .) and just get on with the business of finishing the darned book.

I have to stop thinking about deadlines and start concentrating on my plot and my characters. And most importantly, as my lovely and very wise London editors told me, give my story room to breathe. I have to strip back all the unnecessary scenes from the book and let the main characters shine through.

I was at a talk by Carlo Gebler on Monday and he said something very interesting. He said that he only got published (after trying many times) when he started telling his stories simply – going from A to B to C with embellishment. It’s as simple at that. If you get that right, you can add a little sparkle to the writing later. It’s excellent advice.

A to B to C.

I’m currently rewriting Amy Green book 3, Bridesmaid Blitz. It’s set in Dublin and Paris, and Mills (Amy’s best friend) was the star of the Paris scenes. But I see now that Amy was being sidelined and it wasn’t quite working. Yes, even my carefully researched rapping scene starring Clover will have to hit the editing floor. And it’s hard. But it will be a better book for all the cutting and rewriting.

I have to stop worrying about deadlines and reconnect with the joy of writing – the reason I started writing in the first place. Write for the sheer love of it. The privilege of sitting down at my desk and losing myself in a story for hours and hours. You know the feeling you get when you’re lost in a brilliant book and you just don’t want it to end, ever? That’s the feeling I get on a good writing day.

Sometimes it takes days to get to that feeling, sometimes, if I’m lucky, minutes. But today I’m feeling lucky . . .

Back to the blank page . . .

May the joy of writing (and reading) be with all of you.

Sarah XXX

What's in a name?

A quick post today on picking names. I was giving a writing workshop over the weekend and one of the things we talked about was choosing the right names for your characters. Sometimes I read books and some of the names just doesn't suit the characters. Other times they are just perfect. For eg last night I finished The Perfect Proposal by Katie Fforde, a charming, compelling romantic comedy. The main character is sweet, funny, and put upon by her family who think she's an idiot (she proves them wrong!). Her name is Sophie Appley. It suits her down to the ground.

I try to take great care picking my own characters' names. In the Amy Green books one of my favourite characters is Clover Wildgust. Wildgust is a real name, I found it on a gravestone (sorry, bit morbid I know, but I do love graveyards!). Clover is 'Wild' by name, wild by nature. I could have gone for just Wilde, but I liked the gust bit as it's different. And Clover - well she just is a Clover. Amy is Amy because it's one of my favourite names - my daughter is Amy - and it's also a name lots of girls can identify with - she's my everygirl character in the book. And Green - again is a common enough surname and sounds friendly I think. And Amy is above all, a good friend, to MIlls and Clover, and also to my readers too I hope.

Seth Stone is emotionally strong and together - even though he has to cope with a lot a home - hence Stone. Bailey Otis, who will appear in book 3 is a mysterious boy with a strange past - Otis, after a song I like and Bailey as again it's a little bit unusual, just like him.

The adult book I am currently writing - The Shoestring Club - well, lots of names I really like in there. Arietty Pilgrim is my favourite name I think - an eccentric girl who communicates better with animals than people but has great inner strength. She's an elephant keeper. And I also love Julia Schuster - always Jules or Julia Boolia to her family, or Boolie for short. She's a mess sometimes, and does daft things, but she has a good heart.

I even took great care naming my elephants - Beatrix is the matriarch, and her sister is Enid - and yes they are named after Beatrix Potter and Enid Blyton!

So there you go - think carefully about naming your characters and have fun with it. Make it mean something, to both you and your readers. Names count.

Yours in writing,

SarahX

Don't Give Up, Not Now!

Don’t Give Up – Not Now! I met up with a friend yesterday who is writing for children. Her book is fantastic but she’s had a few rejections – perfectly normal state of affairs, even for fab books.

She’s been chipping away, trying to get published for eighteen months now. She’s been doing all the right things – going to Children’s Books Ireland talks on getting published, keeping her eye out for new children’s publishers and agents and submitting her book to them (jeepers, some of them take so long to get back to people – and some don’t even acknowledge that they have received a manuscript which is so tough on writers), reading award winning children’s books, writing new books . . . but she’s starting to get disillusioned.

‘I feel like giving up, Sarah,’ she said. ‘Is there any point in going on?’

‘Don’t give up,’ I told her. ‘You’re nearly there. Do you have any idea how many people drop out of writing at this stage? You’re eighteen months ahead of those starting out, and if you keep going you’ll be even more ahead. You’re building up contacts, getting your name out there, finding out about the publishing business. Please, don’t give up, not now!’

She promised she’d keep going. And you know something, I have every confidence that she’ll get there. She has a lovely quirky writing voice, an equally lovely personality, a great sense of humour, and most importantly she’s willing to work hard. I have 100% faith in her.

I know how hard it can be to keep going when you have no idea if you’ll ever get published. So today I have some advice.

Here are the most useful things I can tell you writer to writer:

1/ Read – especially in the age group/area you are interested in writing for – read library/bookshop recommendations, award winners, bestsellers etc. If you want to write crime, romance, thrillers – you must have good idea of the market and the conventions of the genre (before you smash the conventions apart if you want to!).

If you want to write for children – you must be aware of what modern children like – and what works in a children's book. Also exactly what age you are writing for - the under 6s, early readers, confident readers, 8 to 10, 9 to 11, 11+, teen/YA. I have been asked to write more family stories/drama/romance for teens – so there must be a market for it. Publishers are also looking for good novels for girls of 8+. And adventure books with a twist are very strong at the moment – as is horror. Seek out Eoin Colfer, Darren Shan, Derek Landy, and Michael Scott.

2/ Write because you have something important to say – something you are passionate about – your book must have a message/say something to the reader If you are writing for children - write remembering just how it felt to be 4 or 7 or 9 or 13. Dig deep – use your memory – emotions don’t change – yes, kids now have bebo, facebook, mobiles – but they are just different ways of communicating – there has always been bullying, now it just comes in different forms.

3/ Connect with readers online – you must have a good blog or website – you can always write about books/bees/cookery if you don’t want to get personal.

4/ Take constructive criticism on your work – and not from your mother. You might find a librarian or teacher who will read your work – take on board what they say. When you are a published writer, editors have strong opinions (and may not always like everything about your book) – get used to taking advice and rewriting early in your writing career!

5/ Write from the heart – put lots of emotion on the page – don’t be afraid of strong emotion – and use your own emotions to write – if a sad scene – dig deep to a time you felt sad (think of it like acting on the page).

6/ Be optimistic and have a strong constitution – don’t get knocked back by the rejections – there will be many nos along the line – approach every writing day with as much energy and enthusiasm as you can – write with joy as Patrick Ness always says. I say – write with all your heart. Give 100% every time you sit down at your desk.

7/ Don’t give up – Think of Beckett – Ever tried, ever failed? No matter. Try again, fail again, fail better!

8/ Here’s the thing - if your writing is good enough, and your ideas strong and original enough, you will get published, simple as that. Publishers need good books. Make yours one of them. You only need 1 editor to like your book (along with the marketing team of course) –you only need 1 yes – so stick to your guns and aim for that one almighty YES.

Yours in writing,

Sarah X

PS there is a getting published seminar on 11th Sept for adults interested in writing for children - check out www.childrensbooksireland.ie for details.

Writer's Research

One of my best friends, Martina Devlin, is writing another historical novel. Her last one, Ship of Dreams, based on fictional Titanic survivors, took her years to research (and was a huge success) and this one is no different. She spent hours in my Mum's house last week reading old family memoirs, newspaper cuttings and books on - well, I can't say as it's her book, not mine. But the point being, she spent many, many hours looking up tiny details like what a cup of tea cost in the early 20th century, and what people gave as wedding presents in those days (it was all listed in the newspapers of the day and makes fascinating reading). Most writers need to do research - even if their book is set in the present time. At the moment I am researching elephants. One of my main characters, Arietty, is an elephant keeper in Dublin zoo. No, I have no idea why, she just is. It happens sometimes - characters come into your mind pretty much fully formed.

Elephants are very interesting animals - I've read several books on them now and I've found out all kinds of things. Did you know there are 2 kinds of elephants - Asian and African, and Asian have smaller ears? Or that the family groups you see are mums and babies (and grannys and aunts)? No men. The male elephants, the bulls, live alone or in bachelor groups. I could go on and on, but I'll stop now . . .

But what I really need to know for my book is - what do elephants smell like? What do they eat in a zoo? Do they communicate with each other? What does their skin feel like? What would Arietty do every day exactly? Why does she love elephants so much?

And you can't find out things like that in a book. So I'm off to Dublin zoo tomorrow to speak to one of the elephant keepers. She's kindly taken some time out of her day to show me around and tell me about her job.

So I'll be able to go back to my desk fully elephanted up! And it will make Arietty more real and my book better. Plus I get to hang out with elephants - how cool is that?

Reseach is vital. And sometimes it rocks!

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

The Life of a Full Time Writer

HI All,This might be of interest - I wrote it for the National Guide to 3rd Level Colleges - and I whipped it up pretty quickly! Books to be written, don't you know! Actually 2 of them!!!

Here you go:

The Life of a Full Time Writer By Sarah Webb

I have been writing full time for nearly eight years now, both adult novels and children’s books. I have three kinds of days – writing days, event days, and publisher/agent days. Most weeks I have four writing days and one event day. This might be a school visit where I talk to the children and/or give a writing workshop, a library visit or a book festival – often on a Saturday or Sunday. Once every two months or so I also have a publisher/agent day where I travel to London to meet with one of my publishers and/or my agent, or attend a party or launch. That's is the glam bit!

I did absolutely no creative writing in college (OK maybe I wasn't supposed to say that in a guide for colleges - oops - but it's true!), but I did study English and read until my eyes fell out of my head, a great asset to any writer. After college I worked in several bookshops, including Eason and Waterstone’s, along with fellow writers John Boyne and Paul Murray.

There are less than twenty full time children’s writers and/or illustrators in Ireland and it’s not easy to make a living from writing for children. Saying that, many Irish writers have done exceptionally well worldwide, from Eoin Colfer (Artmis Fowl), to Darren Shan (horror), Michael Scott (fantasy-adventure), Derek Landy (Skulduggery Pleasant), Oliver Jeffers (picture books) and P J Lynch (illustrations). As well as the Ask Amy Green series for age 10+ (Walker Books and Candlewick US), I also write early readers for O’Brien Press, and adult novels for Pan Macmillan.

My adult novels are popular fiction, with plenty of dialogue and family and relationship dramas. I write to entertain and inform, and I greatly enjoy inventing characters and plots. My latest book, The Loving Kind, deals with plastic surgery, errant boyfriends, loyalty, and revenge. Ireland has an exceptional record when it comes to women’s popular fiction – with Maeve Binchy, Marian Keyes, Cecelia Ahern, Cathy Kelly and Sheila O’Flanagan – all huge worldwide. There are also newer names on the scene – Amy Huberman, Sinead Moriarty and Niamh Greene. There is always a market for good popular fiction but your voice and your style have to be original.

I start my writing day with a walk. Then I settle down at my desk and write from 9.30 until 1.30. After lunch I will edit what I have written, answer emails, write things for my website, do newspaper interviews or other media requests, answer readers’ emails etc. I also work three or four evenings a week – writing my two blogs, answering more readers’ letters, keeping up with my readers on my Facebook page, writing children’s book reviews for the Irish Independent and Inis magazine, and doing other admin work.

A lot of writing is actually re-writing, working on a book until you get it right. Each book goes through many, many different drafts before it is complete. And it can be hard graft. But when you’ve had a good writing day, when your characters really come to life on the page and pull the story along in a direction you never anticipated, then it’s all worth it.

Sarah Webb is the author of the Ask Amy Green series for age 10+, published by Walker Books, UK, Candlewick Books, US, and other international publishers. Her first early reader, Emma the Penguin has recently been published by O’Brien Press. She also writes romantic comedy for adults and her tenth novel, The Shoestring Club, will be published in 2012. She loves encouraging new, unpublished writers, and is a regular speaker at the Inkwell writing workshops and courses. For more information see: www.sarahwebb.ie or www.askamygreen.com

Q and A from Beauty Couture

Here is the interview from Beauty Couture - and do check out their site - nice!www.beautycouture.ie

By: Niamh, August 03

We have a good old natter with super fantastic Irish author Sarah Webb, about her upcoming book, her top advice for budding writers and her secret ballerina ambitions!

Sarah tell us what you are doing with yourself these days?

‘I'm currently working on my 10th novel, The Shoestring Club, set in a clothes shop. It will be published next year, all being well.’

How did you get into writing?

‘I wrote my first books as a single mum, working full time in Waterstone's. At first it was a financial thing to be honest, trying to make ends meet. I started writing articles for local newspapers, magazines and finally wrote a nonfiction book for children, my very first book. But then I got the fiction bug and I've been writing novels ever since and loving it. I now write full time so I'm very lucky.’

What is it you love about writing?

‘Working for myself; creating characters I grow to love as much as real friends; meeting readers and other writers. It really is an amazing job. Solitary and lonely at times, but generally wonderful.’

Do you prefer writing for younger or older audiences?

‘I like both. The teenage books are shorter though which is kind of nice!’

Would you ever like to see one of your books be turned into a TV or film adaptation? Or do you think a film can never live up to a book?

‘ The film rights for the Ask Amy Green books, my series for age 10+ have been bought, so fingers crossed. I'd love to see any of my books on the big or small screen, it would be fascinating to see what a screen writer and director brought to the stories.’

Why do you think the Irish are so world successful when it comes to writing?

‘We love telling stories, to anyone who will listen! And we are also huge, huge readers. Readers often become writers, it's a natural progression.’

There are a lot of successful Irish women authors out there, how did you manage to get yourself noticed in the beginning?

‘ I think the only thing a writer can do is to a- write a darned good book and b- write a darned good book!!! I'm very lucky as I also like writing for magazine and newspapers so that helps in that I can write columns and other pieces. And I also have a background in children's books as I worked as a children's bookseller for so long, so I have plenty to talk and write about.’

Who is your favourite author?

‘I love Marian Keyes, Judy Blume, Cathy Cassidy, Anne Tyler and Dr Seuss.’

What is your everyday, staple beauty product you’d never leave home without putting on?

‘Clinique City Base in Factor 40 - I burn amazingly easily.’

What is your beauty regime like day-to-day?

‘ I use Clinique products like the Foaming Face wash which I find great and not too harsh, and their Dramatically Different Moisturiser. I keep it all pretty simple as I don't have much time.’

Who is your biggest style influence?

‘Honestly? My best friend, Tanya. She's bang up to date with all the trends and has an amazing eye for what suits people. She should have been a stylist.’

Favourite high-street haunts?

‘Top Shop. Pennys for belts, hats etc. And River Island.’

Favourite designer destinations and designers?

‘Seagreen in Monkstown is a fav as it's down the road from me and they have great sales. I love Lainey knitwear and try to invest in a cardigan or jumper every few years in the sample sales. I also love BTs. I could spend hours in their shoe department!’ (Beautycouture.ie HQ is with you on that one Sarah!)

Heels or flats?

‘Flats by day, heels by night.’

Best bargain ever?

‘Probably a black and gold knitted dress by Temperley. I bought it second hand shop for €100 and it looks fab with black boots.’

As a bestselling author how do you juggle family life, friends and your work etc?

‘With difficulty sometimes! I write when the kids are at school, then take a break to do the school runs, then do admin - emails etc - in the afternoon. I also work three evenings a week, replying to readers' letters, copy editing books, and writing articles and reviews.’

Any advice for writers out there?

‘Yes, bum glue! Stick your bum to your seat and stay there. Read a lot. Write a lot. And never give up. Rejection is part of every writer's life.’

What did you want to be when you grew up? 'A ballerina.'

From www.beautycouture.ie

The Magic of Good Writing Days

There’s nothing like the feeling of joy and contentment that washes over you after a good writing day. A day where everything just clicks into place, where the characters dance off the page, wisecracking among themselves, telling the reader secrets that you, the writer, never knew. Right at that moment you start to believe in the alchemy of the creative process. It doesn’t happen very often. In fact, sometimes it can be a right old slog to get words onto paper, but you have to battle through those days, hoping that golden days are to come.

Interestingly, the best writing days often sneak up on you unexpectedly. You may be feeling a bit under the weather, a bit glandy, but you make yourself sit down at your desk regardless and just get on with it.

Slowly, so slowly, you start to move your fingers over the keys and after a few sentences it starts to get a little easier. And after a few paragraphs you begin to relax into your writing; and after a few pages you are lost in another world, a world of your own making, and you look up and three hours have gone by in a flash.

And you roll your stiff neck, flex your fingers, and give a deep sigh, completely and utterly happy. Because for those three hours nothing else mattered – there was just you and your characters, communing on the page.

And those magical snatches of time, when every single molecule of you is caught up, immersed in story, are what make writing the best job in the world. I wish the true alchemy of writing on all of you.

Yours in writing,

Sarah X

Stuck? Move Your Writing Space

Yesterday I just couldn’t write. The children were rattling around the house, it was hot and sticky, and I was tired and sleepy. I spent the morning at the UNESCO City of Literature launch – Dublin is the 4th City of Literature, along with Iowa, Melbourne and Edinburgh, how cool is that – and intended to come home and get my daily word count done. But it just didn’t happen.

So today I was determined to sit at my desk and write, no matter what. But with the distraction of children coming in and out every few minutes I decided I’d had enough. This morning I moved a small chest of drawers out of my bedroom and then moved my desk and chair into the space, just beside the window. Then I sat down. It didn’t feel quite right so I moved my desk again, bang in front of the window. A little bird – a starling I think, sharp beak, sparkling black eyes – settled on my window sill, making me smile.

And the other great thing about working upstairs is the internet doesn’t work up there. So I’m not tempted onto Facebook or any of my favourite blogs or websites. I don’t spend ages ‘researching’ a small fact that I could easily look up later and not in the middle of my precious writing time.

So that’s where I wrote today, in my bedroom, 2,382 words of my new book, The Shoestring Club. And it felt good. I’ve been having trouble getting into this one as the Amy Green books are so fresh and alive in my head after just writing two in a row, but today the words just flew. So not only did I find a new, quiet writing space, I also found enough head space and a new impetus to empty my thoughts and ideas onto the page.

Maybe a move will also work for you. Is there a corner somewhere in the house that might take a small desk? Have you ever tried writing in the car – believe me, with a laptop, it’s quite do-able! I’ve been that soldier many a time when my children are having an extra noisy day but I still need to be around.

Writing is a funny old thing, sometimes it just takes something as simple as moving to get the creative juices flowing again.

Yours in writing,

Sarah X

60 Seconds with Sarah

This is a quick q and a I did for Bord Gais last night - as you can see, I didn't answer all the questions as I couldn't think of a super power I'd like at midnight! Wonder Woman's energy springs to mind this morning as I yawn. I'll wake up soon ;).I'm off to West Cork on Friday to write and have a lovely 2 week holiday, so I won't be posting much for the next 3 weeks - have a brilliant July and talk soon. Yours in writing, Sarah XXX

60 Seconds with……….Sarah Webb

1. What was the last book you read? The Help by Kathryn Stockett, about the world of black maids and the families that hire them. Set in Mississippi in the 1960s, it has some fantastic characters and knock out scenes. I loved it and would highly recommend it.

2. What kinds of books do you most enjoy reading? I read all kinds of books, including books for children and teenagers, which often have brilliant characters and cracking plots. For example I'm off on holidays at the end of this week and I've packed the following: So Much to Tell by Valerie Grove, the biography of Kaye Webb, ex-editor of Puffin Books she was amazing and had such an impact on children's publishing; The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller - as I've heard great things about it; Joseph O'Connor's Ghost Light - he writes beautifully; The Love Verb by Jane Green - she's one of the best popular fiction writers around when she's on form; Rules for a Perfect Life by Niamh Greene - great Irish popular fiction; Moneyball by Michael Lewis, a book about baseball and the legendary Oakland A's - I love good sports books!; Personally I Blame My Fairy Godmother by Claudia Carroll and No Ordinary Love by Anita Notaro - more great Irish popular fiction; The Radleys by Matt Haig - zingy crossover vampire book with a difference; and finally Stories from the Queen of Teen Award - stories from last year's shortlisted authors, as I've been shortlisted this year. Oh and also the proofs of John Boyne and David Almonds' new children's novels. Phew! Will I get through them all - just watch me!

3. What was your favourite book as a child? As a child and now my favourite book is Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. It's funny, searingly honest and it makes me smile. I read it every year. I also love Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. I still read a lot of children's books as they are so darned good!

4. What author past or present most inspires you? Judy Blume first off for changing teen girl's fiction forever. Periods, bras, divorce, peer pressure, bullying - it's all in there - she was the Jackie Wilson of her day and is still writing for children now, well into her seventies. And also Marian Keyes for being so honest in her books and also so honest in speaking about her personal life. Her recent blog entries on her 'black dog' depression have been so moving and I know have made a difference to other people who have exprienced similar feelings, myself included.

5. How did you get into writing? Was writing something you always wanted to do? I used to fill notebooks full of stories from about age 10, and a kept daily diary from 13. I think a lot of writers try to make sense of the world by writing about it from a pretty early age. Plus I've always been a huge reader. I used to read while walking home from school and bumped into many lamp posts and tripped over many dog leads in my day! I think most big readers try writing at some stage. I wrote my first book, a children's cookery book, as a single mum working in Waterstone's Bookshop on Dawson Street. To be honest, I needed the money. I'd been writing articles and reviews for various papers and magazines and I guess I saw a book as the next logical step. It was called Kids Can Cook. My first adult novel, Three Times a Lady, was published in 2000. That was directly inspired by Maeve Binchy, Patricia Scanlan, Sheila O'Flanagan, Cathy Kelly, and Marian Keyes - all trail blazers in their own way.

6. If you could have written any book throughout history which would you pick? Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret. It's inspired. And The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler, another brilliant book. I'm sure I'm supposed to say something high brow like Ulysses, but that's just not me. For me, in novels, the character is the thing. To fall in love with a book, I have to love the characters.

7. What do you do to unwind? Read! Walk the pier in Dun Laoghaire. Chat to friends. Watch Grey's Anatomy (the only telly programme I watch) or a DVD.

8. If you had to choose a favourite holiday memory, what would it be?

9. Do you have a guilty pleasure? If so, what is it?

Sport movies or films with any kind of sport in them - it's true. I don't watch sport on the television, ever, but I love films like Field of Dreams, Jerry Maguire, and Bend it Like Beckham. 10. What super power would you most like to have?

11. If you could have three wishes come true, what would you wish for?

12. When you were young, what did you want to be when you grew up? A ballerina. I never dared dream of being a writer. I think I wanted it too much to even dream about it for fear of jinxing things.

13. What famous person dead/alive would you most like to meet and why? Maurice Sendak, because he has produced some truly amazing books and I have a feeling he's just a big kid at heart!

14. What three words would describe you best?

15. Do you have a facebook or twitter account? Yes, I like Facebook very much. It's a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, and it also makes it nice and easy for readers to pop in and just say 'hi'. I love connecting with readers. I don't Twitter. I waste enough time on Facebook.

16. Who would you most like to write your biography? Martina Devlin, novelist and columnist. Although she probably knows me a little too well for my liking!

17. What three items could you not live without? Books, my family, my laptop. Oops, sorry, that should of course read - my family, books, my laptop.

My Top 10 Villains

Just did this list Sugar Magazine - Queen of Teen publicity - thought I'd share it with you. I do love doing lists. Back to editing Amy 4 now!SarahX

Top 10 Villains

1/ The Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The mere thought of that crooked nose and tall black hat makes me shiver. Scary, scary, scary!

2/ Wicked Witch of the West – Wizard of Oz. Another fantastically over the top villain, green faced this time and one of my favourite films of all time. ‘I’ll get you my pretty, and your little dog too.’ Classic stuff!

3/ Jardis, the White Witch from the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C S Lewis who has turned Narnia into ‘endless winter’. Nasty woman who is killed by Aslan, the lion – hurrah!

4/ Annie Wilkes from Stephen King’s book, Misery. Nothing scarier than a character that appears friendly and normal but turns out to be an obsessed ‘number one fan’ with malefic intent. Wonderfully played by Kathy Bates in the film.

5/ All the baddies in the Skulduggery Pleasant books by Derek Landy. There are too many brilliant named villains to choose from: the Faceless Ones, Serpine, Vaurien Scapegrace, Baron Vengeous. Fantastic fantasy-horror books, fantastic villains.

6/ Daniel Cleaver in Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding – he caused untold hurt and embarrassment to Bridget and for that alone and for dis-services to girlkind, he deserves to be on this list! He was of course played by Hugh Grant in the film.

7/ The Joker – my favourite comic book villain. Jack Nicholson is pretty great in the film version too. Such a creepy smile.

8/ The Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. And the Wicked Fairy in Sleeping Beauty. Horrid women, the both of them! I was terrified of them as a child listening to the fairy tales and watching the Disney movies.

9/ Lord Voldemort from J K Rowling’s uber fantastic Harry Potter books, arch enemy of Harry Potter and all round evil guy.

10/ And finally Nan Mahon from Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy. Nan betrays her best friend, Benny, stealing her boyfriend, Jack, and lying and cheating her way into his affections. She’s a nasty piece of work but the truth comes out, Nan apologises to everyone (although I’ve never felt she really means it), and Jack wins back Benny’s heart in the end. Aah, happy ending and one of my favourite books.

Style Sheets for Authors

Style Sheets for Authors – a darned good idea! I’ve just finished doing a ‘light Americanisation/Americanization’ of my second Amy Green book and I was fascinated by the differences between the meaning of some Irish-English words and American-English words.

For example American readers have no idea what a ‘gooseberry’ is, ie ‘being a gooseberry’. They don’t have en suites – they have just plain old bathrooms. I guess in America en suites are probably the norm in hotel rooms and houses! And there were loads of other examples.

But there were loads of instances when the meaning of what I was trying to say was lost because – well, because it’s just the way I say it. And it would have been useful for my American editor to have some sort of heads up on these things as they often repeat in my writing.

Hence for the next book I’m going to type up a style sheet for her, a list of all the funny bits and pieces, strange spellings, place names etc – anything I think might be useful in working out what I’m trying to say on paper! Because these are things that are carrying on from book to book if you are writing a series.

You might like to try it too. It’s particularly useful for things like names that are spelt differently to American names – it means the editor won’t have to keep checking on the spelling for each book. In my case, the magazine Clover writes for is called The Gloss, but in the American book they call it the (small t) Gloss. It’s a small detail but it will make life easier for everyone next time around if I jot it down right now on my style sheet.

Anything that makes life easier for my editor and for me makes sense!

See the posting at Book Ends Literary Agency for more on this subject: http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2010/06/style-sheet.html

Let me make it clear. A style sheet is different from a series bible. A style sheet does not include the nitty-gritty details of your world or your characters. It’s for editing purposes. A style sheet should include spellings of names or stylistic changes you’ve made to the spelling of other common words. For example, if you’ve decided that "Prom" is capitalized throughout your book, that would be something you would include on the style sheet. "Prom" is not technically a proper noun.

Yours in writing,

Sarah X