The Book That Changed My Life

Last Saturday I ran a book lunch in Dublin for lots of readers (grown ups, although I do run ones for young readers too). I asked the writers hosting tables at the lunch to think about a book that changed their life.It got me thinking about my own reading history and the books that have made an impact on my life.

busy busy world

The earliest book to make a huge impact was Busy, Busy World by Richard Scarry. I just loved this book. I didn’t travel much as a child – I took my first flight at age 18 – but I travelled in my imagination thanks to this book which takes you all over the world with its wonderful animal characters.

An interior from Busy, Busy World

Enid Blyton’s books were also important to me. I adored the Famous Five series and the first full book I wrote (age 11) was called The Magic Sofa and was about three children who have to go and stay with their horrible aunt for the holidays. It was heavily inspired by the Famous Five books!

IMG_4461[1]

IMG_4462[1]

enid blyton

But the book that has made the most lasting impression on me is Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. When I first read it as a teenager I remember thinking is she really writing about bras, and periods, and kissing boys? Can you really do that in a book? It’s such an honest, open and funny book and I re-read it every year because a/ it’s so wonderful and it makes me laugh out loud and b/ it reminds me what it feels like to be 13.

Judy Blume

This is the edition I had as a young teen - the cover looks a lot different now!

New cover of the same book

When I was a young bookseller in Waterstone’s on Dawson Street, Dublin (a shop that sadly no longer exists) I had the great pleasure of meeting Judy Blume. She did several school events for me and after one of the events we had lunch together, just the two of us. I was a single mother at the time and finding it hard to juggle work and looking after my toddler son. I told her that one day I’d love to write a book. ‘Write for children,’ she told me. ‘They’re the best audience ever. And I think you’d be great at it.’

I took her encouragement to heart. The following year my first children’s book, Kids Can Cook was published, a truly life changing experience. Having a book published was the second most exciting thing that had ever happened to me, after having my son. Twenty years on, I’m still writing. It hasn’t always been an easy journey, I’ve hit some pot holes and speed bumps along the way, but overall it’s a good life, a satisfying, life affirming life. And from time to time I like to look back and to think about all the writers and books that have inspired me along the way.

Is there a book that inspired you or changed your life? I’d love to know.

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

This post first appeared on www.girlsheartbooks.com

It's Good to Talk - a Post for Teens

girls making a heart

My son dropped out of college last May. He'd failed his Christmas exams and was pretending to go to lectures for months. Every day he'd get up, shower and leave the house. Every late afternoon he'd come back and I'd ask him how his day went.

'Fine,' he'd say. But I knew something was up. He wasn't himself. He was quiet, withdrawn and didn't want to engage with the family. He just wanted to be left alone.

His summer exams crept nearer and nearer. I went into his room one evening and sat on the side of his bed.

'How's the study going?' I asked him.

'Fine,' he said. But he couldn't meet my eye.

I told him I was sitting there until he talked to me, even if it took all night. He knows how stubborn and determined I can be (I'm a writer after all, you don't get a novel finished without being both, plus a little bit insane, but that's a blog for another day) so he started to open up. He admitted that he hadn't been going to college for months. He told me how much he hated his lectures, how he felt so small, so insignificant. That the classes were so big (nearly 500 in his English lectures) that he hadn't made many friends, that he'd made a mistake, it wasn't the right course for him and he didn't know what to do about it. That he felt he'd let me down.

I was so upset for him that I started to cry. He was pretty close to it himself. I told him I loved him no matter what. That I didn't give two hoots about him failing his exams, I just wanted him to enjoy college, to make friends, and yes, maybe to learn something useful, but most of all to be happy. I told him that I was proud of him for telling me the truth, even if it had taken him a while.

There's nothing my son could do that would make me any less proud of him. He's a wonderfully funny, thoughtful, smart young man. Yes, sometimes he drives me crazy and you should see the state of him room, but right now he's down at the sailing club teaching young children how to sail.

girls talking on step

In the end we sorted things out - he re-applied to a different college - a much smaller college to do a different kind of degree. He is now in first year again and has already made loads of new friends. 

So why am I telling you all this?

Life isn't always easy. Sometimes we hold things inside, we don't tell the people closest to us - our family, our friends - how we really feel. We keep plodding on, hoping things will get better. But sometimes they don't and we need help.

If things are getting on top of you please be brave - reach out and tell someone. As the old BT ad used to say, 'It's good to talk'.

Sarah XXX

This post first appeared on www.girlsheartbooks.com

Writing.ie Book Lunch - With Special Guest, Jennifer Johnston

Writing.ie Book Lunch – An Author at Every Table

In Association with Dubray Books

With Special Guest, Jennifer Johnston

Jennifer Johnston

Venue: Royal St George Yacht Club

Date: Saturday 18th October

Time: 12.00pm until 3.30pm (lunch will be served at 12.30pm)

Cost: e28.50 – includes a three course meal plus tea/coffee

Bookshop on site provided by Dubray Books – all the writers’ books will be in stock

To book: ring Kate at 01 2801811 (places limited, please book quickly)

You can book a whole table for your book club, or come with a friend or individually

To request to be seated with a particular author, please email sarahsamwebb@gmail.com before 10th October and we will do our best to accommodate you

About the Lunch:

Join some of Ireland’s top writers at this exclusive book lunch in the beautiful surroundings of the Royal St George Yacht Club on Dun Laoghaire’s sea front. Talk books and writing with your table host, and hear an after lunch conversation with the award winning novelist, Jennifer Johnston.

This lunch will be presented by Vanessa O’Loughlin from writing.ie and writer, Sarah Webb.

Our Author Hosts:

jennifer j books

Literary powerhouse, Jennifer Johnston (latest novel - A Sixpenny Song); writer and historian, Turtle Bunbury (published in October - The Glorious Madness: Tales of the Irish and the Great War);  bestselling authors, Sheila O’Flanagan (latest novel - If You Were Me) and Emma Hannigan (published in October - The Heart of Winter); author of the critically acclaimed The House When It Happened, Martina Devlin; award-winning author of The Playground, Julia Kelly; historical novelists, Kate Beaufoy (pen name of Kate Thompson, latest novel - Liberty Silk) and Lia Mills (latest novel - Fallen); crime novelists Liz Nugent (debut novel - the muct praised Unravelling Oliver) and Karen Perry (Paul Perry and Karen Gillece – debut novel, The Boy Who Never Was); and finally, TV3 chef, Andrew Rudd (latest book - Entertaining with Andrew Rudd).

www.writing.ie

www.dubray.ie

Eurovision Sweepstake Kit 2014

Don't say I don't look after you - here you go - c/o the Mirror. Cut them out, pull your own Euro 'team' out of a hat and decide what the winner gets! Happy Eurovision, SarahX

eurovisionsweepstake

Inspiration, Travel and The Great What If - Paris 2014

I was in Paris with my daughter, Amy and my two sisters for the St Patrick’s Weekend. I love travelling and I especially love visiting cities that have amazing art galleries. Paris is full of art and culture – you can’t walk around a corner without finding a wonderful church or historical building. It’s my favourite city in the world – and I can’t wait to go back again. We visited the Louvre and the Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world; and the Musee D’Orsay, full of Impressionist paintings that you would instantly recognise.

At the Pompidou Centre I spent ages staring in awe at the Black and Red Rothko painting – my favourite artist – marvelling at his colours and how his paintings make me feel. My daughter loved this gallery as it had a wonderful Frida Kahlo exhibition especially for children. She lay in Frida’s ‘bed’ and tried to draw lying on her back; she had her photo taken with some of Frida’s favourite things; she watched short movies about Frida, her paintings and her huge love for life.

Amy at the Frida Kahlo Exhibition

Amy at the Frida Kahlo Exhibition

We also spent time on one of the ‘Lock Bridges’ – where sweethearts, sisters or best friends leave a lock engraved with their names to mark their love for each other.

One of the Lock Bridges in Paris

One of the Lock Bridges in Paris

While watching happy couples and groups of friends placing their locks on the bridge and taking a photograph to mark and remember the occasion, I started to think about the different kinds of people and why they might put a lock the bridge. What might happen if they fell out and their lock was still there? Would they go back and remove the lock? Would they remove it at night? Or first thing in the morning? What if they’d lost the key – would they have to cut it off? What if they meet someone else on the bridge in exactly the same situation? Maybe one of them has a small saw to remove the lock and the other happens to need a small saw . . .

That’s how writers’ minds work – they question things all the time. It's the great 'What If?' What if twin sisters put a lock on the bridge but one of them died? What if three best friends visited the bridge together, swore to do it again in ten years at exactly the same time, on exactly the same day and then fate pulled them apart?

My mind is always hopping with ideas while travelling. I think it’s a combination of being in a new place, not having to worry about the day to day things like buying milk, and also being inspired by my surroundings.

The Lock Bridges are pretty special. Maybe you’ll get the chance to visit them some day. And maybe they will inspire you too.

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

This post originally appeared on the Girls Heart Books website www.girlsheartbooks.com

What's in a Name? Titles and How Writers Pick Them (Part 2)

Last month I wrote a piece about book titles and how writers picked them. I asked lots of my writer friends to tell me how they did it. So many of them answered (lovely people that they are) that I have great material for a second blog – hurrah!(Some of them write for children, some write for adults, some write for both.) So how do writers pick their titles – take it away, writers:

titles what if

Martina Murphy (Writes for adults and children)

I've picked titles myself, had titles picked by the publisher and more often than not, picked a title and then as the book evolves, I realise that the book has outgrown its name and needs a new one. I suppose I never know what a book is about, until I finish it. My last book - What If - was originally called Moments - as I had envisioned three intertwining stories that hinged on moments. However, I soon realised that all the moments in life have that 'What If' question at the heart of them. A sort of crossroads and that it is the decisions we make in those moments that determine the course of a life. And so What If? was born!

Martina Devlin (Writes for adults)

My next book, to be published in September (2014), is called The House Where It Happened and choosing the title has been like digging out all of my teeth one by one, without anaesthetic, using a blunt spoon. Endless possibilities were considered and discarded. It's a ghost story set in 1711. I finally went for something to do with the house at the centre of the mystery, rather than a more general title, because the house is the focus for all sorts of events. The house actually exists, I didn't make it up. I've stood outside and looked at it. I can't pretend I felt any sense of dread, much as I wanted to - it just looked like an old house. Anyhow, the name of the house is not easy to pronounce - the word is Scottish and sounds different to the way it looks on paper. So I decided not to use that, or I'd go round correcting people all the time, the way I'm compelled to do if they say Tyrone wrong (it's Tir not Tie, for anyone who's unsure). In the end, I thought The House Where It Happened worked, partly because of the alliteration with the two Hs. And partly because that's exactly what it's about: a house where something inexplicable happens. Unless you factor in in ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night...

The following writers all blog on the wonderful Girls Heart Books blog and write mainly for children.

titles marshmallow

Karen McCombie

Occasionally I have a title that needs a bit of thinking about, or a bit of tweaking, but loads ping fully formed into my (fuzzy) mind. Probably my longest - and most random - was 'Marshmallow Magic and the Wild Rose Rouge'. That parked itself in my head, and I HAD to come up with a story to go with it!

Diane Messidoro My last (and only, so far!) book started off as 'How to Keep a Man as a Pet'. It was a comedy/non-fiction idea, really, as I've always thought dealing with men was a bit like dealing with pets - not in a mean way (I adore men!) just in that they're generally far more straightforward than we think they are. When I decided to turn my random 'male human pet training' instructions into a story, however, Circe Shaw turned up in my head and as she was 15-something, I tweaked the title to 'Boy'.

Caroline Juskus

Here's how I came up with the title THE LADYBIRD CODE. I had just read Dan Brown's De Vinci Code and wanted to do something similar for kids. I decided to base the code on Morse code but instead of using dots and dashes I opted for large and small dots. Then I looked for a way to use the spots and came up with ladybirds conveying top secret messages on their backs!

Julia Golding

My book out this month is called Storm and Stone (as Joss Stirling). Why? Because I wanted to follow the Sherlock and Watson/Starsky and Hutch/Cagney and Lacey pattern of cops/detectives but add an earthy, close to paranormal feel by choosing surnames that were elemental. The story is a teen romance set in a spooky English boarding school. And it just sounded right!

Kate Maryon

I chose the title for my latest book, Invisible Girl, because it tackles the issue of child runaways/homelessness and in real life these children are known as Invisible Children. This phrased was coined because these very vulnerable children hide in the shadows to avoid being picked up by the police and being returned to wherever they've run from. What makes this so tragic is that the fear of being picked up means they don't have access to healthcare, food supplies, care, etc. My story is about 12 year-old, Gabriella, who finds herself alone and living on the streets in Manchester.

Julie Sykes

My latest book is Amber. Amber's lost her memory and took her name from the beautiful amber necklace she was found with. Once she'd walked into my life with her story there really wasn't anything else I could call the book!

Marie-Louise Jensen

My titles are chosen collaboratively with my publishers and it's very tricky. None of us are very good at coming up with them and it can take ages. My upcoming book Runaway was especially difficult. All the really exciting titles we came up with gave the whole plot away. In the end, publication had to be delayed 3 months because we still hadn't come up with anything we were all happy with. In the end, they took a suggestion of mine they had previously rejected (The Runaway) and tweaked it to Runaway which they were happier with.

Thanks for all the great insights, writers!

Yours in books, Sarah Webb

(A version of this post first appeared on the Girls Heart Books blog)

I'm Just Crazy About Bookshops

tiffanys

In one of my favourite films, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Holly Golightly (played by the wonderful Audrey Hepburn) says ‘I’m just crazy about Tiffany’s . . . Nothing bad could ever happen to you there.’ Holly goes to Tiffany’s when she gets ‘the mean reds’ – when she’s afraid but doesn’t know what she’s afraid of. She says ‘The only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it.’

I feel the same way about bookshops. When I’m feeling a bit edgy and out of sorts, I head to my local bookshop, Dubray Books in Dun Laoghaire. It’s in a not-so-exciting shopping centre but it still manages to be calm, peaceful and lovely. The staff are great too – you can always rely on them for a bit of book-related chat and a friendly smile.

Talking to Children in Dubray Books

I’ve loved bookshops all my life. After college I had no idea what I wanted to do (apart from write, but that was a dream I never thought would come to anything) so I reached for the nearest life raft – a bookshop.

I’ve worked in bookshops for many years and I’ve loved them all – Hodges Figgis on Dawson Street, Hughes and Hughes in St Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre, Waterstone’s on Dawson Street (where I ran the children’s department, which I adored), Eason’s Head Office in Santry and now, Dubray Books, where they kindly let me get involved in promoting children’s books and training the children’s booksellers.

When I was in Bath a few weeks ago for the Children’s Literature Festival I visited three amazing bookshops – Waterstone’s, Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights and Toppings. What a treat!

Waterstone’s has one of the best chain children’s departments I’ve ever seen outside the United States – it’s full of fantastic books for all ages. I particularly loved the table full of wonderfully chosen crossover books from the Chaos Walking trilogy to I Capture the Castle.

I visited Mr B’s with my lovely Walker editor, Annalie Grainger and what a terrific, quirky shop. It’s full of nooks and crannies, armchairs to sit and read in, hand-recommended titles and extremely friendly, helpful booksellers. If I needed a hug in the form of a warm, welcoming bookshop, that’s exactly where I’d head. It’s the kind of place that makes you feel less alone.

Mr B's Emporium

For a spiritual pick me up, I’d head to Toppings, in a word it’s supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. (I’ve come over all Mary Poppins recently in anticipation of the new movie, Saving Mr Banks, with Emma Thompson as P L Travers and Tom Hanks as Walt Disney.) If Bath is like walking around a living, breathing movie set, then Toppings is like stepping into Narnia. It’s truly beautiful – it even smells amazing, musty and woody, like the books’ pages are seeping into the air.

It’s plain wooden shelves are crammed with a huge range of hardbacks and the children’s department is small but magical. I nearly wept with joy when I spotted a copy of Ask Amy Green: Love and Other Drama-ramas nestling on the shelves.

Toppings

Dublin has its fair share of brilliant bookshops – including the Dubray shops and Gutter Books in Temple Bar, but I must admit I was truly smitten with the bookshops of Bath.

Yours in books (and bookshops),

Sarah XXX

Dos and Don'ts for School and Library Events

book festival image 2013

On the first day of the Children's Book Festival in Ireland, I though I'd post this list - dos and don'ts for school and library visits: 1/ Do have a glass or bottle of water ready for the author.

2/ Do make sure they get fed at the relevant times – lunch is always good!

3/ If they are staying over, put them up in the hotel/guesthouse that you would choose to stay in – warm, quiet and clean. Remember some of your authors may need to write in the evenings – so do take this into consideration – a tiny room without a desk is a no no.

4/ Please don’t expect them to drive 50 or 60 miles between events – remember many authors are city slickers and more used to trains and buses.

5/ Think about the logistics and what’s best for the author – it might be a better use of their time to base them in the main library rather than slepping them all over the county.

6/ Send them directions to your school or library that are easy to follow and accurate – they do not need to go on a wild goose chase just before their event.

7/ Make sure the person at the desk/in reception knows an author is coming and greets them with a smile. Not a ‘Who? Sorry, don’t know anything about that. Wait here until I get someone.’ (More common than you might think.)

8/ Make an effort with posters – these can be ordered from the author’s publisher in advance – or at the very least type welcome and the author’s name on a sheet of paper and stick it to the front door. Make the author feel wanted – authors are sensitive souls, be kind.

9/ A follow up email/letter to say thanks for visiting is always nice.

10/ Do try to have the author’s books in stock – they will look for them on the shelves!

11/ If the author asks for 5th and 6th class girls, don’t give them 1st class boys – there is a reason for their request. And make sure the school understands this and doesn’t turn up with every child from JI to 6th class. It is a huge advantage – to both the writer and the children – if the children have read the author’s books in advance. At the very least they should know a/ who the author is and b/what books they write.

12/ Where possible, give the writer a large audience. Writers like talking to lots of children. Unless it’s a workshop – one class max for workshops. When in doubt, ask the writer – how many children do you like at your sessions?

Some of the brilliant things libraries and schools have done for me recently:

Made lovely welcome posters.

One school had a group of children who had read my books welcome me at reception and take me to the school hall where I was speaking. Usually it’s a teacher – so this was a nice touch.

In one school in Athy the mothers and teachers made cakes and came to welcome me, along with their children. This also happened in Griffeen Valley Educate Together School where the teachers and parents are very keen on reading.

Alexandra School library provided six copies of Amy Green, Teen Agony Queen for the girls to win on the day of the visit. Afterwards the students gave me a book token and a box of chocolates. Plus a follow up thank you card. Gold star to Alexandra School!

Mistakes, Failure and Writing Faith

I was in London last week (talking to one of my publishers about a new book for 2014 - more about that soon) and I picked up a copy of Psychologies Magazine at the airport. I don't often get the time to read magazines so it was a real treat. After my meeting I lay down on my hotel bed and flicked through the articles. There was a great conversation between Joanne Froggatt (Anna in Downton Abbey) and Irvine Welsh. Joanne is starring in his new film, Filth.

During the interview they discussed failure and making mistakes. 'We've all got to be prepared to make mistakes,' Joanne said. 'My dad has a very Northern saying - "Them that never do 'owt, never do 'owt wrong".'

Irvine agreed with her. 'Life is all about making mistakes,' he said. 'What's the phrase? Try again. Fail again. Fail bigger (sic). Fail better. One of the most horrible things in life would be not to be able to fail again.'

ever tried

The phrase he quoted is one of my favourites in fact - it's by Samuel Beckett and it's a great mantra for writers.

So often we decide not to try something for fear of failure.

I won't write that blog because it won't be as good as/as funny as so and so's blog.

I find writing short stories really hard so I won't even try.

Poetry? That's for intellects.

I can't write that time travel book because I'm not sure how to plot it. I'm scared it will be rubbish.

These are my own personal writing fears and there are plenty more where they came from.

What are YOU afraid of?

Not being a good enough writer?

Not being as good as (fill in any name you like here)?

Being laughed at?

Being rejected?

Getting published? Because then you'll have a whole new set of problems and worries.

We all have our own set of writing fears.

Next month I will start writing that children's time travel novel. I have no idea how it will turn out, but I'm willing to give it a go. It may work, it may not, but at least I'll have tried.

What will you be doing? Worrying about failure? Or taking a giant leap of writing faith?

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

Behind The Memory Box - Q and A with Sarah Webb

I did this Q and A recently for a UK website, I hope you like it. 1. Tell us about your new book The Memory Box.

Just published

My latest novel, ‘The Memory Box’ is the story of an Irish woman, Pandora Schuster who on the eve of her thirtieth birthday discovers that she may have her mum’s heredity cancer gene, Breast Cancer Gene 1. This sends her into a complete tail spin, and makes her question her life and also the future of her nine-year-old daughter, Iris. Pandora is a single mum and she has never told Olivier, her ex-boyfriend that he has a daughter. So she travels to Paris to find him, with disastrous consequences.

2.       Why did you decide to take the book over to Paris?

Pandora is passionate about clothes and it made sense for her to study fashion in Paris. Plus it’s one of my favourite cities in the world.

3.       Did you spend any time there to write about your surroundings?

Yes, I spent four months in Paris during college, working in McDonald’s, so that was helpful. I’ve been back a few times since then, most recently for my 40th birthday.

4.       Do you have a memory box in your life?

No, but I do have a large chest full of my children’s school books, drawings, craft, photographs. I’m very much a hoarder.

5.       Why was a memory box such a good device for story telling for this book?

The Memory Box was a way of unfolding Pandora’s past life for the reader without using an excessive amount of flashbacks. The letters Pandora writes to her daughter, Iris and puts in the box give the reader glimpses of Pandora’s life in Paris and her deep love for Olivier.

And then the box is accidentally discovered. I won’t say any more in case you'd like to read it.

amy6

6.       You have recently published another book in the Amy Green series, so what can you tell us about this?

Yes, Wedding Belles has just been published. It’s the 6th book in the Ask Amy Green series, about a 13 year old Irish girl and her 17 year old crazy aunt, Clover who works as an agony aunt for a teen magazine. Together they are planning Amy’s mum’s second marriage in this book, but things start to go horribly wrong …

7.       How much do you have to look into Pandora’s hereditary illness for the book?

I took the research very seriously. I read cancer memoirs, including Emma Hannigan’s excellent ‘Talk to the Headscarf’. I read blogs and forums about cancer and most especially Breast Cancer Gene 1, the gene that Pandora may have (she’s waiting for the test results during the book). I also spoke to a breast cancer specialist, an amazing woman consultant surgeon called Sarah Rastell, who very kindly read my manuscript for accuracy.

I also tried to ‘feel’ how Pandora would feel while waiting for her test results – anxious, scared, alone, but yet determined to fight. Emotional truth is also vital and a character’s reactions must be honest and believable.

8.       Tell us about your inspiration behind the story.

I’m not sure where the story came from to be honest. I’d read about the breast cancer gene and it just fitted this story. The characters grew and developed as I wrote the book and some of their passions are also my passions – art, family, Paris.

9.       What is your writing process?

I plan a little to start with, then I think about the characters and their motivation obsessively. I do some early research at this stage also – but I often don’t know what I need to know, so I don’t spend too long on this at the early stages of writing. Once I’m happy that I know my characters well I start to write, leaving gaps where I need to do some more detailed research – I add that in later. I write several drafts – between 5 and 8 – and learn a lot more about my plot and characters during this stage of writing.

10. What is next for you?

I’m currently working on the first book in a new children’s series for age 9+ and I’m also writing a new book for adults. Both will be published in 2015, all being well.

Behind The Memory Box - Q and A with Sarah Webb

I did this Q and A recently for a UK website, I hope you like it. 1. Tell us about your new book The Memory Box.

Just published

My latest novel, ‘The Memory Box’ is the story of an Irish woman, Pandora Schuster who on the eve of her thirtieth birthday discovers that she may have her mum’s heredity cancer gene, Breast Cancer Gene 1. This sends her into a complete tail spin, and makes her question her life and also the future of her nine-year-old daughter, Iris. Pandora is a single mum and she has never told Olivier, her ex-boyfriend that he has a daughter. So she travels to Paris to find him, with disastrous consequences.

2.       Why did you decide to take the book over to Paris?

Pandora is passionate about clothes and it made sense for her to study fashion in Paris. Plus it’s one of my favourite cities in the world.

3.       Did you spend any time there to write about your surroundings?

Yes, I spent four months in Paris during college, working in McDonald’s, so that was helpful. I’ve been back a few times since then, most recently for my 40th birthday.

4.       Do you have a memory box in your life?

No, but I do have a large chest full of my children’s school books, drawings, craft, photographs. I’m very much a hoarder.

5.       Why was a memory box such a good device for story telling for this book?

The Memory Box was a way of unfolding Pandora’s past life for the reader without using an excessive amount of flashbacks. The letters Pandora writes to her daughter, Iris and puts in the box give the reader glimpses of Pandora’s life in Paris and her deep love for Olivier.

And then the box is accidentally discovered. I won’t say any more in case you'd like to read it.

amy6

6.       You have recently published another book in the Amy Green series, so what can you tell us about this?

Yes, Wedding Belles has just been published. It’s the 6th book in the Ask Amy Green series, about a 13 year old Irish girl and her 17 year old crazy aunt, Clover who works as an agony aunt for a teen magazine. Together they are planning Amy’s mum’s second marriage in this book, but things start to go horribly wrong …

7.       How much do you have to look into Pandora’s hereditary illness for the book?

I took the research very seriously. I read cancer memoirs, including Emma Hannigan’s excellent ‘Talk to the Headscarf’. I read blogs and forums about cancer and most especially Breast Cancer Gene 1, the gene that Pandora may have (she’s waiting for the test results during the book). I also spoke to a breast cancer specialist, an amazing woman consultant surgeon called Sarah Rastell, who very kindly read my manuscript for accuracy.

I also tried to ‘feel’ how Pandora would feel while waiting for her test results – anxious, scared, alone, but yet determined to fight. Emotional truth is also vital and a character’s reactions must be honest and believable.

8.       Tell us about your inspiration behind the story.

I’m not sure where the story came from to be honest. I’d read about the breast cancer gene and it just fitted this story. The characters grew and developed as I wrote the book and some of their passions are also my passions – art, family, Paris.

9.       What is your writing process?

I plan a little to start with, then I think about the characters and their motivation obsessively. I do some early research at this stage also – but I often don’t know what I need to know, so I don’t spend too long on this at the early stages of writing. Once I’m happy that I know my characters well I start to write, leaving gaps where I need to do some more detailed research – I add that in later. I write several drafts – between 5 and 8 – and learn a lot more about my plot and characters during this stage of writing.

10. What is next for you?

I’m currently working on the first book in a new children’s series for age 9+ and I’m also writing a new book for adults. Both will be published in 2015, all being well.

A Fairytale of Hong Kong and the Big Yes

(From the Girls Heart Books blog) Earlier this year I made a decision – I’d say YES to as many things as possible. YES to going to new plays and gigs; YES to reading at book events and festivals; YES to visiting as many schools as I could; YES to travelling to new places and having new experiences. So when the Hong Kong Young Readers' Festival asked if I’d attend their festival for a week, I took a deep breath and said YES.

It took a lot of organising. My parents very kindly offered to take my youngest two children during the trip (the eldest is 18 and said he’d stay at home and mind the rabbit and the house) and I booked the flights rather nervously. I love visiting other countries but I’m not a great flyer and it’s a twelve hour flight from London to Hong Kong. Luckily my partner said that he’d travel over with me.

On Thursday morning I arrived home from what can only be described as a whirlwind tour of Hong Kong – 9 events in 5 days.

The first events I did were nursery rhyme sessions with young children and their mum and dads. Here I am doing an action rhyme in the Hong Kong Central Library with some parents and toddlers.

Then I did lots of writing workshops and school visits, travelling all over Hong Kong to talk to students of all ages.

They were all lovely students and really interested in Ireland and Irish culture. I had great fun chatting to some of the girls after the events and finding out about their schools and what they liked to read. They told me that most people in Hong Kong have a Chinese name and also an English name which they pick themselves.

We also squeezed in time for some sightseeing. Hong Kong is full of skyscrapers and at night they are all lit up. It’s quite a sight!

I had an amazing time. If you ever get the chance to visit Hong Kong, do go! And don’t be too surprised if a Chinese girl pops up in one of my books some day soon.

Hong Kong is the kind of place that says YES to life every single day – it’s fast, busy and crowded but the people are very kind and friendly and the whole trip was a brilliant experience, one that I’ll never forget. I’m so glad I said YES!

Yours in books,

Sarah XXX

The Memory Box is Published in Ireland

Flowers from my publisher and my family

My new novel for adults, The Memory Box has just been published in Ireland. It will be available in the UK (and as an e-book) in September. It's about Pandora, who is about to turn thirty and who has just been tested for a hereditary cancer gene, BRCA1. I have written some articles about the research and the gene, and as soon as they are published I'll post them here.

I've been the usual bundle of nerves waiting for publication date - I think it gets worse every year in fact. Here's part of  a blog I wrote in 2011.

Lots more writing and getting published blogs to come in 2013, plus lots new author interviews.

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

the memory box

Pre-publication Nerves (2011)

Writers at every stage of their careers are riddled with doubts and insecurities, especially around publication time. I’ve written eleven adult novels now (nine published, two out in the next two years), I’ve written four Amy Green novels, and lots of other children’s books, but I’m still horribly nervous about the reaction to each and every new book.

Seeing your new book on the shelf for the first time is terrifying, yet exhilarating. Not seeing it on the shelves when it’s supposed to be there is, of course, far worse! I’m in the very lucky position of having publishers behind me who believe in my work and do all they can to edit, market and promote my books to the very best of their ability. And in turn I try to do my part, writing articles, being interviewed by journalists on all kinds of things, visiting the bookshops to say hi to the booksellers and to sign stock, doing school events, library events, festivals.

Around publication time I generally set aside a full month to work on the publicity side of things. There is no point spending a year or longer writing and rewriting a book and then just sitting back and letting it find its own way in the market - I like to get out there and do as much as I can to help it on its way.

I know some unpublished writers look forward to the bookshop visits, the interviews, talking to school children or reading their work to adults, but many don’t. After over fifteen years writing and publishing books, I guess I’m just used to it; but publication month never gets any easier – it’s exciting, joyful, stressful and exhausting. But you have to embrace all the publicity and the marketing for what it is – part of every writer’s job. And I’m very, very grateful that people actually want to read my articles, want to interview me, want me to visit their students.

Here's to many more publication days for us all!

The Most Important Advice I Can Give You About Writing

The Holy Ghosts

I was at a 40th birthday in London recently and I got talking to the band – lovely Scottish lads called The Holy Ghosts. They have been working their wee socks off, playing gigs and parties all over the UK and Europe. They’re super, their lead singer has buckets of charisma (and an amazing voice) and I know they’ll make it because a/ they’re determined b/ they’re damn good and c/ they’re putting in the hours.

I told them the story about The Beatles playing in Hamburg that I first read in Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. In the book Gladwell explains the 10,000 hours rule – how if you put in the time and work hard, success will follow.

In a nutshell The Beatles performed live in Hamburg, Germany over 1,200 times from 1960 to 1964, amassing more than 10,000 hours of playing time. According to Gladwell the hours and hours that The Beatles spent performing live shaped their talent. He quotes their biographer Philip Norman who said ‘So by the time they returned to England from Hamburg, Germany, they sounded like no one else. It was the making of them.’

Gladwell also talks about Bill Gates and how at the age of 13 in 1968 he spent over 10,000 hours programming on a high school computer.

Putting in the hours. It’s not very exciting, is it? But it’s so important. I think a lot of people starting to write don’t realise how hard writers work to get published and to stay published. How many hours they put in.

Coming up with an idea is the easy bit. Creating characters, plot . . . not so hard. Writing the first few chapters of a manuscript . . . not so difficult either. Finishing a book and then rewriting it over and over again until it’s as perfect as you can make it, that’s the hard part.

I’ve said it before but it’s worth saying again – you learn how to write by writing. By putting in the hours. At night after work, early in the morning before the kids get up, at weekends, on holidays, when you’re on top of the world, when your heart is breaking – you have to keep at it. You have to put in the hours. It’s as simple or as difficult as that.

All the very best for Christmas and 2013. Try to make some time to write over the holidays. And I’ll try to follow my own advice!

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

How Much Planning Should You Do Before Starting a Book?

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Martina Reilly

To plot or not to plot? That is an interesting question. Over the years I have realised that it very much depends on what type of person you are.

If you are a planner – if you pack days before going away, if you know exactly where your passport is before travelling, then you’re a planner and you may need to plan your book.

If you pack the hour before leaving for the airport, if you hate planning anything weeks or months before it happens, than you’d probably think planning would kill your book’s spontaneity. And for you it might do just that.

So if you’re a planner like me – you need to plan. I’ve also interviewed a writer who is not a planner – the wonderful Martina Reilly – so you have both views.   So first, Martina’s answers:

Martina, how much planning do you do before starting a book?  

I do no planning at all. I tend to get an idea of what I'd like to explore. In my next book 'What If' I had a few things I wanted to write about. The first, a moment where a life is changed forever (a lot of my books are about such moments, I am unable to get away from that, though in this book it is very obvious what that moment is) and the second thing I wanted to write about was Alzheimers. Having experienced first hand how devastating this disease is, I wanted to write an uplifting story where Lily uses her disease to ask forgiveness from her daughter. But how do you ask for forgiveness when you can barely remember? That was the challenge and so I just dived straight in and began to write.    

Do you do any work on the characters?

  None at all. I suppose I see my characters as people I have been introduced to at a party. If I like them, I leave them in the story and get to know them over the course of nine months or so (the length of time it takes me to write a book). These characters begin to grow week by week as I find out things about them. I then go back to the start of the story and flesh them out using everything I've learned. Some characters are much easier to know than others. In the next book, there is a prickly character called Deirdre, she was a hard one to get right, but to my mind, she is the best character in the book now.

Any story boarding/plotting?  

No! Having said that, diving straight in can be a bit of a disaster sometimes. Maybe about 40,000 words in, I'll discover that the way I'm telling the story is all wrong. I might need to introduce a better/stronger plot (yikes) or I might feel that the book would be much better if it were told from a first person narrative instead of a third person narrative. I fight against it for a while until I KNOW it's not working and then I'll go back and rework. I have found though that it doesn't really hold me up as I get a renewed interest in making the book right and I fly along. The way I write is quite organic, I suppose. I like to surprise myself with the story so that way I hope the reader is surprised too. If I plotted and planned, I think I'd lose the spontaneity with which I write. I'm also a very impulsive person, so plotting and planning would drive me mental.

How much editing do you do after the first draft?

  Very little. I suppose I edit as I go so most of my books (bar three) have been published with very minor changes.

And now I’ll ask myself the very same questions:

Sarah, how much planning do you do before starting a book?

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Lots! Unlike Martina I can’t start writing a book if I haven’t thought about the characters and the plot for many weeks (even months or years in some cases). Once I have the initial idea – for example ‘a book about a young Irish girl who dreams of being a famous ballerina’ – I grab a yellow A4 notebook and I start jotting down notes. I also collect clippings from magazines and newspapers on the subject and I read extensively around the subject. All these things trigger my own plot ideas and make me more confident that I know what I’m writing about.  

Do you do any work on the characters?  

Yes. I write down everything I know or am starting to find out about the main characters – what they look like, their birthdays, their dreams, hopes, fears . . . I give them names – I love naming characters. Once I find the right name for a character they become much easier to visualise and understand.

Any story boarding/plotting?  

IMG_1862[1]

Again, yes. I go through the book scene by scene, jotting down notes about what I’d like to happen. This is all very much subject to change, it’s just a way of keeping myself going. It also means that I’m not so frightened about getting ‘stuck’ half way through the book. I always know how the book is going to end – the middle is a little more vague.

How much editing do you do after the first draft?

Again, a lot. I usually do around five or six rewrites, often more, depending on the book. Some books require more rewriting than others. Ask Amy Green: Dancing Daze didn’t require too much rewriting; The Shoestring Club, my latest adult book required quite a bit of rewriting. In fact the first draft is very different to the final book. Pretty much everything changed and I think it’s a much better book for all the thought, planning and rewriting.

So there you go, two writers, two very different approaches. Now which type of writer are you? Do you need to plan or are you happier just sitting down and writing? I’d love to know.

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

(And a big thank you to Martina for giving me her time)

A Map of My Writing Day

I've been writing this 'Yours in Writing' blog for many years now, and I would like to thank all of you for the fantastic feedback and regular comments both here and on Facebook and Twitter. It means a lot to me. To say thank you, I'd like to address some topics that YOU have asked me to cover. The first - and yes, probably the easiest - is my writing routine. When do I write? How many words? Computer or long hand?

Over the next few weeks I will tackle the other questions I've recently been asked - on planning books, getting published for teenagers, what editors are looking for right now and other subjects. If there is something that you would like me to cover, you only have to ask.

So - my writing routine. And thanks to Claire Hennessy for the question, a very experienced writer herself.

snoopy-good-writing-is-hard-work

Here's a map of my writing day:

7am  Rise (groggily) and get the kids to school.

8.30am  Get home and start thinking about what I have to do today.

Potter around the house avoiding work, 'tidying', opening mail, checking emails, Twitter and Facebook (terrible I know but best to get it over with early I find so I can get on with my morning! Twitter and Facebook are big distractions but also great fun and I dip in and out during the afternoon when I'm doing my emails and admin etc).

9.30  Walk - think about my current book while doing so (or that's the idea - it doesn't always work out that way - somametimes I end up chatting to my mum or a friend while walking - which is also nice!).

10.30am  Switch off my mobile and take the phone off the hook - my writing computer does not have the internet - which is a Godsend! Sit down at my desk.

Stare into space for a while.

Stare into space some more.

10.45am  Start writing.

I write straight onto my computer (I'm a fairly fast and accurate touch typist) but I do also write a lot of early plot notes/character notes in yellow notebooks. Yes, always yellow!

1.00pm  Collect my son or if he's in after school, stay writing until 2pm.

I aim to write about 2,000 words a day - that's my natural limit. Anything more than that is a bonus but if I don't reach my target I don't beat myself up about it. I write as often as I can, every day if possible - that way it's easier to jump straight back into the story. Otherwise I have to re-read what I've been writing and it slows the process down. Sometimes I stop writing in the middle of a sentence or a thought - I find it easier to pick up the thread of the story that way. It's probaby a bit nuts, but whatever gets you through, right?

In 15 years of writing (10 of those full time) I have always written something when I've sat down at my desk. Even if I'm not feeling great or am having a horrible day/week/month I still manage to write a page or two. I have NEVER left my desk without getting something down.

In the afternoon I deal with my emails (I hate email but it's a necessary evil), answer phone calls, write my blogs (I have two, this one and one on my Amy Green website and also blog for Girls Heart Books), do my event programming and check in with my Facebook and Twitter friends. I also update my website and write any reviews, articles or other bits of writing I've been asked to do.

I also used to work three or four evenings a week, but recently I have stopped this. I'm not as productive as I used to be but it gives me more time to spend with my family.

And that, my friends, is my writing day! I am very blessed to be able to write full time and I would like to thank my readers for making it possible.

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

When Are You Going To Write a Proper Book?

amy5

This piece first appeared in the Sunday Independent

When are you going to write a proper book - a book for adults? It’s a question every children’s writer is asked at some stage of their career. I started out writing for children, switched to adults, and now write for both. When the inevitable question was put, I'd explain children are the most discerning audience of all, children’s books are challenging and fun to write, and any author who doesn’t try it at some stage is missing out.   I am only one of a host of authors who write for both children and adults. J K Rowling’s debut adult novel, The Casual Vacancy, a dark comedy about local politics will be published on 27th September, quite a risk for someone with such a successful track record in the children’s book world.

Roald Dahl also wrote for adults and children, as do contemporary award-winners Philip Pullman, Neil Gaiman and most recently, Philippa Gregory. The American crime writers like James Patterson are all at it; and ex-SAS man Andy McNabb has produced a popular action/adventure series for younger readers.

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Under the Hawthorne Tree was an international hit for its creator, Marita Conlon-McKenna, followed by seven further bestsellers for young readers. Her latest book for children, Love Lucie (Simon and Schuster) has just been published and she is currently working on her next adult novel, The Rose Garden. So why did she turn to adult fiction after so much success in the children’s world? “The Magdalen (Marita’s first adult novel, about the laundries for unmarried mothers) was a story I’d always wanted to tell,” she explains. “But because of the harsh subject I couldn’t write it for children or even teenagers. It was very successful and my publishers asked me to write another book for adults.”

“For me,” she continues, “the story decides the age group, not the other way around, I’m driven by story; and my publishers give me great freedom to write what I want. Irish writers don’t seem to get labelled or pigeonholed as much as other writers – they can write plays, musicals, screen plays and it’s very acceptable. In other countries they seem to like their writers to stay in their box. Irish writers are an unknown quantity, no-one knows they will do next.”

Like Marita, Wexford man, Eoin Colfer of Artemis Fowl fame always wanted to be a writer first and foremost, not a ‘children’s writer’. “I have had different stories in my head,” he says, “some suitable for kids, some for adults. I think because I have such an outlandish or maybe juvenile imagination some of my stories are definitely only for children, but recently some of the more complicated stories have been pushing themselves to the front of my brain. I also will admit to feel a little pressure (self-imposed) to write a book for grown-ups.”

Switching from writing for adults to writing for children is more usual and Judi Curtin, author of the popular Alice and Megan series did just that. Her first book Sorry, Walter was for adults but after finishing her second adult novel she wanted to write something that her daughters could read. “It was supposed to be a temporary change,” she says, “but it snowballed.” She has now written thirteen children’s books but is also exploring the adult world again. “There’s a story I’d like to tell which isn’t for children,” she says.

The Giggler Treatment, Roddy’s Doyle’s first book for younger readers was written to entertain his children. “I wrote a few pages towards the end of every working day,” he says, “and read them to them at bedtime, starting at the beginning every night.  It gradually became a book.” When asked will he continue to write for children, he says “I’m not sure.  My books for children have always been aimed at particular children - and children, I've noticed, tend to grow up and stop being children.  But if the ideas are there and, more importantly, the urge to put them on paper is there, I'll still give it a bash.”

John Boyne had never thought about writing for young readers until the idea for The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas came into his head. He says “The experience I had with that book – going into schools, getting children interested in reading – opened up my imagination in a new way and I found that I wanted to write for both audiences.” Like Roddy, he will continue to write for both audiences. “In fact I've just delivered a draft of my next adult novel to my editor. I'll be rewriting that over the next six months or so but I've just started a draft of a new children's book too.”

Master of children’s horror, Darren Shan also started out writing for adults. His first adult book, Procession of the Dead was published in 1999, a year before Cirque Du Freak (his first children’s book). “I had written a lot of first-draft books by that stage,” he says, “all of which were aimed at adults. I thought that was where my career lay, but I’d always wanted to try a children’s book. One day I had the idea for Cirque Du Freak and by the time I had finished the first draft, I had already decided to write another book for children.”

Darren now writes for both children and adults. “I’ve learnt so much about pacing and editing while working on my children’s books, which has fed back into the books I write for adults. I love the dichotomy of moving between the two worlds (adult’s and children’s publishing),” he adds, “and I would love to be able to continue doing that far into the future.”

When asked which adult writer he’d like to see writing for children, Darren immediately says “Kurt Vonnegut – he could have been a great children’s author if he had been that way inclined.” Roddy Doyle’s choice is Anne Enright. “Any book for children by Anne would be magical.” Marita Conlon McKenna suggests Marian Keyes, and John Boyne would love to see David Mitchell tackle children’s literature. “Knowing his extraordinary imagination and linguistic abilities, I think (it) would be something very special,” he says.

And finally Eoin Colfer nominates Colm Toibin. “I would love him to be forced to call me and ask for advice on pacing,” he says, “so I could churlishly hang up. It's the auld Wexford-Enniscorthy rivalry!”

Will Eoin ever get his chance? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Sarah Webb has two books out this month, Ask Amy Green: Dancing Daze for young teens (Walker Books) and The Shoestring Club for adults (Pan Macmillan).

Writing Worries - Don't Clip Your Own Wings

Apologies for the lack of recent blogs, I was helping to run the Mountains to Sea Book Festival and taking some much needed time off. I wrote the following blog in August, before I sent my new proposal to my agent. More on this at the end. For weeks now I've been worrying about a book proposal. Is it good enough? Will my agent like it? Will my publishers like it?

I've published 23 books now and it never gets any easier. The doubts are still very much there for every single book or proposal.

I worked hard on the proposal, on getting every detail right - the series title (it's a new series for girls of 9+), the title of each book, the girls' names (there are 4 main characters), the plots for each of the first 3 books, the setting; especially the setting. I started reading widely on the subjects covered in the plots and added details to my proposal.

I wrote some of the first book, then rewrote it many times until I was happy with it. Only then did I send it to my agent. She read it and gave some suggestions. I took those on board and rewrote the whole proposal again. Finally it was ready to be sent to my editors and so began the waiting game.

What happens next? My editors - if they like it - take it to an acquisitions meeting where the sales and marketing team get their say. If they all like it, and they think it will sell, then you have a book contract.

amy5

I visited my publishers, Walker Books in London to hear the news and I waited anxiously for their verdict. I didn't have to wait long. As soon as I walked into the reception area (where some of my other Ask Amy Green books were twinkling at me from the book shelves), one of my editors said 'Everyone loved your proposal'. I was so relieved! I thought my proposal was good, my agent thought it was marvellous but you never can tell . . .

But nerves are good. In fact they are important to writers. It's what keeps us on our toes, makes us try our very hardest to produce something excellent. Nerves are like the adrenaline before a race, keeping us alive.

As writers we wear our hearts on our sleeves, outside our bodies. We are largely a highly emotional bunch and like actors, we crave an audience for our work - we need readers. We want people to say 'We love your books'.

But we also need to have confidence in what we are doing. So once we get that initial 'You're on the right track' nod, we need to take that affirmation on board and then get back to work. We need to put all those fears and doubts aside and write as if nothing else mattered.

Because if we let our writing worries consume us, we clip our own wings.

So once you get that initial nod - from your editor, or if you are not yet published, from a trusted friend - put all your worries behind you and fly. The only way to live a writing life is in the air and not stumbling along the ground.

memory box frt 5

I'm all set to take my own advice. After proof reading The Memory Box, my next book for adults which will be out in early 2013, I'll be writing the first book in the new series. The series is called The Wishing Girls. More about that soon.

Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

How To Contact A Writer - by Claire Hennessy

Here is a fantastic blog from my talented writer friend, Claire Hennessy. I like it so much that I'm reposting it. Do check out Claire's great website and blog here.

How To Contact a Writer by Claire Hennessy

Recently Sarah Dessen talked about getting an obnoxious email from someone when she didn’t reply to someone to help with a book report. It didn’t surprise me. Sarah Dessen obviously gets bucketloads more fan mail than, well, most of us, but this happens. It does.

Recently I had a conversation with another writer about getting sent manuscripts to read (‘tell me if it’s any good!’) from people out of the blue, and how to deal with that. This happens too. And it’s tricky in all sorts of ways.

I think there’s a lot fuzziness out there in the world about what is okay, and what is not okay, to contact an author about. And the ease of communication – social media as well as email – means it’s so much easier to get in touch, and easier to have a sense that you’re owed a response. (‘She RTed me that time! Why has she not read my manuscript and sent it to her publisher yet?!’)   I have… not necessarily the definitive guide, because every writer is different, but some things for people to consider, based a little on my own experience but also on paying attention to what many others have said about correspondence with readers.  •Some writers respond to fan mail (and by this I mean communications that are just appreciative, rather than asking for something); some don’t. Of those that respond, some will do personal responses and some will do a generic reply. Whatever they do… it’s their choice. There is no ‘rule’ that says authors must reply to all fan mail personally. I have never heard or seen any writer declare that they hated getting fan mail (or that they didn’t read and appreciate it very much) – it is almost always about time. Personal responses take time, and time is something almost everyone is short of. Neil Gaiman once spoke about how he’d become someone who ‘answered emails professionally, and wrote on the side’ – I think most people would prefer authors keep writing books.  •Fan mail tends not to be treated in a time-sensitive manner. If an author gets an email from their editor or agent with a big long list of things that need to be sorted out about their work-in-progress in the next fortnight, and one from Little Suzie wanting to know if they have any tips for her… well. (Snail mail also tends to go via a publisher, which means it can take longer to actually arrive in the author’s hands than you might expect.) Even if you do hope for a response, it is unlikely to be as super-speedy as you’d like.  •If you have a question to ask a writer – whether it’s about their books or their writing career or you’re looking for advice – do your research first. Go to their website, do a Google search, find out as much as you can that way. (There is a reason many authors’ websites have things like Frequently Asked Questions or sections on writing advice – these are things that come up over and over again.) An awful lot of people don’t bother doing this, and it’s one of the reasons why many writers do auto-responses. •Find out what the author’s policy is on communication – some may note that it takes them X amount of time to get back, or say that it’s better to get them on Twitter, or Tumblr, or something like that. Everyone does things slightly differently.  •It is never an author’s job to do your homework for you. If your teacher has said you need to get a response from a writer (whether this is a book report, an assignment on ‘becoming a writer’, etc), he/she is in the wrong. It is never anyone else’s job to do your homework for you. It is not the job of an author you’ve never met to make him or herself available for your often time-sensitive questions. (Laurie Halse Anderson has a policy on her website; Holly Lisle has a slightly snarkier page about it.) I suspect that teachers who assign things like this feel it shows students will go the extra mile if they get a response from an author – but the focus should be on what the student is doing, not how/when/what the author responds.  •Even if you’re, say, Facebook ‘friends’ with an author, it’s better to err on the side of formality/professionalism when sending a message or email – avoid acronyms and internet shorthand and all that jazz. (If there’s ongoing correspondence, take your cue from them – some writers can OMG and !!! with the best of ‘em. Others will genuinely see your ‘by d way i tink ur awesome!!!’ as indicative of a lack of respect or clued-in-ness, because the level of written-word casualness that exists online is a relatively new phenomenon and is still best avoided in most messages that are not to someone you know well.) •Do not send email attachments – some email servers will block these immediately. If you have something that can’t be placed in the body of a text – like fan art – upload it somewhere else and include a link, or ask if you can send it on.  •Do not send writers your manuscript (of a story, of a novel, of your poetry collection, whatever). More on that here. There are of course exceptions to this rule – some authors will run competitions on their blogs and invite submissions, and if you’ve been corresponding with someone for a while the rules can shift because this isn’t an initial-email-to-someone-in-their-professional-capacity situation anymore. •If you’re asking an author for advice on something personal – like maybe it’s something they’ve written about in their books – just be careful, okay? Protect yourself a little bit, just in case they are among the writers who don’t reply or maybe take ages – it doesn’t mean they don’t care or that there isn’t anyone else out there you can talk to. (Some writers love giving advice; others are very wary of it. I can see both sides of this one – it is a really, really tricky area.)  •A lot of this applies across the board. If you’re asking someone you don’t know or barely-know for a favour, there’s a really good chance that they’ll say no. You increase the chances by being kind and respectful and understanding and doing your research, but they still might say no or not reply or not reply quickly. It’s almost certainly because they’re busy doing other things, work things or life things, and not because they’re selfish terrible awful people who must go on your List Of Mortal Enemies.

 (This blog first appeared on Claire's website)

What's In a Name? Why Titles Matter

Book titles matter. They must be memorable, intriguing and above all, they must say something about your book or story. Think of Wuthering Heights, Bleak House, Pride and Prejudice, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, War Horse . . .

Name titles are also good – when the name is perfectly chosen of course - Matilda, Skulduggery Pleasant, Charlotte’s Web, Judy Moody, Artemis Fowl, Huckleberry Finn . . .

But how do you find the right title for your book or story? And how do you know that it is the right title?

I’ll try to explain using some of my own titles.

Always the Bridesmaid was a strong title – it describes the main character’s situation and it’s short and easy to remember.

When the Boys are Away is another good title – it’s about Meg and what she gets up to when her boyfriend, a professional sailor, is away. Both these titles are for adults – I write for both adults and younger readers.

The Loving Kind/Anything for Love/Some Kind of Wonderful – I’m not so keen on these titles – again all novels for adults. They don’t say much about the individual stories or characters – in fact they are pretty much interchangeable – and they’re a bit vague, a bit lazy really. In retrospect, I should have tried harder! But coming up with a good title isn’t easy, especially with deadlines looming.

Ask Amy Green – I love this as a series title. It’s simple and it has a nice ring to it. Amy is my Everygirl, an average 13 year old girl that readers can identify with I hope, so I gave her a name that I love (my daughter is called Amy) and a surname that lots of girls have – Green. She’s an agony aunt and likes to solve problems, so I though that ‘Ask’ was appropriate – as in you can ask her anything and she will try to help.

amy5

I also like the individual book titles very much – especially Boy Trouble, Summer Secrets, Bridesmaid Blitz and Dancing Daze (out in September) – which each give a good flavour of what the book is about. I’m not so hot on Love and Other Drama-ramas – and boy did we have trouble with that title! It was originally to be called Party Drama-ramas but as the book changed, the title had to change too. I would have liked to get more of Bailey’s story into the title (the book is largely about his struggle to find his place in the world), but it was really difficult.

I quite liked Mystery Male as a title, but it wasn’t quite right. Other titles we tried were Dates and Other Drama-Ramas (too like Cathy Hopkins great Mates, Dates series), Double Drama-rama (too vague), Dublin Drama-rama (again a bit vague). So we decided on Love and Other Drama-ramas which we were all happy with (my editors, Annalie and Gill help me with titles if I’m stuck). And the book is about love – family and romantic - and the problems it can cause, so it does fit nicely.

So, in short, make your title simple, memorable and make it say something about your book. When I’ve cracked it 100% myself, I’ll let you know!

What’s YOUR favourite book title and why? I’d be most interested to know.

Yours in books,

Sarah XXX

(A version of this post first appeared on the Girls Heart Books blog)