A Small Success

The opening chapters of my new novel The Scarlet Heart have won a free critique from You Write On. This means an editor from Orion or Random House gets to rip my work apart!


I won a critique from YWO a couple of years back for Charlie Squires and it taught me a lot about how to improve the MS, so I'm pretty pleased. Of course there's always the chance they'll tell me I've written a load of old twaddle, but even that's helpful to know.

Eek.

The Third Pig Detective Agency by Bob Burke

I’ve known (in the on-line sense) Bob Burke for a couple of years now, ever since the inaugural youwriteon.com Children’s Book of the Year Award.

Bob’s moved onwards and upwards since then (unlike me, ahem) and his book The Third Pig Detective Agency is about to be released by The Friday Project, an imprint of HarperCollins (I think it's already available on Amazon).

Ever wondered what happened to the little pig (otherwise known as Harry Pigg) who was wise enough to build his house out of bricks? Well, after boiling the Big Bad Wolf down for soup, Harry became something of a fairytale legend and decided to take advantage of his fame and set up as a detective.

But business begins to dry up and Harry finds he has too much time on his trotters and not enough cash in his piggy bank. So when he's approached by a certain Mr Aladdin, who is missing a very special lamp, he has no choice but to take the case on. Naturally, this embroils Harry in a lot of trouble. There's avaricious witches, thuggish orcs and a sometimes overenthusiastic Jack Horner to contend with, along with a host of other complications.

The Third Pig Detective Agency is a great book, totally entertaining and madcap. Harry Pigg is a fabulous character, a kind of porcine Philip Marlowe let loose in a fractured fairytale universe. I have no doubt he is going to garner a cult following.

As well as being a great read, I have to mention the book design too. It’s beautiful, well thought out and witty.

Here’s to Harry and Bob and may they both enjoy a long career!

Threads by Sophia Bennett

Threads is narrated by Nonie, a 14 year old fashion enthusiast who, along with her friends Edie and Jenny, befriends Crow, a dyslexic 12 year old Ugandan with a most distinctive dress sense.

Nonie and her friends soon discover two remarkable things about Crow.

Firstly, she is a fashion genius who creates clothes more like works of art than garments,(‘I didn’t know whether to wear it or frame it,’ says Nonie, when Crow gives her a dress she’s made).

Secondly, back in Uganda she was a ‘night walker’- a child forced to move to a different village each evening to find a safe place to sleep and avoid the clutches of the Lord’s Resistance Army.

Nonie and the others set out to help Crow achieve her potential as a fashion designer, but of course all learn much about themselves in their attempts.

What I loved about Threads is the way Sophia weaves the strands of her story to produce a tale as skilfully constructed as one of Crow’s cobweb jumpers. In the hands of a lesser writer, Threads could have erred on the side of fluffy or been a little too issue driven. But the balance here is perfection.

Threads genuinely made me laugh and cry. Nonie’s warm and humorous narration is so beautifully pitched it’s a complete joy to read, right down to the very last line.

I also loved the descriptions of the various outfits that feature in Threads. In fact, here are my three favourite Threads fashion moments:

Crow’s fairy wings and tutu
Nonie’s velvet hot pants, smoking jacket and bowler hat outfit
Granny’s ENTIRE wardrobe (I so want the purple accessorized with turquoise outfit).

Threads is out on 7th September (yes, I got a sneak preview!) and I HIGHLY recommend it.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

This is Zachary Neagle.

He's fourteen years old and is being tried the murder of his father. Under Idaho law it's legal for him to be tried as an adult.

It may be legal, but it isn't right. Chaining a young boy is appalling and unnecessary. Can you remember being 14? Can you imagine how terrified Zachary must be?

I found an an online petition, though it doesn't seem to have very many signatures yet (around 117), and I'm not sure how effective these things are, but might be worth signing?

Perfect Fever

Just come back from a weekend in Paris. Had a lovely time. Ate some truly amazing food. Drank one or two glasses of wine. Did lots of wandering. Bought some lovely smelly cheese and equally lovely but less smelly chocolate. C earned massive husband points by booking us first class seats for the return journey.

And to to top off a fine couple of days, Fever Crumb, Phillip Reeve's prequel to the Mortal Engines series is out. I didn't know he was writing a prequel. I do think he might have let me know!

Winging to Best Sellerdom

A couple of years or so ago, I began following an unpublished writer’s blog. I don’t think she had an agent at the time, but she hooked up with one after A LOT of rejections.

Sadly, the book that snagged the agent didn't sell. But this writer didn't shrivel up and die. She wrote another book.

It sold to Harper Collins as the first of a four book series.

The book was published a few days ago...and...it's debuted at number 6 in the New York Times Best Sellers List.

Isn't that wonderful? I’m reading Wings at the moment. The prose is effortless to read – and we all know easy reading is hard writing.

Tense About Tense

Okay.

I've sort of finished my first draft.

It's a bit of a messy beastie. It's also about 10K words too short and there are lots of missing scenes that I need to think about. But I know my characters better and who's getting ditched in the next draft. I know the plot and the sub plots. I know all the backstory.

But I'm struggling with the narrative. It veers between third person past tense and first person present. I can't decide which to go with.

Usually I write in third person past. Now I've fallen in love with first person present. I think it lends itself well to the story I'm trying to write. But it's a really tricky thing to pull off.

Argh.

The only answer is to do another draft in first person then put it away for a while. See how it feels after a some distance.