Spinebreakers ‘What Teens Want’ event

Hey ya’ll! Guess what? I attended the London Book Fair today. I booked a ticket in a moment of pre-Crimbo madness last year and I left after half an hour to go shopping (sorry, but it really isn’t worth it for aspiring authors unless you happen to nab a meeting with an agent or publisher. Which you probably won’t cos they’re not there to discover new talent, they’re there to discover new deals and partnerships).

BUT there is a decent programme of events and one made the train journey worth it (that and the top I bought in High Street Ken!). I went to a fabulous seminar on ‘What Teens Want’ by the Spinebreakers team at Penguin / Puffin. And when I say team, I mean actual teenagers cos it’s those dudes – the ones us YA / teen writers are aiming our stuff at – that matter, right?

The editor, Danielle Innes, did a lovely little Powerpoint presentation about Spinebreakers, which has been set up by Puffin to allow teen readers to continue their journey after they’ve read a stonking good book with a chance to review, discuss, contribute and even write their own stuff. Four teens from the Spinebreakers team also attended, all four very different – and all very interesting! They were: Conrad, Olivia, Ayesha and Malik (apologies if I get these names wrong).

Here’s some stuff I got from the event that might be useful for other teen / YA writers out there:

• Teens should work in marketing. They’d get paid a lot. And win awards and stuff. Olivia showed us some videos she’d created for her favourite books (which can all be found on Spinebreakers) and they were awesome! She also told us about a party she held based on the characters from Anna Godbersen’s Rumours. Some seriously clever marketing ideas.
• There was a nice mixture of adult and teen books listed among their favourite books with the usual suspects – Rowling, Horowitz, Pullman and Blackman coming up (yet no mention of the likes of Meyer or Marr, interestingly). There was also a nice splash of the ‘greats’ such as Orwell and Hemingway. In fact, Orwell came through strong and clear as a favourite with 1984 and Animal Farm being discussed with real vigour
• Why do certain books take off? The team weren’t so sure about this, I got the impression it’s some mysterious X factor. But one teen said that books featuring desirable objects and skills – magical wands, a subtle knife - are a real hit. So that ‘wanting something you haven’t got’ factor played a part.
• What they hated was clearer: being patronised and teenage cliches (“Love stories where boys fix all the girls’ problems” was how one put it). Teen and young adult novels seemed to be the biggest culprit when it comes to this so we need to be careful of this, fellow YA writers.
• Where do they get their recommendations? This was an interesting one when considering marketing. Parents were, surprisingly, important, not just for buying the books themselves but also recommending books. Review were also mentioned – specifically the Saturday Guardian. Word of mouth was incredibly important as well as the bookstores themselves.
• When do they read: at bedtime, mainly, to the detriment of their homework!
• How do they choose a book? Books are judged by their covers! Shiny interesting covers draw them in. And, of course, that all important first chapter. Titles were important too. What they disliked was being mislead by a title or cover. It needs to do what it says on the tin, dang it!

So all-in-all, interesting especially for publishers but also offered some nuggets of interest for us teen / YA writers. The ‘don’t patronise us’ message was LOUD AND CLEAR which can be scary for YA writers as many people suffer from this irritating disease when they get over the age of 18 which automatically makes anything splurting forth from their mouths patronising. Hopefully I don’t do that with my book.

I also attended the ‘How to Get Published Masterclass’ on Saturday which went over stuff I know already really and has been blogged about elsewhere (click here) stressed the need for patience when you’re a writer, which is so true.

So will I go to the LBF next year? Unless I have a deal in the works, possibly not. But I will keep an eye on the seminar programme and maybe combine it with meeting some London friends.

So, watch this space.

Right, I’m off to check out www.spinebreakers.co.uk…

What I Was by Meg Rosoff

I finished reading What I Was last night. If it were scratch and sniff, it would smell of sea air, seaweed, and bangers and mash (a delish British meal for my friends across the pond).

I absolutely loved Rosoff’s crunchily fabulous How I Live Now (as you can see from this review) and finally got around to reading this little gem about a boy who’s carted off to a boarding school on the south coast and comes across the mysterious Finn, a boy with no past and a stroppy cat. It’s about friendship, love, a real coming of age treat with a fab ending.

What I adore about this book is the voice. We writers always hear agents and publishers talk about an author needing to have a standout voice. Rosoff is the author that comes instantly to mind when I think about this. Her writing style is a dream – I wanna wrap myself up in it and sail away! She’s funny, ironic – the main character throbs off the page, dry wit and all. To give you an example of voice (not the best example – I’m a very naughty reviewer and haven’t bought a copy in with me today but found some extracts online) here’s a passage to whet your appetite.

‘Did I mention that St. Oswald’s was my third school? The first two asked me (not entirely politely) to leave, owing to the deplorable nature of my behaviour and grades. In my defence, I’d like to point out that my behaviour was not deplorable if by deplorable you mean rude, belligerent, violent and antisocial—setting fire to the library, stabbing or raping a teacher. By deplorable they meant “less than dedicated to study,” “less that competent at writing essays,” “less than interesting to the head and the board of governors.” Given my gentle failings, their assessment strikes me now as unnecessarily cruel, and makes me wonder how they labelled the student who opened fire with an AK-47 in the middle of chapel.’

This is by no means the best example, there’s many more. Anyway, as is the case with my reviews, I end now, very quickly, offering you just a teensy morsel of this utterly wonderful book. Go buy it! Now!!!

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I just finished this raw lump of a book and believe the hype, it’s a real page-turner. Action-packed, gritty, violent – I’ve walked away from it feeling like I need a good old clean (any streams around so I can scrape the blood and dirt off me; wipe the horrid images from my mind?)

As always, I’m not gonna go into detail, google is your friend.

Now, what I really loved about this book was the idea itself. 12 kids thrown into a battle against each other, a modern Running Man… just awesome and damn it, why didn’t I think of it first? The main character, Katniss, is great, Kickass. Real strong. An inspiration. The little details Collins brings in of a future world – the creatures she invents, the dystopian nuances – work very well. The little ideas and surprises, and twists and turns here and there – awesome. It will make a fabulous film.

BUT (isn’t there always a ‘but’?) the use of present tense was a bit jarring. I actually like present tense but it got a bit ‘listy’. And you know how us writers are always told to ’show, don’t tell’, Collins does a helluva LOT of telling when showing a scene with actions and dialogue would’ve worked so much better. And though Katniss is strong, she turns into a pathetic doe-eyed thing when it comes to ‘acting out’ the love stuff. She’s also dispassionate too and it takes a while to warm to her. The start is very very slow – a lot of people would be turned off by the first few pages where, literally, hardly anything happens. There were moments of great writing (as in, beautiful to read) but these were sparse. The writing was as gritty and tough as the subject-matter.

But really enjoyed this book and a definite must-read for aspiring YA writers purely because of the massive hype around it.

Melissa Marr ‘Wicked Lovely’ Series

I’ve just put down an unrpoofed copy of Marr’s Fragile Eternity  so thought it was about time I darn well shared my thoughts on this truly scrumptious, utterly dark and fabulously crafted set of young adult novels.

There’s a zillion reviews of Marr’s work on the interwebs and outline of plot – remember, my beauties, Google is your friend. So I wanna make this short and sweet.

If I was in the Summer Court and was all positive and happy and stuff, this is what I’d say…

• The yummy imagery. In particular, the way she manages to evoke the very essence of the fairy courts in her character descriptions. Eg. the eyes of Keenan, the Summer King, are described as having oceans waves lapping in them; suns rising and setting. Really quite fabulous. The description of the tattoo in Ink Exchange (the second book) is ultra cool too. The settings are to die for – the train carriage, the loft.
• It’s dark. Yeah baby, dark. Tattoos, piercings, pool tables (ha!), snakes. Other than the odd spark of colour when Marr’s highlighting the court  quirks, in my head, it’s all dark and rock ‘n’ rolla when I’m reading her stuff. And I like that.
• It’s dirty. Really urban. Dirty city setting, quirky industrial homes (eg. Seth’s train carriage home). And yet the ‘fantasy’ world – Keenan’s loft, the park, the winter court… they’re just o so beautiful and vibrant.
• Strong characters. There’s not enough of these out there, especially strong female characters. But Ash, Donia, Leslie , – tough girls with endearing qualities.
• Cute guys. All for different reasons. Seth for his intelligent, patient, rocky gorgeousness. Keenan for his wicked loveliness. Niall for his big, strong ‘I will protect you’ vibe, Irial for his dark and dirty ‘I will unravel you’ essence. Hmmmmmm…. Niall is my fave, who’s yours?

If I was in the Dark Court and was all cynical and, urm, dark, I’d say…

• Plots a teensy bit samey (okay, grasping at straws here cos books are truly close to perfection). From one book to the next, you kinda see the same battles taking place. ‘Please love me’, ‘No, no, I shan’t’. ‘You shall change into a fairy and be mine’. ‘No, no, I shan’t.’ You get what I mean? But I think us gals like that, right? And there are some fab sub-plots. *Slaps face and forces oneself to return to cynical Dark Court self* But yeah, could’ve done with mixing it up a bit but why fix what ain’t broke *Slaps face again*
• Intensity of relationships: I know some people hate Twilight but for those of us who enjoyed the series, it’s difficult to forget the sheer intensity of Bella and Edward’s relationship and that same level intensity isn’t there in the ’Wicked Lovely’ series. The main ‘relationship’ is between Ash and Seth and it’s great, it’s real, it’s ‘healthy’ and mebbe for that reason I was a teensy bit like ’whatever’ about it. Yeah, they’re cute together. Yeah, sure, you want them to get together but deep down, you SO want Ash and Keenan to get it on! I think it might be cos I preferred Keenan to Seth so mebbe those who prefer seth will think totally differently. Mebbe Marr meant it to be like this cos she wants to keep the Ash / Keenan dynamic on the simmer setting? Plus her stuff is grittier, stronger, more real than Meyer’s stuff (eg. in real life, not all relationships are so intense) so mebbe this is why there aren’t so many brooding looks etc. Hey, it’s down to personal taste really.
• Urm, that’s all I can think of (I am SO for the Summer Court but I am SO gonna be cannoodling with a Dark Court boy

Anyways, out of ALL the books I have reviewed here (including Before I Die), I totally and utterly recommend the luscious ‘Wicked Lovely’ series for readers and writers (of YA stuff particularly) as it’s to DIE FOR!!!! In terms of reading material and inspiration for writing. Go Marr!

x

I have an agent!

I never thought I’d be saying these words, so soon after I started querying but heck, yeah baby, I have an agent!!!

Until I sign on the dotted line, I won’t say who she is but she’s diamond and incredibly enthusiastic about my book (and my lovely Tori and Cam). Also, she wants to represent ME not just my book. She wants to create a writing career for me.

If any aspiring writers are reading this and wondering how to get an agent: write a damn good personalised query letter (there’s LOADS of advice on the net, lap it up); write a book with a great hook and then there’s the stuff you can’t control, like writing style. ‘Voice’ is mentioned so much and it’s something you can’t really fake, you have it or you don’t. Plus each agent is different, some will like your voice, other’s won’t. Something you can control is keep your writing tight – show, don’t tell. Express what’s going on in actions and dialogue. One great book I recommend is Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (click here) .

I’ll keep ya’ll posted…

x

The Blarney Stone snogfest worked (so far)

I have another exciting development – an agent who I queried, the third to request my full who has impressed me by how  passionate and communicative she seems (and the fact that she’s damn good and was on my ‘A List’ of agents) wants to meet up.

I got The Call (well, not quite The Call as she hasn’t offered to represent me) on Monday. Came in on the old mobile phone after I’d finished work and I was strangely calm when she said who it was (can’t say the same for the dog who was running around like a mad thing, barking at the birds outside). She said she loves what she’s read so far and wants to meet face-to-face.

So, the meet-up happens Thursday. How am I gonna prepare? I’m just going to be myself (and hope my hair behaves itself!). I’m passionate about my book, I’m passionate about books overall, I’m passionate about the literary world, always have been, always will. So that’s all there is to know.

I’ll let you all know how I get on… x

Dreams

So since I last graced the pages of this here blog, there’s been  exciting developments. Agents I’ve approached are reading FULLS of my novel already! Hell’s bells!

It was a shocker as I got requests only hours after I queried (I was anticipating weeks of waiting, biting my nails down till there was nothing left) but nope, got a beautiful email through, saying they ‘liked’ the first chapter and can I send the rest? Woo-hoo!

I went mental, jumping around, people asking what the hell was wrong. I was asking myself that too later as I looked in the mirror, telling myself to calm the hell down, they’d only seen the first few pages, will probably hate the rest.

Of course, I couldn’t resist giving it a final read-through before sending it. There were some scenes that were playing on my mind. Fluffy scenes with no momentum so the editor in me chopped, chopped, chopped and then before I knew it, the word count was down from what I’d said in my query. But hey, I know it works better without them.

It’s a win-win situation, you see. Even if I get knocked back, then I still gain something and that’s called ‘confidence’, my children. Confidence in my writing which I so desperately crave. Confidence in my beautiful characters, Tori and Cam (picture of Cam as I imagine him above), who have followed me around the house, been my constant companions since September last year, whispering in my ear. I really love them. Is that weird? They’re so real to me, I can almost see them; feel their breath on my cheek (DRAMAZ! Sorry, can’t help it!).

So readers, as I prepare to hit the ’send’ button with a mixture of excitement and dread, please say a prayer for me, kiss the Blarney stone, do a little jog of luck and hope, hope, hope they like it.

xx

GSCE metaphors (LOL!)

Someone sent me these today – real examples of metaphors and similes used in GCSE exams (I think some of mine could be included in this list )

 

The door had been forced, as forced as the dialogue during the interview portion of Family Fortunes.

His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a tumble dryer.

The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.

Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the centre 

Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left York at 6:36 p.m. travelling at 55 mph, the other from Peterborough at 4:19p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

The thunder was ominous sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play.

The plan was simple, like my brother Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.

She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

The knife was as sharp as the tone used by Glenda Jackson MP in her first several points of parliamentary procedure made to Robin Cook MP, Leader of the House of Commons, in the House Judiciary Committee hearings on the suspension of Keith Vaz MP.

The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a lamppost.

He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a dustcart reversing.

She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature British beef.

It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall

 

The Grammar Police

There’s a debate raging on the website I edit . You know the old debate: should we be slaves to grammar? People are moaning about ‘kids nowadays’ and their ‘ridiculous text speak’.

I personally believe in informal situations, such as forums, chat rooms and text etc, people shouldn’t feel like they need to adhere to strict grammatical rules. As long as the msg is understood, ryt? Ha ha. But you see what I mean. That’s the whole point of it being informal! Just because someone uses ‘gr8′ instead of ‘great’ in a message doesn’t make them illiterate. Kids are very bilingual – get them to write an essay or article and those who are naturally gifted writers will do a fab job, despite the fact that they may have just messaged their friend a moment earlier with ‘C u l8r’. Those who don’t do a fab job usually have skills elsewhere (art, design etc). They are incredibly astute – they know how to adapt their language for certain situations and to me, that’s a gift.

Many of our greatest writers (Joyce, Beckett etc) talked about the fact that language is a tower that needs to be knocked down to expose its true beauty. If writers stuck to grammatical conventions, some of the most beautiful work out there wouldn’t have been created. As my fave poet Tony Harrison said:

How you became a poet’s a mystery!
Wherever did you get your talent from?
I say: I had two uncles, Joe and Harry-
one was a stammerer, the other dumb.

However, saying all this, when it comes to the novel I’ve just finished working on, I have kept to pretty conventional language cos the main objective is to tell a story. It’s all about plot and characters; about driving the story one. But don’t worry, one day, I will write that literary masterpiece and get all Beckett on your ass!

Query virgin

I’ve been a naughty gal. I haven’t updated my blog nearly as much as I should’ve lately. But I’ve been busy putting the finishing touches to my little baby, my novel. And guess what? I’m gonna start querying!

I’ve never queried before so am a complete query virgin. The thing that cracks me up about it all is the little squeak I let out when I press ’send’. All my hopes and dreams scurrying off into the Big Bad World of Agentdom *gulp* I lay awake at night, thinking “did I type ‘your’ instead of ‘you’re’” etc etc. I mean, I’ve been pretty thorough with the whole querying shebang, triple checked everything and done a lotta research. But still, it’s scary, scary, scary! (terrifying in case you didn’t get the gist from the repetition of the word ’scary’!)

So, fingers crossed. I don’t expect anything exciting. Of course, I have uber confidence in my little book but I’m also British so am therefore uber cynical. Let’s leave the optimism to those smiley people across the pond, okay (maybe I need an American agent?)

Am keeping my mind off it all by starting work on my next project about a dystopian rehab centre. More on that later.

Take care cherubs. x