Notes from the Slushpile: Kathryn Evans

Showing posts with label Kathryn Evans. Show all posts

Friday, 14 April 2017

Second Book Syndrome

By Kathryn Evans

Is it even a thing? Second Book Syndrome? Surely, once you've been published, your confidence is sky high and your second book just OOZES out of you.

Not in my experience. I am currently trying to turn my second book into something worthy of the name and it is HARD. Especially as my wonderful editor pointed out, it shouldn't be AS GOOD as the first book, it needs to be BETTER.

And she's right. I know she is.

On paper, this is me:

Kathryn Evans, author of More of Me, winner of the Edinburgh Book Festival First Book Award, Nominated for the 2017 Carnegie Medal, shortlisted for multiple regional awards and translated across the globe.

In reality, this is me:

What If The Next Book Is Rubbish?

I have readers who want to read what I write next because they loved More of Me. I need to blow them away with Book Two. It needs to be brilliant, to be different and fresh and full of depth and have amazing characters and a plot that zooms along and tension that keeps you turning the pages and..
AND

AND

Oh yes. Second Book Syndrome exists. You've got expectations to fulfill.

So, I did what I always do in an MODP (Moment of Deep Panic), I turned to my writer pals for advice and reassurance. They did not let me down. Many, many writers have suffered Second Book Syndrome. Not Chris Priestley, just so you know, he's got his own Syndrome Syndrome in which he's worrying he doesn't have a Syndrome but THAT is a whole different story.

Here's what the others had to say:

Sue Wallman

Sue Wallman is the author of YA psychological thrillers Lying About Last Summer ( Selected for the Zoella Book Club) and See How They Lie

Sue Wallman

"2nd (or 3rd etc) book syndrome is for me a terrible panicky feeling that things aren't coming together. Sometimes I think it takes a long time to fall into your story because your heart still belongs to the characters in your last book, or you've simply forgotten how hard writing and rewriting actually is. The only solution I know is to keep chipping away and trust that you'll get there eventually."

That made me feel a little better until I read:

Rhiannon Lassiter

Author of Void: Hex, Shadows Ghosts:

"Your second book should be entirely different from your first. It creates range and space and avoids being trapped in a box. That's not what I did, of course."

NOR ME!!!! Is that true? Please let that not be true!

Cath Pickles

Author of the Worzel books:

"The worst thing you can do with a second book is think about it too much"

All I DO IS THINK ABOUT MY STUPID SECOND BOOK!!

Jo Franklin

Help I'm an Alien author, is always practical:

"It's easier to write book 2 if it's a series, as you already know the characters and their world. Though writing for an editor, rather than yourself, brings a whole new anxiety. It's best to get Book 2 well underway before Book 1 is out. The anxiety about securing a second book contract is another matter entirely."

Tell me about it!

Miriam Halahmy

Author of Hidden and Illegal:

Miriam is now on her seventh book and says she didn't suffer from second book syndrome. She's now in the process of finishing her seventh novel.

It's kind of nice to know it doesn't afflict everyone.

Shirley Mcmillan

Shirley's debut, A Good Hiding, came out last year. The Unknowns will be published by Atom ( Little, Brown) at the end of 2017:

"I finished my second book a week before the deadline. How clever of me! I thought. And then, immediately, The Fear. The first book, A Good Hiding, was written during a Master’s degree when I had more time and fewer children, and, crucially, nothing at all to lose. The second was written under contract, with a small teething child and a first book to promote and OMG WHAT IF THE FIRST WAS A FLUKE AND THIS ONE IS SH*T AND MY LOVELY AGENT AND AMAZING PUBLISHER ARE ABOUT TO FIND OUT THAT THEY MADE A MASSIVE MISTAKE?! During that week I sent my new one off to several friends, one of whom read the entire thing, all of whom emailed their reassurance. At the end of the week, I let it go. That was the lesson- do your best, try to trust yourself, and then let it go."

That's better, I found that very reassuring - until I realised - she'd written her second book before her first book was even out !!!

Patrice Lawrence

Patrice's debut Orangeboy was shortlisted for the Costa Book Award, and won the Waterstone's Older Children's Book Prize and is garnering accolades EVERYWHERE:

"You have a bubble of an idea. It gets bigger and bigger and then it bursts. You look around for more bubble liquid but either there's a big vat of it and you get carried away blowing loads of tiny bubbles, or there's a dribble in a bucket, far, far away. So how come the bubble turned out all right last time? Was it really this much work?"

Eugene Lambert

Author of The Sign of One and Into The No Zone, the first two books in a trilogy:

"As an inexperienced debut author, I signed up to write a trilogy, thus unwittingly walking into a lethal combo of second book syndrome plus middle book syndrome. The latter has at its conflicted heart the brain-numbing dilemma of trying to write a book that is ‘more of the same’ (so that it will appeal to the reader of the first book) while at the same time ensuring that it is sufficiently ‘different’ not to be a clone. Oh yeah, and it has to set everything up for the grand finale in book three, where everything is resolved. Or not. Whoever said that the middle book was the hardest to write in a trilogy was NOT kidding!

My advice? Just have fun raising those stakes higher and higher …

Olivia Levez

Star Kirkus Reviewed author of The Island and The Circus, due out in May but which I've already had a sneaky peak at and LOVED says this:

"I hit the wall at 30,000 words THREE times. Need I say more?"

Okay, that's better. If Patrice has bursting bubbles, Eugene has muddling middles and Olivia hit the wall three times and they still got there, I can do it too!

Kiran Millwood Hargrave

Author of the wonderful The Girl of Ink And Stars, winner of the Waterstones younger children's book award AND the overall winner :

"I wrote the first (short, terrible) draft of 'The Island at the End of Everything' at my grandparents' house in Norfolk, in three desperate weeks after 'The Girl of Ink & Stars' was put out on submission. Fuelled by ale and tears, I paused only to read the rejection emails pinging into my inbox. The Island at the End of Everything is quite different from 'The Girl of Ink & Stars', and maybe some of that is knee-jerk reaction to the feedback I was getting. In any case, I trusted my ability to finish a lot more because I'd finished one already - and that was something, even if the first wasn't going to be published. Two days after I finished my first draft, I got my offer from Chicken House."

Keren David

Keren has written many fantastic books including When I was Joe, Salvage, Another Life and This is Not a Love Story.

"I had Third book Syndrome, not Second Book Syndrome, because my second book was a sequel and it was already half written when I got my first publishing deal. But my third book - Lia's Guide to Winning the Lottery - was harder. I had a deal, and therefore a deadline. My mum was ill, and my husband was considering a job abroad. I had a new narrator, and instead of writing a psychological thriller, I was trying a romantic comedy. It wasn't easy, and I ended up finishing the book i a massive rush - the ending had to be completely redone in the editing stages. Funnily enough, it's the book that has had the longest afterlife - we're adapting it into a musical, so I have been thinking and talking about those characters and that story for years now. I feel forever trapped writing and rewriting that third book - but loving it!"

Eve Ainsworth

Award winning author of Seven Days, Crush and the newly published Damage :

"I found writing my second book difficult in that I had an editor now, and someone "to please" but Crush slotted in well with Seven Days. Book three, Damage, was far, far harder for me - more challenging to break away from the setting and voice I'd already established."

So basically, this gets worse????

Somebody save me!

Friday, 17 February 2017

Writing for Children - Bryan Collier on Inspiration, Passion and the need for Diverse Books.

By Kathryn Evans

I've just returned from the SCBWI New York conference. I know - get me! Gadding about the planet. It's huge too - over 1100 people attend and it's packed with very well known American book people this Brit has never heard of. One of them was the first keynote speaker: artist and picture book writer and illustrator, Bryan Collier.

Bryan Collier and Kathryn Evans

He spoke about his passion:

"Your dream's should scare you they should be so outlandish - hold on to them."

His inspiration:

"Pay attention to all the little things that happen to you, even if it's painful,"

One of his great influences were the quilts his grandmother had sewn when he was a child. At the time, he hadn't taken much notice, but the way the patchwork was created became a part of him and a part of his art.

This resonated with me. As a child, I lived so much in books, they are as important to my writing as the laughter and the tragedy I've lived through. They make the patchwork of my books - stories about relationships with a sci-fi twist and a spoonful of horror. When I embraced that, I found my voice.

He talked too, of his own oddity:

"The things you feel awkward about are the things that are special about you. That's your unique gift. Let that shine."

As a writer of pretty weird books, I wanted to cheer at this. We all have our own oddities - let them breathe.

On why he creates for children:

" There's nothing you can't touch and talk about in picture books."

Bryan's latest illustrations are for Daniel Beaty's story, Knock, Knock - an intricate tale of loss.

And his need:

Bryan first saw himself in Ezra Jack Keats " The Snowy Day." He was four years old and,

"Peter was wearing my pyjamas".

Candy Gourlay has often said that she didn't think girls like her could be in books because she never saw Filipino children in books. It matters that all children see themselves in books. As Bryan said:

"Somebody is waiting for you to be courageous enough to say 'I have a story to tell' - that's what's at stake."

You know, it didn't matter that I didn't know Bryan's work - his words brought me to tears and the entire audience to its feet. And he finished with this:

"Let's do this, lock the doors, get desperate."

Children are waiting.

Kathryn Evans is the award winning author of More of Me: A gripping thriller with a sinister sci-fi edge, exploring family, identity and sacrifice. She is Co-RA of SCWBI British Isles. Find her on Facebook and Instagram @kathrynevansauthor and twitter @mrsbung More of Me will be released in the USA, June 2017

Friday, 23 December 2016

Happy Holidays from Notes from the Slushpile!

2016. 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity' ... doesn't Charles Dickens describe this outgoing year to perfection? Rather than dwell on the worst, the foolish and the incredulous, we thought we'd celebrate the festive season by looking back on our personal highlights and reflecting on the inevitable lessons learned. May the holidays be a time of friendship, love and creativity for all our lovely readers.

Panels, Pals and Prancing About: the Serious Business of Promoting Your Book by Kathryn Evans

By Kathryn Evans

This is a heart on sleeve blog post. You may hate me after you've read it. You have been warned.

My debut YA novel, More of Me, was released in February this year. It took me a long time to get published - fifteen years in fact, during which time I accrued quite a gang of fellow journeymen through Facebook and SCBWI.

Wearing the Write Stuff or What to Wear at Your Book Prize Ceremony

by Addy Farmer

It's Summer and there are things to do

Because it is Summer and nobody is going to read this and crucially, I wear clothes, I have decided that I am qualified to give advice on the important matter of what to wear at a prize ceremony.

Hooray!

What if I just don't feel like it? Using acting skills in your writing.

I started writing a completely different post to this but recent events have put me in a dark mental place and I suspect I'm not the only one.

First there was Orlando. There are no words for the pointless destruction wrought on the people in the night club there. I'm not going to share any more of that hate though, I'm going to share a bit of love:

And then...I won't go into politics here, but most of you reading this will be well aware that the UK is having a referendum on whether or not to leave the EU. I attempted to engage in debate about this - true, informed, educated debate designed to help all involved, including myself, have a better picture of the potential impact of the referendum result.

I was polite, restrained, mildly funny and I got completely trolled on twitter for it. Nasty, aggressive, rude, sometimes moderately informed, always biased and vile team trolling. I withdrew. There was no debate to be had, I was hunted by a group of campaigners actively requesting assistance to "Take down this b*tch."

And now Jo Cox, Labour M.P. for Batley and Spen, has been killed and I don't know if it has anything to do with the referendum but I can't help but feel the nature of some quarters of the campaign verbally reflect precisely the aggressive and violent actions that brought this young woman's life to an end.

I am tearful. I am sad. I am in no mood to write - but....

I have a book to finish.

So how do you control your mood so you can effectively produce what's needed on the page?

1. Listen to music.

Music can turn your mood around - you can pump up your heart rate or swell with emotion if you choose the right sound track. I never listen to music when I'm writing ( well, rarely, sometimes classical tracks) but I often do to get me in the mood before writing. Guaranteed mood changers for me are:

Eminem's Lose Yourself is my power up track.

Pharrell Williams Happy to cheer me up:

Coldplay's Fix You to make me weepy:

2. Pretend:

I used to be an actor, where pretend is your bread and butter. Here are a few simple tricks for you:

If you're down and you need to not be, force yourself to smile - this can genuinely work.
If you need to write something upbeat and strong try the Wonderwoman stance. Stand up, raise both arms in a V above your head then bring your fists down to your hips, arms akimbo. Job done. You are powered up.
Need to write a sad scene but you're full of the joys of spring? This is hard, be prepared to dig deep - think about something really sad that happened to you. Touch all the emotion but don't let it swallow you - this is work, you are using your experience for your writing so you need to control it.
Stand in front of a mirror and act out your character's part - be sincere and note how your feelings actually feel.

3. Write something else:

If you really aren't in the mood to write your touching romance scene, don't. Work on something else. If you're angry, where can you use that emotion in your book? Write that scene instead.

4. Step away from your desk:

Sometimes, no matter what you do, you can't shake off the mood you're in and you can't put it to good use. Accept it. You're human. Walk the dog. Make a cup of tea. Eat some chocolate (dark chocolate is genuinely a mood enhancer). Put some dance music on and clean the house. And if you just need to be sad for a bit, that's OK too.

In the light of what's happened recently, I want to recommend a couple of books that make you think and might just make the world a better place.

Jeannie Waudby's One of Us
Robin Talley's Lies We Tell Ourselves.
Lisa Williamson's The Art of Being Normal.

Please make your own recommendations in the comments section.

Play nice. Be kind. Let's be better.

Kathryn Evans is the author of More of Me: A gripping thriller with a sinister sci-fi edge, exploring family, identity and sacrifice. She has been nominated for The Edinburgh Festival First Book award, you can vote for her book here:

Monday, 2 May 2016

Writer's Software: Is it any good?

Thanks giphy.com

A writer can scribe on anything - if you have an idea and you're anything like me, you've probably scrawled stuff down on napkins, the back of your hand and old bus tickets. None of these are very practical though - and you'd probably struggle to write a novel on them. I used to write mainly in Word, with a notebook by my side to make notes as I went. Then I discovered writer's software. For the disorganised amongst us ( me) it's an absolute godsend.

Scrivener is my software of choice but I've drafted in a little help from Jo Wyton, to speak up for Word, and Philippa Francis for yWriter. If you're a fan of something else, please let us know the pros and cons, and where you can get hold of it, in the comments!

Philippa Francis on yWriter

Price range:

Free download.

Platforms it works on: Windows only.

Available support: Not sure how good the support is but there isn't much to go wrong - if you can answer this please add to the hive mind in the comments!

How do you use it:

I use it from the beginning of a piece of work, and also during the editing process. It enables me to structure my work into scenes and chapters easily – with scope to move them around. The more I fill in the sections such as Goals, Locations and Scene Summaries, the more I understand my own story.

An old Kathryn Evans script on yWriter 5

Pros then?

The advantages are the price, the ease of manipulating scenes and chapters, and the different kinds of practical focus available; i.e. timescale or ratings which you can decide on yourself. All data is easy to read. The program can also read text aloud – in rather a robotic tone, I admit.

Cons?

The disadvantages are that it’s only suitable for PCs, it is definitely not pretty and the completed files are a little tricky to handle. When you export the finished story, you have to re-format it, and as yet, I don’t know how to move a completed work into a new project. You have to start each project from nothing as far as I can see (I am no PC expert!).

Still, I really find it practical - and would be happy to help with queries.

Kathryn Evans on Scrivener

Price range:
You can download a free trial for 30 days and it only counts the days you actually use it. To buy the full version is $40, forever.

It's worth giving it the full time trial. I'd forgotten this until I looked up my blog from four years ago

The 30 day trial period is about right. It took me a while to love this piece of software. I resented it in the way I used to resent tidying my room. Slowly, however, I learned to appreciate it.

So much so that I'm a complete convert.

Platforms it works on: Mac and Windows - there is a version in the pipeline for iPad but it's been a long time coming and no real sign yet.

Available support: Excellent - it might take a day but they respond to email and will always help - there's also some brilliant forums where you can quite often find answers to your questions.

How do you use it:

I now write, and edit, my whole novels in it. It's very easy to divide each chapter into scenes, add notes to the side, even pictures and character notes. I'm lazy with it really - I coudl and should use it better - by giving my scenes titles, for example, I could more easily manage a structural edit - even so, it's clear to see and overview. Once I need to send it to my agent and/or editor, I compile the document and move it to word. I do all future edits in Word but this is mostly because they don't use Scrivener and it's easier to work with their tracked changes where they are.

My current WIP in Scrivener

Pros then?

I find it intuitive to use but if you don't, the tutorials are easy to follow. Heaps of useful content and ways to use it. The word count / target word count box is invaluable. It's great for the more disorganised amongst us (me) and it looks nice too!

Cons?

There is a lot of potentially useful content that I don't access because I can't be bothered to work it out. Not really a con of Scrivener.

Jo Wyton on Word.

Price range:

It depends, but most people who own a computer already have the Office package I guess. If you work for a large company, it's worth checking whether they have an arrangement with Microsoft for a much cheaper version.

Platforms it works on: Windows and Mac (for reference, I'm a Mac user)

Available support: Like with Scrivener, although probably to an even greater extent, there are forums galore for software support.

How do you use it:

Fairly simply. I maintain a planning document and a separate file for each chapter. That way I'm not constantly drawn back to re-reading and revising previous chapters.

Full-screen mode in Word

Pros then?

I already know how to use it, so there's no time spent learning the how. It also makes it unbelievably easy to transfer files between computers to work on. For example, I have a desktop Mac as well as a notebook, and having things in Word just makes it so easy. I can also transfer to Windows computers for printing etc without worrying about having to reformat. I also love the 'full screen' mode, which is similar to Scrivener in that it block all else from your screen, has changeable backgrounds, etc.

Cons?

Some might find it overly simple for building a manuscript in. But for me, the simplicity is its main draw.

So there you go - I have to say I would REALLY miss Scrivener if I didnt' have it. I broke the target word count last week and it drove me crazy not having it - it was like all the words I was writing didn't even count. Thank goodness for the support forums, once I'd fixed it I had a lovely ( 2000+ word) surprise.

Conclusion? If you've got an untidy brain , writer's software that can take you to a whole new level of organisation is really worth it. Do add your own experiences in the comments - it all adds to the hive mind!

Special thanks to Jo Wyton and Philippa Francis, aka K M Lockwood

Kathryn Evans is a stalwart SCBWI member. She tweets @mrsbung and hangs about on instagram kathrynevansauthor. She's got a book out too,: More of Me was published by Usborne in February 2016.

Monday, 8 February 2016

Save Our Libraries

I've had a crazy busy week. My debut novel, More of Me, has been pushed into the world with a lot more ease than my babies were. Kind Of. The gestation period was considerably longer but the delivery a whole lot less painful. In fact, it was kind of wonderful. My friends and family ensured I had two sellout book launches and my publicists at Usborne have been shouting about my book from the rooftops. I've had some amazing reviews , so much so I can barely believe it's all happening. So, to ground myself firmly back on earth, you'll be pleased to know I am not going to talk about my book.

If you want to read about the launch it's all here but first...

It's Nanowrimo and time for Writercise Boot Camp - How to Get Motivated and Write that Novel!

Unlike my warm hearted, keep at-it post on the joys to come when you've sold your first book, this is going to be a motivational post of the boot camp variety. Read on only if you're tough enough.

Frankenwriter: How to Bring Your Character's Voice To Life

By Kathryn Evans

Kathryn Evans - New Girl On The Blog

Learning the mechanics of story is pretty straightforward. Basically you need a Beginning, a Middle and an End. OK, it’s slightly more complicated than that but there are many excellent resources that’ll break it down for you – our own Maureen Lynas tells you how in Five Bricks of Story and Life and Seven Steps for Plotting and Pacing

You can even buy software programmes to help: the Snowflake method has been recommended to me on a couple of occasions.

You can learn all this, you can follow it to the letter, and then you can read your story and find it is a dead thing. You may have the mechanics but where is the heart? Where is the spark? Where do you get the bolt of lightening that allows your Frankenbook to rise from the table and live, LIVE, LIVE!

Our Writing Year That Was

In which we slushpilers look back at our writing highlights for 2013.

Teri Terry | Maureen Lynas | Candy Gourlay | Addy Farmer

Teri Terry

SERIOUSLY? Just five things? *plans ways to cheat*
OK here goes, in chronological order:

In January Slated won the North East Teen Book Award on a very snowy evening in Newcastle. Others followed, and they were all amazing experiences: I loved having the opportunity to meet very excited readers, hang out with authors, and travel around the UK. There were things I'll never forget, like walking on the most beautiful beach at Carnoustie the morning after the Angus Book Award and trying to process that it actually happened, and the best night out ever after the Sussex ABA. But the NE Teen book award will always be special because it was the first.

Slated was published in the US in January, and I went to NY for the very first time.

Seeing Slated on the shelf in a huge B&N in NY was a massive thrill, as was meeting my amazing US editor, Nancy Paulsen, and taking part in a panel event at Books of Wonder.

Book 2 of the Slated trilogy - Fractured - came out in UK in April, US in September. Talk about your second book wobbles....! It was scarier than the first one, no question. Writing it was more about 2012 than 2013, but suffice it to say, it was a drawn out process involving loss of sleep, many drafts, and more cake than is reasonable. But for the same reason, actually getting it out there was, in a way, more satisfying.

First Fractured event: at Heffers in Cambridge

Out 1st May 2014, US

Out 6th March 2014, UK

And hurrah! I finished writing Shattered, the third and last book of the Slated trilogy. It was both exhilarating - finally ending the story, going where I'd been heading for the last few years with my characters - and sad. Like packing up your life and moving, leaving all that is familiar behind you.

And finally?

As an unforgettable, amazing and yes, exhausting, year winds to a close, I'm busily writing the shiny new thing. It is both wonderful and terrifying to have a complete new cast of characters, a different world. Part of me feels disloyal, like I've found a new friend and left the old ones behind. Part of me is scared it won't work out, that after we spend more time together we won't get along. But early signs are promising. And I've got Banrock along to help.

Happy New Year, everybody!

Maureen Lynas

First highlight is my involvement with the funeverse.

A group poetry blog of silliness and fun.

During 2013, we've written, reviewed, critiqued and refined each others work and encouraged each other to experiment with form, to let loose the poetic nonsense that lurks in our minds and to gain confidence in our work and abilities. If you would like to see our poems please click here

Highlight number two - I've written my favourite book so far - The Best Witch. It stars Daisy Chain (not her real name) who is a witch in denial of her destiny. She would much rather be on the stage than at Toadspit Towers, school for witches. This book just fell from my fingers, no planning, no charts, no post it notes - which is all highly unusual and huge amounts of fun. I had no idea what was behind each door in the school but Daisy did so this is very much her book and not mine. I've taken the big step of illustrating this one, it's been such an enjoyable project and I can't believe how zoned out I am when I'm drawing. I forget to eat! Who knew creativity was good for the figure?

Number three is the 2013 SCBWI BI conference in Winchester - for the Alexis Deacon workshop where he used two of my (anonymous to him) illustrations to highlight good practice in the morning and then took one look at my rubbish thumbnails in the afternoon and talked about accepting your skills base and developing from there. Thanks!

A big highlight of 2013 was publishing the first Florence and the Meanies book, Cupcake Catyastrophe! Illustrated by Katherine Lynas the book is loosely based on the relationship dynamic of Cinderella: eight year old Florence must stop the Meanie sisters winning Prince Greedlebelly in a cupcake competition or she will never see her father again.

The book has been published through our family firm - Action Words Publishing. This is our first step into fiction publishing and we're very excited about it. Book two - Canine Calamity will be published in spring 2014.

In 2000, as I left teaching, I published Action Words, a scheme for teaching high frequency words through actions. I often receive feedback but a couple of weeks ago I received a fabulous email from a parent of a child who had been struggling with reading. Her daughter's teacher introduced them to Action Words and her daughter learned to read and spell 150 key words in just 4 weeks.

The email ends, 'The programme has given her a new lease of life when it comes to reading so I am eternally grateful.'

Writing books and having a book published is obviously brilliant but nothing can compare with the thrill of knowing that I've helped to create a reader. What a great way to end my year.

Candy Gourlay

The most significant thing that happened to me last year was not the publication of my new book Shine or the book launch (all of which made it to these highlights) but the moment I pressed 'SEND' for the last time on a manuscript that took me three years to write. While my writing pals seemed to be churning out book after book I had struggled to find the story of my second novel and realising it was ready to be shown to the world filled with disbelief ... and maybe fear.

My first sight of Shine. Photo by Matilda Johnson

But all my terrible fears vanished when Shine finally arrived at my door with its stunning cover illustrated by David Deane - which I have just discovered won a gold award at the 2012 3x3 Picture Book Show (congrats, David!). Shine the book is a beautiful object, something to be cherished. And when I re-read the story from cover to cover I discovered that yes, it was definitely a story I was proud of.

Mass Book Launch at SCBWI Conference. Photo by Lisa Tweedie

I couldn't decide which was a bigger highlight - my book launch at Archway Library in September or my book launch shared with my colleagues at the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators at the SCBWI conference in Winchester in November, both wonderful events full of love and celebration. I feel like Winnie the Pooh when he was asked if he wanted honey or condensed milk on his bread and he answered BOTH!

Huzzah! I've started writing a new book! It's kind of strange writing something that ISN'T Shine, after all these years. This summer I visited St Louis, Missouri where part of my book is set. And yep, the writing is going well. I'd forgotten what it's like to look forward to sitting down and laying words on paper.

After Typhoon Haiyan, when the horrifying images started streaming in from the Philippines, I got a series of emails from friends asking me (I was the only Filipino they knew) what I was planning to do about it. I was wringing my hands, paralised by the enormity of it all when I received an email from Young Adult authors Keren David and Keris Stainton asking would you like to help out with Authors for the Philippines?

Keren and Keris

It was an amazing appeal that raised £55,124.73 for the Red Cross. Thank you to Keren and Keris, thank you to all the book people who donated stuff and promoted it like crazy, and thank you to all the shoppers who bid so enthusiastically! It really is the gift of hope.

Being in the booky world can be such a roller coaster and 2013 was no exception. But looking back at these highlights has lifted me up! I hope all you readers of Notes from the Slushpile can take a moment to celebrate the good things in your writing year that was. Happy new year from me!

Addy Farmer

Sometimes just putting one foot in front of the other can provide a moment of triumph; finishing the first draft of my third novel, The Empty Girl, was a shiny time. Look! I can see the sun peeking through the trees! On, on!

Talking of shiny times (see what I did there?), I had the best time at Candy's book launch for Shine. As one of a panel of children's authors, I had the privilege of reading and talking about the work of Candy's young writer guests. Wow! The future of writing is in safe hands! If that wasn't enough there followed a party where I managed to take no photos at all, so here's one I took earlier.

Having lunch with my publisher.

I make no apologies. I have waited years to say that. The lovely Janetta Otter-Barry of Frances Lincoln asked if I would come and take a look at Chris Fisher's roughs for my next picture book, Worlds Apart (January 2015) and she really did invite me for an actual meal. An unfortunate series of time errors meant that we ended up eating somebody's fab birthday cake instead. Delicious.

Fangirl moment.

Yes, this was the fabulous beginning to the awesome SCBWI conference in Winchester. I was taxi person for Malorie Blackman. Not only that but I found my head on the back of the Cake to end all Cakes.