At 17, I knew the truth...

by Teri Terry

Almost celebration time!!

Slated launches in the UK on the 3rd of May with Orchard Books! Getting to this place – published author – has been a bumpy road. I've seen Dear Me and Dear Teen Me, where contributors write a letter to their teenage selves with advice. I think my younger self could tell me a thing or two. My 17 year old self has kindly offered to interview me about what took so long...

Blogging is Dead. Or Maybe It's Just a Little Bit Useless.

From OWNI.eu

By Candy Gourlay

EVERYONE is blogging.

Don't believe all those reports that blogging is in decline because people prefer the ease of Twitter and Facebook. There are a LOT of blogs out there. Especially in the world of writers, aspiring or otherwise.

Even publishers, traditionally Jurassic in their attitudes to new technology, are urging their authors to blog. In fact, several publishers are themselves blogging now. Authors are blogging as their characters, blogging about writing, blogging about getting published. Indy authors are blogging like crazy as part of punishing marketing regimes. And unpublished people are publishing online while waiting to get published (yup, me did that).

From Writing for Adults to Writing for Children - Sam Hawksmoor

Sam Hawksmoor and his debut children's novel. Photo: Petersfield Post

Sam Hawksmoor is a debut YA writer with a backlist in adult novels. A Canadian, he ran the Portsmouth University writing courses at BA and MA level until relatively recently. Sam also ran an award-winning hackwriters website 'The Repossession' came out in March. A Dream of Books blog described it as a difficult book to describe, '... what starts off as something of a modern day Romeo and Juliet tale with two teenagers defying the odds to run away together soon turns into a story of an altogether different nature. Part science-fiction, part romance and part action thriller...'  The sequel, 'The Hunting' is out this Autumn.