BLOGTOUR!

With just three days

 - THREE DAYS! Where does the time go?! - 

till publication of my debut YA Novel, 

Someone Else's Life

I'm thrilled to announce my very first Blogtour! 

I'll be guest-posting on these wonderful 

book-blogs and sharing heaps of fun stuff - 

much like the "Special Features" on a DVD :)

I'm really looking forward to it - so do pop along and join me!

kxx

Book Trailer for Someone Else's Life!

I'm thrilled to reveal the book trailer for my upcoming Teen/Crossover novel Someone Else's Life!

Would love to know what you think!

kx

To read Chapter One click here

  

Someone Else's Life

published February 2012

    by Simon & Schuster UK

Delacorte Press USA 

Doubleday Canada

US & Canada Cover 

UK cover

SNEAK PEEK!! Chapter One of Someone Else's Life!

Click here to read Chapter 1!

So a book isn't published in a day - a week - or even a year, in this case. In fact here's the timeline of the 10-year(!) life of 
Someone Else's Life!
2002 – I write the first chapter of a YA novel entitled Holding Onto Snowflakes for homework in my Writing For Children course at the University of North Carolina. 
2003-2006 - Uni, drama school, Shakespeare tours and Post-apocalyptic feature films get in the way, but I manage to write another 4 chapters.

2007 - September: The SCBWI launch their inaugural Undiscovered Voices competition! I rename ms Someone Else's Footprints. Just before going travelling for eight months! *D'oh!*
          - October: At a Vietnamese internet cafe I get an email saying I've been chosen as a winner of Undiscovered Voices! *Hurray!*

Editors and agents ask to read rest of the book - but I've only written five chapters - *D'oh!*
          - November: Try to complete book whilst on various beaches/boats/elephants but foiled by juddery transport, beautiful sunsets and pesky stinging millipedes - *Ouch!*
2008 - Miss Undiscovered Voices launch party *Sob* :(
         - May: Finally home! Finish novel - 140,000 words! *Eek!*
         - Send it out to editors and agents...nothing. *Sigh*
2009 - I get an agent! I sign up with the lovely Jenny Savill at Andrew Nurnberg Associates - who helps ruthlessly slash 40,000 words! *Hurrah!*

2010 - Publishing deal! Simon & Schuster in the UK, Delacorte Press in the US and Doubleday in Canada buy the rights to Someone Else's Footprints! *Whoop whoop!*
2010-11 EIGHTY A4 pages of edits arrive in my inbox... *Gulp!* 
2011 – After much discussion, the title changes to Someone Else's Life!
 *I get to see the Book Covers *WOW*
* Foreign Rights are sold to Germany and Brazil! *Squeal!*
*First early reviews start coming in *Sweat trickles down spine* Read them here.
*Pre-order becomes available at Amazon UK  Amazon US and fab new venture The Hive Network, where you can order books from bookshops - at Amazon prices - delivered to your home or local store! *Whoop! Whoop!*

12th January 2012 - Chapter One is released as a SNEAK PEEK! Yes, that's right! That's TODAY! I can't wait any longer! It's only another 21 days till PUBLICATION DAY 2ND FEBRUARY but you can read Chapter One right here just by clicking this link! 
Hope you enjoy it - do let me know what you think!
k xx

My First Book Birthday!!

Happy New Year, everybody! 

And it's got off to a very exciting start for me - with my first ever book birthday! 

And it's twins!

The Fairy Tale Twists series, published by Orchard Books has been such fun to write, and I'm so thrilled that the first two books are now actually out - for sale! In bookshops! Crazy!

Each illustrated funny rhyming story takes a familiar fairy-tale character (usually a villain) and reveals their version of events. 

In The Big Bad Werewolf The Big Bad Wolf is actually Little Red Riding Hood's Granny - who's secretly a werewolf! When she's chased by Red and the woodcutter, she flees and desperately tries to seek refuge in the Three Little Pigs' homes - but accidentally knocks them down! 

Her dentures tumbled to the floor
As Granny scrambled out the door.
She raised her head and howled with glee
For Granny was a WOLF, you see!

In Goldilocks and The Pea, Gretel (nicknamed Goldilocks for her wild blonde hair) is an incredibly picky little girl - everything has to be "just-so", which leads her into trouble galore, from a close encounter with a witch and a wolf, to a disaster at the 3 bears' house! 

But could a pea - a vegetable she despises - really be the answer to all her problems?

"Oh crumbs!" she wailed. "Look at this mess!
The chair! The floor! Oh no - my dress!
I can't meet dwarves with stains and splatter -
First impressions really matter!"

But of, course, all the characters live happily ever after - albeit in the most unexpected ways!

The series is designed for beginner readers (5+) and is illustrated by the fabulous Matt Buckingham.

The other 6 books in the series will be published two at a time each month through February, March, and April, and to celebrate we will be launching a competition so 

stay tuned! - and in the meantime do join me in a having a lovely piece of cake!