One To Watch!!

Exciting News! - Someone Else's Life is highlighted as "One to Watch" in the Children's Bookseller!
Here's their review - 
“A girl who discovers she was swapped at birth triggers an unstoppable chain of events in this riveting debut about families, relationships and long-buried secrets. A really gripping family drama that reads like a Jodi Picoult for teens.”
!!

Location Location Location

Is it important where a story is set? At first consideration it might not seem to matter too much, and in some cases the location is pretty interchangeable. For example, Sam in Before I Fall could pretty much attend any US high school – or even be relocated to the UK, as the teen social scene is fairly similar (which is one of the reasons the book is so thought-provoking – this could happen to anyone.) But imagine Wuthering Heights set anywhere but the Yorkshire moors, or The Beach anywhere but Thailand. Indeed, sometimes location even almost becomes a character in its own right, such is its impact on the characters and plot.

Location affects among many things the climate of the story, the culture, the laws the characters must live by, what they wear, how they speak – the list is endless. Consequently, choice of location must be considered carefully.

Some authors choose real-life locations – Forks in the Twilight saga (whose largely overcast and inclement weather proves beneficial to its resident vampires); Hayling Island in Miriam Halahmy’s Hidden (vital as the location Alix encounters an illegal immigrant); others use real locations under a fictional name (e.g. Sarah Dessen’s Lakeview is based on Chapel Hill, North Carolina); whilst yet others create worlds all of their own – Middle-earth, Hogwarts, Oz, Neverland, Wonderland, Narnia – where the reader is reliant on the author to paint absolutely every detail for them in their imagination. What a responsibility – and what an opportunity!

Detail is equally important when using a real place – it must be accurate enough that if a reader visits (or lives there) they will find it as described in the novel. In my upcoming book, Someone Else’s Life, my main character, Rosie, discovers she was swapped at birth and tries to trace her real family to the States. Luckily, I had visited all the US locations, but when I did research to flesh out the details I discovered that sometimes fact is even more incredible than fiction! – I could never have invented a giant lobster-pot Christmas tree or the giant black and white photos covering the pier!

Whether real or imaginary, as well as affecting and enhancing the plot, a well-created sense of place enriches the reading experience no end. To feed the reader’s imagination in such a way that they actually feel like they’re physically transported to that setting – seeing, touching, tasting and smelling everything around them – is one of the most powerful things about fiction, truly bringing a story to life. 


Wherever a book’s location may be – real, imaginary, or somewhere in-between – perhaps the most important thing is that it must feel real for the reader. I'll always remember feeling Lyra's cold in Northern Lights, the stickily warm exotic night air in Sarah Singleton's The Island, and Lucy's delighted amazement as she steps through the wardrobe into a snow-covered Narnia, and I thrill at the knowledge that at any time I can revisit any one of these places and many, many more besides, simply by opening a book.

What are your favourite literary locations? Do you prefer real places or imaginary worlds?

Someone Else's Life will be published by Simon & Schuster in the UK and Delacorte Press in the US in February 2012

Lost In Translation? # 2

I grew up devouring every American teen novel I could. I was obsessed. Sweet Valley High, Caroline B. Cooney, Judy Blume, I just could not get enough. I don't know if it's that there just weren't all that many British teen authors around at the time, or if it was also partly because of the saturation of TV by US shows - Dawson's Creek, Buffy, Friends, Lois and Clark, Gilmore Girls - or if it was just because it was so different from life in the UK, but I lived my teen years yearning to go to America, to be part of that very specific US high school experience, and ultimately it drove me to spend my second year of uni on an exchange in North Carolina (because Dawson's Creek was filmed there - yes, really!), despite the fact I was studying English Literature.

The US culture is so much a part of our own in the UK in fact, that I thought nothing of basing half of my first novel, Someone Else’s Life, in the US. I was sure that I was familiar enough with the country and the culture that I could write about it convincingly - after all, we speak the same language, right?

Wrong. Little did I realise just how many ways our languages are different. It's not just the terminology - tap/faucet, pavement/sidewalk etc but it's the culture itself. I was told having an answer-machine was very odd and old-fashioned in the US, to "get pissed" means getting drunk in the UK, but getting angry in the US, and the UK school system was completely mystifying - what are GCSEs? What's a Sixth Form? - I have a whole list of things I had to reword or explain for the US edition! 

UK Cover

US Cover

Other books too, have I know been modified to cross the Atlantic, even so far as having different titles - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone became Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, while the prize-winning The Two Pearls of Wisdom (Australian edition) is also entitled Eon: Dragoneye Reborn (US) and Eon: Rise of the Dragoneye (UK) - you can find a whole list of them here. Coverwise, books pretty much always have different covers for US/UK editions.

So now my book's also going to be published in Germany and Brazil, I wonder what else will need changing when the language/culture is TOTALLY different, and how much other YA fiction gets altered or lost in translation…

Have you found much difference between different editions of the same book? 

Someone Else's Life will be published by Simon & Schuster in the UK (pre-order here) and Delacorte Press in the US (pre-order here) in February 2012.

Happy First Publication Day - To Me!

Ooh - my first "Happy Publication Day" card! *Squeal!*

Okay, so it's a little belated as I'm so utterly disorganised I didn't find this in some stray post until yesterday, so actually missed my actual publication day (June 6th), but the thrill is still completely the same - Hurrah!


"HOW TO BE A BOY" IS OUT THERE! IN BOOKSHOPS!


This is a biggy - my FIRST fictional sale, my FIRST complete story is published out there in the big wide world for all to see - and possibly buy! Scary! 
It's a tiny bit like what I imagine becoming a mother is like - exciting, thrilling, nerve-racking, scary... But the great thing is, my story "DEAR TADPOLE" is accompanied by nine other terrific authors, so it's as if it has friends holding its hand as it ventures out into the unknown. 


And it's certainly in terrific company.
The fab Walker Books and the genius that is Tony Bradman have put together 10 edgy stories from 10 different authors, each exploring what it takes to be a boy in the 21st century. 


After all, teenage boys are trouble, aren't they? It’s in the news, on the front page – everywhere you look they’re doing drugs, messing with knives, terrorizing communities. But what if it’s become a self-fulfilling prophecy? What if you’re 13, an OK kid in a bad life? What if you’re more urban poet than ganster rapper? What if deep-down you want to make your mum proud, but you’ve got to live up to your rep, be a bro, beat or be beaten? Gangs. Hoodies. Young offenders. How do you be a boy in a world that’s already got you tagged?


My story, "DEAR TADPOLE" is about a fifteen-year-old boy who has a baby brother on the way. The problem is, his mum's married to another woman, so it's up to Davey to teach his little brother how to be a boy. 
Trouble is, he's not sure he's figured it out himself yet...

I can't wait to get my hands on the anthology to see what the other stories are about - it'll be like unwrapping a big beautiful birthday present - which I suppose it is, in a way!


On that note, time for some celebratory cake, methinks... anyone care to join me? :) 

US Cover Revealed!!

Another amazing *Squeal!* moment - a whole new incredible cover for the US version!

What do y'all think?!

Lost In Translation?

Yesterday the postman brought me something utterly thrilling - a contract to publish SOMEONE ELSE'S LIFE in Brazil - BRAZIL! How cool is that?!

If they keep my title and translate it it'll be

Alguém a Vida de Else!

(English to Portuguese translation c/o http://www.athropolis.com)

How utterly mind-blowing.

This possibility did not even cross my mind while I was writing the book - all those long lonely hours just hoping that someday, someone, somewhere would like it - and now it is just the absolute juicy red cherry on the cake.

To imagine that my book will be translated into a whole other language and sold in a country on the other side of the world that I've never even been to - in vibrant Brazil!

Land of fiestas and carnivals, excessive waxing and incredible football players (till they move abroad to play for Real Madrid or somewhere) - perhaps I'll even get to go there to do book events...? (note to editors: pretty please...?)
In the meantime, I can dream :)

But it got me to thinking - if English-language fiction is translated and published all over the world, how come we don't have more international translated teen fiction over here? I'm struggling to think of many - Stieg Larsson, Cornelia Funke, and a few others I've probably missed, but why aren't there more? Why don't we have many novels from Brazil, Spain, France, India, China, Japan?

Is it that they just don't sell? Do English-speaking teens just find it easier to identify with characters in the culture they're familiar with? If so, why don't we have more European fiction? And why are dystopian and fantasy books so popular at the moment?

Teens love to travel - Gap years are becoming more and more popular, precisely because there is a hunger to see the world, to experience other cultures - why don't we offer a glimpse of this in teen fiction?

Isn't YA fiction about broadening our horizons, after all...?

What do you think? Why do you think our YA literature is so dominated by English-speaking authors, and do you think this should change? Would you like to read more foreign fiction?
Or do you prefer familiar characters and locations?

My Cover...Revealed!!

Ok, so there are a lot of *Squeal!* moments that come with getting your first book published.

Here are mine (so far)...

1)  Being announced a winner of the SCBWI/Working Partners Undiscovered Voices Competition 

*Squeal!* Someone out there actually likes my writing!

(For your chance to get your children's/YA fiction read by top agents, editors and scouts I simply CANNOT recommend Undiscovered Voices 2012 highly enough - click HERE)

2)  Getting signed by a fabulous agent 

*Squeal!* Someone who knows what they're talking about actually wants to sign me up! 

(btw my lovely agent Jenny Savill is one of the judges of UV 2012)

3)  Getting my first publishing contract 

*SQUEAL!!* My writing's actually going to become an ACTUAL book? In bookshops? And someone wants to PAY me, too?! Pinch me, quick! Utter dream come true moment!

4) Seeing my book FOR SALE on Amazon!! 

*SQUEAL!!* This is really happening!! People are actually pre-ordering!!

And now? Now comes number 5)....

SEEING MY COVER!!

Click here for the synopsis

I have to tell you, I was both extremely nervous and incredibly excited when the attachment finally arrived in my inbox - they say don't judge a book by its cover, but this is the first thing that everyone will see when they pick up my book, if they pick up my book - it could actually make the difference between them picking up the book or going 'meh' and passing by so to me it's absolutely completely vitally important...

So when it came in I actually closed my eyes and crossed my fingers, clicked the attachment, peeked a little bit - and then I (yes, you guessed it!)

SQUEALED!!! 

I am completely thrilled to bits, and send a huge thank you to everyone at Simon and Schuster - you are utterly fab.

Now please excuse me while I go away and squeal some more!!