London Book Fair 2018

Yes, finally, I decided to go.

About 1535 exhibitors and 25 x A5 pages of events. Nielsen holds bibliographic data for over 20 million active titles and reports there are 3000 new publishers in the UK annually. Publishing is big.

Given this enormity, I made massive inroads over 4 days. I went to:

• 8 events, 
• 5 parties, 
• 1 timetabled meeting, 
• lots of spontaneous meetings/chats, 
• about 15 exhibitors stands.

And my takeaways were:

• a walletful of business cards, 
• a bookful of notes,
• a couple of proofs,
• a headful of thoughts.

Introduction to Rights

Introduction to Rights Conference, London Book Fair

While content is perhaps the essence of publishing – without it there would be nothing – it’s the rights that arise from the creation of that content that aids its distribution and makes the money. Perhaps I should learn a little more about this, I thought. So I signed up to the Introduction to Rights Conference.

This was an afternoon of intellectual property sessions covering how you acquired rights (where they came from and how you came to possess them), what did these rights actually mean, how you go about selling these rights, and things you should look out for in a contract when buying or selling rights. Now I had a better idea of what was going on that second floor for the next three days of the fair. Nifty stuff.

Leaving, I bumped into an author from New Zealand who was unhappy with her current publisher, a couple of rights newbies, like me, but from Portugal, China and the USA, and Alastair Horne who’d been at the Quantum Conference. It was good to have quick chats about rights, academic manuscripts and social sciences.

Things I noticed at the London Book Fair 2018 

• Data capture, audio, and self-publishing: these were the unavoidable phrases that wafted round the bits where my pink-laced soles took me.

• Capturing data: everyone is obsessed with it. My badge got scanned before I entered or left many stands. It’s a bit disconcerting when someone reaches out to seemingly grab your midriff. Fight or flight responses challenged. Not sure it ticks the ‘with consent or permission’ box either.

• Spotted Paul Black from Andersen Press and introduced myself as Rebecca Stead’s no.1 fan. There’s still no news of another novel from her.

• Olympia is big and has many twists and turns. Found some things by accident and others I never found at all.

• Visited the South African stand. A fair bit of start-up publishing represented there, showcasing local South African and broader African continental writers. Impressed to see that some of their books were being published in five languages (South Africa has 11 official languages) and that I could recognise the ones that were in Setswana! Interested to hear that in some radio productions they do a ‘back translation’, which is obviously time-consuming, but brings the original author closest to the translated interpretation.

• The food outlets in Olympia are very, very expensive, the queues are long and the staff start to lose their cool as the fair progresses.

• I spent a lot of time up at Authors HQ and The Writer’s Block. I expected to find swathes of aspiring writers – and, of course, there were – but in abundance too, and to my surprise – was a large group of ‘traditionally’ published authors grumbling about the lack of support (particularly for marketing) their books, and thinking about pushing out on their own. The support for self-publishing is booming, particularly at the production and marketing ends. Support for selling printed books was another matter – unsurprisingly, and Robin Cutler (Ingram Spark) was recommending authors get together under a collaborative imprint. And, while writers and freelance copy-editors were around, structural editors were not as visible.

Independent Publishers Guild party

• Some of the support and tips being dished out to aspiring writers (and especially those who might consider self-publishing) was to be brave and stop procrastinating (LJ Ross), go for walks (Mark Dawson), and maybe write non-fiction (at least, that was Joseph Alexander’s answer to writer’s block!). How do you know when your manuscript is ready? When you start moving punctuation around (Mark Dawson) and that the idea for getting something out there is often more frightening than the reality (LJ Ross). Overall, the advice is to play to your strengths: obvious but probably often overlooked.

• I attended a few of the Business Forum events down in the Olympia Hall (including live marketing campaigns, and non-fiction that matters). I was struck by the prevalence of the big budget teams on the platform (Penguin, Puffin, Southbank Centre, Waterstones). I was a bit surprised by the marketing session, to be honest. I think I expected a lot more of the unexpected.

• Other notable moments for me were that The Three Ages of Bookselling event was packed. Unlike some of the other venues, if you didn’t get inside this one, you couldn’t hear – so I left.  I also caught bits and pieces of other event snippets all about translation, prizes, illustration, literacy, export, Welsh, magic and legacy.

• The parties and networking drinks at the end of the day were packed and provided a real mix of fair goers: Byte the Book reciprocity circle, Author HQ (twice), and the Independent Publishers Guild. Forget the comfy lace-ups, next time I’m taking stilts.

• A security guard on the West entrance really doesn’t like people: he told me.

Really pleased that I went to this. Learned a lot. I'm so curious to see how I approach it next year!

Chill out time: Poets Corner, London Book Fair

Our story update: filling the bucket list

One day, we sat down on the brown sofa together and that’s where this blog began....

That was M & Little M – a mother and daughter who both love to read. Back in 2012.

The We Sat Down bookmark

This blog began as an exploration of books available to young teens, especially fiction novels. Things had obviously moved on from the days of the Famous Five, Nancy Drew and My Friend Flicka and we didn’t have a clue where to start!  Mixed up in this, the blog became a contemporary record of the books we’d read and our thoughts about them (no more handwritten lists stamped with a date!). 

We Sat Down focused on books that teens and adults could share as well as adult fiction with a tendency towards the literary. We like to have fun and sometimes mixed up silly bookish nonsenses with more serious contemplations about books and literary awards too.

We became involved in social events held by publishers, represented Booktrust at a Laureate announcement, held an event at a literary festival and M was on the judging panel for the Hot Key Young Writers Prize 2013. We’ve met many friendly and interesting people. And, dreams can come true because We Sat Down became a social book group, run by Little M. 

In 2014, life threw us a horrible curveball and we fell off the planet. We bounced back.

Now, Little M has a driver's licence.

M, Melanie, me - I have a bucket list. I'm busy filling it. A forty thousand word, non fiction first draft manuscript has been written. Next steps.....London Book Fair 2018.  

P.S. Any writerly and publishing tips and advice are very welcome. Please do drop me a line or a tweet.

Illustrator Victo Ngai and The Time Out of Time Cover

It's blog tour time! Illustrator Victo Ngai talks us through designing her eye-catching cover for the first book in Maureen Doyle McQuerry's Time Out of Time saga. Ngai has been named one of Forbe's 30 Under 30 for Outstanding visual artists. Victo is short for Victoria and she often illustrates covers for the New Yorker.

 

Time out of time

the horned man rides

with the forest queen,

the greenman dies,

the heavens bear witness,

the great wolf flies

and Timothy James stands alone. 

 Over to Victo…..

I have been working on a new book series called Time out of Time by Maureen Doyle McQuerry. Book 1 Beyond the Door has just come out!

Time out of Time is an imagination packed fantasy story which draws inspiration from Celtic mythologies. Our hero is a shy bookish boy named Timothy who is fairly certain nothing interesting will ever happen to him. However, everything changes on one dark spring night. A mystery knocks on his door and starts revealing his role in an ancient prophecy…

Time Out of Time: Beyond the Door - full cover illustration by Victo Ngai

Choosing a moment from a book as cover is always a fun challenge. It has be a true representation of the story without spoiling the plot, while being visually stimulating. I decided to go with the Wild Hunt because:

a) There’s a giant golden flying wolf, who wouldn’t like that?

b) We introduce our main character - Timothy. 

c) The chase set the stage of adventure and the storm set the mood of danger.

d) It’s a perfect moment to show the parallel existence of Timothy’s ordinary world and the fantastical world “beyond the door”. 

This art has been featured on the American Library Association Booklist cover, what an honor! 

An early sketch by Victo Ngai

Another sketch by Victo Ngai

 

Big thanks to Maureen McQuerry for this great story, Chad Beckerman and Editor Howard Reeves for all the great input.

I hope you would enjoy the book as much as I do!

 

Don’t forget to decipher the secret code which comes with the book! 

 

******

 

 Thanks to Victo Ngai for this. I love that cover!

 

Time Out of Time: Beyond the Door by Maureen Doyle McQuerry is published in the UK by Abrams.


Next stop on the tour - Serendipity Reviews on 16th June.


 

 

Hot Key Young Writers Prize 2013 winner (9-12s) - Lyndon Riggall

Lyndon Riggall won the Hot Key Young Writers Prize 2013 (9-12s category) with Charlie in the Dark, which was also a very popular choice among the very youngest judges! He has won a year's editorial mentoring with Hot Key Books editor, Sara O'Connor. Having been on the judging panel, I'm delighted to have asked Lyndon some get-to-know-you questions so early on in his writing career.

WSD: You won the 9-12 category. What inspired you to write for this age group?

Lyndon Riggall: When I started writing Charlie in the Dark, I really wasn't sure what age group it would be for. I knew it was a kid's book, but it took me a while to realise that I was really writing it for a twelve-year-old version of myself. 9-12 is a wonderful age category to write for, though. For me, it was the period where I became a reader and started to want to be a writer, so I think it's so important that we have new, exciting books for kids of that age.

WSD: What's the most unusual thing you've ever done?

Lyndon Riggall: A few years ago I dressed up as a goth with a group of friends for a social experiment. We did the make-up and everything, just to see how we would be treated when we went around town. I went into a bike shop (as we all know, goths love bikes!) and a woman physically grabbed her young son and dragged him out of my way. I love kids, and to see them scared of me was really upsetting. We weren't very good goths though. We got asked a few times if we were "just pretending." Maybe it was the fact that we were stingy and hadn't bought any hair dye.

WSD: You live in Tasmania. What's one of the best things about it?

Lyndon Riggall: There are so many things I love about Tasmania. The single greatest though is its wildness. Hiking in Tassie is the best way to experience it - there are so many places to go and just disappear into a dense landscape for an epic journey... it's no wonder that people think the Tasmanian tiger might still be out there somewhere! I come up with my best ideas while walking and thinking, and I live in one of the best places to walk and think. Not bad, eh?

WSD: Favourite (and worst!) meal?

Lyndon Riggall: I work part-time at a gourmet burger restaurant and although I've gone through most of the menu as a favourite, right now I'm a real sucker for our veggie burger. Hard to go past that and a nice bowl of chips with a piece of orange and almond cake for dessert. 

On my first year out of home I was late for a party because I was trying to make a stew that wouldn't boil down. My solution to that was to add some flour to thicken it, and turn the heat right up. It did thicken - but was burnt right through within a couple of minutes. I'd make the stew again, but patience is a virtue. I can still taste charred rosemary just thinking about it!

WSD: Do you have any favourite fictional characters (any media)?

Lyndon Riggall: I think my favourite character from any story would have to be The Doctor from 'Doctor Who'. I love the way that the character is re-invented by each generation of his storytellers, and is layered with all of these questions that even over fifty years no-one has revealed the answer to. I always love wise mentors like Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series, and terrifying, complicated villains like The Joker from 'Batman', or the deliciously evil Ursula Monkton from The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

WSD: Who are some of your favourite writers?

Lyndon Riggall: I would say that J.K. Rowling and Neil Gaiman are the two writers that I credit most with my enthusiasm over books and a desire to write myself. Other children's writers I tore through as a kid (and still love) included: Lemony Snicket, Andy Griffiths, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Sonya Hartnett, Judy Blume, Morris Gleitzman and Paul Jennings.

These days I'm really into Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol-Oates and Joe Hill. I think John Green is fantastic - not only as a writer of fiction, but a vlogger too, and anyone who isn't watching the Vlogbrothers videos needs to get on to it immediately! Who I'm into changes all the time, but I think that list is a pretty good start for anyone looking for a good read!

WSD: You worked in a school?!

Lyndon Riggall:  St. Helens is a small coastal town here where I worked for six months as an Artist in Residence. I worked in the school from Kinder right through to Grade 10, and only ever took writing activities. I loved it! Both of those pics are from my time there. The cartoony drawing is a student's picture of me from a school in St. Helens.

Lyndon Riggall: Thanks so much for the opportunity to have a chat with you! 

WSD: You're welcome, Lyndon. Looking forward to seeing what you and Sara O'Connor from Hot Key Books do with Charlie in the Dark!

Virago Modern Classics Children’s 1st Anniversary

Virago Modern Classics celebrates its first anniversary of publishing children’s books this month and adds two more titles to its list. Virago’s editor, Donna Coonan, also speaks to us about children and classic books.

Virago “is the outstanding international publisher of books by women” and aims to put “women centre stage”. So says Virago's website. That, and it's classics list which focuses on rediscoveries and redefinitions pretty much sums up why my heart does a whooping flippety flop every time I see the apple of its logo on a book’s spine.

Oh, those covers!

I’m sincerely delighted that they’ve added children’s literature to the Virago Modern Classics (VMC) list. The first I knew of it was from the 'Emily' trilogy by LM Montgomery that they published last November. Anyone who’s a childhood fan of Anne of Green Gables will know that these are winners and the cover illustrations by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini are an extra excuse to buy these editions.  Plus, one of our teen book group reviewers attests that Emily of New Moon is excellent and are there any more?!! (Yes, there are  - two!). Here’s a link to a review from one of the Classics Club’s readers.

Published today are two more titles from Rumer Godden. An Episode of Sparrows and The Dark Horse. I’ve read the opening pages and therein lies the promise of something richly deep and slightly different for today’s readers, both children and adults alike. Godden’s ballet novels, Thursday’s Children and Listen to the Nightingale, launched the VMC list last year.

I asked Donna Coonan, the VMC editor, a couple of questions about the children’s list.

WSD: What do you think makes a children's classic for today's readers?

Donna Coonan: Children are discerning readers and if a book is written in a didactic manner or seems patronising in any way, they will see it a mile off. You can’t write down to a child, just as you can’t speak down to them. Rumer was a writer who could write as eloquently and as feelingly for children as she could for adults, and her characters are always beautifully realised, and you care deeply for them. Her children are never two dimensional, but fully formed and recognisable. There is humour and there is heartbreak, and she doesn’t shirk away from difficult subjects. Rumer relished the challenge of writing for children and said that her children’s books were just as important as her books for adults: after every novel she wrote a children’s book ‘because of the discipline, and the smaller the child, the greater the discipline’. It is the quality of her writing that shines through, and they speak as much to children today as they did to her first readers. They may be set in a different time, but the stories are universal. That is the mark of a classic.

WSD: What are your visions for the VMC children's list; what will distinguish it from other modern children's classics lists? 

Donna Coonan: The reason that the Virago Modern Classics list exists is to bring back into print wonderful books that have been neglected or overlooked but will be enjoyable to readers today, and we are expanding this ethos for another generation by publishing classics for children. So many of our books – from Rosamond Lehmann’s Invitation to the Waltz to Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca – were discovered by our readers as teenagers that it seems logical to move into publishing for a wider age range.

****

For LM Montgomery fans, there is more good news for June: Jane of Lintern Hill and Rilla of Ingleside will be published.

 

Now, where’s my apple…….(currently reading Daphne du Maurier's Jamaica Inn before its BBC televising next Monday).


 

WoMentoring Project for aspiring women writers launches today

A new scheme offering free peer mentoring to aspiring women writers launches today.  The WoMentoring Project aims to offer insight, knowledge and support to women writers at the beginning of their careers. Mentoring is voluntarily offered from a pool of over 60 women working in publishing as authors, editors, literary agents and illustrators.

The WoMentoring Project is managed by novelist Kerry Hudson. Without a budget, the entire project is currently dependent on volunteered time and skills. Individual mentors will determine what they can offer with their mentee, and mentorships are likely to differ. Organisers of the project said that, “In an industry where male writers are still reviewed and paid more than their female counterparts in the UK, we want to balance the playing field. Likewise, we want to give female voices that would otherwise find it hard to be heard, a greater opportunity of reaching their true potential.”

WoMentoring Project mentor, Shelley Harris (author of Jubilee), said that “mentoring can mean the difference between getting published and getting lost in the crowd. It can help a good writer become a brilliant one. But till now, opportunities for low-income writers to be mentored were few and far between. This initiative redresses the balance; I’m utterly delighted to be part of the project”.

Alison Hennessy, Senior Editor at Harvill Secker, said she knows from her own authors “how isolating an experience writing can often be, especially when you’re just starting out, and so I really wanted to be involved. I hope that knowing that there is someone on your side in those early days will give writers courage and confidence in their work”.

Francesca Main, Editorial Director at Picador, said her career “has been immeasurably enriched by working with inspiring women writers, yet the world of publishing would have been inaccessible to me without the time and support I was given when first starting out.  The WoMentoring Project is a wonderful, necessary thing and I’m very proud to be taking part in it”.

Mentors also include authors Peggy Riley (Amity &Sorrow), Julie Mayhew (Red Ink), Keris Stainton (Emma Hearts LA)  previously reviewed and interviewed by We Sat Down; and children’s literary agent, Louise Lamont (agent for Red Ink).

Applicant writers (mentees) should submit a 1000 word writing sample and a 500 word statement about why they would benefit from free mentoring. All applications must be made for a specific mentor. Mentees can only apply for one mentor at a time. 

http://womentoringproject.co.uk/

 

 

 

Hot Key Young Writers Prize 2013 winner, Abigail Slater

Alaskan-based Abigail Slater is the Young Adult section winner of the Hot Key Prize Young Writers Prize 2013, announced earlier today at the London Book Fair. Abigail has won a year’s mentoring with Hot Key Books’ publisher, Emily Thomas. Being a judge on this year’s prize panel, I read Abigail’s winning manuscript, The Lucky Bones, which is essentially about Sarah, a teenage girl who is battling a gang and seeking justice for a massacre that decimated her community and their land. Of course, we sat down for a chat and asked Abigail a bit more about herself (and left all the American spellings as is!). 

WSD: You’re interested in female superheroes. Which females have inspired you?

Abigail Slater: A lot of the females who have inspired me on a personal level are right here in my community. Katie John, an indigenous rights activist here in Alaska, has always managed to worm her way into my heart when it comes to fantastic ladies. As far as female superheroes go, I have to say that Batgirl and Wonder Woman had a lot to do with my desire to create a superhero of my own. They're strong and cool, and I've always wanted to add to the list of strong, cool women.

WSD: Your descent is Unangax, Irish, and Norwegian. Does this influence your writing?

Abigail Slater: I think being raised in several very different cultures has allowed me to pull from each for inspiration. Heritage is such an important thing for all human beings no matter where we are in the world, so I do have a tendency to draw from my own, especially when I'm working on a science fiction or fantasy story.

As far as my Unangax heritage goes, it is the one I am closest to because I was raised in my homeland. The Unangax are originally from the Aleutian Islands here in Alaska, and parts of our history (including the Aleutian Island Evacuations and the boarding schools) served as inspiration for Sarah's story in The Lucky Bones.  

Here is a link to a website that explains the Aleutian Island Evacuations way better than I ever could: http://www.ankn.uaf.edu/ANCR/Aleut/CulturalChange/chap.6-11.html . It's a long article, but if you scroll way down to the bottom and skim Chapter X, you'll have the inspirational context for my novel.

Abigail (right) with her sister, ReBecca, at an ice sculpture exhibit in downtown Anchorage

WSD: What is the most interesting thing about Anchorage (Alaska), where you live?

Abigail Slater: I'm torn on this one, because Alaska is a very weird place. I'd say it's a tie, because that's the cheater's way of not having to choose.

The first most interesting thing about where I live is that once you leave the main city of Anchorage, you can drive and drive and drive and never get anywhere substantial. In other words, you could drive from sun up to sun down and still be in the middle of nowhere.

The second most interesting thing is being able to see moose all over the place here, especially in the summer when they come into neighborhoods and start eating people's trees and garbage. It's not a sight that I've ever gotten anywhere else!

Moose at the side of the road. Photo credit: Eric van Thiel, A friend of Abigail's.

Cuteness! Bears playing around. Photo credit: Eric van Thiel

WSD: Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska?

Abigail Slater: I have! Strangely enough, it's not as popular here as it is in other places. My father made it once a few years ago and it was very good, but I've never seen it on a menu before. We must be behind the times.

WSD: What are your favourite novels?

Abigail Slater: My favorite novels are definitely anything written by Libba Bray, whose wonderful books I've only recently discovered, and the books of Sarah Dessen (Just Listen is my favorite). Both of these authors write in very clear, distinct voices for their characters, and you can tell that they are having fun with their stories. That is the kind of author I aspire to be.

WSD: Is there anything else that you're bursting to say?

Abigail Slater: I just want to say that I'm grateful to Hot Key Books and all of the judges who volunteered their time to pick a winner. I never thought I'd make it this far, not even in my wildest dreams, and I owe it completely to you guys and to my amazing Native community here in Alaska, who have all supported me through the writing process. Quyana, and thank you all!

Best wishes to everyone over on your side of the world!

WSD: You’re welcome and congratulations. I’m looking forward to seeing where your mentoring prize takes you.

View from Point Woronzof in Anchorage.

Faber book party

A par-tea with Faber and Faber? Oh, yes please.

I've long associated Faber and Faber with strong and culturally diverse literary fiction and poetry. Some of my favourite books and authors are from Faber. But, I was recently hardpressed to think of any children's titles from them, other than the excellent but recent Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell. So, an invite for us to their children's book bloggers afternoon tea was appealing - and as it turns out, both  illuminating and inspiring. Plus, full marks to the Faber cupcakes - "very fancy and tasted brill, and also cool sweets", says Little M; and not to mention M's favourite, dark and non-alcoholic fizz which she liked very much!

Leah Thaxton, publisher at Faber, said that a focus on children's books was relatively new for Faber, and has a new growing and clearly enthusiastic editorial and support team behind it.

Their current and defined focus for children's books (like many other publishers) is good stories (and from the looks of it, a whole bag of laughs too). If Rooftoppers is anything to go by, perhaps they'll also manage to combine both the literary and the good story.

From their forthcoming books, five books stood out for us:

Three young adult titles: 

• Dead Ends by Erin Lange is about a violent school bully who is befriended by the new boy in school who has Down Syndrome. M has read an early copy and it is heartwarming and also believable. Lange will be visiting the UK in April.

• Winterkill by Kate A Boorman is pitched as similar to Moira Young's Blood Red Road (which we own but have not yet read!). It's a dystopian idea where particular characteristics in a person are not favourably viewed by the society they live in.... Right up Little M's street.

• Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke is a gothic paranormal romance so usually not even close to our reading radars....and yet.....The author is shy but recorded her voice reading an extract. The writing is intense and M is strangely intrigued. Apparently, fans of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca will probably enjoy it.

And then, two junior fiction books that, quite surprisingly, had Little M rapt and the whole room laughing out loud. Coincidence that both authors were present, were charmingly friendly, and excellent readers of their own work? I think it's a bit more than that:

Jeff Norton, mentally adding a comma

Flora in Love by Natasha Farrant follows her debut, After Iris, in The Diaries of Bluebell Gadsby. It's about Bluebell's family and in this story, she falls...in love. It is properly funny. Even M laughed but Little M dived into reading it there and then.

Memoirs of a Neurotic Zombie by Jeff Norton is something that would normally be completely off our map. So our expectations were low and then we laughed. Quite a lot. Especially Little M. And Michelle. And most of the adult audience. Even funnier, the author was reading from a manuscript that has not yet been submitted! Even the editors are still watching out for this one due for publication later this year. Little M thinks this book sounds mega funny, like an older, funnier and more sophisticated Wimpy Kid type book. She can't wait til it comes out.

Then we stuffed cakes and sweets, snaffled a cupcake for dad, and chatted. Natasha Farrant and Little M chatted about learning languages (Natasha seems to have a flair for this) and Sherlock, the merits of the television series and its relationship to Arthur Conan Doyle's writings. Jeff Norton joined the conversation and, with Darren (Bookzone for Boys) we got speaking about hard drives, and the merits of challenging and inspiring middle grade fiction in comparison to some recent young adult fiction.

M was also very excited to finally meet Jim (YA Yeah Yeah) and Beth (Thoughts from the Hearthfire). And we also had an interesting chat with Caroline who, like M, tends to be more of a critical reader than out-and-out fangirl. Unlike We Sat Down, Caroline has been blogging about books since 2006! Great to see Andrew too, who as always, was in fine and exhilarated form!

And as we paged through the catalogue, lo and behold, here's the illuminating irony of the day: our bookshelves currently sport a fair few of Faber's children's titles: Betty G Birney's Humphrey the hamster series, horse stories by Jane Smiley and of course, Ted Hughes! How's that for variety?

Thank you Faber and Aitch Love for the invitation. We have had our eyes opened.

Faber: these are M's books that first came to mind.

How did we miss the ff on our children's bookshelves?

RHCP goes to the movies!

Popcorn, sweets, viruses, chat, books, a 6am wake up call and a bit of thieving. Sounds like a perfect Saturday!

Oh look! A gorgeous poster. And it tells you a lot about the most recent Random House Children's bloggers' brunch. Here are some of our memorable bits:

Yes, M snaffled this poster from the event - but she asked Jasmine first!

Like any big cinema, there was popcorn in little boxes, pick 'n' mix sweets, an audience and a big screen with adverts. No actual movie stars were present but author Matt Haig did a good job of standing in (see below for M's narrated and interpreted account!). Advertisement-wise, we'll mention the things that struck us most.

We'll start with the movies (note: RHCP has not become a movie production company; some of their books are being turned into movies). We want to see The Book Thief (but Little M wants to read it first); same goes for Andy Mulligan's Trash which is coming out in film. Little M liked the film trailer for Joseph Delaney's Seventh Son but M hasn't a clue who Jeremy Irvine is.

Forthcoming books-wise, top of Little M's list is Theresa Breslin's Ghost Soldier (publishing 31 July 2014). One of many books that'll be published around the World War I Centenary, this one's about the search for a father missing-in-action and uncovering a building full of soldiers suffering from shellshock and nervous disorders.

Bird by Crystal Chan is being pitched by RHCP as being in the same guise as John Boyne's younger fiction or David Almond's Skellig. They're crossing fingers that it'll be their Wonder for 2014. We both already knew about this book and the appeal for both of us is strong and the first few chapters are good. I'll say no more.

The Tin Snail by Cameron McAllister (8 April 2014). Set in 1939 rural France, it's about a thirteen year old boy who goes about inventing a car that'll be designed for and affordable to everyday people. RHCP is describing it as quirky and comparable to Sandi Toksvig's Hitler's Canary.

Crime/Thriller-wise, there's Web of Darkness by Bali Rai (June 2014) and Running Girl by Simon Mason (just out). Hilariously, one features a character called Benedict and the other features a character with an exceptionally high IQ. Everything Baker Street is the way to the thinking teen's heart, it would seem......

The Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen (July 2014) was described as Day of the Triffids meets Wonder. A bit sci-fiey but with a focus that's more on love, loneliness and inner strength. M's intrigued.

Then, of course, there's Matt Haig's Echo Boy. Basically, echoes are machines that are made to serve humans. Little M thinks it sounds good and it reminds her of Spielberg's film, Artificial Intelligence. M's a fan of Haig's The Humans and she has a hunch that she will enjoy this (and remember, Somni-451 is one of her all-time favourite book characters).

To be or not to be? Was that the question?
And is this the answer?

Matt Haig chatted with us all, Q&A style. He was very funny, in his typical self-deprecating way, and I'll follow his blog-writing suit and summarise in list style:

- Little M asked him a question in front of loads of people (good reason to sit in the front row - you don't realise what's behind you!). She asked him if he wrote a book about an event that happened in his life, what would it be? He said he thinks it would be about his life in his twenties because this was an exciting yet dark place in his internal space (a time when he was depressed). Or perhaps he would write a story about an author's book tour, a type of picaresque.

- Before being published, he worked in Oddbins and delivered crates of champagne for other authors (who were published!).

- The Outsiders by SE Hinton is probably his favourite book.

- He doesn't plan when he writes novels (except for The Radleys).


- Writing young adult fiction can combine the best of two worlds: the world of imagination (from children's fiction) and the world of ideas (from adult fiction).

- Young adult fiction can have an edge, or danger, without being all sex-and-drugs controversial.On writing about the human condition, "I'm basically a philosopher..(...)..but you need a good story to hang an idea on". His dad was an architect.

- There needs to be a strong, real reason to write in the first person. He thinks it helps to humanise speculative worlds, like the one in Echo Boy. Otherwise, these can be "a refrigerator world that you can't access".

- He gets bored easily.

- He thinks people may only be wise and stoic by age 40. He is 38. M thinks he's right.

- He is a Margaret Atwood fan.

- His new book, Echo Boy, is proper science-fiction even though he is not a big reader of the genre.

- He is not sure if Echo Boy is a love story or not.

- Echo Boy is his ninth book.

- The question he never gets asked but wants to answer (deep, deep down) is: "What makes you so brilliant?"


Matt Haig is funny. And now back to us.

We also caught up with a few of our book blogging friends like Georgia (Books and Writers Jnr), Michelle (Fluttering Butterflies), Jesse (Books 4 Teens), and Viv (Serendipity Reviews). And M was very excited to meet some of her twitter friends in real life: Anna (A Case For Books) and Sarah Jane (And Then I Read a Book). Also great to put a face to Clare Hall-Craggs and talk war stories and family reading!

Thank you Random House for inviting us and for serving popcorn. And thank goodness it didn't snow!

Next stop of the day: Bloomsbury for Faber and Faber!