It’s my birthday! It’s a so-called ‘big’ one too, which I thought I was fine about, and then I woke up and went, ‘Oh no, I’m FORTY! WAAAAHHHH!’ It’s funny how numbers play such a big part in our lives. My youngest daughter is extremely insistent that she’s ‘Three AND A HALF’ at the moment … More Happy birthday to me!
I have been in full-on ‘Get Through To Do List’ mode recently! Latest crucial things have been edits on Electrigirl 2 (Electrigirl and the Deadly Swarm, out next Aug) and trying to come up with an idea for 5-7 year-olds as I’d been asked to pitch for a specific range by a publisher. Also I … More Lemons in foreign languages, and encouraging teens to write bad language
I love social media. Where else could you get an award-winning illustrator to re-draw one of your own book covers in under five minutes for a laugh? Thank you, Sarah McIntyre, for this wonderful re-imagining of my first Sweet Hearts book, Star Crossed! And here’s the original, designed by Helen Huang and the team at … More Sarah McIntyre re-draws Star Crossed
AAARGH school holidays have started and my time is DISAPPEARING and loads of brilliant Stuff has been happening, and there is NO TIME to blog about any of it!! And I have DEADLINES! So, here’s my quick round-up of the past three weeks: Charney retreat with the Scattered Authors’ Society I love Charney. I think … More Lots of Stuff: Charney retreat, UKLA awards and YALC!
Last night I went to a party. A big publishing party, hosted by Penguin Random House. At some point, I asked my editor how many people they were expecting. ‘Five hundred,’ she said. Here’s the thing. Parties frighten me. I’m uncomfortable facing big noisy groups of people I don’t know. I like it even less when … More Introvert At A Party
Oh, you know how it is. You mean to blog, and Stuff Happens, and then suddenly you’ve got to Do Other Stuff, and then before you know it another week has gone by and you still haven’t blogged… I know. You know. We all know. So, here’s a brief round-up of My Life in the … More Catching up…running on the spot again!
OK, so this is the reason I made a giant fake ice cream cone last week. I’m in a band. Bear with me. Last year I did an author event at the Wychwood Festival and LOVED it. This year, I practically begged Barbara, the organiser of the literature bit, to invite me again. OK, that’s … More Could This Be The First Ever Author Band?
I’ve been away on holiday. Just me. I have a husband and two children, all adorable, all wonderful, but I left them behind for four days on my own. It was bliss. I’ve had a rotten couple of months. One small crisis after another had left me feeling pretty battered and bruised, and my normal … More Finding myself again
This is a difficult blog post to write. It’s not about writing – although it kind of is. It’s about a friend who died. And about bad luck. And making the most of what you have. And love. Two and a half weeks ago (is it that long already?!) a friend of mine died unexpectedly. I … More When A Light Goes Out
Yesterday, I watched something that BLEW MY MIND. Totally. One of those ‘WHOA’ moments. Thanks to the awesome author/illustrator Sarah McIntyre for posting this on Facebook: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JK9uQNBDxQ It’s quite long. You might not have time (or interest) to watch it. So I’ll explain what it was that made me see things in a new way. … More Creativity: an Idea of Reality?
Jo Cotterill 