Isn’t this possibly the most beautiful cover ever? You can’t see from the image, but the blue title is foiled and embossed (that means it’s shiny like tin foil and raised so you can feel it with your finger), and the little blue stars are embossed too. The Girl Who Walked on Air is Emma … More The Girl Who Walked on Air – review
I’ve been taking part in a huge online story thing. I don’t actually know what it’s called, but it’s organised by Write Path International Connections, and I provided a 200-word story starter. It was a product of a slightly-tired brain, so it contained all kinds of threads and angles that could have been developed – … More Story starter, children finisher!
So ONE of my pieces of good news can finally be revealed – LOOKING AT THE STARS is on the longlist for the UK Literacy Association Book Award! I am really, really thrilled about this. Everyone likes to be nominated for an award, and for some writers it happens a lot. For other writers, hardly … More I reveal one of my secrets! UKLA book award longlisting!
It’s been a couple of weeks since I last blogged. But those two weeks have been eventful, in some good and some bad ways. Firstly: the good. Well, actually I can’t tell you the good. Because then I’d have to kill you. But both good things are to do with books, and one of them … More Two nice secrets and a bout of yuck
A very quick shout-out to everyone I met this evening on Kate Forsyth’s Cotswolds writing course at the Lygon Arms in the beautiful village of Broadway! Great to meet you guys, and I wish you all the best with your writing endeavours 🙂
It’s a funny ol’ business, publishing. Flipping heck, it can be tough. And I DON’T just mean the parties 😉 Recently, I’ve been floundering a bit. Having finished two major projects and sent them out, I’m feeling kind of adrift. There’s no news yet, and there may not be for a while, but the rejections … More Ssssh! I’m NOT writing a new book for kids!
A few months ago, I went to the Little Star Writers Festival in Richmond, and while I was there I met Mel, who runs the company. What a fantastic organisation! Oh, if only someone had been running creative writing workshops after school when I was young… Today I’m blogging over on the LSW site about … More Guest blog for Little Star Writers on realistic dialogue
Last week I was on holiday in Ryde on the Isle of Wight with my family. We’ve been before, but this year I needed to seek out a bookshop. We had to (absolutely HAD TO) order in a copy of the just-published second book in John Dougherty’s brilliant Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face series (this one subtitled … More My visit to the Amazing Ryde Bookshop
Recently, Penguin announced that it was bringing out a new edition of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. So far, so ordinary. Except that the new cover is THIS: A lot of people have expressed opinions about it. Some people have claimed it’s a ‘sexualised’ cover; others that it has nothing to do with the story. … More My problem with the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory cover
So, they’ve gone. My literary novel for 9-12s about lemons (see previous post) and my Big Collaborative Project that involves Superheroes – they are OUT. Poof! Into the ether that is SUBMISSION SPACE! In other words, I now have two BIG books doing the rounds with publishers, as well as an early reader. That’s more … More Clearing the decks: time for a new project
Jo Cotterill 