One of the unexpected delights of being a published author is seeing your book translated into other languages. I confess, when I started out as a writer, I was really only concerned with getting the book published in English; it never occurred to me to think of it leaving the UK! A Library of Lemons … More Romanian Lemons
Last week was another exciting one (this one is due to be VERY BORING, phew!) and the excitement kicked off on Tuesday when I attended a concert at my patron of reading school, Didcot Girls’, because the Y8 choir was performing my brand new song Happy Face, written specially for my new book Jelly. The … More I attend a special concert, and am streamed live across Cambridgeshire!
It was World Book Day in the middle of Snow Week, which added to the complications for many authors of getting around the country to lots of schools! I was lucky only to have one visit postponed due to the weather, but it was hit and miss on a couple of days! Many thanks to … More School visits and Turkish Lemons!
Oh my goodness, Friday was SUCH an amazing day! Along with fellow shortlistee Philip Reeve, I went along to the East Wintergarden in Canary Wharf for the Finale of the Tower Hamlets Book Awards. I was thrilled just to be on the shortlist, to be honest. Many of these authors have already won big awards, … More Winning the Tower Hamlets Book Awards!
Yesterday I went along to the Oxfordshire Book Awards to pick up my award for A Library of Lemons, which won the Secondary category. I say that so coolly, but I was SO THRILLED because as many people will know, I’ve been gatecrashing the OBAs since 2011 (I think), where I have, over the years, … More Overwhelming Oxfordshire Book Awards!
Yesterday morning, I attended the awards ceremony for the 9-11s category of the Leeds Book Awards. A Library of Lemons was shortlisted, alongside five other fab (and very different!) books. 72 schools brought pupils along to the Pudsey Civic Hall, which seats 500 – and the whole thing was organised brilliantly by the Leeds Schools’ … More Lovely Leeds Book Awards!
I’m really, really thrilled to announce that A LIBRARY OF LEMONS has won the secondary category in the Oxfordshire Book Awards 2017! Huge thanks to the children of the participating schools – you rock! The OBA is my favourite award because it’s right on my doorstep and I grew up here. Two years ago I … More A Library of Lemons wins the Oxfordshire Book Award!
Oh, yesterday was so much fun! I’d been invited to be the guest speaker for the Berkshire Book Awards, who were announcing their shortlist after several months of voting on the fifteen-strong longlist. The BBAs are unusual in that all the books on the list are nominated by children. Something like 90 schools are involved (imagine the … More Launching the Berkshire Book Awards shortlist
It would have been a packed six weeks anyway: a family holiday, three festivals, holiday courses for the kids…but this summer has been extra packed because I’ve had a mountain of writing to do! Just before the end of the summer term, I delivered the manuscript of ELECTRIGIRL 3 (title still under wraps for now!) … More What I Did On My Summer Holidays #3: Writing
Last Friday was my launch party for A LIBRARY OF LEMONS and it was SO much fun! I shared the event with my author pal John Dougherty (who published his book Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Great Big Story Nickers on the same day as my Lemons) at the brilliant Blackwells in Oxford, and we … More Launching Lemons with added Stinkbombs and Ketchup!
Jo Cotterill 