Nevertell's US book birthday - and some fun activities

This week has been really exciting for me, because Nevertell had its US book birthday! Yes, the US hardback edition came out this week - and just look at that cover by Rovina Cai. I am in love with it.

To celebrate, I thought I’d come up with a couple of fun book-related activities that children (and adults!) might like to try while we find ourselves at home. So if you’re ready, and feeling creative, here goes:

Activity One:

Draw your own Nevertell cover (jacket) - or one for any other book of your choice.

The US and the UK versions of Nevertell have very different illustrations on the front. But see how beautiful and how perfect the artwork is for each? Rovina Cai (US cover) and Sandra Dieckmann (UK cover) have both captured something exciting and unique. Everyone has their own style so I’d love to see you embrace yours. What does your imagination conjure up when you read the back of this (or another) book? To get your creative juices flowing, here are the front images for both the US and UK versions, and the US story summary below.

A world of magic is only a whisper away…

Born in a Soviet prison camp, Lina has never seen the world outside its walls until the night she makes a daring escape with her best friend, Bogdan. As the pair journey across the snowy wilderness, they are pursued by the sort of magic they could only know from fairy tales - if fairy tales were still allowed. A vengeful witch, ghost wolves, a bird of unusual size - the woods and wastes of Siberia are alive with strange and perilous creatures. The children will need every ounce of courage - and a whisper of magic - if they are to survive their journey to Moscow and the promised safety of a grandmother Lina has never met.

Happy drawing and please don’t be shy: I would love to see your book covers when they’re finished!

Activity Two:

I know we can’t go to many places at the moment and maybe some of us are feeling a bit stuck. But we can still imagine, can’t we? Imagining can be a kind of strength - a power. In Nevertell, the witch who’s after Lina and Bogdan has a very special way of getting around: a magic cape. So, if you had a magic cape, where would you go? And what would you see or do? Write it down and tell me. You could even write it like a story!

A few pointers to help on your journeys: it could be a real place, or somewhere totally made up. It’s up to you! I have done this activity before on school visits and was amazed by the results. Children travelled in their minds everywhere from Spain to Disneyland, “Mirror World” to Venus. And they gave a lot of reasons for their travels too. Some wanted to explore somewhere new, some to see their favourite place, others to visit a friend.

I would love to hear about all your adventures, so do let me have a peek - if and when you’re happy to share them.

I hope you enjoy your activities! I’ll try to post some more soon. And in the meantime, if you’d like to, you can read an extract of Nevertell here on Scribd.

The difficult second book

People say that the second book is tough to write for a multitude of reasons. And, having finished the latest draft of my second book this week (yaay!) my experience says… yes, that is very much the case.

For a start I’ve found that it’s a very different process. While before I was writing to an audience of one (myself), now my ideas - and the writing itself - is all being shared at a much earlier stage, and with a level of expectation that didn’t exist before. I didn’t worry too much about how Nevertell might be received, for example, because to begin with the idea of it actually being published seemed like a distant dream. And then there are the difficult questions you ask of yourself. I’ve written one book, but was it a fluke? Can I really do it again? How closely should it fall in line with the first one? What do I really want to write? Will anybody like it?

This is all great by the way. Just uncharted territory, that’s all. It’s a lot of pressure, but pressure that at the same time is a privilege to be under. I wouldn’t change it and don’t take it for granted.

It has been somewhat challenging in other areas. These are the challenges that also cropped up while I was writing and these ones can all totally get lost:

• My kid getting chickenpox and several nasty bouts of tonsillitis

• The death of a much loved family member

• A flipping pandemic

• Actually getting the illness of the pandemic

In spite of it all I’m feeling positive about book 2. I’ve been on a real journey with this one and I’m closer to it than ever. These characters are ready to meet you and the world of the book wants to welcome you in, I can feel it. For now, however, I leave you with a few pictures just to give you a feel... Enjoy!

Anyone have any ideas about where it might be set or what it might be about… ?

Events, news and plans during lockdown.

Wow, this is rough, isn’t it? We’re all dealing with common and, at the same time, deeply personal worries and circumstances. I’d just like to send my utmost love and solidarity to everyone reading this.

My current circumstances are like this. My husband is a key worker and my kid’s been off since the schools closed, so it’s mainly the two of us at the moment. We could send our son for a day a week in school, in theory, but since I’m at home anyway we figured it’s best to stick with the lockdown.

In the meantime I’m putting the finishing touches to Book Two. And the US Nevertell hardback comes out in April, which I’m really thrilled about. As you might expect, the booky events that I’ve been set to take part in this year are either being cancelled or postponed. But I do know that there are plenty of grand plans in the making to bring you some cool online stuff to keep us all entertained. So do watch this space…

My way of dealing with times of stress is to withdraw, especially on social media. It can be hard to feel like I have anything helpful to say, do or offer. If you’re like me, shall we agree to be kind to ourselves and just do our thing anyway, if and when we can? We don’t have to save the world single-handedly for our voices and actions to matter. (Are you listening to that, brain? I hope so).

Once my draft for Book Two is done and dusted my plan is exactly that: to do my thing. And I hope to share what I do (some fun creative writing ideas for teachers, parents and kids at home, videos and maybe even a game or two if I can figure something out). Again, please watch this space. And above all stay safe and well.

I’m looking forward to seeing the Bristol balloons from my bedroom window again soon.

Free teachers’ notes for Nevertell

The other day I decided to give away a free copy of Nevertell on Twitter and was completely blown away by the response. It was lovely to see so many parents, teachers, librarians, bloggers and general book lovers so keen to get their hands on a copy. SO lovely. In fact it was such a big response that I ended up giving away three.

But it struck me what a huge and insatiable need for books and other resources in schools there must be. That’s why I’m making everyone aware of these fine teachers’ notes for Nevertell, produced by Nikki Gamble of Just Imagine. They’re free, available to read, download and save via the link below or on the Resources page of my website.

And, if you head over to Walker Books, you’ll find these and a host of other activity notes for home and school, for a range of age groups - all absolutely free as well. Go ahead and fill your boots! And if you have any other suggestions for where people might find some great book-related resources - such as the fantastic free author masterclasses of Authorfy - please feel free to drop a link in the comments below.

Teachers’ Notes - Nevertell

Three people won a signed copy of Nevertell and a bookmark each!

Branford Boase Award longlisting

Happy 2020 everyone! Yes, it really has taken me this long to come out of hibernation from Christmas. I’m a bit like a hamster during the winter.

However, I was thrilled to discover that Nevertell has been longlisted for the Branford Boase Award 2020! This award is for an outstanding first novel (oh the flattery!) by a first time author writing for young people. I can’t tell you how heartening this is and how proud it makes me to have been included.

It also uniquely honours the editor for their role, which in Nevertell’s case was the wonderful Annalie Grainger: a brilliant editor who was truly a pleasure to work with - and an author in her own right too. I think it’s great to remember just how many people are involved in bringing a book like Nevertell into the world, and the vastly important role an editor plays in that, which is impossible to overstate. Especially when working with a newbie author like me who has no idea what the ropes look like, let alone where they’re kept.

Apart from anything else, this list has sorted my reading out for the year. All of the titles look fantastic… Ideally I’d like to get through them all by the time the shortlist is announced in April, but as I’m a slow reader I’m not sure I’ll manage it. BUT! I’m going to try anyway.

Anyone joining me in my mission to read the Branford Boase longlist? Let me know what you might start with. I’m thinking I’ll begin with A Pocketful of Stars by Aisha Bushby. What’s yours going to be?

Primary School Book Club Twitter chat

Tomorrow (Thursday 19th Dec) from 7-8pm I’ll be taking part in the #PrimarySchoolBookClub chat on Twitter! Hopefully lots of you have been busy reading Nevertell, and will have plenty of thoughts and questions to bat my way. I’m limbering up my Twitter fingers and dusting off my brain in preparation. I’ll have a couple of questions for you too. And then you get to choose the next Primary School Book Club read - very exciting!

Hope to see you there.

New events - Bristol and Birmingham

I’m thrilled to not only to be at the Compass Point School book fair in Bristol this coming Thursday signing copies of Nevertell, but also that I’ll be in Waterstones Birmingham on Saturday the 30th November, where I’ll be leading a free, fun workshop on writing adventure stories, reading from Nevertell and doing a signing. It’s an honour to be able to support my local and wider community in this way, to meet readers and hopefully inspire some young writers too. You can find out more about both on my events page.

Speaking of which, last week I got to go to London again for some author events training. I was a bit nervous at first but a) I got to meet some wonderful people and b) we went on a proper journey together, peaks, troughs and all. I loved it and I’m now raring to get out there. So if any schools or bookshops would like me to visit, give a talk or lead a workshop, just know that I’m super keen in the uncoolest way. If you’re fine with that then please do get in touch.

Look at our chuffed little faces! Huge thanks to Damian and Amy of Author Profile for the remarkably non-frightening and brilliant training, and to them and to Angela, Lucy and Joseph for being incredibly lovely.

And look what greeted me when I first walked in to Walker Books HQ. A whole Nevertell display. Amazing!

Blog tour

I went on a blog tour! Despite the impression I had in my head that I simply could not shake, I didn’t have to go anywhere. I just wrote pieces for some fabulous blogs (and other bloggers reviewed Nevertell too). It was a privilege and also great fun, and I hope it will give you both some insight into the writing of Nevertell and also to how other readers are connecting with it. You can check out all the stops on my blog tour below:

Thank you to all the people who kindly gave space to Nevertell - and to me - on their marvellous blogs.

Check out stop one for Library Girl and Book Boy - a review and my piece all about character development.

Stop two for The Reader Teacher was all about the influence of fairy tales, plus a review.

Book Lover Jo gave Nevertell a fine review on stop three.

Another sparkling review and a fun Q&A for Book Murmation was stop four.

And last but not least was Fallen Star Stories on stop five, who posted a fabulous Nevertell review.

Thank you once again to everyone for giving me and my story the space on your blogs. Even though I didn’t get to jump in a rickety old van and drive the length and breadth of the country, I had a brilliant time.

Nevertell’s publication week

Last week was what I’ve been building up towards for a long time: publication week for Nevertell. Which involved much excitement! Much celebration! And, because I’m no good at being centre of attention, much feeling like I was going to be sick! Allll the time. But thankfully nausea was only a small part of the overall experience, and something unexpected happened that worked better than a tub of Andrews. This:

Friends and family started to send me… pictures. Of them with the book. Of the book in the shops. Of the book at their houses having just been bought from the shops. Old school friends got in touch to reminisce and say how proud they are. Neighbours stopped in the street to congratulate me. Tales of excited bookshop assistants and getting Nevertell displays moved from behind the door to centre stage in the window were shared.

I even got a photo of a young girl I don’t know, whose mum said her daughter had read Nevertell and couldn’t stop talking about the book. And now wants to become an author. And of schoolkids, their faces buried in my book.

I didn’t anticipate this turn of events, but it’s been one of the best things about the whole experience. If not the best. The excitement, happiness and pride of others - and their overwhelming support - has been so genuine and so palpable as to make this past week not just about me, or even about Nevertell, but about all of us.

It’s felt like a communal celebration. Or a celebration of a community. I don’t think I can describe it better than that? But that’s something much more valuable than one person’s achievement, to my mind (a book, of course, is as much about all the people who made it happen as it is about the person who wrote it, after all). This has been something I’ll never forget, for a reason I never expected or knew that I wanted.

But I did.

Nine days to go...

There’s less than a week now until Nevertell is out in the world (I make it nine days. Nine days!), which is beyond surreal. I’m excited, also a little scared, also wondering when I’m going to wake up. A lot (or what feels like a lot to me) has been happening, the brief run down being:

• lots of copies of Nevertell have arrived into the hands of reviewers, bloggers and school librarians, and I’ve seen lots of gorgeous pictures popping up on social media.

• I went for an amazing tea organised by Walker Books to celebrate the upcoming launch. It was in a beautiful Russian restaurant, Mari Vanna, the interior of which is what I would like my house to look like but would never in a million years be able to achieve (there was even decoration inside the toilet bowl, that’s the level of attention to detail we’re talking about). I got to meet some fantastic people, including Sandra Dieckmann who did the cover illustration for Nevertell, and who is lovely! And I even got to try the black bread that features in the story.

• Last but not least, these amazing bookmarks arrived!

It’s very odd to have my quiet little life being disrupted in the best possible way with reviews, pre-launch celebrations, and bookmarks popping up. Especially after such a long time of everything bubbling away under the surface (editing, more editing, etc). Not to mention my book coming into the world in days, as opposed to weeks, or months. I’m eternally fascinated by the whole process of this journey to publication, and so grateful too. And I expect there’ll be plenty more excitement to come…