When you take the first steps from being a casual writer-for-fun to a ‘I want to get published’ writer, one of the first pieces of advice you read is: Join the SCBWI Join your local critique group If you’re anything like me, 2) is pretty scary. Meeting new people? Anxiety-inducing. Putting your work out there […]
This is Grumpy Crab. She’s an edible brown crab who features in a new manuscript I’m working on. Look at those sassy, beady eyes. I love her. I’ll probably have to submit this one to my critique group as usually when I’m in love with a story it turns out to be either inappropriate, mad, […]
So, so much waiting. Waiting for a publisher to reject my work – so when they do, I can submit it to agents. It was an exclusive submission, and they do usually reply. Waiting for another publisher to reject my work – so when they do, I can submit it to a competition. This was […]
‘Maybe’ is a recent release by author-illustrator Chris Haughton, published by Walker Books. The story centres around three little monkeys who convince themselves that ‘maybe…’ – in spite of sensible warnings from their parent – it’ll be fine to go and get those juicy, tempting looking mangoes. Definitely no tigers lurking here! The three playful […]
Sounds like an oxymoron, right? Getting rejections is part and parcel of trying to be a published writer. You learn not to take it personally – I barely flinch when the ‘thank you, but…’ emails come in. Of course it does get weary, receiving the usual form rejections without any feedback. That’s not a criticism […]
‘Picture Purrfect’ is a self-published picture book written and illustrated by Heather Dickinson. This is the story of a cat named Zuzu, who wants to paint a picture of her friends. Her friends comply, but soon get fidgety. The result is a hodgepodge of features which together form a surprise. The illustrations are beautifully done […]
We’ve booked a last minute long weekend break on the Scottish coast for next month, and I couldn’t be more excited. We’ll be staying in a lighthouse cottage. We stayed there two years ago and it was incredible. This time, I’m thinking in terms of how inspiring it could be for my writing. I’ll be […]
I’ve recently made two submissions directly to publishers that I feel really good about. You know how it goes; you’ve read loads of their publications, you feel like your manuscripts fit perfectly, you can imagine your books on the shelves etc. Then you remember the reality: that publishers receive an insane amount of submissions, they […]
This is Reeves’ debut picture book from a new publisher, Storyhouse Publishing. As an aside, I love the ethos of Storyhouse – inspiring care for each other and our world – and have ordered more of their books. The story centres around Magnus, a monkey who loves to dance. Magnus gets a right sulk on […]
Unicorns – they’ve been everywhere for what feels like forever. But has the trend passed? My instincts say yes and no. Any look around a shop will tell you that unicorns are still very much on trend. But of course, any book being written now would only potentially be released in maybe a couple of […]
