I’m in the process of publishing a picture book called I Own All the Blue, for ages three to seven. After reviewing hundreds of portfolios and websites I finally clicked with an illustrator and I’m… I Own All the Blue – New Picture Book
The Far End of Happy is fiction that draws heavily on a real event from author Kathryn Craft’s life. The novel’s main protagonist, Veronica (Ronnie) Farnham, is trying to leave a dead marriage and make a new start. But her husband, Jeff, increasingly depressed and mentally unstable, decides his family would be better off without him. After an altercation and a 911 call, the police (thankfully) evacuate Ronnie, her two sons, and her mother. Then follows a twelve-hour standoff as police negotiators try to talk Jeff down. Interspersed with the tension of waiting are the musings and flashbacks from the point of view of three very different women: Ronnie, her mother, Beverley, and Jeff’s mother, Janet. Each woman has buried secrets that may, or may not, have an impact on the situation. The Far End of Happy by Kathryn Craft – Review
A quick news and update post: Kathryn Craft, author of The Art of Falling, joins me on Wednesday 29th April for the start of her blog book tour for her new book The Far End… Kathryn Craft – Book Tour Starts Next Week
Slated is the first book in the Young Adult trilogy of the same name by Teri Terry. It is the story of sixteen-year-old Kyla, who is a former juvenile offender. Kyla was “slated”—given a clean slate by having her memories wiped and adopted into a caring family. But Kyla is different to the other “Slaters”. Instead of being care-free, she has nightmares. And she can draw—photo-realistically—including places and people she should have no memory of. Kyla is treading a fine line as she searches for answers: there are things that powerful people would rather remain a secret. The rules include not questioning the government’s actions. And the price for breaking the rules is termination.
Will You Like Slated If You Liked Madison Lane?Slated by Teri Terry – Book Recommendation
This is the most incredible piece of performance art by Japanese dancer and circus artist Miyoko Shida. She is performing a piece called “Sanddornbalance”, from the production “Sanddorn” (Sand/Thorn) created by Maedir Eugster Rigolo in… Practice Until You Can’t Get it Wrong
Listen to me reading an extract from the first chapter of Madison Lane and the Wand of Rasputin. Turn up your speakers 🙂 Get your own copy here: Paperback | E-book
My teen science-fantasy book Madison Lane and the Wand of Rasputin is now available in print and electronically (Kindle MOBI, ePUB, and PDF). Maddie becomes Earth’s best hope of survival when she uses a magic… Madison Lane and the Wand of Rasputin
As I mentioned yesterday, transient art fascinates me. I sometimes become frustrated while writing and entertain the thought of pressing the delete key on my files. But I know I have back-ups, so it would be unlikely my work would be irretrievable. I’ve done it with knitting, though, when I’ve spent months knitting a particular pattern, put it aside over summer, and then the following autumn I’ve changed my mind–I’ve frogged the entire thing, reclaimed the yarn, and started something new.Sand Animation with Kseniya Simonova
Imagine creating a beautiful work of art and then destroying it. Picking up a paintbrush loaded with too much paint and going nuts over a painting you’d worked hard on. Could you? How far do you think you would go? Would you make sure it was a dry acrylic painting knowing that you can still wash it off before it dries?Artist Jerry Wennstrom and The Inspired Heart
My first introduction to Catherine Fisher’s books was with The Conjuror’s Game, which I read as a preteen when I “worked” for the only bookstore in our town as a beta reader, helping the middle-aged owner select new children’s and YA books for the store. I was paid in books (probably a lousy deal, but I was over the moon at the time). Of the dozens of books I read for them, The Conjuror’s Game is the only one I’ve kept, and read several times. Catherine Fisher disappeared off my radar for a while, but, thanks to Google, when I discovered she had a new series available, I couldn’t wait to get reading.Incarceron by Catherine Fisher (Book Discussion)
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley has fascinated me for a long time. She lived in a time when women were not encouraged to study, let alone write books of their own. So to be the author of what would become one of the most well known horror novels of all time is a remarkable and unusual achievement. To do so at the age of nineteen is amazing.Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (Book Discussion)
I first read Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl when I was about eleven or twelve years old. In the self-centeredness of prepubescence, what I most identified with was Anne’s difficult relationship with her… The Lost Diaries of a Future Author
I began reading Sherlock Holmes as a teenager and was so intrigued by the clever detective and his deductions that I moved onto other well-known Whodunit authors such as Agatha Christie and P.D James, and decided that this would be my genre as I began my apprenticeship as an author. While working through Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat, I decided to try my hand at adapting one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories—The Valley of Fear—into a screenplay. It was a fascinating exercise, and gave me a lot of insight into story construction and characterisation.Who was Joseph Bell?