Dear Dylan Wins 2010 YoungMinds Book Award!

Well, having said I had no chance of winning – I won! Still feeling a little speechless so I hope this blog won’t end up being one long blank…

Giving my acceptance speech

In summary, Dear Dylan’s journey to award winning status goes something like this:

• After running countless workshops for young people I decide to make the transition from adult to young adult fiction and I decide to write fiction that will hopefully help young readers with the various issues they face growing up.
• I decide to take a creative gamble and write a book entirely in emails, both for the challenge it presents and because I felt it would be a form that would resonate with young readers.
• I finish the book and send it out to agents.
• It gets rejected.
• The general consensus seems to be that the email format won’t work.
• Then I hear that a publisher is starting a new YA list and looking for writers.
• I send it to the commissioning editor and she offers me a book deal within a week saying how refreshing it was to receive something a different, and how fed up she was with agents sending ‘safe’ submissions.
• I feel very happy and celebrate with red wine, chocolate and a blast of Bruce Springsteen.
• The publisher asks me if I will write a book about a teen wag that they can publish before Dear Dylan as they feel this will be more commercial.
• I drown my sorrows with red wine, chocolate and Bruce Springsteen’s album, Nebraska.
• The publisher then offers me far less money than they originally had.
• I tell them to sling their book deal.
• I indulge in more red wine, chocolate and Springsteen’s Darkness on the Edge of Town.
• I decide my career as a writer is over.
• But I still have a burning passion to write.
• I decide to self publish Dear Dylan.
• I see an article about the YoungMinds Book Award and I think, I’m self-published they won’t touch my book with a barge pole.
• I play Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Thunder Road’ and decide to send my book off anyway.
• I get a thank you email from YoungMinds – Dear Dylan has been entered for the competition.
• I jump around for a bit.
• I get another email from YoungMinds – Dear Dylan has been long-listed.
• I go to the toilet at work and I cry with joy.
• A couple of months pass and I get another email from YoungMinds – Dear Dylan has been short-listed.
• I ring my dad and we both cry. And say ‘Jesus!’ A lot!
• I drink some red wine, eat a box of Ferrero Rocher and play ‘Glory Days’.
• I read in The Bookseller that the publisher I had my book deal with has gone bust, owing authors thousands of pounds in unpaid advances.
• I go to the YoungMind Book Awards.
• I am convinced I won’t win.
• I don’t even prepare the opening line for a speech.
• A gold envelope is opened.
• My name is called out.
• I think I’ve come sixth!
• I get on to the stage and see an award trophy with my name and book title engraved upon it.
• I try really hard not to cry.
• I fail.
• I think about all of the things I went through as a teenager.
• I think that now I really will be able to help other teens going through similar experiences.
• I am about as happy and as proud as I think I’ll ever be.

Trying really hard not to cry!

Next time I will blog about YoungMinds and the excellent work that they do. Their annual lecture before the Book Award was inspiring and if you are looking for a charity to support I would throughly recommend them.

Young Minds Book Award

Tonight I’m going to my very first book awards as a short-listed author. 

The fact that it is for the organisation Young Minds makes it even more special to me. One of the main reasons I started writing novels for young people was because I wanted to explore the issues and pressures that they face through my fiction in the hope that it might help.

The Young Minds Book Award is all about fiction that helps young readers deal with the pressures of growing up. For my first YA novel DEAR DYLAN to be short-listed is a real honour.

When I run writing workshops for young people I like to focus a lot on confidence building. When I was younger I really struggled with a lack of confidence when it came to my writing – to the point where I actually dropped out of university because I didn’t think I could compete against people from such wealthy and well-connected backgrounds.

It took me years to find the courage and drive needed to overcome my self doubt and pursue my dream. Now I am a published author and have a career in publishing as an editor I am proud of the fact that I grew up on a council estate and got where I am through hard work alone. And I love being able to go into schools and tell the least confident of kids, ‘if I can do it then so can you.’

I am up against some formidable writing talent tonight so I think it’s very unlikely that I will win. But in my mind I’ve won already just by being on the same shortlist as them. If I could time-travel back to tell my eighteen-year-old self I’m sure she’d never believe me!

And to any aspiring young writer reading this who might be having a crisis of confidence -NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAM COS YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE IT MIGHT LEAD!

Back in the Blogging Saddle

Well, I’m hoping that blogging is just like riding a bike and you never forget how to do it – however long you leave it!

Being a single parent (and ordinary human being!) sometimes real life takes over and demands that your writing life takes a back seat for a while.

It happened a couple of years ago when my former partner was diagnosed with cancer and it happened again this year when I realised that it was time for a brand new start. In a brand new location.

At the risk of alienating any readers currently embroiled in lengthy house moving chains I decided to move on a Thursday, googled a map of possible locations on the Friday, went to check out one of the places (that I’d never been to before) on the Saturday and we had moved there three weeks later!

It was crazy and rash but sometimes you need to shake life up a little.

My son and I had been through so much over the past couple of years we both felt all London-ed out. So now we are settling into country life in a cottage in a village. And so far we have loved every minute of it.

Max checking out the new view

THREE THINGS I HAVE LEARNT ABOUT COUNTRY LIFE SO FAR

1. Buses come about once a day -  and nonece a day on Sundays!
2. You can actually see the stars – and the night sky is black not orange.
3. When complete strangers talk to you it doesn’t mean they are angry or mad – or both.
4. Pubs have these great things called ‘lock-ins’.
5. Houses have fireplaces that still work and haven’t been filled with nasty dried flower arrangements.

My dog Max is loving it too, although he got a shock the first time I took him to our local woods and he saw deer for the first time. He looked at me all dazed and bemused, as if to say, ‘those are some mighty scary squirrels’!

Anyway, now life is returning to normal, the writer in me is itching to be set free (she’s currently trapped in one of the packing boxes from the move) and it’s a good job too because next week I have a book awards to go to – FOR WHICH DEAR DYLAN HAS ACTUALLY BEEN SHORT-LISTED! I also have a brand new YA novel to find a publishing home for and a brand new idea that is burning to get written.

Back soon – I promise!

The Long and the Short of It

Dear Dylan, my first novel for young adults, has just made it from the long list to the short list of the Young Minds Book Awards.

I am beyond thrilled.

There was a time, when I had been messed about by a publisher over this book, that I considered scrapping the whole thing.

In the end I decided to self publish and give away the e-version for free. I guess it was my way of getting back to my initial reason for writing the book – to try and help young people who might be dealing with the same kind of issues as the main character.

The Young Minds organisation is all about supporting young people through what can often be a very challenging time of life. Their annual book award was set up to highlight the role fiction can play in helping teenagers deal with various emotional issues.

I’m therefore thrilled that Dear Dylan has made it through to the final six books in the competition, particularly as the shortlist was chosen solely by young readers.

And I’m also thrilled that my decision to self publish has paid off so spectacularly. I hope it can be an inspiration to other writers out there to never to give up hope if you really believe in a book.

For more information on Dear Dylan and to find out how to download it for FREE simply click here.

Latest News

Well, I’m afraid I’m still not quite ready to tell you how I ended up eating a squirrel (see previous post), but the post traumatic stress counselling is coming along nicely so it will be any day soon. For any budding writers reading this I will tell you that it was actually done in a vain attempt to make an impression on a publisher.

Top Writing Tip: Do NOT eat a squirrel in a bid to impress a publisher – it doesn’t work!

I promise I will recount the grisly tale soon but until then, here is a selection of the latest reviews / publicity I have been getting for Dear Dylan. If you haven’t read it yet, why not download it for FREE from the Dear Dylan page on this website.

Review on The Overflowing Library

Interview on The Overflowing Library

Review on Bookalicious Ramblings

Review on Darlyn and Books

Interview on Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf

Hope you enjoy them and remember – you can download Dear Dylan  for free from this website…

Write Club

Well it’s been quite  a week.

To summarise – I have eaten one of these:

(Please don’t ask why as I’m still feeling sick at the thought so not quite ready to blog about the how and why just yet!)

Been boogying backstage at the Ealing Blues Festival:

Had some lovely reviews for Dear Dylan on  American YA websites:

Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf

Tales of the Ravenous Reader

Carrie’s YA Bookshelf

Written 20 pages of my new YA novel.

Got a new tattoo – a shooting star with a trail of stardust around my wrist.

AND…………….TRUMPET FANFARE PLEASE!

I have set up Write Club with my friend and fellow author Sara Starbuck.

Write Club is an alternative writing group for young people aged 9-16.

It is designed to spot and develop raw writing talent – in rule-breaking, boundary-pushing ways. Think Fight Club but with pens!

We will be collaborating with some of the best writers, performance poets, editors and publishing professionals in the business and hope to provide young people from ALL backgrounds with a unique opportunity to develop their writing skills.

Write Club has been a long time in the planning so we are very excited indeed.

If you would like more information about Write Club please visit the page on this site (in the Den), or email me via my mailbox or join our group Write Club on Facebook.

Back to Blog

Bonjour!

Comment allez-vous?

I’m afraid I’ve been a bit of an absent blogger these past few weeks, but I have some very good reasons – honest!

Firstly, I went to Paris. Fell in love with Paris and am now learning to speak French. (For when I move to Paris and rent an apartment in Montmartre with my imaginary Parisian lover!)

Secondly, I’ve been mad busy with the day job – devising and editing kids’ books. Recently I’ve been working on a romantic, feel-good series for girls, an action adventure series for boys and a post apocalyptic series for teens – so it’s certainly been varied. Some days I get home from work and I don’t know whether to read love poetry, go capture some baddies or build myself a bomb-proof shelter!

I have also written 40 pages of my new YA novel, Finding Cherokee Brown, which has been a bit painful as it’s about bullying and I’ve had to write some horrible scenes. However, the book is all about how the victim turns the tables on her bullies (in quite spectacular fashion) so I’ve got all the kick-ass scenes to look forward to now. (Some of which I have decided to set in Paris so that I can go back there for research purposes.)

AND, I’ve been busy promoting my first YA novel, Dear Dylan. AND, it’s going really well.

I actually turned down a two book deal to publish Dear Dylan myself so I knew from the outset that I was taking a massive gamble. There is still a lot of snobbery when it comes to self-published books in this country and most newspapers and magazines refuse point blank to review them – even if the author has had previous books with mainstream publishing houses as I have done.

The exciting thing about Dear Dylan is that so far (touch wood) I seem to be getting around the narrow-mindedness.

Firstly, the book has made it to the long-list of the Young Minds Book Award and now it is getting some great reviews on various book related websites. As an author it is so heartening to realise that you don’t always need the weight of a major publisher behind you – that reader power still counts for something. And it has been amazing to discover the wealth of brilliant book-related websites out there – especially for Young Adult fiction.

My Writing Home is going to be undergoing a bit of a makeover soon – I’ve just picked out some very groovy new wallpaper! – and one of the features will be a list of links to some of these book sites. But until then I will post links to the sites that have reviewed Dear Dylan and they in turn will lead you to many more.

I’m off now to practise my relative pronouns. Till then, au revoir mon petit pois…

Links to YA sites who have reviewed Dear Dylan:

I was a Teenage Book Geek

So Many Books, So Little Time

Chicklish

Young Reviewers Needed for Young Minds Book Award 2010

As regular readers of this blog will know, Dear Dylan, my new novel for teens was recently long-listed for the Young Minds Book Awards.

Having selected their long-list of 12 books, Young Minds, the UK’s leading children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing charity is now calling on young people across the country to choose the shortlist for its prestigious annual book award.

The YoungMinds Book Award 2010, which is sponsored by the national reading charity Booktrust, will be given to a book for readers of 12 + which helps young people to cope with the challenges of growing up.

As part of the selection process we are inviting teens to give their views on the plot, characters and unputdownability of the 12 longlisted books. Their six favourites will go on to form the award shortlist, from which a panel of expert judges including three young people will choose the winning book.

The web-based review process is open to all young people, either as individuals or groups. Already taking part are several teenage book groups and schools as well as YoungMinds’ own groups for young people, Healthy Heads and Very Important Kids.

Sarah Brennan, Chief Executive of YoungMinds said: “Books can play a vital role in promoting the mental and emotional well being of young people. They can help break the isolation experienced by young people and demonstrate that their feelings and problems are not unique.

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

When I was little I used to dream of the time when I would be a mum. In my dreams I was always mother to a loud and unruly brood of at least five kids. My dream home would be chaotic but full of laughter and love. And at the heart of it all would be the rock solid union between me and my husband. (In my dreams he was always slightly chubby, with wavy hair and very musical – I had a bit of a crush on the banjo player from the Dubliners at the time!)

I imagined us all gathering round in the evenings to play music and sing – kind of like the Waltons meets the Osmonds – without the mole and the mountain and the refrigerator-white teeth.

Now before you start wretching from this saccharine vision of perfection – it didn’t turn out like that at all.

I ended up only having one child. And getting divorced. And although I normally love my life there are moments when I do have a pang of longing for that dream family - with all of the kids and the banjo playing husband!

This morning when I was walking my dog I was overwhelmed by a sudden feeling of gloom – had I let my son down? Did he wish he had siblings? And marathon sing-alongs with a banjo?

All morning I felt slightly down. But then a chain of events so random and with hindsight, downright hilarious, happened that it made me think of one of my favourite Rolling Stones songs, ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want’.

This morning I did an online interview to promote Dear Dylan. I had another interview booked with a magazine for the afternoon.

At the moment I’m home-schooling my son while we wait for a place to come up in a school. We were about to sit down and do some French when my phone rang. It was my local paper asking if they could also do an interview about the book (I know, interviews are just like buses!). The reporter said she could do it over the phone so I asked her to call back in around 40 minutes.

About 20 minutes later there was a knock on the door.

I ought to explain at this point that I was clad in a pair of shorts, vest top and Ugg boot style slippers – home-schooling has a very relaxed dress code – so when I opened the door to see two women, one with a huge camera around her neck, my reaction was sheer panic.

‘Hi, Siobhan,’ the woman without the camera said. ‘We’ve come to do the interview.’

My first thought was, what interview. Then I thought, it must be the local paper, but they had said they were doing it over the phone -and presumably weren’t able to travel at the speed of sound.

‘For the book,’ the woman continued.

I continued to stare at her blankly. And then the awful truth dawned. A week ago I had got an email asking me if I’d like to be featured in a coffee table book about inspiring writers. I was obviously hugely flattered to be asked – so flattered in fact that in my flustered state I somehow managed to put the wrong date in my diary!

I looked down at my outfit in horror. Then looked at my dog in horror as it set about rounding up the journalist and photographer – he’s a bit of an urban sheep dog.

‘Come in,’ I said weakly. ‘Erm, I’ve just got to go and get changed.’

I raced upstairs, hissing at my son to shut the dog in one of the bedrooms. After a wardrobe change so speedy it would have put Clarke Kent to shame I raced back downstairs to find my guests in my back garden – by far the tidiest room in the house.

While I gabbled on inanely about wrong dates in diaries and how sorry I was, the photographer set to work, arranging me in various positions amongst the nature reserve that is my back garden.

It was while I was crouched over sniffing a tub of lavender in an artistic fashion that I became aware of my next door neighbour peering over the fence. God knows what he thought was going on.

I think it was while I was half submerged in a bush that my phone started to ring – the reporter from the local paper.

I took the call, had to explain that I was now midway through another interview that I had forgotten I had booked and could she ring back later. Thankfully she was very understanding.

Once the interview began I started to relax – things had got a little hairy for a while but now it would all be okay. And it was – until the dog escaped from the bedroom, tore into the room and then lay on the floor – right by the writer’s dictafone – and started chomping really loudly on a bone. God knows what it will sound like when she plays it back to write it up.

Anyway, the interview for the book finished just as the reporter from the local paper rang back, so there was another excruciating scene where I had to usher my first interviewer out of the door whilst beginning my next interview on the phone.

The phone interview went very well and there was at least thirty seconds between me hanging up and the next journalist arriving. 

I invited her in. By now my son was also down in the living room, along with the bone-chomping dog, but the woman from the magazine didn’t seem to mind so we got started.

We were about two minutes in when my son asked, ‘Mum, what’s that weird lady doing in our front garden?’

My first (horrified) thought was, not another interview I’ve forgotten about surely. But when I looked out of the window I knew that the woman who had set up some kind of dressing table on my garden wall and was gaily brushing her hair – ON MY GARDEN PATH – could not have been from any publication, unless there’s a magazine out there called Dotty Old Lady Coiffures Monthly.

‘Never mind,’ I replied in what I hoped was a relaxed, there’s nothing weird at all about an old lady doing  her hair in my front garden kind of voice.

The journalist didn’t look altogether convinced. But we got back to our chat. Before being rudely interrupted by the doorbell.

Oh God, I thought. It’s the old lady come to borrow my hair straighteners.

But when I opened the door I saw one of my son’s friends from cricket standing there.

‘Can I move in with you please?’ he said, walking straight into the living room and plonking himself on the sofa next to the journalist. ‘I hate my house – we never have any oreos and your family is so cool.’

And you know what, I suppose it is. I might not have got all the kids and the banjo playing dad, but I got the funniest, coolest son in the world – and I got the love and laughter-filled home.

As the Rolling Stones said, ‘You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.’

Dear Dylan Long-listed for the Young Minds Book Award

Last Thursday I received some amazing news. My new novel, ‘Dear Dylan’ has been long-listed for the Young Minds Book Award.

It has taken me three days to get back down off the ceiling!

The long-list consists of 12 books – you can find out more about them by clicking here.

There are so many reasons why I am absolutely ecstatic right now. To be long-listed for an award for my first stab at writing for young people is such an honour. And to be long-listed for this particular award means such a lot to me personally.

The reason I wrote ‘Dear Dylan’ in the first place was as a result of the work I do with teenagers in writing and drama workshops. Through getting participants at the workshops to write about what they want and workshop plays about issues close to their hearts I am constantly reminded of the pressures unique to being a teenager.

I wanted to write a novel that dealt with some of these issues and offer advice indirectly through the characters and the choices they make.

The Young Minds Book Awards seeks to raise awareness and create understanding of the mental health needs of children and young people. It is a cause really close to my heart for personal as well as professional reasons. So to be included on the long-list is a dream come true.

For all of you aspiring novelists out there it is also a great example of how you should NEVER give up on your dream.

One year ago I turned down a two book deal for ‘Dear Dylan’ because I felt I was really being messed about by the publisher concerned. After making this decision I was absolutely gutted and thoroughly disillusioned. But then, at the beginning of this year I decided to publish the book myself. This is another reason I am so chuffed right now. Making it to the long-list surely is proof that self-published books no longer need to be the sneered upon, poor relation in the UK book world.

I really hope that this will inspire other writers to choose self-publishing as a positive and empowering option if they can’t find satisfaction via the traditional routes.