The 21 Books I'm Taking On My Summer Holidays!

Summer Holiday Reading

This is the pile of books I’m taking on my summer holidays, whittled down from a much larger selection. I’ve been collecting them for months and I can’t wait to get stuck in. The best popular fiction, a Patrick Ness short story collection I’ve been meaning to read for ages, some fab sounding teen fiction that’s coming out in the autumn, some non fiction, including Moneyball, about baseball (I love good sports books and films), and a couple of research books for my next adult novel and Ask Amy Green book, which is called Dancing Daze and will be out in 2012.

The problem is, I only have three weeks to read all these books! But I love having choice. Sometimes I’m not in the mood for anything too heavy, other times I want to get my teeth into something a bit more challenging (which is when I’ll pick up one of the teen books!). Different books for different moods.

My idea of a blissful holiday is this: quiet beach, sitting in the shade, reading while my children play in the sand or sail.

What books have you packed?

Yours in writing (and reading!),

Sarah XXX

I’m off to West Cork for most of July, so see you in August. Have a great month, hope you too get some good reading time in.

New Amy Green Covers - Italian and American

These lovely covers are the Italian and American versions of the first Ask Amy Green book, Boy Trouble. There is also a Polish edition I will post a pic of soon - aren't they lovely? Very different.

And stay tuned for news on the brand new UK and Irish covers.

Best, Sarah X

The Best Things About Being a Writer Part 2

Hi everyone,

This is a blog I did for Girls Heart Books - http://girlsheartbooks.com
Hope you like it!

So far in the best things about being a writer list we’ve had:

1/ You can write in your pjs.

2/ The research – writers get to travel and meet fascinating people and elephants (along with their glittery poo!).

Number 3/ is:

Ta, da! The readers. One of the best things about being a writer is definitely having readers. Especially readers who send lovely cards, emails and letters. The other day I got my first email from an Italian reader. Unfortunately I don’t read Italian so I had to get my friend, Tanya to translate it, but it was still thrilling.

I also get to meet lots of readers at festivals (like the one I was just at in Listowel) and school events which is also brilliant. More than anything else, us writers want readers, lots and lots of them! We’re quite a needy little bunch really.

4/ You can stare into space and daydream and imagine strange and wonderful things and scribble away in a notebook and ask really odd questions and be incredibly nosey and curious and no one will think you’re mad.

5/ Best of all you get to invent characters and give them friends and families and complicated lives. You get to create a whole world for them – like your own personal soap opera or drama. And there’s nothing as much fun in the whole entire world. Especially if you love your characters (and I do love my own characters, Amy and Clover very, very muchly – I’d want to, the amount of time I spend with them!).

So if like me you’re a huge and passionate reader, there is no better or more exciting job in the world.

On the flip side – The Worst Things About Being a Writer

1/ Numb bumb – from sitting at your desk all day.

2/ It can be lonely if you are a sociable soul like me.

3/ It gives you less time to read and watch Glee and Grey’s Anatomy.

Please do add to the list if you can think of any, Girls Heart Books blogging team!

For me, that’s pretty much it – nope, can’t think of any more negatives. So in short, be a writer, it diamond rocks!

Stay tuned for the next blog – about my writing uniform – including incriminating photographs!

Yours in books,

Sarah XXX

The Best Things About Being A Writer Pt 1

This is the blog I did for www.girlsheartbooks.com - a brand new blog for girl readers - check it out! Other authors involved include Cathy Cassidy, Judi Curtin and Cathy Hopkins.
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When I visit schools there are three questions I’m always asked:
1/ How much money do you make?
2/ Where do you get your ideas?
3/ What’s the best thing about being a writer?
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So I thought I’d start with the third question first – and if you stay tuned I’ll add to it and answer the other questions in my next blog.
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So here you go – The Best Things About Being A Writer Part 1 – Ta, Da! . . .
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1/ You can work in your pyjamas, or ancient tracky bottoms or a giant pink bunny suit – whatever takes your fancy. The postman may get a shock if you answer the door a bunny suit however!
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2/ Research
Writers get to travel to interesting places to do research. It’s a great excuse to explore the world. Recently I’ve been to Paris, New York, Miami and Budapest to research locations for the Ask Amy Green books. Summer Secrets is set partly in Miami, Bridesmaid Blitz in Paris, and Budapest and New York will feature in future books.
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You also get to meet really interesting people, like ballerinas, fashion designers, surgeons and even zoo keepers.
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Last year I spent a wonderful day with one of the elephant keepers in Dublin Zoo. She showed me the industrial looking kitchen where they prepare the elephants’ food, the large beds of sand and straw where they sleep, the hidey holes where the keepers put the elephants’ food to make eating more fun for them.
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But my favourite bit was the glittery poo discovery. Did you know that in order to track the elephants’ nutrition, they have to test their poo every morning? And to do this they have to mark each elephant’s poo in some way – so they put glitter into their food. Yep, glitter! So each great big dollop of elephant poo sparkles in a very individual way – red, silver, gold, green, blue. Strange but true.
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Plus their trunks feel like coral, all rough and bone-like – I was amazed, I expected them to feel warm and leathery.
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And that’s what I love about research – you discover the most weird and wonderful things that really can make your books come alive.
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Stay tuned for more in my next blog on 5th June.
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Yours in books,

Sarah XXX

Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

The most common question I get asked is 'Where Do YOu Get Your Ideas?' And the answer is not 'From a big lightbulb in the sky' - even though there is indeed one above me in this picture! No, ideas come from all over the place: *Books, movies, magazines, newspapers *Things I overhear on the train *Dreams and daydreams *Things that have happened to friends and family * Things that might never happen to anyone, but that I worry about! Dramatic things. *And often - real things that happened to me. In the 4th Amy Green book, a character gets very bad stage fright - no spoilers, I promise! This is based on something that happened to me when I was 12. I was Cinderella in the school play and I got terrible stage fright. The curtains opened and I just stood there - frozen - and when I started to sing my solo, my throat was all tight and I just squeaked. So I had to start again. This time it wasn't so bad. But being on stage is terrifying, and I was able to remember how it felt to be so scared and to use this in my book. At least something good came out of the experience - I could use it to make my book scene very realistic! Book 5 is set in Budapest and Dublin and features Claire Starr, Mills's sister who is in a ballet company over there. So recently I visited Budpest for research, and that also gave me ideas. See, I get ideas all over the place. Till next time, lovely Amy Greensters! Best, SarahX PS Look out for the next Amy Green newsletter later in April.

Sort it Out, Sarah on RTE telly

Hi All,

Here is a clip of my lastest Sort it Out, Sarah on RTE television - the link is below. Hope you like it!
Every month I appear on the show Elev8, sorting out problems. They range from advice on what girls like (boys with a sense of humour!), what to do if your mum is your teacher, to how to cope when friends turn mean, and or you get left out of things.

It's a really great experience, and fun too. I love getting my make up done - there's something very relaxing about lying back on the special chair (like a dentist's chair) and having someone do your face up.

One day I might even make Amy and Clover on screen agony aunts and use what I have found out - what do you think?!

Sarah XXX
http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1093685

Problems, problems . . . from the vaults of Sort It Out, Sarah!

Problems, problems . . .

Every second Thursday I’m Sort it Out, Sarah on RTE telly’s show, ELEV8.
Viewers send me their problems and I try to fix them.

Here are 2 problems from last week and the answers I gave:


Hi Sarah,


My friend always wears the same kinds of clothes as me and it’s really annoying. I get annoyed at her but I can’t say it because then we’ll end up having a fight. How do I tell her to dress differently without hurting her feelings?

Well, that’s a tough one. Your friend is copying your style because a/ she thinks you look cool and b/ she is unsure of her own style. So it’s a compliment to you that she’s copying your clothes. But saying that, she needs to find her own style.

So here’s what I’d suggest:

Be her stylist – all the movie stars and singers have stylists. Go through her wardrobe and pick out some outfits that suit her and show her how to put cool looks together.

Go shopping with her and help her to pick out some great new clothes. They don’t have to be expensive.

Good luck!


Hi Sarah,

When we’re in hockey and we’re picking teams, I find it hard to pick my friend for my team because she’s not as sporty as I am and I don’t want our team to lose but I also don’t like making her feel bad. What can I do?


That’s another difficult one. I’m quite competitive too, so I know what it’s like. You want to win but you don’t want to hurt your friend.

Here’s what I’d suggest:

Tell your friend you can only pick her every few weeks as otherwise it would look like favouritism.

After school or at the weekend practice with her and help her pick up a few tips.

Hope that helps!

Best, Sarah XXX