All I Want for Christmas . . .

Hi All,

This was first posted on the Girls Heart Books site - do check it out for a great read!

Not long now until Christmas! And I for one can’t wait. Every year I ask my friends and family for one present, and one present only – book tokens!

Walking into my local bookshop – Dubray Books in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin – and knowing I can treat myself to those hardback books I’ve been gazing longingly at all year makes me so happy.

In case some of you also get book tokens for Christmas, or are looking for a brilliant read over the holidays, I’ve collected together a few of my favourite books of the year below.

I read a lot of books which are supposed to be for children or teenagers as they’re so darn good! I was a children’s bookseller for years and now I review children’s books for The Irish Independent, but to be honest I’d read them anyway. I like strong characters, clever, original plots and a sense of hope, all of which I get in books for young readers.

My Book of the Year: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

I love, love, loved this wonderful book. Part time-travel novel, part family and friendship drama, it’s original, compelling and I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s set in New York too, and I love books set in NYC. It’s a cracking read.

I also loved Skulduggery Pleasant: Death Bringer by Derek Landy, a fantasy-horror adventure about a skeleton detective and his teenage side kick. It’s a hilarious, rip roaring read and I’d highly recommend the whole series. If you like something a little different, this book is for you.

Eva’s Holiday by Judi Curtin is just perfect for girls who like warm, funny reads. Eva loves fashion and hanging out with her friends, so when she has to spend the whole summer in a cottage down the country, she’s not happy. But soon she finds out that there’s more to life than clothes and having the right friends.


And I also adored Marshmallow Skye by Cathy Cassidy, the second in her warm, sweet Chocolate Box series. And finally another wonderful book is The Real Rebecca by Anna Carey is the story of Irish teen, Rebecca and her ultra embarrassing mother.

What will YOU be reading this Christmas?
Happy Christmas to all! May 2012 bring you many wonderful things . . . including brilliant books!
Yours in books,

Sarah XXX

Winners of the Young Editor Competition

Ta, da! I can finally announce the winners of the Young Editor Comp. It was so hard to judge - we got so many great entries. But the Irish winner is Yazmin from Shankhill, Dublin and the UK winner is Anna from West Sussex, England. They will be helping me edit the next Amy Green book, Dancing Daze. I can't wait to work with them. I hope it gives them an insight into how a book is written and edited!

As there were so many fab entries, we also have 3 runner up prizes - which will go to Abby, Tasha and Keelin. Well done to everyone!

And we'll be holding another Young Editor Competition next year as it was so popular - so keep reading!

Best,
Sarah XXX

The Ideas Shop Hits Navan - Sarah, Judi and Oisin

On Thursday 13th October we arrived at the Solstice Arts Centre in Navan to be greeted by the lovely Maedhbh from the library services. After tucking into tea and toast in the café with fellow Ideas Shop writers, Judi Curtin and Oisin McGann, we all set up our props and waited for the 350 school children to take their seats.

They came from all over Meath, a lovely mix of schools. As we waited nervously backstage, they spilled into the front seats, grinning, and we sneaked a few peaks through the black curtains at their faces. Waiting backstage for an event to start is scary and I’m always jingling with nerves – will I be OK, will the audience laugh at the right places, will they ask any questions? On this occasion there was nothing at all to worry about, the Meath audience were completely engaged and watched and listened eagerly from the very beginning.

We each spoke first about growing up and what inspired us to be writers. We had a Memory Box on stage – a great big wooden box filled with all our memories. For me it was books I loved as a child, my tutu and ballet shoes and ballet fuzzy felt; for Judi one of her old dolls (very unloved as she pointed out!), old books and diaries; for Oisin an art kit, books, and his special memories of driving diggers and playing in building sites. Oisin lives in Meath and he was a big hit, especially with the boys!

Next we spoke a little about how we write a book – I talked about research and the role that plays in my work, and meeting the elephants in Dublin Zoo; Judi explained how a book is like a Russian Doll, full of different parts (or dolls) that all fit together to produce a story; and Oisin drew a very fab skeleton which he covered in clothes and explained how you add things to the ‘bones’ of a story, a bit like dressing the skeleton.

And finally we al talked about how books live on through our readers – YOU! Which was followed by a lively question and answer session and a super signing.

It was a real pleasure to meet so many fantastic young readers and thanks to CBI, and most especially Maedhbh and her team for organising the event so beautifully. And look out for me, Judi and Oisin – we’ll be doing some more Ideas Shops very soon.

Sarah XXX

Amy Green Signed Copies and T Shirt Competition

Hi Amy Greensters,

Just to let you know that I've been madly signing copies of the new Amy Green book all over Dublin this week. If you are looking for a signed copy try any of the Dubray shops (Dublin), Hughes and Hughes in Dundrum, Eason shops in Dublin or The Exchange in Dalkey.

There's also a very special Amy Green T-shirt available at the Eason shops and you can win one over on my Facebook site .

Talk soon, and don't forget to enter the Young Editor Competition!

Best,
Sarah XXX
PS The pic above is from the West Cork Literary Festival - hope you like it!

Getting Strangled by Darren Shan

I had great fun at the Mountains to Sea Book Festival last week - I'm only just recovering. I got strangled by Darren Shan - see the pic! I went for dinner with Cathy Cassidy and Judi Curtin - two brilliant writers that I adore, and fab women too! We had a lovely evening.
I also listened to fantastic talks by Eoin Colfer, Roddy Doyle, Derek Landy and lots of other great authors.
Have you ever been to a book festival? If you get the chance, do go! It's most inspirational. Now, back to work on Amy 5!
And don't forget to enter the Young Editor Competition before the end of October and you could be helping me with my plot dilemmas very soon!
Best, SarahXXX

My Young Editor - Kate

My lastest blog for Girls Heart Books

Back in 2008 when I started working on the book which became Ask Amy Green: Boy Trouble, I had a dilemma. My main character, Amy was and still is thirteen (it’s been a long, dramatic year for Amy!), but it had been a long time since I was a teen. Maybe things had changed, moved on. Maybe girls weren’t as boy, fashion and friend obsessed as I had been at thirteen. I decided that before I went any further I needed to find out how modern teens thought, and most importantly felt about everything. Which is where Kate came in.

Kate was in my son’s class at the time – 6th class at Glenageary/Killiney National School – and was and still is a huge reader. She is smart, funny and chatty, and I asked her to gather some friends - Emma, Sinead and Isobel - and meet me in a coffee shop to talk all things teen. It was wonderfully interesting and informative, and I came away knowing for sure that although, yes, a lot of things had changed for girls since I was a teen, a lot of things were exactly the same. A lot of the hopes, dreams, aspirations, fears and worries sounded so familiar I could almost taste them.

It was both helpful and inspirational – they are such great girls! And it made me realise how cool Irish teenagers are and how much I wanted to write for them, give them the kind of books they deserved: funny, smart, immersive books set in Dublin. Most of the books Irish teens read are set in the US or England. We are a small country of four million people (smaller than Birmingham!) and this year I’m delighted to report that this year many other new Irish authors have started to write books for teens set in Ireland.

Above is a picture of Kate and Emma and if you’d like to find out more about them check out my Amy Green Fanzine here.

Kate is now sixteen and is heading towards important exams, so I’m looking for some new young editors. She’ll always be part of the Amy Green team of course, I couldn’t do it without her!

So I’m holding a competition to find some new young editors in September – when the new Amy Green book, Love and Other Drama-Ramas is out – I’ll put the details up on the Girls Heart Books site, so watch this space!

Hot off the press - the cover of Amy Green 4: Love and Other Drama-Rama

Hot off the press - here's the cover of the brand new Ask Amy Green - out in September - hope you like it!
And don't forget you can find other Amy Green fans on Facebook - www.facebook.com/askamygreen - check it out! And stay tuned for more news in early September.

Best,
SarahXXX