Summer Holiday Reading 2012

I’m off on my summer holidays in July and I can’t wait. To me, holidays are all about three things: reading, sailing and kayaking, and eating. OK, four things! Five if you count hanging out with the kids – building sandcastles, paddling, rock pooling (I can happily spend hours poking around rock pools with my 9 and 6 year old), camping, messing around in boats. I feel lighter just thinking about it.

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For me, reading plays a huge part of any holiday. Usually life is pretty busy and I don’t have all that much time to read. So for the few months leading up to my summer holiday I put aside books that I’d really like to read. All kinds of books.

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Here is a photo of my book pile for summer 2012!Novels, reference books, short story collections, books about writing, YA books, books by friends . . . it’s all in there. Every year I re-read two old favourites, Are You There, God, It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume and Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. Both books mean a lot to me, and I read them every year, along with Harriet the Spy.

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Do you have a favourite book that you read over and over again?

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And what’s in YOUR summer holiday reading pile?

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Yours in books,

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Sarah XXX

Book Festivals and Why I Love Them

Me and Some Amy Green Readers at the West Cork Literary Festival

Every year I’m lucky to be invited to lots of book festivals. This year I’ll be at Listowel Writers’ Week in Kerry in June; Dalkey Book Festival in June; Kilkenny Arts Festival in August; and Mountains to Sea Book Festival in Dun Laoghaire in September (all in Ireland). There may be one or two more on the cards also, including some UK events.

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Why I love festivals so much:

1/ I get to meet YOU – readers! There’s nothing like meeting readers in person, it’s such a thrill.

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2/ I get to hang out with my writer friends like Judi Curtin, Oisin McGann (lovely Irish fantasy writer), Don Conroy (nature writer and novelist from Ireland), Cathy Cassidy and loads of other cool wordsmiths. Plus I love hearing other writers talk about their work, it’s fascinating.

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3/ I always learn something new - fantastic books to read, how other writers organise their writing lives - are they morning writers or evening writers; do they have any lucky writing charms; paper or laptop etc.

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4/ My mind fizzes with new book ideas after book festivals. There’s nothing more inspirational than being surrounded by world class writers. So far my favourite festival talk ever was one given by Patrick Ness about writing with joy – it was spoken from the heart and very moving. If he’s ever at a festival near you, go! You won’t regret it. He is a truly gifted speaker.

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5/ Book people are MY people and it’s lovely to be with my tribe, especially children’s book people, who truly rock!

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Have you ever been to a book festival? Was it fun? Who did you see?

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Yours in writing,

Sarah XXX

PS Check out the original version of this post at the Girls Heart Books blog - www.girlsheartbooks.com

New American Bridesmaid Blitz Cover

Look what just arrived this morning - a big box of Ask Amy Green books all the way from America. It's the American editions of Summer Secrets and Bridesmaid Blitz.
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I love seeing foreign editions of my books - they look so different. And I'm very lucky to have readers in America, New Zealand, Poland, Italy and lots of different countries around the world, as well as in Ireland and the UK. And I love getting emails and letters from them too!
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Books really are magic. I write a story, and then you read it and create images in your head from the words on the page. Maybe the images you imagine are a little different from the images that I imagined when I was writing the book, but that's what makes reading such an interesting experience.
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I couldn't live without books! How about you?
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All the best, Sarah XXX

What's In a Name - Naming Your Characters

Hi There,

If you like writing or are interested in how writers name their characters, read on! And check out the cover of my new book, Dancing Daze, out in September - pretty cute, isn't it? I love the tiny ballet shoes!

Names are VERY important and I always put lots of thought into choosing them. Here are some of the names I’ve chosen for various characters in my books and why I picked that particular name:

Amy Green – My daughter’s name is Amy (Amy-Rose to be precise) and she loves the fact that Amy Green shares her name – big mummy points here. It’s one of my favourite girl’s names and it’s a name lots of girls can identify with – most people know an Amy. I added Green as I wanted a surname that again, is well known, as Amy in the books is my ‘every girl’ character, a girl that readers can hopefully relate to. Being ‘green’ also means helping the environment and Amy Green loves helping people.Her nicknames are: Ames, Green Bean, Beanie, Greenster and Bean Machine.

Remember to give your own main characters nicknames – most of us have them in real life!

Amy Green’s best friend is called Amelia Starr or ‘Mills’. She’s just that, a star, and most Amelias I know are shortened to Milly, so I thought Mills was a little bit different.

Clover Wildgust – Clover is a little bit crazy and she powers around the place like a tornado. I chose the name Clover as it’s a bit unusual but not too whacky to be unrealistic, and Wildgust is a name I found in a graveyard in Ireland. I thought it suited her perfectly as she’s just that, a wild gust of wind! Clover is always just Clover, she doesn’t have a nickname.

Graveyards are excellent places to find unusual names, or names that are particular to that region. If you are setting your book in West Cork for example, the names would be different to a book set in Dublin city, especially the surnames. I’m sure it’s the same in London and Devon for example.

Other names I’ve used (in Ask Amy Green) are Seth Stone (Amy Green’s solid as a rock boyfriend), Bailey Otis (Mills’s surfer/musician boyfriend – there’s a famous old song called Miss Otis Regrets), Nina Pickering (who never stops picking on people), and Sophie Piggott (who is a total pig!).

Funny, clever names are more memorable than ‘ordinary’ names – like Mary Smith for example, unless you are using the name to make a point eg ‘Mary Smith was a very ordinary girl, with an extraordinary secret . . .’

Some writers are brilliant at naming their characters:Derek Landy is a naming master in the horror genre – Skulduggery Pleasant, Melancholia, Ghastly Bespoke. Darren Shan also creates brilliant names – Lord Loss and Larten Crepsley.

I love Cathy Cassidy’s names too – Dizzy, Ginger, Scarlett.And Jacqueline Wilson’s – Lottie, Floss, Hetty Feather. And what about J K Rowling’s names, genius! Hagrid, Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore. And Roald Dahl – Matilda, The BFG, Charlie Bucket. What are your favourite character names?

Happy writing and reading,

Sarah XXX

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