Good news being in short supply these days, I was thrilled to get an email from BookBrunch telling me that The Wonder Girls Rebel was one of six shortlisted books in the children's category of The Selfies.
The Wonder Girls, all three books, set in the 1930s, is a story for now - girls taking on the fascist threat and, spoiler alert, winning. (NB The baddies always lose in the end.) In Rebel the threat comes from an evil newspaper baron – aren't they all? I've written about writing this final book in the trilogy here, here and here.
Of course, on getting the news, I immediately thought of all the reasons it won't win - the quality of the other 5 books:
Fyn Carter and the Agents of Eromlos by Ian Hunter
Beyond the Secret Lake by Karen Inglis
Time Tub Travellers and the Silk Thief by Claire Linney
Body in the Thames by Sarah Lustig
The Witch's Cat Goes Wild by Kirstie Watson, illustrated by Nina Khalova
...their excellent sales and my struggle with online advertising! But that doesn't matter because I feel I've won already with my ticket to The London Book Fair (LBF) and the opportunity to talk some really interesting people.
All the shortlisted authors, in all categories – adult fiction, children's fiction and non fiction – are invited to the awards on Tuesday 11th March at Olympia.
I've been to LBF before, an age ago, when I was volunteering with the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, SCBWI. It's really a trade event but lately there's been more and more for creators - published, unpublished and independendently published. I did nearly get to go again when The Wonder Girls (book 1) was shortlisted but we all know what happened in 2020!
I really enjoy in person events - meeting readers at fairs and festivals, talking to groups, large and small, young and not so young. Hand-selling my books has given me loads of practice at pitching the story. I used to run an event for SCBWI, called The Hook, giving authors the opportunity to pitch their books, on stage, to a panel of agents. If it were still going, I would so rock at that now!
After the New Year down time, bookings are picking up again. Here are a few places, you can see me in action – Would be wonderful to meet a blog reader!
Thanks so much for visiting.
Check out my flagship books.
Lots of different ways to buy, but only 99p/99c on kindle until 12th March!
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