Judy Moody Doll and Books

I met her in a tres chic restaurant called ‘The Saddle Club’ in the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin city centre. She was wearing a blue shirt and darling blue and pink earrings and she has such a lovely warm smile I instantly liked her. The dinner was attended by booksellers, teachers, librarians and the wonderful Jo and Conor from Walker, and everyone had a ball. Great food – I had crab, risotto with foam (which tasted like stock cubes – weird), and delicious ice cream.

She’s even read Amy Green, isn’t that amazing?! I was thrilled – I’m such a big fan of her books and it meant a lot to me that she liked Amy.

 Sarah X

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My lovely and very talented friend, David O’Callaghan, Children’s Buyer in Eason, won the Irish Bookseller of the Year Award on Saturday.

He so deserves it! Way to go, Dave!

David puts so much passion and energy into selling and promoting children’s books and is a huge reader and kiddi lit fan. He’s also a true gentleman and great fun to boot. One of life’s good guys.

I raise a glass to you, David!

Sarah X

Hi All,

This week is full of fun things – I’m visiting 3 schools, including my daughter’s school.

I’m meeting Megan McDonald for dinner on Thursday evening – me and 12 of my very best kiddi lit friends that is – I’ve been invited to join the Walker gang for a special ‘Meet Megan’ dinner and I couldnt’ be more thrilled. I’m a huge fan.

Then I’m off to the Irish Pen Dinner on Friday night to see Roddy Doyle getting the Irish Pen Award for his work. As you may know I’m a huge fan and I can’t wait. (Yes, being a huge fan is a bit of a themes this week!).

I also have to give a writing award to a young writer who won the World Book Day writing competition – her story will be in a special book and everything. More on that later in the week.

I also found a great book on how not to get published – I’ll run upstairs and track down the title – ok it’s How Not to Write a Novel – Amazon link below.

Not a bad little book. Stephen King’s ON Writing is still way better however – it truly rocks!

Sarah X

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-NOT-Write-Novel-Published/dp/0141038543

I’m hosting a Mother and Daughters’ Book Club in Balbriggan Library this evening. Ten mums and their daughters will gather to discuss Amy Green, Teen Agony Queen (by yours truly) and Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret (by Judy Blume).

There was a piece on the club in the Irish Times this week – here’s the link.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2009/0217/1224241278397.html

And here’s a booklist of books for teens and age 10+ that I love. Enjoy!

Some of My Favourite Books

Driftwood by Cathy Cassidy

This is my favourite Cathy Cassidy book. I was so engrossed in it that I once sailed past my train station and didn’t even notice! It’s about two best friends, Hannah and Joey. Joey has a new foster brother, Paul, who is being bullied in school.

The Cat Mummy by Jacqueline Wilson

I love this book. It’s short and skinny, so won’t take you long to read. But it’s sooo good. Verity has an old tabby cat called Mabel but it dies. So she mummifies the cat – so she can keep her forever. I know it all sounds a bit morbid, but it has a happy ending, honestly! Other Jackie Wilson books I love are: The Suitcase Kid, The Illustrated Mum and of course, the Tracy Beaker books.

Alice Next Door by Judi Curtin

Alice and Megan are best friends. But when Alice’s parents separate and she has to move away, the girls are very upset. But they have a plan! Don’t miss this series – you may have to order it on Amazon, but it really is fabber than fab!

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume

I met Judy when I was working as a children’s bookseller in Waterstone’s. She’s amazing and I adore this book. It’s about a girl called Margaret Simon who has just moved house and is going through lots of changes. It’s funny and very realistic.

Other books I really like:

The Artemis Fowl Series by Eoin Colfer – Fantasy adventure at its best.

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh

Harriet spies on all her friends and keeps notes in her special spy notebook. But one day her friends read her notebook and don’t like what’s in its pages. This is a great book for anyone who’s ever had to rebuild a friendship. I love it!

The Alex Rider Books by Anthony Horowitz – I also love action adventure books, and these are some of the best.

The Skulduggery Pleasant Books by Derek Landy – Another lovely man and a great writer. These rock – funny, fast and a bit spooky – what’s not to like?!

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson

Brilliant – but very, very sad. About a girl who dies and how her best friend copes. Well worth reading, but it made me cry, a lot!

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne

I used to work with John in Waterstone’s. He’s one of the nicest people around and he deserves every bit of his success with this book. It’s another sad and moving one, but so worth reading. I adored it.

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

‘Don’t judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins.’ Part teenage road trip, part family novel, a great read.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman -  A bit spooky, but brilliant.

Wilderness by Roddy Doyle

One of my favourite books, ever! Two boys go on a husky safari with their mum and end up saving her life. Meanwhile their older sister is back at home, meeting the birth mum who abandoned her. Funny, sad, exciting – a brilliant book.

My Book

I had the great good fortune to be at a rather fine dinner last night to launch the whirlwind that is Sarah Rees Brennan on the literary world.

Sarah’s new book, The Demon’s Lexicon, a gritty, exciting urban fantasy, is out in June. And a cracking read it is too. Stay tuned for a review after publication.

I’ve read an early copy and it’s fast, furious and as for the main character, Nick – swoon – teens will love him. Step aside Edward, there’s a new boy in town.

Dinner was at a surprisingly packed Roly’s in Ballsbridge. I had salad, salmon and this amazing melt in the mouth Toblerone cheesecake – delicious!

Sarah regaled us with tales of lip biting (don’t ask) and teaching gifted children – she’s a most interesting girl and it was a pleasure to chat to her.

Another dinner with Megan McDonald next week – I’m a lucky girl! The life of a children’s reviewer – sigh.

Sarah X

Sarah Rees Brennan

Here’s the link to the Seoige Show – I was on the show recently – I’m on about 2 mins into the show – scroll down to 4th Feb and check it out :

http://www.rte.ie/tv/seoige/av_index.html

Sarah X

Hi All,

I’ve been hosting writing workshops over the last few weeks – to celebrate the launch of Amy Green and because it’s good fun and I love meeting young readers and writers.

Some of their ideas are  brilliant – and they really get the whole story writing thing – the importance of interesting, fun characters, exciting, unusual plots, snappy dialogue etc.

One interesting thing that came up on Thursday evening in Clondalkin library - and I think this may be useful for adults too – and forgive me if I’ve talked about it before – dialogue tags. He said, she said; he shouted – or, if you were to do it the way some teachers like it – he said quietly, she said loudly; he shouted loudly . . .

I love Roddy Doyle’s book, Wilderness. The dialogue is brilliant. And it has very few dialogue tags – only those needed to clarify who is speaking.

My first few books are littered with ‘she said gently’, ‘he said passionately’ – I’ve learned by reading other writers’ work.

Even now I still have a lot to learn but I’m getting there, slowly. Inching closer and closer to writing the best book I can.

Writing – what a funny old business. The more the write, the more you learn.

Check out some of the children’s great stories on www.askamygreen.com in The Goss blog. Yes, I have two blogs now – yikes!

Sarah X

Hi,

The lovely Laura made this You Tube clip about me and my books  – isn’t that sweet of her – she’s a doll! Thank you so much, Laura.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGCnt-kxF70

I do love You Tube – although I have to stop myself watching clips when I’m supposed to be writing – it’s very distracting – and poof! You look up and you’ve lost an hour just watching wildlife clips.

Sarah X

Hi,

This is my brand new blog. I was having problems posting photos and video clips on the last one – so my lovely web guru, Shane switched me over to this one. I do hope you like it.

We will keep the old blog up as a ‘legacy’ – good word, eh – so you can check back on the writing threads.

Please do post a message to say hi or tell me what you think of the new look.

Sarah X