People – especially children – always ask me ‘where do you get your ideas’? And it’s a good question.

Yesterday as I sat in the hairdresser’s I wrote the bones of an early reader called Joseph and the Pumpkin.

My early reader called Emma, the Penguin is coming out with O’Brien Press in Feb and I had so much fun doing it I thought I might give the age group another go – age 5+.
Plus I promised a son’s friend – Joseph – I’d write a book about him – to impress his school mates!

So I had a name – Joseph – and I knew the kind of boy I wanted to write about – afraid, nervous, lacking in confidence – and I love Hallowe’en so I thought that would make a fun book.

But I had to find a story. So I decided that Joseph would be afraid of Hallowe’en (told a ghost story as a toddler and never got over it – he loves stories but not ghost stories) and by the end of the book overcome this fear.

The plot involves a lost dog (the real Joseph loves his dogs) and a spooky cottage and a journey to find the lost dog involving spooky noises, rustles in the hedges, foxes and deer – drawing on fairy tales like Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel etc.

So that’s the idea in the nutshell – a little boy, a lost dog and his fear – Hallowe’en – and how he overcomes it.

Ideas come from all sorts of place, but finding the central theme, the ‘kernel’ to hang the book around is the important thing – for this story it’s Joseph’s fear and what this fear is based on. Oh and the character has to learn something about themselves along the way – in this case Joseph will learn how strong and brave he can be when he has to be.

I love it when a story starts coming together. There’s still a lot of work to do on the plot, but it’s a start.

SarahX

To say thank to all the lovely people out there in blog land for all your loyal support over the past year, I have a wee pressie for you – exclusively signed copies of Amy Green, Teen Agony Queen: Boy Trouble and Anything for Love.

Absolutely free.

I will sign them with your/your loved one’s name and send them to you before Christmas – it might make a nice present for you or someone who likes reading.

To be in with a chance to win, simply email me at sarahsamwebb@hotmail.com with Christmas Competiton in the subject box and your name and address.

I am happy to post anywhere in the world, so all you lovely people in Australia etc get emailing.
Only 1 email per person and the names will be drawn out of a hat (literally – I’ll video it and post it!).
Good luck!

SarahX

I’ve been suffering from writer’s fatigue this week – I’m plain old tired basically. Ben’s away in Chicago and he’s usually very hands on. We share the mornings – the kids can get up pretty early and I hate the pre-school dash – making the sambos makes me scream, which is funny as I’m generally quite a calm person.
So I’m a bit on edge this week – stiff neck, slow moving, generally not shiny and happy.

But I’m still writing. So how does how a writer is feeling effect/affect their work – hang on, just grab my dictionary – I can never remember which is it – I need Martina Devlin’s amazingly brilliant grammar help – OK – effect is the noun . . . affect their work. (Sorry, told you I was tired!).

Well it slows it down, that’s for sure. But sometimes I try to go with my mood – if I’m grouchy I write a grouchy scene. If I’m emotional, I write an emotional scene (often making myself cry buckets in the process), if I’m in a lively mood I write a lively scene. Doesn’t always work – and my teen books don’t have all that many really sad scenes – but it’s useful when it does.

Often once I start writing, I write myself out of a bad mood – it’s great therapy. I’ve never sat down at my desk and not been able to write a thing – but I’m pretty stubborn that way – I won’t let myself get up until I’ve at least got a few words down.

Hope you can write through your own bad moods. And even if you are too wrecked to physically write, keep the story in your head and think about what your characters are up to in the scene you are about to approach next. Always keep them in your head.

Agatha Christie said she did her best plotting while washing the dishes – she must have had a lot of clean dirty dishes – her plots are fab!

Yours in writing,
SarahX

Today I’m back to writing again, as opposed to editing. Amy Green book 4 – set in Dublin and New York – with the current working title of Big Apple Adventures. But I also like Manhattan Mayhem. We shall see. The editorial, sales and marketing team play a big part in the final choice – which I like as it’s good to have a second (third and fourth) opinion. Writers tend to be good at writing, not marketing – which is as it should be.

I’m off to a great start – nearly 3,000 words today – although some of those words were originally to be in book 3 – but it just got too darned big to squeeze all the different plot strands in.

But of course it’s never as easy as that – The Loving Kind page proofs are also sitting on my desk waiting to be checked – which I’ll get to in a few minutes – just taking a wee break! I’m 183 pages in and I can’t wait to finally sign the book off. I keep spotting things I’d like to change – repetition, dialogue that could be sharper – but it’s too late now – my copyediting team wouldn’t thank me for writing tweaks at this late stage of the game.

I have four books coming out next year which means I’m at different production stages with each of them – but I have to keep writing the next book. I can’t afford to wait for edits to come back – I have to keep going.

Is it stressful, all this editing, rewriting and pressure – it can be. But it sure beats commuting for three hours every day, snapping at the kids in the evening ’cause I’m over tired, having to ask for days off or holidays, and so many other things. The ironic thing is I take less holidays now than I used to take when I was working as a bookseller – I love writing so much I even work on my holidays – Ben has to physically stop me most of the time!

Writing is a funny old job, but I do love it. The best bit – sitting at my desk, on my own, lost in the world of my own creating. At the moment being 13 again – while writing Amy Green – is just so much fun! And I hope one day, if it’s also your dream, that you get to experience a writing life too.

Yours in writing, SarahX

I was up at Fighting Words again today – 2nd class from St Patrick’s in Blanchardstown this time – lovely gang! They got me thinking about interesting characters – the importance of names.

In the story they wrote, they named their talking dog, Max; and the talking horse, Miley – both great names! Phoenix was another good horse name.

And the children had great names too – Trinity, Morrison – fab names!

When you are writing, think long and hard about your characters before you name them. Christian name and surname. Christian – now that’s a good name. My cousin’s name in fact – and he’s a pet.

I always have great fun naming my leading men – I’ve had a Jack Wiseheart, a Max, a Sam, a Matt (lots of short, snappy ones!); and in Amy Green, a Seth and a Bailey (named after a friend’s dog in fact!).

Have fun naming your own characters . . .

Yours in writing,

SarahX

Here’s an exercise I do with my writing workshops on naming:

Give the following characters a good name: (the names in brackets are some suggestions that children recently came up with)

A kind, sweet granny who likes to bake (Nan Baker)
A bitter, twisted woman (Edele Brittle)
A mean, shouty teacher (Davina Daggers)
A black and white cat with only one eye (Popeye!)
A dragon with no fire (Damp Dillon)
A surfing vet (Ned Narley)

Now you try it!

And finally I’ll leave you with a quote:
You must write for children the same way you write for adults, only better.
Maxim Gorky

You are very lucky that I’m am a master of procrastination when supposed to be keying in edits – which I don’t find all that thrilling to be honest. I’m at the final tweaking stage – typos and minor changes – and by this stage I know the book almost off by heart. Still, I am making myself laugh even now – so the book can’t be all that bad. In fact there are a couple of pretty good scenes – coming from me that’s saying a lot! It’s Amy 3 – Bridesmaid Blitz and it really, really is almost finished.

So – Irish Pen New Kids on the Block night – more detailed notes. I will basically transcribe all my notes from the night in case it’s useful to those writing for kiddi winks.

First off was Paddy O’Doherty.

Paddy is an experienced editor and has worked with Children’s Books Ireland for many years. She has recently become the Children’s Editor at Puffin Ireland.

Here is what she had to say (paraphrased) and very interesting it is too:
Penguin Ireland has published for 8 years now. Puffin Ireland is linked to Puffin Uk so the big advantage is that authors will have immediate access to sales in the UK and maybe all the English speaking countries. But this does restrict the books we can take on. They will have to have international appeal.
We will accept unsolicited manuscripts (not from an agent) but there will be little chance at the moment to publish books for the under 7s and picture books. In the future I would dearly love to publish picture books. Paddy explained that the economics of picture books just don’t add up.
This is what she wants:
Age 7 to 9 fiction
Age 8 to 12 fiction
We need books that fill the gaps in the market and gaps in PUffin books
eg Fantasy
Books that will appeal to both boys and girls
animal and child stories like those of MIchael Morpurgo and Dick King Smith
Humour for girls
Louise Rennison type books
She also mentioned Cathy Cassidy and my own Amy Green books (very kindly)

Paddy again: There is no difference between literary and commercial books to me – if they are good that’s all that matters.
We have 80 submissions at the moment – and some have potential.
We want well written, original books with an original voice, a sense of control, a sense that the author knows what they are doing, a sense of authority.

Puffin Ireland’s first book will be by Laura Cassidy – to be published in 2010 or 2011 – and it’s a teen book for girls with an unusual premise.

Puffin Ireland want a cover letter, 3 chapters and a synopsis

It will take 2 to 3 months for them to get back to you and at present they do not acknowledge receipt of manuscripts although this may change.

They give priority to work sent in by agents.

Submission details are on www.penguin.ie

More on Little Island as soon as I get a chance.

YOurs in writing,
SarahX

First of all, thanks so much to all the lovely libaries and schools around the country who hosted Amy Green events or workshops or just plain old talks during the Children’s Book Festival – I had a ball.

I just thought I’d jot down some observations on the festival and generally how you can make us writerly types happy – mostly involving food and some TLC. Here goes:

1/ Do have a glass or bottle of water ready for the author – throats do go Sahara after talking for an hour.
2/ Do make sure the authors get fed at the relevant times – lunch is always good! They may turn into pumpkins if you don’t.
3/ If staying over, put them up in the hotel you would choose to stay in – warm, quiet and clean. Remember some of your authors may need to write/work in the evenings – so do take this into consideration – a tiny room without a desk is a no no.
4/ Please don’t expect them to drive 30 or 40 miles between events – remember many authors are city slickers and more used to trains and buses. Cows in the middle of the road disturb them.
5/ Think about the logistics and what’s best for the author – it might be a better use of their time to base them in the main library rather than slepping them all over the county.
6/ Make sure the person at the desk/in reception knows an author is coming and greets them with a smile. Glum = bad, keen and smiley = good!
7/ Make an effort with posters – these can be ordered from the author’s publisher in advance – or at the very least type welcome and the author’s name on a sheet of paper and stick it to the door. Make the author feel wanted – us authors are sensitive souls, be kind (rewind).
8/ A follow up email/letter to say thanks for visiting is always nice. Chocolates are even better.
9/ Do try to have the author’s books in stock – they will look for them on the shelves!
10/ If the author asks for 5th and 6th class girls, don’t give them 1st class boys – there is a reason for their request! In my case involving bra talk and ballet tutus!!!

Some of the brilliant things librarians and schools did for me this festival:

Cootehill made me a lovely welcome poster and book display.

Alexandra School library provided six copies of Amy Green, Teen Agony Queen for the girls to win on the day of the visit. They also gave me a book token and a box of chocolates. And a follow up thank you card. Many Brownie points for Alex!

Bray/Wicklow libraries presented me with a huge box of Dairy Milk and two darling pink candles for my study. Darlings!

Clare libraries put me up in the Old Ground Hotel – which had a desk so I could work in the evening! Yeah!

Much kindness all round!

SarahX

I’ve just finished editing the final book for 2010 – Amy Green 3, working title Bridesmaid Blitz. Which brings the total books to be published in 2010 to 4. Plus a short piece in a charity book for the Hope Foundation – does that count?!

Here they are:
Feb
Amy 2: Summer Secrets
The Loving Kind (adult novel)
Emma the Penguin (an early reader for O’Brien Press)
Aug or Sept
Amy 3: Bridesmaid Blitz

I’m starting Amy 4 this week and I can’t wait to get back to all my characters – I’ve missed them!

More on the ups and downs of school and library visits later this week. Have a good writing week yourselves.

SarahX