Grand giveaway! (Open INT)

So… it’s exactly three months today until The Last Beginning is released. Whaaaaat. NO, WHAT? Can you believe The Next Together came out ten months ago?! Time travel is definitely involved. Probably.

ANYWAY. To celebrate the imminent publication of my second novel, I’m holding a GRAND GIVEAWAY.

Three prizes, for the three months until The Last Beginning comes out. And it’s open internationally!

Here are the prizes:

RUNNER UP:

A signed and embossed copy of The Next Together + A signed postcard + A signed bookmark 

I will send you ALL OF THE FREE THINGS. ALL OF THEM. Plus a signed copy of TNT, also embossed using my special press.

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AND THIS IS JUST THE RUNNER UP PRIZE.

SECOND PLACE:

A query or first chapter critique + A signed postcard 

If you’re an aspiring writer, I will read and give feedback on a query letter or the first chapter of your novel. I’ll also send you a signed postcard. (If you win this prize and you’re not a writer, I’ll send you a signed copy of TNT instead.)

GRAND PRIZE:

A query or first chapter critique + An exclusive annotated, signed and embossed copy of The Next Together + A signed postcard + A signed bookmark

All of the previous prizes, PLUS this signed copy will also include annotated notes on the pages, such as behind the scenes details about Katherine and Matthew, little doodles and (hilarious, obv) jokes. One of only two to exist in the world!

HOW DOES ALL OF THAT SOUND? PRETTY GOOD, RIGHT? RIGHT? OKAY, LET’S GET TO IT. LEMME SHOW YOU HOW TO ENTER.

To enter:

  1. Leave a review of The Next Together or Another Together on Goodreads, Amazon, Waterstones, iTunes, your blog and any other retailer site of your choice.
  2. Send link(s) for the review to thenexttogether@gmail.com.

Each site that the review is posted on counts as one entry. The same review can be posted on multiple sites. Pre-existing reviews can be used.

Reviewing a book, good or bad, continues to be the best way to support authors. And as Another Together is a free novella, anyone can enter this competition, regardless of whether they own a copy of The Next Together. It’s free! Download it and read away!

Open Internationally.

The three winners will be chosen at random on 6th August 2016.

You have a month to enter. GOOD LUCK.

This giveaway has now closed and the winners are…

The runner up winner is……………. Abbey Jones! (I’ll send all the winners an email!)

The second place winner is………Meghna Aggarwal!

And the winner of the first prize is………. Alexandra Perchanidou!

 

The Next Together: Amazon UK | Waterstones | Amazon US | The Book Depository |Wordery | Foyles | Kobo | iBooks | WHSmith | Goodreads 

Another Together: Goodreads | Amazon Kindle  | Kobo | iTunes | Amazon US | Amazon ANZ | Amazon DE 

 

May Favourites | Aesop | Casey Neistat | Peaky Blinders

Again, this is a scheduled post as I’m currently travelling around Cambodia and Thailand on my backpacking adventures. You can keep up with me on Snapchat at flossiepots – or wait until my June Favourites, which I’m sure will be completely obsessed with my travels!

Here’s some of the things I was into in May.

Book: The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Somewhere within our crowded sky, a crew of wormhole 24956528builders hops from planet to planet, on their way to the job of a lifetime. To the galaxy at large, humanity is a minor species, and one patched-up construction vessel is a mere speck on the starchart. This is an everyday sort of ship, just trying to get from here to there.

But all voyages leave their mark, and even the most ordinary of people have stories worth telling. A young Martian woman, hoping the vastness of space will put some distance between herself and the life she‘s left behind. An alien pilot, navigating life without her own kind. A pacifist captain, awaiting the return of a loved one at war. 

Damn do I wish I’d written this. Life-changingly good. The best look at what social and gender politics might be like thousands of years in the future. I especially liked the idea of the human race splitting and evolving separately, because two groups have been apart for so long. The rich humans evacuate a destroyed earth to Mars, and the poor humans have to just set out for space in spaceships. These two groups, based completely on class, become two different species.

Runner up position is my own short story, because ANOTHER TOGETHER is still free to read! It won’t always be, so download it now if you’re interested. I’m pretty proud of it. :’)

Make up: Jouer Long-Wear Lip Crème Liquid Lipstickjou064_jouer_long-wearlipcremeliquidlipstick_4_1560x1960-rxx6b.jpg
This lipstick is amazing! I’ve got Petale de rose and Watermelon Mermaid. They are both a lovely matte colour which lasts for ages. It rubs off quite easily on my fingers, but if I don’t touch my lips then absolutely nothing gets rid of it.

And people have said they like my lipstick when I wear it, which never usually happens! It’s doing something right.

 

Youtuber: Casey Neistat

 

I had an interesting month in May, because I’ve basically consumed no media. I was ill, and then catching up on work from being ill, so I’ve not done much reading or tv.

HOWEVER, I have been watching a lot of this guy’s vlogs. He’s completely wild and does some insane thing every day – I’m pretty sure he’s the exact opposite of me as a person. It’s both stressful and fun to watch. Watch him losing a drone on top of an NYC skyscraper, and then try to get it back.

TV Show: Peaky Blinders

The one thing I did struggle to find time to watch was Peaky Blinders. You all already watch this. The series has just finished and it was intense.

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Toiletries: Aesop Tea Tree Leaf Facial Exfoliant

aesop-online-skin-tea-tree-leaf-facial-exfoliant-30g-c_2.pngThis an expensive but excellent facial scrub. It’s not a gel – you have to add your own gel to the dry scrub, which I love because it lets me control the thickness, and how rough I want it to be. Really refreshing – and it feels so natural, as it’s made of walnuts and tea tree.

Thing: Embossing press

This is a niche one. I saw some Bookstagramers use an embossing press to mark their books with a little stamp saying ‘EX LIBRIS [NAME]’, and I was immediately like I COULD USE THAT FOR BOOK SIGNINGS!!

So I got a press which I can use to add a little extra detail when I’m signing books – it says ‘SIGNED BY LAUREN JAMES’. It’s so cute! Everyone always goes OOOOH when I pull it out. Best investment ever. Here’s mine.

 

Okay, I’m gonna go back to lazing on the beach now (hopefully that’s what I’m doing when this posts!). HAVE A GOOD JUNE.

Previously: April | May | June | July | August | September |October | November |December |January |February | March | April

My favourite books of 2016 (so far)

Note: As of when this posts, I’ll be halfway through a 20 hour flight to Cambodia, where I’m going backpacking across Asia! See you when I get back! I’ll be snapchatting my adventures at 👻flossiepots👻.

It’s the mid-June, so we’re now halfway through 2016. Last year I did a post of the books I wanted to read in the rest of 2015 halfway through the year, and I’m gonna do it again now. You can’t stop me.

The books I liked the best this year

5) The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

27074515.jpgLondon, April 1812. Eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall is on the eve of her debut presentation to the Queen. Her life should be about gowns and dancing, and securing a suitable marriage. Instead, when one of her family’s housemaids goes missing, Lady Helen is drawn to the shadows of Regency London.

There, she finds William, the Earl of Carlston. He has noticed the disappearance, too, and is one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of powerful demons that has infiltrated every level of society. But Lady Helen’s curiosity is the last thing Carlston wants—especially when he sees the searching intelligence behind her fluttering fan. Should Helen trust a man whose reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her headstrong sense of justice lead them both into a death trap?

The perfect mix of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. This is a really fun adventure, with a great male lead. I would have enjoyed a little more diversity, but as this is a trilogy I’m hoping that will improve in the next book (which I’m DESPERATE to read, oh my god.)

4) King’s Rising by C. S. Pacat

25810368Damianos of Akielos has returned. His identity now revealed, Damen must face his master Prince Laurent as Damianos of Akielos, the man Laurent has sworn to kill.

On the brink of a momentous battle, the future of both their countries hangs in the balance. In the south, Kastor’s forces are massing. In the north, the Regent’s armies are mobilising for war. Damen’s only hope of reclaiming his throne is to fight together with Laurent against their usurpers.

Forced into an uneasy alliance the two princes journey deep into Akielos, where they face their most dangerous opposition yet. But even if the fragile trust they have built survives the revelation of Damen’s identity – can it stand against the Regent’s final, deadly play for the throne?

This is the final book in a trilogy – and I’ve been following this series since it was posted on livejournal in 2008. Almost a decade! It was definitely worth the wait, and I have so. many. feelings. HELP.

3) Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld

25805776A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice. This version of the Bennet family—and Mr. Darcy—is one that you have and haven’t met before: Liz is a magazine writer in her late thirties who, like her yoga instructor older sister, Jane, lives in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to help—and discover that the sprawling Tudor they grew up in is crumbling and the family is in disarray.

Enter Chip Bingley, a handsome new-in-town doctor who recently appeared on the juggernaut reality TV dating show Eligible. At a Fourth of July barbecue, Chip takes an immediate interest in Jane, but Chip’s friend neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy reveals himself to Liz to be much less charming. . . .
And yet, first impressions can be deceiving.

Five and a half million stars!!!! I read this in one sitting, staying up until 6am(!) because I just couldn’t stop. It was just so, so wonderful. The other books in the Austen project were mediocrely disappointing, but this one just….it got everything right. I’m just so happy that Sittenfeld was given P&P to do, and I wish she was writing every Austen book set in modern day Cincinnati, because I never wish to read anything else, ever again.

2) The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
17378527Nothing living is safe. Nothing dead is to be trusted.

For years, Gansey has been on a quest to find a lost king. One by one, he’s drawn others into this quest: Ronan, who steals from dreams; Adam, whose life is no longer his own; Noah, whose life is no longer a lie; and Blue, who loves Gansey… and is certain she is destined to kill him.

Now the endgame has begun. Dreams and nightmares are converging. Love and loss are inseparable. And the quest refuses to be pinned to a path.

 

Just perfect. Completely perfect. It’s been a month and I still have no other words.

1) The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Somewhere within our crowded sky, a crew of wormhole 24956528builders hops from planet to planet, on their way to the job of a lifetime. To the galaxy at large, humanity is a minor species, and one patched-up construction vessel is a mere speck on the starchart. This is an everyday sort of ship, just trying to get from here to there.

But all voyages leave their mark, and even the most ordinary of people have stories worth telling. A young Martian woman, hoping the vastness of space will put some distance between herself and the life she‘s left behind. An alien pilot, navigating life without her own kind. A pacifist captain, awaiting the return of a loved one at war. 

Damn do I wish I’d written this. Life-changingly good. The best look at what social and gender politics might be like thousands of years in the future. I especially liked the idea of the human race splitting and evolving separately, because two groups have been apart for so long. The rich humans evacuate a destroyed earth to Mars, and the poor humans have to just set out for space in spaceships. These two groups, based completely on class, become two different species.

Special mention goes to Radio Silence and Inferno, written by my writing partners Alice and Cat. So incredibly proud of these ladies. ❤

The books I want to read next this year. ASAP.

5) The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee

24921954A hundred years in the future, New York is a city of innovation and dreams. But people never change: everyone here wants something…and everyone has something to lose.

Leda Cole’s flawless exterior belies a secret addiction—to a drug she never should have tried and a boy she never should have touched. Eris Dodd-Radson’s beautiful, carefree life falls to pieces when a heartbreaking betrayal tears her family apart. Rylin Myers’s job on one of the highest floors sweeps her into a world—and a romance—she never imagined…but will her new life cost Rylin her old one? Watt Bakradi is a tech genius with a secret: he knows everything about everyone. But when he’s hired to spy by an upper-floor girl, he finds himself caught up in a complicated web of lies.

And living above everyone else on the thousandth floor is Avery Fuller, the girl genetically designed to be perfect. The girl who seems to have it all—yet is tormented by the one thing she can never have.

How deliciously scandalous does this sound?! I need it. Now.

4) As I Descended by Robin Talley 

28218948.jpgMaria Lyon and Lily Boiten are their school’s ultimate power couple—even if no one knows it but them. Only one thing stands between them and their perfect future: campus superstar Delilah Dufrey.

Golden child Delilah is a legend at the exclusive Acheron Academy, and the presumptive winner of the distinguished Cawdor Kingsley Prize. She runs the school, and if she chose, she could blow up Maria and Lily’s whole world with a pointed look, or a carefully placed word.

But what Delilah doesn’t know is that Lily and Maria are willing to do anything—absolutely anything—to make their dreams come true. And the first step is unseating Delilah for the Kingsley Prize. The full scholarship, awarded to Maria, will lock in her attendance at Stanford―and four more years in a shared dorm room with Lily.

Maria and Lily will stop at nothing to ensure their victory—including harnessing the dark power long rumored to be present on the former plantation that houses their school. But when feuds turn to fatalities, and madness begins to blur the distinction between what’s real and what is imagined, the girls must decide where they draw the line.

From acclaimed author Robin Talley comes a Shakespeare-inspired story of revenge and redemption, where fair is foul, and foul is fair.

This is just so completely my jam in every single way.

3) Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

28961937‘You can’t get around Kate Battista as easily as all that’

Kate Battista is feeling stuck. How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and uppity, pretty younger sister Bunny? Plus, she’s always in trouble at work – her pre-school charges adore her, but the adults don’t always appreciate her unusual opinions and forthright manner.

Dr Battista has other problems. After years out in the academic wilderness, he is on the verge of a breakthrough. His research could help millions. There’s only one problem: his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotr…

When Dr Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that will enable Pyotr to stay in the country, he’s relying – as usual – on Kate to help him. Kate is furious: this time he’s really asking too much. But will she be able to resist the two men’s touchingly ludicrous campaign to win her round?

Anne Tyler’s retelling of The Taming of the Shrew asks whether a thoroughly modern, independent woman like Kate would ever sacrifice herself for a man. The answer is as individual, off-beat and funny as Kate herself.

Everyone who’s received an early copy of this has said it’s perfect, and a brilliant holiday read. With such a eminent author as Anne Tyler, it’s sure to be incredible. I can’t wait.

2) A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

28478957Lovelace was once merely a ship’s artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in an new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who’s determined to help her learn and grow.

Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space is, two people can fill it together.

A Closed and Common Orbit is the stand-alone sequel to Becky Chambers’ beloved debut novel The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and is perfect for fans of Firefly, Joss Whedon, Mass Effect and Star Wars.

This is a standalone, but I’m really hoping the characters from the first book make an appearance, because I love them all. So ready for this.

1) Goldenhand by Garth Nix

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Lirael is no longer a shy Second Assistant Librarian. She is the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, with Dead creatures to battle and Free Magic entities to bind. She’s also a Remembrancer, wielder of the Dark Mirror. Lirael lost one of her hands in the binding of Orannis, but now she has a new hand, one of gilded steel and Charter Magic.

When Lirael finds Nicholas Sayre lying unconscious after being attacked by a hideous Free Magic creature, she uses her powers to save him. But Nicholas is deeply tainted with Free Magic. Fearing it will escape the Charter mark that seals it within his flesh and bones, Lirael seeks help for Nick at her childhood home, the Clayr’s Glacier.

But even as Lirael and Nick return to the Clayr, a young woman named Ferin from the distant North braves the elements and many enemies in a desperate attempt to deliver a message to Lirael from her long-dead mother, Arielle. Ferin brings a dire warning about the Witch with No Face. But who is the Witch, and what is she planning?
Once more a great danger threatens the Old Kingdom, and it must be forestalled not only in the living world, but also in the cold, remorseless river of Death.

Goldenhand is the long-awaited fifth installment of Garth Nix’s New York Times bestselling Old Kingdom series.

Lirael is the character I related to most as a kid – she just ran around a library with her dog, reading books and fighting secret ancient library monsters and wanting to be alone. Literally a decade later, the second half of her story is finally being released. And I can’t freakin’ wait.

 

Researching Bletchley Park

Lots of you have already read my short story Another Together and said how much you enjoyed it. Thank you so much! If you want to read it, it’s free on amazon here. On the day it was released, it got to #200 in the Amazon rankings! Wow guys!

brad pitt.gif

In case you missed it, last week I wrote a blog post about why I decided it was worth releasing a free eBook. It gets into the finances of being an author, so it was very scary to post, but I think there should be more honesty about money in the publishing community.

Today I’m talking about the process of researching the story. As I was writing the story in a gap between other projects, I didn’t have much time, so for a week I dived straight in and immersed myself in everything Bletchley. Here’s what I got up to.

Visiting Bletchley Park

When I was announcing Another Together, I posted a lot of pictures of Bletchley Park. Those were taken during a research trip I took to the park in February, the week before I started writing the story. It’s an hour’s train ride from where I live, and it was a really fun day out.

One of my favourite things about Bletchley were the signs. On every wall were signs warning the workers to keep everything a secret (like they could forget?!) in the form of the classic KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON sign. They were really cool!

The desks of the workers were also very interesting. They’d spent a lot of time gathering authentic artefacts, so they felt as if they’d been abandoned after World War II and left there ever since.

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And here’s a room in Bletchley town where the codebreakers like Kitty and Matthew stayed.

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It really brought everything to life for me, so I could get into the heads of Kitty and Matthew and what life at Bletchley would have been like for them.

The visit was also a nice source of inspiration, as it showed me things I’d never thought about before. For example, in the story, Kitty and Matthew are ice skating on the lake when they discover a corpse.

Kitty crouched down, staring at the ice. All of the colour had drained from her face, which had been a lovely wind-chafed pink.

“There’s a hand,” she said.

“You need a hand?” Matthew carefully skated back to her. “Have you got yourself stuck?”

“No, Matthew. There appears to be a hand. Frozen in the ice.”

That was inspired by this picture, on a display by the lake.

Fictional adaptations 

There are only a few films set at Bletchley, but I watched THE IMITATION GAME with Benedict Cumberbatch and Kiera Knightley. Whilst I’d heard that some of the representation is slightly problematic, especially in terms of Alan Turing’s story, I thought it was worth watching to get a better picture in my head of the place and clothes. It was filmed at Bletchley, so I think that helped.

I also watched the first episode of the TV series THE BLETCHLEY CIRCLE – but it mainly takes place after the women have finished working at Bletchley, so that wasn’t much help!

I read a few non-fiction books by Sinclair McKay, which were also really useful.

First person accounts

When writing The Next Together, the most useful thing by far was the primary sources I found from 1745 and 1854. They really helped me get an idea of real life in those times, and there’s always fun anecodes which I like using.

I read a lot of interviews with people who worked at Bletchley. The best thing I heard during my research was that even after WWII ended, everything that had happened at Bletchley was still a secret. It was classified in case there was another war, so the British would still have access to codebreaking information that other countries didn’t know they had. When it was finally declassified in the seventies, apparently married couples would find out that both of them had worked at Bletchley – and had kept the secret so well afterwards that they hadn’t told their spouse of 30+ years! That kind of dedication to secrecy for King and country is incredible.

Annoyingly, I found out after the story was released that my old form tutor’s mother actually worked at Bletchley Park – and my teacher spent the first 6 years of her life living there! It was a bit too late to ask her to proofread the story for accuracy for me, so I was cursing myself. I’m sure she would have been able to give me some wonderful stories to add!

And that’s it! As always, I underestimated how much work is involved in writing a piece of historical fiction. It’s about 60% research and 40% actual writing! But it’s always, always worth the effect.

This week I’ve been reblogging lots of pictures about Bletchley, so head over to my tumblr to see more, in the tag here.

In other news: On Wednesday I’m going to be part of an amazing panel at Waterstones Birmingham.

https://twitter.com/WaterstonesBham/status/738781297036820481

 

 The schedule for YALC 2016 has been released, and I’m going to be running a workshop with Alice Oseman at 1pm on Saturday 30th July called ‘Creator vs. Fandom: Authors on Social Media’. We got to choose the topic, and I hope we’ve come up with something that we’ll all really be able to sink our teeth into. Alice wrote the perfect summary, so I’m just going to steal hers: “We’ll be talking about how authors and readers behave online, how to avoid internet drama, how to be empathetic and supportive and kind online, and we’ll definitely be discussing some of the most infamous examples of author/reader clashes…. all that sweet tea.”

The Next Together is also going to be the June read for two different book clubs: the YA Shot Book Club (you can join LaChouett and the group here on Goodreads) and the #readUKYA Book Club run by Lucy Powrie, for its inaugural month, alongside THE GIRL OF INK AND STARS. I’m so overjoyed by this, and I’ve already bought my copy of INK AND STARS. Whoo!

To finish, some shameless friend plugs – a month ago I had a ridiculous dream where my mate Sarah wrote a blog post comparing Hamilton songs to YA books (because we have joint custody of an obsession with Hamilton) (and I like telling her what to blog about so I don’t have to). And SHE ONLY WENT AND DID IT! What a hero. Sarah, your next mission: the Hannibal/Hamilton crossover the world needs. (Also, related: I finished my copyedits yesterday and did a Hamilton singalong in celebration. #noregrets)

Also:

Yess Cat! You go girl!!

Free e-novella ANOTHER TOGETHER released + a money chat

Happy Thursday! And happy Another Together publication day!

This is a complete 10,000 word (50 page) short story, released on Kindle and eBook. It can be read without having read The Next Together – and it’s free, so you’ve got no excuse not to dive in!

The prologue of The Last Beginning is also included at the end (You’ll get to meet Clove! Eek!).

tumblr_inline_o6ay7fRZVL1rr0642_540
I can only express my joy through the purest of forms – the Ron Swanson celebration.

Here’s the blurb:

Another Together_short story_ by Lauren James_publishing 2 June 2016“Perfect for holidays” – Marie Claire

“Are you absolutely certain this is safe?” Matthew Galloway asked.

A short story of intrigue and murder set in the world of The Next Together series.

Winter, 1940: there is a murderer on the loose at Bletchley Park, the headquarters of Britain’s most daring codebreaking operation against the Nazis. Can two young codebreakers Kitty and Matthew catch the killer?

This standalone short story can be enjoyed by new readers and existing fans of Lauren James’s The Next Together series.

Goodreads | Amazon Kindle  | Kobo | iTunes

It’s also out on iTunes, Kobo etc, and it’s available on various Amazons around the world – check your country to see if it’s up. Here’s some sites where I’ve found it so far: Amazon US | Amazon ANZ | Amazon DE 

Here’s some extras:

I can’t wait to see what you guys think! Look out over the next month for some more Behind the Scenes stuff too – including a blog post by the cover designer Jack, competitions to win signed copies and more!

And, if I can just have a moment of soppiness – I just want to talk a bit about what today means to me personally as an author. As of right now, June 2016, I have been a full time writer for exactly two years. I’ve written three novels and a novella in that time, done countless public speaking events and published my debut novel. It’s been a busy time.

I was lucky enough to get a book deal while I was at university, so I graduated aged 21 with a job  – kind of. I still couldn’t believe being a writer was an option for me, so I called it a ‘gap year’ at first, to justify why I was taking the risk. Everything you read tells you that for a new author in the 21st century, it’s not possible to support yourself by writing. And it isn’t. Not at first.

I was in a very privileged position by having the family backing that let me take that gamble. (Mainly because my parents let me live at home. I could definitely NOT be an author without them. Thanks mum and dad!) But I made very little money that first year – far below minimum wage.

For a while, I thought that being an author wasn’t possible for me, at this time in my life. The finances just weren’t going to work out. Unless you’re a bestseller (which I am definitely not), I didn’t think it was possible to make enough money to live on by writing. I resigned myself to getting a job after my ‘gap year’ was over. But….somehow, it has worked out.

Last year I got an Arts Council grant which kept me going while my debut was published. (I owe Arts Council England a life debt. No joke.) This year, when I resigned myself once again to having to get a ‘real’ job, I got more funding just when I needed it (but more on that soon, hopefully!).

So as I enter my third year of writing full time, I am very, very grateful. Every year I still get to do this, I feel unbelievably lucky. It’s the best gift. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do this forever sustainably, or whether in a few years I’ll have to get another job and write in my spare time – which would be near impossible, seeing as I work way-more-than-full-time now, but I’d try and make it work.

But I do know that, for now, writing is the best and greatest gift I have ever been given. I’m paid to do what I love. I write things I’ve dreamt up in my head and people pay to read them. It’s impossibly wonderful and I still feel like I’ve tricked someone into giving me this life.

This eBook, written and released for free, is a present to say thank you for that, with all my heart. You, the people who support my writing by buying my books (and at the last count there’s something like 10,000 of you – that’s 37 people a day!), are the ones that make that happen.

And, just as a reminder – if you can’t afford to buy my books, please don’t pirate them. Please borrow them from a library instead. 

It’s so painful to see links to download my book illegally, and it really does impact an author’s career. It’s free to use libraries, and in the UK authors get paid approximately the same amount if you borrow a book as if you buy it. Public Lending Rights are 7.7 pence per library loan, and royalties are usually around 10% per copy purchased – in paperback that’s 7.9 pence. 

Finally, if you enjoy reading Another Together, the best way to thank an author, always, is to leave them a review. Good or bad, it doesn’t matter. It all helps. Thank you. ❤

I really hope you enjoy Katherine and Matthew’s latest adventure.

L xx

Plotting with playlists

Before I start writing any book, I have to have a playlist ready. It’s simply impossible to start writing without it.

It evolves as the book goes on – in fact, sometimes I’ve fixed a plothole in the book by moving around a few songs, or deleting one completely. Songs represent moods and character developments, and listening to a playlist is like an audio version of reading a book – it’s the unfiltered ups and downs and swings and roundabouts. It’s the essential feeling of a book, distilled.

It’s also the easiest way to slip into writing. Playing the first song in a book’s playlist, wherever you are, is a kind of instant connection to the story. It sets you up perfectly to begin writing without having to reread anything to get yourself in the right frame of mind.

Good music also has a way of tricking you into delusional grandeur – you can make believe that you’re writing The Illiad, instead of the mediocre first draft of a YA novel. It’s exactly the kind of belief you need to force yourself to see writing it through to the end of the book.

So here’s the soundtrack of the last four years of my life.

final cover.jpg

Playlist for The Next Together  (All links lead to Spotify)

I haven’t listened to this playlist since mid-2015 – by the time I’d finished work on TNT, I was so sick of these songs that I couldn’t play it again. But I listened to it while writing this blog post, and it was an instant transition back into being 21 year-old me: a nervous, adrift debut author with no idea how people would react to this hefty thing I was writing.

Track list:

  • shine/anna nalick (The past, it knocks on your door and throws stones at your window at 4 in the morning)
  • love story/taylor swift (We were both young when I first saw you. I close my eyes and the flashback starts: I’m standing there on a balcony in summer air.)
  • tired of waiting for you/the kinks (I’m so tired of waiting for you, I was a lonely soul, I had nobody till I met you)
  • dear river/kina grannis (I doubt anyone can keep up with you)
  • i will wait/mumford and sons (These days of dust which we have known will blow away with this new sun)
  • rattlin’ bones/kasey chambers (Till they bury me down beneath the ground, With the dust and rattlin’ bones)
  • back to where i was/eric hutchinson (New life decides we never had a clue, The two of us deciding what to do, I rebound so I can say at least I tried)
  • pompeii/bastille (If you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing changed at all? Like you’ve been here before?)
  • radioactive/imagine dragons (I’m waking up, I feel it in my bones. Welcome to the new age)
  • when the war came/the decemberists (A terrible autonomy has grafted onto you and me)
  • young volcanoes/fall out boy (We are anti-venom, we’re the beginning of the end)
  • rolling in the deep/adele (I can’t help feeling we could have had it all)
  • to the dog or whoever/josh ritter (She makes the most of her time by loving me plenty, She knows there’ll come a day when we won’t be getting any. Stain of the sepia of the butcher Crimea, through the rack of a brass band I thought I could see her.)
  • la meme historie/feist (While there is time we all go round and round, partners of lost and found)
  • centuries/fall out boy (We’ll go down in history, remember me for centuries)
  • man o’ war/eric bachmann (Many messengers and rebels have come and gone without a trace, And many more will come tomorrow and many more will be erased)
  • maybe/ingrid michaelson (‘Cause maybe in the future, you’re gonna come back around. I still feel you on the right side of the bed)
  • brand new day/joshua radin (This cycle never ends, You gotta fall in order to mend, And it’s a brand new day)
  • first day of my life/bright eyes (This is the first day of my life, besides maybe this time is different, I mean I really think you like me)

The song that never fails to make me cry when it comes up on shuffle is Dear River. It just gets to me. It sums up the way my characters feel about each other so well that I always take it like a blow to the heart. It’s impossible to underestimate the power of good music.

 

Playlist for Another TogetherAnother Together_short story_ by Lauren James_publishing 2 June 2016.jpg

This next playlist is for my novella about Kate and Matt, ANOTHER TOGETHER, which comes out in eBook on June 2nd. The story is set during World War II, so I listened to a lot of 40s-era music while I was writing to get me in the mood.

There’s also some modern songs, which I heard when I was writing, and just made me think of this story. Sometimes it’s hard to isolate just why a song makes you think of a story – but when you can work it out, it can give you a lot of insight into your characters, I find. (I feel like I’m talking nonsense now, but this is a legit thing! Promise!)

I’m less sick of this list – it was a much shorter writing process, so I didn’t listen to them an indecent number of times.

  • history/one direction (You and me got a whole lot of history, We could be the greatest team that the world has ever seen, 
    So don’t let it go, we can make some more, we can live forever)
  • collapsing stars/the mountain goats (We knew if we waited long enough the change would come, and then the day did come, and at last)
  • agape/bear’s den (I’m so scared of losing you
    And I don’t know what I can do about it about it
    So tell me how long love before you go and leave me here on my own)
  • i’ve heard that song before/harry james and his orchestra
  • chattanooga choo choo/glenn miller
  • oh Johnny/the Andrews sisters
  • buttons and bows/dinah shore
  • mr. sandman/the chordettes (Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream, make him the cutest that I’ve ever seen)
  • posh girls/scouting for girls (Posh girls have good manners but they go like the clappers because they never got to hang around with boys at school)
  • this is war/ben kweller (Hunted you all day and night now I’m ready for a fight)
  • liars A to E/dexys midnight runners (You choose sweet stolen info’ you must never lose, until you’re so secure in your habitat familiar)

Playlist for The Last BeginningThe Last Beginning by Lauren James_publishing October 2016.jpg

Okay, this one, for my second novel THE LAST BEGINNING is very, very long. I’m going to cut it down eventually, because it’s just plain greedy at the moment – but as I’m still working on this book, I’m not ready to let go just yet. I’m not going to give you lyrics, because that might be a bit of a spoiler – you’ll have to work them out for yourself!

  • girls like you/the naked and the famous
  • classy girls/the lumineers
  • happy together/the turtles
  • love you much better/the hush sound
  • a better son daughter/rilo kiley
  • campus/vampire weekend
  • why am i the one/fun. 
  • the weight of living pt. 1/bastille
  • you’ve got time/regina spektor
  • sail/awolnation
  • wonderland/taylor swift
  • she’s got you high/mumm-ra
  • exile vilify/the national
  • get home/bastille 
  • samson/regina spektor
  • brave/sara bareilles 
  • become the colour/emily wells
  • elenore/the turtles
  • she’s electric/oasis
  • how you get the girl/taylor swift
  • high hopes/the vamps
  • riptide/taylor swift
  • if she wants me/belle and sebastian 
  • philomena/the decemberists
  • i’m a believer/the monkees
  • big parade/the lumineers
  • laughter lines/bastille
  • help/the beatles
  • party in the usa/miley cyrus
  • pencil full of lead/paolo nutini
  • feeling good/muse
  • year 3000/busted
  • house of gold/carrie hope fletcher
  • shut up and dance/walk the moon

“She’s electric, she’s in a family full of eccentrics, she’s done things I never expected. And I need more time.”

Cover reveal for The Last Beginning and SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!

It’s time! I can finally share the cover for my second novel, The Last Beginning. Thank you to Maximum Pop!, littlebookwormig, the.literary.omnivore, prettybooks, sarahlikesbooks, pollyandbooks, mynovelexperience, living.in.the.library, tilly-and-her-books and nikkireads for helping me do this reveal. You’re all stars. ❤

I’m not going to keep you waiting any longer. HERE IT IS.

The Last Beginning by Lauren James_publishing October 2016

The epic conclusion to Lauren James’ The Next Together series about true love and reincarnation.

A love that transcends time. A secret that could destroy the future.

Sixteen years ago, after a scandal that rocked the world, teenagers Katherine and Matthew vanished without a trace. Now Clove Sutcliffe is determined to find them. But where do you start looking for a couple who seem to have been reincarnated at every key moment in history? Who were Kate and Matt? Why were they born again and again? And who is the mysterious Ella and why does she keep appearing at every turn in Clove’s investigation?

The Last Beginning will be published by Walker Books in the UK and Australia on 6th October 2016. It will be published in Fall 2017 in the USA by Sky Pony Press.

Amazon UK | Book Depository | Goodreads 

If you would like to review The Last Beginning, you can request a review copy here. You can also subscribe to my mailing list for updates.

Some links with more information:

Isn’t it glorious?! Isn’t it the perfect companion to The Next Together?! Here they are side by side, so you can picture them on your shelves…

SO PRETTY. SO, SO PRETTY.

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Ella is on the left and Clove is on the right. Clove is wearing a special suit which is relevant to the story!!

I also have to share this tweet.

That’s a tweet from Alice Oseman back in September of last year, when we were sketching dream covers for our books. Look at mine. Now, look at the real thing . . .

Whaaat! The designer, the lovely Jack Noel at Walker, has never seen my drawing. That is pure chance. This cover was meant to be. And isn’t it beautiful?!?

(Thank god he’s better at drawing than me, though. My attempt was very terrible.)

Finally, I promised you guys a special announcement today, alongside the new cover. I’ve been posting clues about it all week, and 8 of you correctly guess what it was (congratulations, you clever sleuths! You can officially call yourselves my biggest fans. (I mean, only if you want…..no pressure.))

Lots of people have asked me why Kate and Matt talked a lot about one of their other past lives in The Next Together, where they stopped a murder at Bletchley Park. That story isn’t part of the book, but lots of you (including my editor!) were absolutely desperate to know what happened. And I listened. So …..

I’m going to be releasing a short novella about Katherine and Matthew, set at Bletchley Park during World War II. It’s coming out on 2nd June on Kindle and all other eBook providers, and it’s going to be free.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Bletchley Park in England was the secret location of a code-breaking team during World War II. The mathematicians and scientists worked to break the code which the Germans used to send each other messages, and when they cracked it, they significantly helped the Allies to win the war. With the messages they decoded, the Allies learnt details of upcoming German  tactics, and managed to work against them.

It was the topic of the 2014 film The Imitation Game, where Benedict Cumberbatch played Alan Turing, the scientist who cracked the Nazi’s Enigma code.

I had so much fun visiting Bletchley Park and researching this story, where Kate (known in this story as Kitty) and Matthew work at Station X at Bletchley.

Here’s the blurb:

Winter, 1940: there is a murderer on the loose at Bletchley Park, the headquarters of Britain’s most daring codebreaking operation against the Nazis. Can two young codebreakers Kitty and Matthew catch the killer?

This standalone short story can be enjoyed by new readers and existing fans of Lauren James’s The Next Together series.

And here’s the cover (I know! SURPRISE DOUBLE COVER REVEAL! MWAHAHAHAHA. I feel like Beyoncé, dropping a surprise album.)

Another Together_short story_ by Lauren James_publishing 2 June 2016

Again, Jack has completely overpassed my greatest expectations with this. It’s so stunning that I think I’m going to have to print out a real copy just so I can have it on paper to match the books.

And if you were wondering what the clues all meant, here’s your answer:

Clue 1 – A codebreaker’s desk at Bletchley Park, with a sneaky copy of TNT.

Clue 2 – A dispatch worker’s motorcycle which was used to take decoded Nazi messages back and forth from Bletchley to Winston Churchill and other military leaders in London.

Clue 3 – One of the huts at Bletchley Park

Clue 4 – The lake and mansion at Bletchley Park

Clue 5 – A machine used to decode messages written with the Enigma machine

Clue 6 – Documents and signs from Bletchley Park

Clue 7 – The Bombe machine and a Wren operator cracking the Enigma Code.

Did you guess it? If so, congratulations!

You can add Another Together on Goodreads, and I will let you know when it’s available to preorder on Amazon and other eBook providers in the UK, Ireland and Australia / New Zealand. The eBook will also contain the first chapter of The Last Beginning, so hopefully this will tide you over until my second book is released (138 days!).

ENJOY, GUYS.

Finally, because I can’t stop staring at them together, here’s the whole, complete, series:

I WROTE A WHOLE SERIES, GUYS. A WHOLE S E R I E S. !!!!

Competition + The Last Beginning cover reveal!

The cover of The Last Beginning is being revealed THIS TIME NEXT WEEK by some lovely Instagram and Tumblr bloggers. Whaaat!!

If that isn’t enough, there’s also going to be a VERY EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT by the folks over at Maximum Pop! alongside the cover. Here’s a clue to what it’s about……do you have any guesses?

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Clue #1

 

 

I’ll be posting more clues between now and Friday on my instagram and tumblr – anyone who guesses correctly what the announcement is will be sent a signed bookmark! I’ll update this post with the new clues too, if you would rather revisit this page.

Here’s Clue 2!

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Clue 3!

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No one has got it quite right yet…. 🙊 Any ideas? If you’re feeling confused, don’t worry – the clues will get more obvious as the week goes on.
You might want to go back and reread TNT looking for hints…

SAM_2476

Clue number 4! We’ve already have a winner – the lovely @rachel_starkidx messaged me privately guessing the announcement. Congratulations Rachel!
Anyone else who guesses it right can still win a signed bookmark though – only 3 more clues left before Friday…..

Clue 5:

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Clue 6:

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FINAL CLUE. This is your last day to win a signed bookmark by guessing my super exciting super secret announcement about The Next Together. It’s going to be revealed on Maximum Pop! at 8pm tomorrow, along with the (amazing!) cover of The Last Beginning.
You’ve had 7 clues, and yesterday 4 people got it right, so I want to see you guys going wild with suggestions in the comment section down here. 👇👇👇👇👇👇

If you really have no ideas, here’s the answer in hangman.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _

Leave a letter in the comments and I’ll update it over the course of today and tomorrow.

CATCH YOU TOMORROW WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT AND COVER!!! 🙆🙆

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In other news: Event update!!

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Tumblr tag archive – Another Together

The Next Together (part 1) | The Next Together (part 2)  | The Next Together (part 3)| The Next Together (part 4) | The Last Beginning (part 1) | The Last Beginning (part 2) | The Last Beginning (part 3) | Another Together | Another Beginning | The Loneliest Girl in the Universe | The Quiet at the End of the World | Book 5 (ghost house) | Book 6 (loneliest 2) | Book 7 (earth) | Book 8 (fandom) 

 

The cover of The Last Beginning is being revealed THIS TIME NEXT WEEK by some lovely Instagram bloggers and @tilly-and-her-books, @pollyandbooks and @prettybooks here on Tumblr.

If that isn’t enough, there’s also going to be a VERY EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT by the folks over at @maximumpop alongside the cover!

Here’s a clue to what it’s about……do you have any guesses? I’ll be posting more clues between now and Friday – anyone who guesses correctly will be sent a signed bookmark!

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#the last beginning #the next together #another together
13TH MAY 2016

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Here’s clue number 2! Any guesses what my announcement is? No one has got it yet! 👐

14TH MAY 2016

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Clue #3! No one has got it quite right yet…. 🙊 Any ideas? If you’re feeling confused, don’t worry – the clues will get more obvious as the week goes on. You might want to go back and reread TNT looking for hints… you can win a signed bookmark if you get it right! (Open INT)

#the next together #the last beginning #another together
15TH MAY 2016

SAM_2476
Clue number 4! We’ve already have a winner – the lovely @rachel_starkidx messaged me privately guessing the announcement. Congratulations Rachel! Anyone else who guesses it right can still win a signed bookmark though – only 3 more clues left before Friday…..

#another together
16TH MAY 2016

SAM_2512

Clue number 5! Yesterday we had another winner, the very well-named @_laurenrobbins! Congratulations Lauren, you worked really hard to work it out. There’s still a chance for the rest of you to win a signed bookmark though – two clues left! 🎉

#another together
17TH MAY 2016

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Today’s clue! We had three winners yesterday – good work everyone! Only one clue left to go after this….

#another together
18TH MAY 2016

us_bombe_full

FINAL CLUE. This is your last day to win a signed bookmark by guessing my super exciting super secret announcement about The Next Together. It’s going to be revealed on Maximum Pop! at 8pm tomorrow, along with the (amazing!) cover of The Last Beginning. You’ve has 7 clues, and yesterday 4 people got it right, so I want to see you guys going wild with suggestions in the comment section down here. 👇👇👇👇👇👇 If you really have no ideas, here’s the answer in hangman. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Leave a letter in the comments and I’ll update it over the course of today and tomorrow. CATCH YOU TOMORROW WITH THE ANNOUNCEMENT AND COVER REVEAL!!! 🙆

#another together
19TH MAY 2016

 

The Last Beginning Cover reveal + Special Announcement
I promised you guys a special announcement today, alongside the new cover. I’ve been posting clues about it all week, and 8 of you correctly guess what it was (congratulations, you clever sleuths! You can officially call yourselves my biggest fans. (I mean, only if you want…..no pressure.))

Lots of people have asked me why Kate and Matt talked a lot about one of their other past lives in The Next Together, where they stopped a murder at Bletchley Park. That story isn’t part of the book, but lots of you (including my editor!) were absolutely desperate to know what happened. And I listened. So …..

I’m going to be releasing a short novella about Katherine and Matthew, set at Bletchley Park during World War II. It’s coming out on 2nd June on Kindle and all other eBook providers, and it’s going to be free.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Bletchley Park in England was the secret location of a code-breaking team during World War II. The mathematicians and scientists worked to break the code which the Germans used to send each other messages, and when they cracked it, they significantly helped the Allies to win the war. With the messages they decoded, the Allies learnt details of upcoming German tactics, and managed to work against them.

It was the topic of the 2014 film The Imitation Game, where Benedict Cumberbatch played Alan Turing, the scientist who cracked the Nazi’s Enigma code.

I had so much fun visiting Bletchley Park and researching this story, where Kate (known in this story as Kitty) and Matthew work at Station X at Bletchley.

Here’s the blurb:

Winter, 1940: there is a murderer on the loose at Bletchley Park, the headquarters of Britain’s most daring codebreaking operation against the Nazis. Can two young codebreakers Kitty and Matthew catch the killer?

This standalone short story can be enjoyed by new readers and existing fans of Lauren James’s The Next Together series.

And here’s the cover (I know! SURPRISE DOUBLE COVER REVEAL! MWAHAHAHAHA. I feel like Beyoncé, dropping a surprise album.)

Another Together_short story_ by Lauren James_publishing 2 June 2016
Again, Jack has completely overpassed my greatest expectations with this. It’s so stunning that I think I’m going to have to print out a real copy just so I can have it on paper to match the books.

And if you were wondering what the clues all meant, here’s your answer:

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SAM_2451
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SAM_2476
SAM_2512
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us_bombe_full

Clue 1 – A codebreaker’s desk at Bletchley Park, with a sneaky copy of TNT.
Clue 1 – A codebreaker’s desk at Bletchley Park, with a sneaky copy of TNT.

Clue 2 – A dispatch worker’s motorcycle which was used to take decoded Nazi messages back and forth from Bletchley to Winston Churchill and other military leaders in London.

Clue 3 – One of the huts at Bletchley Park

Clue 4 – The lake and mansion at Bletchley Park

Clue 5 – A machine used to decode messages written with the Enigma machine

Clue 6 – Documents and signs from Bletchley Park

Clue 7 – The Bombe machine and a Wren operator cracking the Enigma Code.

Did you guess it? If so, congratulations!

You can add Another Together on Goodreads, and I will let you know when it’s available to preorder on Amazon and other eBook providers in the UK, Ireland and Australia / New Zealand. The eBook will also contain the first chapter of The Last Beginning, so hopefully this will tide you over until my second book is released (138 days!).

ENJOY, GUYS.

Finally, because I can’t stop staring at them together, here’s the whole, complete, series:

Another Together_short story_ by Lauren James_publishing 2 June 2016
I WROTE A WHOLE SERIES, GUYS. A WHOLE S E R I E S. !!!!

#the last beginning #the next together #another together
20TH MAY 2016

 

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A Winter Wonderland by Bletchley Park Trust

#another together #bletchley park
2ND JUN 2016

 

It’s past midnight which means…..IT’S TIME!!! Go download my World War II short story Another Together for free on Amazon (available around the world, as far as I can tell!). Link to Amazon UK:  ENJOY.

#Another together
2ND JUN 2016

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My free short story is at #335 in the Kindle store! Shall we see if we can get it into the top 100 by the end of today? Download it! TELL YOUR FRIENDS TO DOWNLOAD IT! Let’s do this thing!! 💖🔥💪😎🎉👌

#another together
2ND JUN 2016

 

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Free e-novella ANOTHER TOGETHER released!
Happy Thursday! And happy Another Together publication day! This is a complete 10,000 word (50 page) short story, released on Kindle and eBook. It can be read without having read The Next Together – and it’s free, so you’ve got no excuse not to dive in! The prologue of The Last Beginning is also included at the end (You’ll get to meet Clove! Eek!).

Here’s the blurb:

Another Together_short story_ by Lauren James_publishing 2 June 2016“Perfect for holidays” – Marie Claire
“Are you absolutely certain this is safe?” Matthew Galloway asked.

A short story of intrigue and murder set in the world of The Next Together series. Winter, 1940: there is a murderer on the loose at Bletchley Park, the headquarters of Britain’s most daring codebreaking operation against the Nazis. Can two young codebreakers Kitty and Matthew catch the killer? This standalone short story can be enjoyed by new readers and existing fans of Lauren James’s The Next Together series.

You can download it here when you sign up for the publisher newsletter.

Goodreads | Print edition (Scholastic Book Clubs only) | Amazon Kindle  | Kobo | iTunes (free!) |eBook providers

It’s available on various Amazons around the world – check your country to see if it’s up. Here’s some I’ve found: Amazon US | Amazon ANZ | Amazon DE 

Subscribe to my newsletter to receive an exclusive short story about one of Katherine and Matthew’s other lives.

I can’t wait to see what you guys think! Look out over the next month for some more Behind the Scenes stuff too – including a blog post by the cover designer Jack, competitions to win signed copies and more!

And, if I can just have a moment of soppiness – I just want to talk a bit about what today means to me personally as an author. As of right now, June 2016, I have been a full time writer for exactly two years. I’ve written three novels and a novella in that time, done countless public speaking events and published my debut novel. It’s been a busy time.

I was lucky enough to get a book deal while I was at university, so I graduated aged 21 with a job – kind of. I still couldn’t believe being a writer was an option for me, so I called it a ‘gap year’ at first, to justify why I was taking the risk. Everything you read tells you that for a new author in the 21st century, it’s not possible to support yourself by writing. And it isn’t. Not at first.

I was in a very privileged position by having the family backing that let me take that gamble. (Mainly because my parents let me live at home. I could definitely NOT be an author without them. Thanks mum and dad!) But I made very little money that first year – far below minimum wage.

For a while, I thought that being an author wasn’t possible for me, at this time in my life. The finances just weren’t going to work out. Unless you’re a bestseller (which I am definitely not), I didn’t think it was possible to make enough money to live on by writing. I resigned myself to getting a job after my ‘gap year’ was over. But….somehow, it has worked out.

Last year I got an Arts Council grant which kept me going while my debut was published. (I owe Arts Council England a life debt. No joke.) This year, when I resigned myself once again to having to get a ‘real’ job, I got more funding just when I needed it (but more on that soon, hopefully!).

So as I enter my third year of writing full time, I am very, very grateful. Every year I still get to do this, I feel unbelievably lucky. It’s the best gift. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do this forever sustainably, or whether in a few years I’ll have to get another job and write in my spare time – which would be near impossible, seeing as I work way-more-than-full-time now, but I’d try and make it work.

But I do know that, for now, writing is the best and greatest gift I have ever been given. I’m paid to do what I love. I write things I’ve dreamt up in my head and people pay to read them. It’s impossibly wonderful and I still feel like I’ve tricked someone into giving me this life.

This eBook, written and released for free, is a present to say thank you for that, with all my heart. You, the people who support my writing by buying my books (and at the last count there’s something like 10,000 of you – that’s 37 people a day!), are the ones that make that happen.

And, just as a reminder – if you can’t afford to buy my books, please don’t pirate them. Please borrow them from a library instead.
It’s so painful to see links to download my book illegally, and it really does impact an author’s career. It’s free to use libraries, and in the UK authors get paid approximately the same amount if you borrow a book as if you buy it. Public Lending Rights are 7.7 pence per library loan, and royalties are usually around 10% per copy purchased – in paperback that’s 7.9 pence.

Finally, if you enjoy reading Another Together, the best way to thank an author, always, is to leave them a review. Good or bad, it doesn’t matter. It all helps. Thank you. ❤

I really hope you enjoy Katherine and Matthew’s latest adventure.

L xx

#another together #blog #new releases
2ND JUN 2016

dinosaurspen:  Cryptographers Dorothy Du Boisson & Elsie Booker operating the codebreaking computer Colossus Mk. 2. Bletchley Park, England, ca. 1944.

My US publisher Sky Pony Press have put my short story ANOTHER TOGETHER, about Kate and Matt solving a murder at Bletchley Park, up online. If you’ve been waiting to read this you can now download it for free here!

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Special edition of The Last Beginning!

Exciting news! Scholastic Book Clubs have commissioned a special edition of The Last Beginning, which includes the short story set at Bletchley Park ’Another Together ’ at the end. I’m so excited that this e-book exclusive short story is finally in print! It’s extra thick and chunky and means that you can have the whole series on your shelves together. THE DREAM.

 

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cat-thecatlady: read this lovely story by @laurenjames today

#another together
18TH JUL 2016

 

April Favourites | The Raven King | Jane the Virgin | MY FIRST CAR

Happy May! I’ve been an outrageous blogger and only posted once since my last monthly round up. In apology, here is an extra long April faves for you. Enjoy.

Mode of transportation: My first car (!!)

Far and away my favourite of this month was my most expensive purchase ever – I bought my first car! It’s beautiful and shiny and I’m in looooove.

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I may or may not do this every single day.

TV Show: Jane the Virgin

jane-celebrate.jpgI have become unbelievably obsessed with this series, so fast. It just sucked me in from the beginning. It has the kind of affectionate teasing of its characters which I love, and with every episode the plot gets more and more cheesy and intense and complicated. Basically, this is the tv epitomy of the word outrageous. In the first series finale, I was in absolute buckets of tears, which I totally didn’t expect. I got so attached to everyone.

The first series is on Netflix. Run, don’t walk.

Book: The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

17378527.jpgThis was one of my most anticipated reads of 2016, and it completely lived up to expectations. I did have a few issues with it, which I am very interested in discussing with my RCBC (Raven Cycle Book Club).

But overall, it was a very satisfying and emotional end to the series and I just love them all, okay? Gansey remains now and forever my ultimate fave, but I think Adam has started to give him a run for his money.

I want more. Please, Maggie? Please?

 

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ALSO:

Place: Libraries

A shout out should also go to libraries in general. Now I can drive (!) I’ve joined three local libraries and got so many books. Like, for free?!!? It’s amazing!

Recipe: Iced tea

As it’s getting warmer I’ve been perfecting the art of making iced tea, English style. My current favourite version is this:

  • Make a full pot of tea using half PG Tips and half Earl Grey loose tea leaves
  • When brewed, add to a jug with the juice of an orange and a lemon, 4 tsp of brown sugar and a few chopped mint leaves.
  • If you have it, I usually add some of this peach flavouring too.
  • Add a Spiced Masala Chai tea bag. Leave to chill overnight.
  • ENJOY.

Advert:  Good Morning Alice

Tumblr had been developing a horror story around this short advert/story featuring Gwenyth Paltrow. It rivals genuine spooky films for creepiness, and I’m so into it. First read this and then have a look through this tag to see how d e e p this gets. Amazing. I want a film/book/tv series about Alice.

Forum: bodybuilding dot com thread where two guys argue about how many days are in a week

In a similar internet-weirdness vein, I recently came across this forum thread again. I first read it a few years ago, and I think about it probably more frequently than I should.

Blog: Jim’s Recent Links Round up

I’ve been loving Jim at YAYeahYeah’s round-up posts – and not only because he adds my stuff! It’s a great catch up on the UKYA world, especially if you’re like me, and terrible at keeping up with Twitter. Everything he recommends is interesting and well written and I usually end up with so many tabs open that my computer crashes.

Short Story: THE ABRIDGED HISTORY OF DISNEY, 2015–2040 AD

I’m so into this semi-real, semi-dystopian satire story about Disney/Marvel’s world domination.

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Someone write the full novel of this, before I do.

In Other News: There is a giveaway to win a query + first chapter critique by me, running here, along with lots of other authors and editors!

I’ve become an admin for the UKYA blog group Author Allsorts. I’ll be doing general management things and coming up with blog ideas alongside Emma Pass and Kerry Drewery, now that the lovely Kate Ormand is sadly stepping down. I’m very excited to be part of such a lovely team!

It’s been announced that I’m appearing at YALC this year on the Saturday. I’m also joining the My Kinda Book tour in June!

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The ticket office for YA shot, which I am also appearing at, is now open here!

This month I got to do a panel with Alice Oseman, which was amazing – it was definitely the best event I’ve ever done. #laurenandalicetourplease 😉

Brum Radio Book Show discussed TNT this week, and were very lovely about it. You can listen here, from 44 mins onwards. I also got very excited about this Guardian site review. Thank you, guys!!

I hit the halfway point in writing my fourth book this week too – hurray! I always get convinced I’ve forgotten how to finish a story about 20k words in, so I’m relieved to have remembered how it all works. It’s (hopefully) all easy going from here.

I’m so into it and it’s so intense and the characters are really being stretched more than any I’ve written before and I’M VERY HAPPY. I went through a couple of weeks where I couldn’t write at all because of stress/anxiety but I’ve got over it finally. Now I’m racing through it!! And I wish I could tell you what its abouuuuuut! (I posted a book playlist here)

Finally, this happened.

Previously: April | May | June | July | August | September |October | November |December | January |February | March