Wren James

My guilty pleasure YA tropes

Back in May, I made a post about my least favourite tropes in YA. I thought it was only right to balance the scales by also making a list of my favourite, most ridiculously indulgent tropes too. These aren’t the ones which never happen, which I would love to see more of….. these are the ones I see a lot, but somehow still can’t get enough of.

You know what I’m talking about.

tumblr_nklvb7woAD1r8tg38o2_500 — Anything that makes you do this when you read it.

Fair warning: these are mainly love based, because I am a shamelessly romantic sap. Let’s get right to it, shall we?

friends who don’t realise they’re actually in love with each other until………THEY DO? AND IT’S AMAZING?
the shock and denial following the discovery that MAGIC IS REAL
sassy little geniuses (cough Artemis Fowl cough)
near-death experiences? the kind where the characters are all “oh we’d better kiss now, no big deal” EXCEPT IT TOTALLY IS
related: characters sacrificing themselves for people they have a secret, carefully cultivated, soul-consuming unrequited love for…….
……….and the awkwardness afterwards when they don’t actually die in their rescue attempt, so now their object of affection knows they are madly in love with them. This trope is just…….give it to me!!
bookworms coming into their own and totally kicking ass, to the shock and awe of everyone they know
dragons. (and just talking animals in general)
SECRETLY ROYALTY. I don’t even care! I want all of it!! All of the princesses sneaking off in disguise to ~explore the world~, and all of the thieves who turn out to be long lost princes. I need more!!
kissing in the rain. IN! THE! RAIN!! I don’t know why this is so irresistible. But every single time, it melts my heart.
finding hidden things? like old letters, secret rooms in old houses, magical kingdoms in wardrobes, dormant ley lines etc. I will read ten million novels about teenagers trying to follow instructions from ancient (possibly magical) maps ~~to find welsh kings~~
nervous new boyfriends being introduced to outwardly disapproving fathers, who are really just acting intimidating to mess with them!!!! gleeful fathers and embarrassed daughters!! yessss!!!!!!
FORBIDDEN LOVE. Oh, these two characters can’t ever be together for plot reasons? Look at that: I ship them. I ship them so much.

tumblr_inline_ncs33cMG0N1shihqh — It HURTS SO GOOD

seemingly grumpy and angry boys who are really just shy sweethearts trying and failing to hide how nervous they are
people who hate each other being paired up for school projects
and their hate quickly turning into love, obviously
ARCH NEMESES. platonic or romantic, if there’s a pair of competitive rivals then I am………there
wise old gentleman wizards.
annoying younger siblings!!

I think I’m going to stop there, because otherwise I’ll be listing things all day (and I have work to do). In summary:

If there isn’t a tumblr meme perfect for your blog topic, you aren’t trying hard enough.

In other news: It was YALC last week! I had an amazing time, especially getting to see lots of authors and bloggers in person for the first time, and catch up with old friends. I also got to hang out with an enormous number of Claire’s Coven (authors with the same agent as me!)

tumblr_nrp8lpSrRH1qa24muo1_500 — L to R: Katie Webber, Sally Green, Alice Oseman, Melinda Salisbury, Alexia Casale, Sara Barnard and me!

Plus, I did a little video interview with Michelle at Fluttering butterflies while I was there:

It’s also been announced that I’m chairing a panel at YA Shot in October with Lucy Saxon and Catherine Doyle, HURRAY! More details on that here.

A rebloggable version of this post can be found here.

Behind the Book: Ghostwriter Tom Easton

Following on from the first post in my new Behind the Book interview series, where I interviewed my agent Claire Wilson, today I will be talking to an author who is also represented by Claire, Tom Easton. As well as publishing his own fiction, most recently the award-winning and hilarious Boys Don’t Knit series, Tom works as a ghostwriter – writing novels behind the scenes that are credited to a different person when published.

I’ve been intrigued by ghostwriting ever since it was revealed that Zoella’s first YA novel was written by a ghostwriter. This received a lot of backlash from the publishing community, mainly because it wasn’t stated upfront that the novel was ghostwritten.

Tom was patient enough to answer my many questions about this topic at a party. The discussion was so interesting that I knew immediately when planning this series that I wanted to include him. Luckily he agreed to talk more about his own experiences with ghostwriting in an interview with me.

What does ghostwriting involve?

From my perspective, there are two main types of ghostwriting. The more visible ghosts are those that work closely with a named author to produce a work of non-fiction, often an autobiography or a fact book about the celebrity’s area of expertise. A ghost is often required because the celebrity has neither the time or experience to write a book as well as it needs to be written. These ghosts are often journalists who know the celebrity well in any case and have the contacts, the writing ability and the journalistic know-how to get the job done. Many autobiographies are written in this way and the ghost will need to get the story not only from the ‘author’, but also interview family, friends and colleagues.

The other type are those who write fiction under pseudonyms, or on behalf of a named author. There are a number of popular fiction series ‘written’ by made-up authors. These tend to be written by many different authors, working to a pre-prepared storyline, being careful to follow characterisation and world-building as laid down by the publisher. Some big-name authors also employ ‘studio’ writers to flesh out novels in their trademark style. The amount of input the ghosts get from the named author can vary a great deal. Some named authors form a close relationship with the ghost and are very hands on, in other cases the publisher will come up with the story idea, the ghost will write it and the named author does nothing more than pick up the cheque.

How did you get started in ghostwriting?

An editor asked me to write a book that was part of a series written by a number of different authors but all using the same pseudonym. I’ve have a lot of contacts in the trade and am asked from time to time to submit sample writing for various projects under other people’s names. Some of these I like the sound of, and if I have time I’ll write a couple of chapters and send them along. Sometimes I get the job and sometimes not.

What do you enjoy most about ghostwriting?

It can be quite liberating, not having to be concerned with plotting my own story. That part has already been done and I can concentrate on telling that story in the best way I can. It also forces me to write in a variety of different styles, forms and voices. I have written books for first readers right up to adult fiction which is good practice. Also, the books I’m asked to write tend to be quite short. I can fit the jobs in around my own books and it provides useful income.

How much guidance do you tend to receive on a new project?

It varies, but for the most part I’ll receive a detailed chapter breakdown. Sometimes the length of the breakdown might be as much as half the length of the book. For established series I’ll receive a ‘bible’ telling me what I can and can’t do with the characters and their world.

Has being a ghostwriter had any impact on writing your original fiction?

I’d like to think it’s made me a better writer. I think it’s helped me learn to write from different perspectives and for different audiences. It’s also taught me a lot about keeping the plot tight, something that hasn’t always come naturally to me.

Has being involved in publishing and ghostwriting changed how you read books for pleasure?

When I read YA fiction I tend to have a more critical eye than when I read adult fiction. I also get very jealous when I read authors who do things better than me!

How long does it usually take you to finish writing a first draft? Is this different for original fiction?

Usually much less time. The schedules I’m given are often very tight and because I don’t have to stop to think about plotting I can write very quickly.

After writing the manuscript, do you tend to have any involvement in the project further – editing, sequel, etc?

Like any manuscript, the editor will ask for changes to be made. But I’m unlikely to receive structural edits as I would when writing my own books. Unless I’ve gone wildly off-piste, we’d just go direct to line edits. If I do a good job I’ll likely be asked to write follow up books, but I wouldn’t expect to have any involvement in cover design, sales or marketing.

How do you feel about ghostwriters publicly receiving credit for their work in the finished book?

I wrote a blog post on this subject which you can read here.

What advice do you have for anyone looking to get into ghostwriting?

Ask your agent if he or she knows any editors or publishers looking for ghostwriters. I have had a number of very valuable contacts through my agent. Most agents will receive periodic requests from editors looking for writers interested in this sort of work. Also, check out the websites of Working Partners and Hothouse, two excellent publishers who sometimes use ghostwriters.

Tom Easton is an experienced author of fiction for all ages and has had more than thirty books published. He has written under a number of different pseudonyms in a variety of genres. Subjects include vampires, pirates, pandemics and teenage agony aunts (not all in the same book). He lives in Surrey with his wife, three children and two cats.

In his spare time he works as a Production Manager for a UK publisher. His latest book is An English Boy in New York, the sequel to the award-winning Boys Don’t Knit, published by Hot Key Books. He is currently working on Our House, the first of an MG series to be published by Piccadilly Press in 2016.

You can follow him on twitter at @tomeaston or at his website tomeaston.co.uk

A rebloggable version of this post can be found here.

I wrote an article for The Toast!

I’m a huge fan of the feminist humour website The Toast, and my super secret personal goal for 2015 was to write an article for them. I’m happy to say that I managed it! Here is my first ever freelance article, written on the topic of (of course) Harry Potter. I also put my chemistry degree to (debatably) good use and added a bit of science to it.

The Hogwarts Houses of the Periodic Elements: A Critical Analysis

To read the rest, visit The Toast here! There are diagrams.

Abstract

Over the century since its creation, the Periodic Table of Elements has been studied almost as much, if not more, comprehensively than the Harry Potter universe. It is far past time that the two academic schools of thought were combined.

Introduction

In the Twentieth Century, a system of organising subjects into a simple order was invented. It quickly caught on, and has since become a worldwide shorthand for summarising complex information.

The system is, of course, the Hogwarts Houses of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. They were created by J. K. Rowling in 1997, when they were originally published as ‘fiction’ in the Harry Potter series. The Houses have since been reclaimed as a social tool.

In transferring over to the real world, the sorting system has become so much more than just fictional boarding school Houses. The Houses are a personality type; a Buzzfeed quiz; a political affiliation; an allegiance stronger than blood; and for some people . . . a way of life.

Almost as famous as the most important invention of our age was the development of the Periodic Table of Elements in 1869 by the chemist Dmitri Mendeleev. The table orders atomic elements into groups based on their characteristics, behaviours and interactions. Similar, some might say, to the Hogwarts Houses.

So, how do the two systems compare? Is it possible to combine them, to create one perfect, hyper-efficient organisational tool? This publication will present a hypothesis for the possible structure of this type of system.

Method

The procedure is simple: what happens when you mix, for example, a Gryffindor and a Slytherin? The same thing that happens when a Group 1 and Group 7 element react: explosions. Violent, but very cool, explosions.

Following careful analysis, here follows a ground-breaking proposal for a possible “Table of Houses”, designed for the use of chemists and Harry Potter fans everywhere.

Results

Slytherin – Alkali Metals and Alkaline Earth Metals

The groups on the far left of the Periodic Table, like Slytherins, are easily excited. It takes very little to set ‘em off. In particular, they react extremely aggressively with the following:

Gryffindor – Halogens

These are useful occasionally, but in general they are pretty harmful – especially in high doses. They are particularly clique-y, and tend to travel in pairs. Very competitive amongst themselves.

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Fig. 1: Slytherin in green, Gryffindor in red

Ravenclaw – Transition Metals

These are very impressive and shiny at first glance, and pretty strong. They generally need some sort of catalyst to force them to change their behaviour. They are reliable and useful in day-to-day life.

Hufflepuff – Noble gases

These are always . . . around. They know everyone, but they are so laidback they never seem to get in any kind of conflict. They just kind of, you know, hang out.

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Fig. 2: Ravenclaw in blue, Hufflepuff in yellow

Additional categorisations:

Professor Albus Dumbledore – Hydrogen

These get involved with everything and everyone. They can be problematic but they are generally needed, and keep everything running smoothly. Works closely with the following:

Professor Minerva McGonagall – Nitrogen and Oxygen groups

These are the catalysts that get things going. They are essential for life, and everything would fall apart without them.

Giant Squid – Lanthanides and Actinides

These are very mysterious. You hear a lot about them, but they never seem to do much. It’s never really made clear where they came from. They can’t survive in air, generally.

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Fig. 3: Dumbledore in purple, McGonagall in green, the Giant Squid in grey

Durmstrang – Boron group

These can bond with some Gryffindors/Halogens (especially those with bushy hair and high intelligence) but may react explosively with others. They all look very similar physically, and while they seem tough, they are surprisingly soft.

Beauxbatons – Carbon group

These are silvery and beautiful. Very stable, and a lot stronger than they look. They often gather huge numbers of followers. Very adaptable.

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Fig. 4: Durmstrang in brown, Beauxbatons in blue

Conclusion

It is obvious that the Periodic table divides up easily, logically and completely, absolutely naturally into the fictional universe of the Harry Potter series. This discovery has vast potential in and out of classrooms, perhaps as a Chemistry study aid or as a new form of insult. “Urgh, you’re such an Alkaline Earth Metal!” people might soon say, in the same way they would accuse someone of acting like a Slytherin, or a Giant Squid.

Excuse the lack of modesty, but this may even herald the beginning of a new era and a startlingly original way of thinking. Maybe this day will be recorded for years to come as the beginning of . . . Pop Culture Science.

If there are any comments or corrections to this paper, please submit your comments in the format of an academic peer review, under COPE guidelines.

An Interview with a character

It’s now 50 days to the release of The Next Together! When did that happen? How is it that close? (but also, how is there still fifty whole days to go?!?)

georgiareads — Picture taken by the lovely Georgia, because literally everyone in the world takes better photos of my own book than me.

To celebrate, I thought I’d post a little teaser. Here’s an ‘interview’ I conducted with my main character Kate, in the spirit of my new blog series Behind the Book. This is set just before the beginning of The Next Together, and there are no spoilers at all.

Hey Kate, how are you feeling about starting university?

Hi! I’m really really excited about uni, especially because it means I’ll be moving closer to my grannies (I have married grandmothers, it’s 2039, get over it.). I can’t wait to go and steal all their baking!! I’m going to eat so many pies.

What are you studying?

Biology. AKA THE BEST SUBJECT, OBVIOUSLY. I have major plans to take over the world one day. Wait, what?

Have you made any friends at uni yet?

Not yet!

And is there anyone you’re going to be sad to leave behind? A boyfriend?

Nope! I’m single and ready to mingle. I have high hopes for fresher’s week. If you are/see any shy, brunet boys with glasses, hit me up, okay?

What are your hobbies?

Uh…..does stalking cute boys count as a hobby? Because I’m an expert at that.

Oh, fandom! I’m big into fandom. Have you heard of that famous blogger, Spartacus? No? Well, he does social activism stuff. He’s a little bit illegal, and a little bit hilarious, and a whole lot of cute. I’m a big fan, as you can tell from my AO3 page.

Wait, now I think about it, that’s just stalking cute boys as well. Dammit.

Well, I hope you meet the boy of your dreams at university. Any words of advice for any fellow freshers?

Nobody has any idea what they are doing. Just fake confidence and everyone will be so impressed and intimidated by you that you won’t have to worry about anything else.

And don’t go mad on the canteen food. You’re better than that.

If that wasn’t enough of a treat for you, here are my characters Kate and Matt….as mermaids. I may have discovered a website that lets you create them, and gone a little crazy with power.

P.S. I’m going to be at YALC at the London Comicon this weekend on both Saturday and Sunday. If you see me, come and say hello, and I’ll give you a signed The Next Together bookmark. Here’s what I look like, as of Monday:

And here’s what the bookmarks look like (just so you can weigh up the pros and cons of coming up to me):

tumblr_nqjs2oENCk1qa24muo1_500 — I have a gold sharpie and everything, js.

In other ~*~Events news~*~, I’m going to be talking on a panel at the Nine Worlds convention in London on August 7th about diversity in YA.

Here’s the full description:

Beyond the Binary: gender and sexuality in YA – 1.30pm – 2.45pm, Room 38
More and more non-traditional characters enter the YA stage. Characters who defy gender norms and gender binaries. Characters who fall somewhere along the LGBTQIA* spectrum. Characters who kick ass and take names. How does YA explore these new stories, who are the characters we should be paying attention to, and what is there still to come?

Panel: James Dawson, Tom Pollock, Sarah Benwell, Lauren E James, Laura Lam, Emma Trevayne, Marieke Nijkamp

A rebloggable version of this post can be found here.

Behind the Book: Literary Agent Claire Wilson

I’m very excited to announce a new blog series today. Inspired by Samantha Shannon’s blog series A book from the beginning, I’ve decided to interview some of the many wonderful people who are involved in the process of taking a book from a writer’s early draft to a polished, published novel.

I had no idea how much work was involved in publishing before I became an author. Hopefully this series will be a useful resource for anyone aspiring to work in publishing, to give them an idea of all the different options available beyond just writing and editing.

There are going to be interviews with editors, designers, publicists, ghost writers and more, but I thought it would be apt to start with the person who made it all possible: my agent Claire Wilson of Rogers, Coleridge and White Literary Agency.

Claire is one of the most genuinely lovely, passionate people I have ever met, and I feel so honoured that such a prestigious agent represents me. She supports her authors with everything she has, and I don’t know where I would be today without her.

What does your job involve?

Representing authors through their entire careers – giving advice, fighting their corner when necessary, offering support. And staying up too late reading brilliant manuscripts.

How did you get started as an agent? Did you do any work experience?

I worked in customer services and sales for an educational publisher and then foreign rights for a trade non-fiction publisher, before joining RCW as an assistant and then moving on to build my own list.

Have you ever wanted to write yourself?

I always used to be sure I would be an author when I grew up. I’ve since come to realise that the job involves actually writing books (something I’ve never managed to do), and have become resigned to the fact that it’s not for me.

What’s your favourite part of your job?

The moment when a finished book first comes in is never going to stop being exciting. And now, thanks to Twitter, getting to see author selfies of that moment is probably even better!

You represent a huge range of different genres – what’s your personal favourite genre? What are some of your favourite children’s books from your childhood?

I’ve always read everything – when I was a child I was a completely indiscriminate reader and devoured everything I came across, from David Lodge to Sweet Valley High. I still like to read very widely, and that’s part of why I think the children’s publishing industry is the best. Some of my favourite childhood books are CATCHER IN THE RYE, A LITTLE PRINCESS, MATILDA.

What are you proudest of in your career?

I am really so proud to be part of RCW, and to have learnt from Deborah Rogers.

What would you love to see in a submission?

An arresting concept, humour or darkness (or both), strength of voice.

What drew you to The Next Together? 😉

What’s not to like?! Romance, comedy, epic concept, fascinating detail. The warmth and appeal of the characters struck me immediately.

Has being involved in publishing changed how you read books for pleasure?

I do read more analytically now, but if anything I enjoy it even more.

What advice do you have for anyone looking to get into publishing?

Get an entry level job in any department, rather than interning in the most popular ones. Getting a foot in the door is what matters, and being paid for it is important.

Claire Wilson is head of the Children’s Department at Rogers, Coleridge and White. She joined RCW in 2007, having previously worked in publishing sales and rights, and now looks after an eclectic list of talented children’s and YA authors there, from Katherine Rundell to Sally Green. The authors on her list have been nominated for or won every major children’s prize, including the Costa, the National Book Awards, the Blue Peter, the Carnegie, the Branford Boase and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.

Follow Claire Wilson on Twitter: @cmlwilson

Tumblr tag archive – The Last Beginning (part 2)

chronicintrovert [Alice Oseman] asked: LAUREN AND ALICE FAQ UPDATE. What alignments would all your characters be? (chaotic neutral, lawful evil etc) Which is your favourite to write? Which would you love to write in future? Which is the most boring? (sorry i copied your questions, they were really interesting lol)

I TOTALLY DON’T MIND AT ALL. I will shamelessly always answer my own questions.

What alignments would all your characters be?

Kate – Chaotic Good
Matt – Lawful Good
Tom – Neutral Evil
Lord Somerset – Lawful Neutral
Elizabeth – Neutral Good
and secret upcoming characters:

Clove – True Neutral
Ella – Chaotic Neutral
Spart – Chaotic Good
Romy – Neutral Good
J – Chaotic Evil
Which is your favourite to write?

Definitely any of the chaotic characters. They are so hilariously wild and unpredictable.

Which would you love to write in future?

Lawful Evil. I think the boundary between good and bad, in that grey area between a hero and a villain, is the most interesting.

Which is the most boring?

Mate, Lawful Neutral is so dull. Like, what is even the POINT of you?

#the lauren and alice faqs #claire’s coven #the next together #the last beginning
6TH JUL 2015

just-shower-thoughts: Having a picture of your girlfriend as the lock screen on your phone is the 21st-century equivalent of keeping a locket with her picture in it.

#for some reason this is very #the last beginning
5TH JUL 2015

pauldanofanblog: knowing that I’m still in the “early life” section of my hypothetical Wikipedia page is strangely comforting

#laughing SO MUCH #because this is clove #the last beginning
11TH JUN 2015

elizabitchtaylor: basically the best feeling in the world is when you start to get really carried away talking in depth about your weird interests, but the person you’re talking to is actually intrigued rather than bored and they are impressed by how much you know rather than weirded out

#the last beginning #ella
5TH JUN 2015

One of the most amazing things that can happen is finding someone who sees everything you are and won’t let you be anything less. They see the potential of you. They see endless possibilities. And through their eyes, you start to see yourself the same way as someone who matters. As someone who can make a difference in the world. If you’re lucky enough to find this person, never let them go.
— Susan Colasanti, So Much Closer

#the last beginning #my HEART
1ST JUN 2015

kouje: dress for the au you want, not the canon you’re in

#the last beginning
25TH MAY 2015

I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this, but first impressions are often entirely wrong.
— Lemony Snicket

#the last beginning
19TH MAY 2015

News!
So I got the go ahead from the Powers That Be at Walker Books to tell you the title for my second novel, the sequel to The Next Together.

It’s going to be……

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(Obviously not the final cover….)

I can’t tell you much about it yet, except that it’s another romance set in multiple time periods, this time with a lesbian pairing! Whooo!

You can add it on goodreads and read more about the reason I chose a LGBT protagonist here.

#the last beginning #blog #lgbt ya #lgbt #we need diverse books
8TH MAY 2015

in a room full of art I’d still stare at you
— (via ohlovequotes)

#ella #the last beginning
1ST MAY 2015

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spacezeros: hello there. i drew two characters from my friend lauren-e-james‘s second novel (the sequel to The Next Together which is coming out in September, so damn hyped) ❤

Art by Alice Oseman, reblog here.

here’s the part of the book that @chronicintrovert drew:

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didn’t she GET IT SO GOOD? (also she did this a whole year ago when i was still writing the first draft. I can’t believe this scene stayed precisely the same from first draft to final book, you have NO IDEA how rare that is)

ALICE REDREW THIS!!!!!! AND! I’M! FREAKING! OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

spacezeros: it’s really not very long until The Last Beginning by @laurenjames hits bookshops, so i decided to re-draw a drawing i did AGES AGO of the two leading ladies of lauren’s sequel!!! this book is so pure and gay i love it

Art by Alice Oseman, reblog here.

LOOK AT THEM! LOOK! AT! THEM! They’re so cute and YOUNG and I just want to give them a huge hug. GOD!! ALICE IS SO GOOD TO ME!!!

(Clove is on the left, she’s the protagonist of my new novel The Last Beginning. Ella on the right is her stalker/love interest/ biggest fangirl. THEY’VE MY BABIES AND I CAN’T WAIT TIL THE BOOK IS OUT SO YOU CAN MEET THEM)

#the last beginning #HEART EYES #look at theeeeeeeeem #[whines] #BABIES
29TH APR 2015

thelategreatrelicanth: two lady scientists who hav e to kiss eachother for research purposes. they keep kissing and they are collecting so much data.

#the last beginning
23RD APR 2015

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qwantzfeed: this concludes database as renegade cop fan fiction theatre, tune in next week for server that does not respond to ping as korean psychological horror fan fiction theatre

#the last beginning
16TH APR 2015

Someone: Are you okay?
Me, sighing dramatically, holding a hand to my forehead, staring into the distance with suffering eyes, clearly trying to get attention: Why would you assume that I’m not okay?

#Ella #The last beginning
18TH OCT 2015

starry-nightengale: Imagine your otp kissing, but it’s like, only 40% actual kissing and 60% giggling.

#this is both #kate and matt #and clove and ella #the next together #the last beginning
17TH OCT 2015

chronicintrovert asked: THAT’S SUCH A HARD QUESTION HOW MEAN. i’ll ask it back at you then lol: What are your top three favourite sentences in The Last Beginning?

[cackles madly] YOU’RE WELCOME.

one.

“Being attracted to neither boys nor close blood relatives, it never occurred to me that he was a babe,” Clove said. “Sorry.”

two.

“The last time you were nearly dying you managed to wander off and escape me.”

“The salad days,” Clove muttered, sighing to herself.

three.

Clove frowned at the bread, feeling attacked, victimised, and still very hungry.

#chronicintrovert #the last beginning #this was really hard because all of my faves are too spoilery #honestly tho i love clove SO MUCH #tlb extracts
4TH OCT 2015

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Alice chronicintrovert and I planned our dream covers for our respective second books. We can all see who is the proper artist here, right? (Me)

#alice #radio silence #the last beginning
23RD SEP 2015

hesbusy: people who laugh so hard at their own jokes that they can’t even finish the joke because they’re laughing so hard are my favorite kind of people

#the last beginning
18TH SEP 2015

Anonymous asked: The Next Together was great! I had no idea what to expect as I was reading it, and I loved the ending!! so sweet >-< now I’m looking forward to the Last Beginning even more because I can see how it ties in! 🙂

Oh wow you read that so fast!! I’m really glad you enjoyed it – and I’m SO excited to be able to tell you more about The Last Beginning soon!

negative-pessimist replied to your post “The Next Together was great! I had no idea what to expect as I was…” Make sure you keep your word about TLB BECAUSE I AM WAITING FOR IT LAUREN

#SOON, Rae, #SOON!

#the last beginning
21ST AUG 2015

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#how e would propose #the last beginning
12TH JUL 2015

Help I’m addicted to making my characters into mermaids, somebody save me from myself…

LAST ONE, I PROMISE. (but only because I’m going to sleep now)

#the last beginning #ella
9TH JUL 2015

Anonymous asked: How do you take your coffee?
aubernutter-deactivated20170607: Seriously. Very seriously

#Ella #The last beginning
16TH NOV 2015

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#Ella and clove #the last beginning
14TH NOV 2015

I’m writing, and I literally just made myself cry because it was so cute and I ship my characters so much it’s literally painful.

#The Last Beginning #I cannot wait for you all to meet Clove and Ella they are the sweetest! #[wipes away tears of joy]
9TH NOV 2015

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#CLOVE #this is clove #clovecloveclove #the last beginning #she’s got her dad’s hair and her mum’s lips tbh
9TH NOV 2015

stellailoveyou: A series of Sad Etsy Boyfriend images

#ella is a sad etsy girlfriend #the last beginning
4TH NOV 2015

sorry: I’m not arguing, I’m just explaining why I’m right and you’re wrong

#clove #the last beginning
2ND NOV 2015

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I’ve finally finished editing the first half of The Last Beginning in a nightmare trance state that lasted two months and I feel ALIVE. Let the rest flow quickly please and thank you.

okay nobody panic but i just realised i need to hugely change something from the start so i’m back at the beginning again, DESTROY EVERYTHING.

#the last beginning
31ST OCT 2015

tumblr_nxnug8VvO71qf8em3o1_1280 #The last beginnING #violets
18TH NOV 2015

missblackstar1678: important otp question: who in your otp holds the other back by the hood of their sweater when they’re about to do something stupid

#matt holds kate back #clove holds ella back #the next together #the last beginning
25TH OCT 2015

Someone: You’re so dramatic!
Me, with a rose between my lips, throwing glitter around, dressed in evening wear during the day, draping myself across a piano: I have no idea what you’re talking about

#Ella #the last beginning
25TH OCT 2015

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teamwork makes the dream work

#the cast of #the last beginning #squad works together #dog aesthetic

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#THIS IS THE ENTIRE PLOT OF #the last beginning #SPOILERS?!
21ST NOV 2015

excitedrainbow asked: LAUREN THAT ONION HEADLINE YOU JUST TAGGED WITH THE LAST BEGINNING I MOTHERFUCKING CHOKED?!??!?!?!??

I’m genuinely so upset that you all have to wait a whole YEAR to find out how this relates to The Last Beginning. It’s terrible and indecent and I apologise.

#the last beginning
16TH NOV 2015

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#how clove would propose to ella #the last beginning
1ST DEC 2015

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#spart #The last beginning
15TH DEC 2015

Anonymous asked: RICHARD CASTLE RICHARD CASTLE RICHARD CASTLE I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS BUT RICHARD CASTLE RICHARD CASTLE RICHARD CASTLE RICHARD CASTLE

Send me one of the following character names, and I’ll give you three paragraphs pertaining to my one of OTPs

Okay I got SO MANY OF THESE so it might take me a while to get through them all…. here’s the first!

Richard Castle: the author’s choice from a fic they have not published yet.

Here’s three paragraphs from chapter 1 of The Last Beginning:

Clove stood up and walked into the bathroom. She drank a glass of water slowly, sipping and savouring each mouthful. She stared at herself in the mirror. Her nondescript face looked back.

However hard she looked, there wasn’t anything that she could see which made her special. She had never expected anything like this to ever happen to her.

She wasn’t a dazzling lead protagonist in some adventure film. She was the gay best friend.

#the last beginning #Anonymous #character meme #tlb extracts
3RD DEC 2015

oswhin: it is my greatest wish to time travel to the future and watch historically inaccurate period dramas about the early 2000s

#The last beginning
1ST DEC 2015

daenerystargayren: being really into history is cooler than being into math or science… someone who likes math and science is called a “math nerd” or a “science geek” but someone who likes history is called a “history buff” because of their strong, sensual arms

#ella #the last beginning
25TH NOV 2015

I sent in the third draft of The Last Beginning!! Sleeping for the next week, while I recover.
#the last beginning #DRIVING TEST NEXT #WHEN WILL I BE ABLE TO REST?!?
25TH NOV 2015

finefools: ‘am i right ladies’ is the best way to end any text post am i right ladies

#Ella #The last beginning
23RD NOV 2015

Spock: Captain, this plan violates several Starfleet regulations.
Jim: ✓ read 10:46pm

#clove to ella #the last beginning
19TH NOV 2015

wintersoldeirs: important otp christmas question: who has placed mistletoe in every room of the house to get in as many kisses as possible and who is exasperatedly questioning ‘this is the 5th timE TODAY WHERE IS ALL THIS MISTLETOE COMING FROM?’ before sighing and leaning in

#Ella #The last beginning
19TH NOV 2015

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We have lift off, guys! The Last Beginning is available for preorder! (Amazon UK | Book Depository)

The release date is 6th October! 179 days to go!!

Here’s the blurb:

The epic conclusion to Lauren James’ debut The Next Together about love, destiny and time travel.

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 her long lost relatives. 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, who keeps appearing at every turn in Clove’s investigation?

For Clove, there is a mystery to solve in the past and a love to find in the future.

I’M GETTING GOOSEBUMPS? It’s so amazing! And so, so gay!!

We tried really, really hard to write a blurb that didn’t spoil anyone who hasn’t read The Next Together yet, so I hope we succeeded!

This is just the PREORDER LINK and I’m freaking out. I’m gonna so mad with joy when the cover is revealed (IT’S SO GOOD, GUYS. SO GOOD.)

If you would like to review The Last Beginning, you can request a review copy here. You can also add the book on Goodreads.

#lgbt #lgbt ya #the last beginning #news
9TH APR 2016

If you would like to review The Last Beginning, you can request a review copy here.

(UK/Australia only, but if you are an American blogger who would like to review The Next Together, you can sign up to be notified when review copies are available from Sky Pony Press here.)

#the last beginning #blog
7TH APR 2016

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beebunny: Aint nobody fresher than my motherfucken clique

#The last beginning #Ella is the the fabulous rooster
1ST APR 2016

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#The last beginning
1ST MAR 2016

taejira: Forget the Myers-Briggs fucking personality assessment. I am dead tired of hearing if someone is an INFP or an ESLQ or whatever. I want to know if someone is melancholic or choleric. Bring back the four humors. I wanna see “Kaley, 16, phlegmatic” when I go to someone’s blog. Who is with me. Lets make this happen

#ELLA’S JAM #the last beginning
17TH JAN 2016

#literally #tom #the last beginning
15TH JAN 2016 SOURCE: KARLURBANINTERNATIONAL 352 NOTES

Anonymous asked: Does the Last beginning have documents in it, like the Next together?
Yeah, it does! Not as many though. There’s about 45 folios, compared to ~70 in TNT.

Here’s a bit of one:

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(I can’t wait for you all to meet Clove and Ella, I really can’t.)

#the last beginning #Anonymous #tlb extracts
8TH JAN 2016

Song – Elenore cover by The Turtles

I can’t tell you how long and hard I searched for a female cover of this song. It was worth it.

#the last beginning #clove to ella
7TH JAN 2016

TONIGHT: I finish Draft 4 (Draft Last?!?) of The Last Beginning. I’ve got to get cracking, release is only 10 months away!! 🙊

#the last beginning
5TH JAN 2016

It’s CHRISTMAS DAY so here’s a meme for you (the best present, as we all know. right?). The Last Beginning in 3 pictures, featuring (left to right) Ella, Kate and Clove. 🎅

#the last beginning #book aesthetic
25TH DEC 2015

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Since the 1930’s, physicists have speculated about the existence of “Wormholes” in the fabric of Space. Wormholes are hypothetical areas of warped Space-Time with great energy that can create tunnels through Space-Time. If traversable, it would allow a traveller to quickly move through great distances in Space and also travel through time. The difficulty lies in keeping the Wormhole open while the traveller makes his journey: If the opening snaps shut, he will never survive to emerge at the other end.

Illustration above shows Goldberg’s idea of Time Travel. We can see a ship entering an enlarged Black Hole and eventually a Wormhole to travel back in time. Time traveller ends up in a parallel Universe. Lining the Wormhole with exotic matter prevents the ship from being crushed by Wormholes’ forces.

For years, scientists believed that the transit was physically impossible. But recent research, especially by the U.S. physicist Kip Thorne, suggests that it could be done using exotic materials capable of withstanding the immense forces involved. Even then, the time machine would be of limited use – for example, you could not return to a time before the Wormhole was created. Using Wormhole technology would also require a society so technologically advanced that it could master and exploit the energy within Black Holes.

Both general-relativity theory and quantum theory appear to offer several possibilities for travelling along what physicists call a “closed, timelike curve,” or a path that cuts through time and space – essentially, a time machine. A Wormhole would allow a ship, for instance, to travel from one point to another faster than the speed of light – sort of. That’s because the ship would arrive at its destination sooner than a beam of light would, by taking a shortcut through Space-Time via the Wormhole. That way, the vehicle doesn’t actually break the rule of the so-called universal speed limit – the speed of light – because the ship never actually travels at a speed faster than light.

#the last beginning
5TH JUN 2016

thoodleoo: current emotion: one of those pieces of vase art of achilles wrapped up in a blanket and mourning patroclus, because i too am gay, wrapped in a blanket, and easily provoked into fighting

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honestly the most relatable iliad character

#lmao #did ella write this tumblr post #ella i see you #the last beginning
2ND AUG 2016

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Look what’s in the August issue of Diva magazine, in their Queer Summer Reading List! 👀👀👀

#lgbt #lgbt ya #we need diverse books #the last beginning
29TH JUL 2016

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I’ve just got the page layouts for The Last Beginning and I WISH I could show you some of the graphics without it being a huge spoiler, because they are STUNNING. YOU GUYS, I CAN’T WAIT UNTIL OCTOBER FOR YOU ALL TO READ THIS BOOK!!! ⏩⏩⏩

#the last beginning #LGBT #LGBT YA
2ND JUL 2016

andreis-reaper: If you love her you will take her shopping for medieval weaponry.

#Take ella shopping clove #You gotta #The last beginning
27TH JUN 2016

lesbianstellagibson: when will wes anderson make the lesbian romance filled with muted pastels, delicate typography, and perfect symmetry that my heart yearns for

#the last beginning
7TH JUN 2016

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involuntaryorange: Knitter’s craftspace sign.

#this is everything that #clove #is #the last beginning
5TH JUN 2016

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!

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

The Last Beginning Cover reveal + 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.

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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:

Posts about The Last Beginning
Why the sequel to The Next Together has an LGBT protagonist
#novelaesthetics
Meet Clove
Meet Ella
Playlist
Extracts
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.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.

dream book covers with @Lauren_E_James 📚✨ pic.twitter.com/Iz0InrZfX4

— Alice Oseman (@AliceOseman) September 22, 2015

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.)

@AliceOseman @Lauren_E_James is one of the people wearing a dressing gown on TNB? There aren't enough people in dressing gowns on covers.

— Nonalong (@NonPratt) September 22, 2015

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.)

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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.

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. !!!!

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

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#Ella #too thick eyeliner #the last beginning

12TH SEP 2016

In case you somehow missed it, I GOT MY FIRST COPY OF THE LAST BEGINNING.

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Isn’t it stunning? Isn’t it glorious? Isn’t it everything your heart has ever wanted? (Yes.) Only 20 days until its released and in your hands too! (Please buy it. I’m so proud of it.)

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#LMAO #this is Tom!! #the last beginning
22ND AUG 2016

You can vote for me in Maximum Pop!’s poll on the best debut of the year (I KNOW.) until 30th September. I’d love it if you did!

I did an interview with What’s On:

1745. A teenage girl of high social status falls for a Scottish servant boy at the height of the Jacobite rebellion in Carlisle. Almost 300 years later, in the aftermath of the Third World War, a couple of university students uncover a devastating government plot and risk their lives to intervene. Katherine and Matthew, Matt and Kate; in The Next Together, two young lovers are destined to be born again and again at key moments in time, repeatedly altering the course of history forever.

With the book’s sequel, The Last Beginning, due for publication in October, Berkswell-based author Lauren James will be appearing at the Big Comfy Literature Festival in Coventry’s FarGo Village next weekend. Along with fellow YA writer Rhian Ivory (The Boy Who Drew The Future), she’ll be speaking on a panel about historical fantasy fiction, taking place at 2.45pm on Sunday 11 September. What’s On spoke to James about the rise of YA novels, writing her first book and the advantages of genre-bending.

“All plots have been written hundreds of times before. There are no new ideas. Combining old plots in new genres, however, can give that twist which makes it feel original,” she said. “The Next Together series is ridiculously every genre, almost. It’s a historical drama, a conspiracy theory thriller, a science-fiction adventure, and plenty more besides. I did that because as a writer, I would get bored by focussing my whole attention (for over a year per book!) on one genre. As a reader, I feel the same. I want to be challenged and read fresh ideas.”

Like The Hunger Games and countless other YA series that have emerged in recent years, The Next Together combines elements of romantic and science-fiction plots, giving it the potential to reach a wider audience, breaking free of the conventions of genres all-too-often divided along gender lines.

“The Last Beginning was born out of an unanswered desire to find realistic females like you usually only find in contemporary fiction in the male dominated genre of SFF,” James explained. “I want to read diverse, fresh and socially conscious stories which represent the reality of the world I live in. It may be aimed at teenagers, but YA is on the cutting edge of fiction, taking risks to do new things which other areas of publishing have never done.”

As young readers begin to forge their identities in a complex and constantly changing society, it’s unsurprising that YA fiction is increasingly tapping into the difficulties they face in navigating this brave new world. Reflecting teenagers’ real-world concerns is a responsibility that James and other YA authors take seriously.

“The YA reading community is so passionate and socially aware, and that demand online for better and more respectful diversity has encouraged more publishers to buy diverse books, meaning that YA books are on the forefront of change – one example being the huge increase in LGBT YA literature in recent years (like my second novel The Last Beginning, which has a lesbian relationship). YA authors write things which children read, things which can shape their views for life. The authors of YA have a huge responsibility to their young readers, and I think being aware of that responsibility creates very well-crafted books. Things happen more rapidly and collaboratively here than anywhere else.”

Nevertheless, The Next Together is far from exclusively focused on the teenage world. As Matthew and Katherine reappear at different periods in time, they’re forced to deal with the horrors of war, spying, foreign correspondence, conspiracy and political division. The book is also peppered with references to an independent Scotland and the UK’s troubled relationship with its European neighbours, apparently drawing on some of the major issues affecting our country today.

“There was a tense time when the Scottish referendum happened, because it was a month or so after the book had officially gone to print. If the result had been different, and Scotland had left the UK in 2015 instead of in the future like in the book, then the politics in TNT would have been out of date before it was ever published! Interestingly, the same thing happened with The Last Beginning – the book is set in 2056, when the UK is separate from the EU and has been at war with them for years. After the book was all completely finished and ready to be printed, Brexit happened! Apparently I’m great at accidentally predicting a lot of British politics!”

Scottish independence and war with Europe isn’t just part of a potential future in The Next Together – James also uses instances of conflict and rebellion in the past to reflect on their potential impact. But despite setting large chunks of her story in bygone centuries, James says that she knew very little about history before she started writing.

“The Next Together includes two storylines set in the past, one in 1745 and one in 1854. I was a student when I started writing as a hobby, so I didn’t want to spend any money on history textbooks. I actually chose the timelines in the book based on which I could research for free, mainly using my university library and primary sources available to access on Google Books. It seemed to work out quite well! I was very naïve when I started writing, and definitely didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I was a very frequent visitor of Wikipedia. I spent a lot of time reading old books and diaries and making endless notes. It was definitely worth it though – I hope it adds more realism to the time periods.”

As well as multiple timelines, the book is also set in several different locations, including Carlisle, Nottingham University and a laboratory in an unspecified area of the West Midlands, as well as in war-torn 19th-century Crimea.

“I went to the University of Nottingham and live in the West Midlands, so both of those locations were just shamelessly stolen from my life. In my head I was imaging the CSL building as something similar to Warwick University’s science research facilities outside campus, where I did some research whilst I was at school,” she explained. “Carlisle is the location of the last castle in England to actually come under siege, which I thought was really interesting. It’s almost on the very border of history between medieval and modern warfare. It worked as a great contrast to the futuristic settings of Kate and Matt’s other lives.”

Growing up in Coventry, James made frequent use of the city’s libraries, both for leisure reading and for research. As financial cut-backs bring the library service increasingly under threat, James remains a passionate advocate for the value of local libraries.

“I love and constantly use Coventry Libraries. I read, without hyperbole, every single book in Coundon Library as a kid. I used to get the maximum number of books out on my library card and my mum and dad and brother’s, and bring all fifty of them back a week later for more. The recent and upcoming closures make me unspeakably sad, especially that there are children today who are losing out on that local resource that basically made me the reader and writer I am now.”

It wasn’t long before this early passion for reading sparked an interest in writing her own stories, and James has been working through many of the ideas that would eventually come to fruition in The Next Together since her school days.

“I’ve been thinking about a couple who are reincarnated throughout history since I was about sixteen, and always wrote about them during Creative Writing assignments at school. It stuck with me long enough for me to actually start writing the full novel when I was eighteen and at university, so it’s been with me for a very long time!”

Upon finishing the first draft of her novel at the tender age of 19, James was lucky enough to find an agent and a publisher very quickly, despite not having much of a plan about how to go about finding one! It’s testament to the strength of her ideas that the book was snapped up so enthusiastically without much knowledge of pitching and publishing processes on her part.

“I had absolutely no idea how the publishing industry worked. I think I read one How To article on query letters before writing one and blithely sending it off into the aether! I found an A to Z list of agents and started emailing with the Z’s, because I thought they’d have the least submissions. In the end, I found an agent on W, after I’d emailed only six agencies. It was a very naive way to apply, but I got very lucky – my agent is incredible, and last year she was shortlisted for the Bookseller’s Agent of the Year award! We then submitted to publishers after a whole year of revisions (I was still at university so could only really work on it during the holidays) and within two weeks two publishers had offered! Saying it now, that seems so easy and fast, but at the time it was the most stressful, delirious fortnight of my life. I’ve been through the submission process several times since then, and it does not get any easier.”

Set to arrive in shops on 6 October this year, the sequel to her debut novel, The Last Beginning, will follow the story of Clove, a girl who dreams of travelling through time in a machine being built by her parents. It follows the release of a free e-novella earlier this year, set in the same universe and titled Another Together.

“It’s a duology, so this book will be the end of the series, but who knows what will happen in the future! I’d love to write more books set in this world,” she said. “I have a few other projects coming up, but they haven’t been announced yet, so I can’t say much more than that I’m sticking with science fiction, and focussing on a thriller next.”

Lauren James appears with Rhian Ivory at FarGo Village’s Big Comfy Bookshop on Sunday 11 September at 2.45pm. Her second novel, The Last Beginning, will be released on Thursday 6 October, and is published by Walker Books. For a full line-up and updates on the Big Comfy Literature Festival, visit facebook.com/events/990963024285218.

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I’m obsessed with this picture of my new character Clove from The Last Beginning, drawn by my mate Sarah for my birthday!!! Clove is a grumpy computer programmer who knits to control her hyperactivity. She’s also got a crush on this girl she keeps seeing around campus, as seen sitting behind her…. 👭

Finally – if you’re excited for The Last Beginning, you may just want to subscribe to my blog by email, which you can do on the right hand side of my blog. There’s some exciting things coming up over the few weeks, including some exciting announcements…!

15TH SEP 2016

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I feel a little bit like a period of my life is over. I’ve been working on this duology for 6 years, and it’s finally complete. Here are both books from the first drafts (with different titles) to the finished copies. Good luck, my little series. I put everything I had into you.

#the last beginning
10TH SEP 2016

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More extras:

Fancasting the characters
Why the sequel to The Next Together has an LGBT protagonist
Novel Aesthetics
Playlist
Recap of The Next Together
The books in emoji format
Clove and Ella get engaged
Titanic crossover
Disney crossover
10 fictional characters who inspired Clove & Ella
Editing a scene from start to finish

I made a the last beginning aesthetics post for the 6th and it’s so pretty i literally can’t stop staring at it, help me

#the final copies came in today #i can’t wait to get one! #the last beginning
2ND SEP 2016

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alwayslostinotherworlds: A study of an @aliceoseman fan art of @Lauren_E_James character in #TheLastBeginning wow that’s a long description! I think her tumblr is #laurenjames

Someone DREW FANART OF ALICE’S FANART. LIKE INCEPTION. FOR A BOOK THAT ISN’T EVEN OUT YET!

#i can’t believe someone’s drawn fanart of the fanart for my book!! #which isn’t even out yet!! #THANK YOU SO MUCH #the last beginning #ella #honestly this is incredible
So basically I’m in heaven. The actual book is out in October, and you can add it on Goodreads here. All you need to know about the plot of The Last Beginning is that my publishers decided to include this on the copyright page: 😈

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14TH AUG 2016

IT’S EXACTLY TWO MONTHS TODAY UNTIL THE LAST BEGINNING COMES OUT!! HAVE AN EXCERPT!!

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#the last beginning
6TH AUG 2016

katkinkat: i wish i could say “?????????” in real life it would be very useful

#matthew #in #the last beginning
3RD AUG 2016

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It’s midnight, which means The Last Beginning is OFFICIALLY RELEASED. It’s out in the world! Go and buy it and love it!! To celebrate, today @charliesmissen helped me make a cover cake! Each tier is a one of the rings of the cover. There’s even the silhouettes of Clove & Ella on the light blue ring, circles with letters ‘K’, ’M’ and ‘C’ inside on the red ring and stars on the dark blue ring. The cakes are carrot and coffee cake. And it’s DELICIOUS. Great British Bake Off has got nothing on us, yo. 🎂

#the last beginning #the great british bake off #baking
6TH OCT 2016

Anonymous asked: are kate and matt even in the last beginning? because you dont talk about them

Of course they are! They’re in it LOTS. I’ve just talked about them a lot in the past, so I’m focusing on my new characters Clove and Ella this time around.

Here’s a snippet of them, to prove how very much in-the-book they are, though:

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#the last beginning #Anonymous
5TH OCT 2016

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spacezeros: the first of two graphics i made for my amazing friend Lauren James @laurenjames‘s release of her second novel, The Last Beginning, a lesbian time-travel story, on October 6th 2016

Art by Alice Oseman, reblog here.

#the last beginning #ALICE SPOILS ME #I love her #this is so good!!!! #help!! #alice
4TH OCT 2016

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spacezeros: the second of two graphics i made for my friend Lauren James @laurenjames‘s release of her second novel, The Last Beginning, a lesbian time-travel story

Art by Alice Oseman, reblog here.

#!!!!!!!!! #GOOD GOD #ALICE #the last beginning
5TH OCT 2016

Countdown to The Last Beginning: 3 days to go! – TITANIC CROSSOVER
Yesterday, I wrote a Disney crossover of my new book.

Clove was walking through the market square one day, running errands for her master, the evil Lord of Tring (who not only paid her minimum wage but also made her fetch all the groceries and sleep with only one eiderdown pillow).

“Do you think I’ll have time to visit Miss Perriwinkle?” she asked Spart, her pony, who trailed along behind her with bags of flour strapped to his back.

You can read the rest here. Today I’m making this second picture by Alice into another AU. (By the way, there’s also some art drawn by Alice in the book. I’m not going to post a pic because it’s a spoiler, but it’s on page 267.)

Okay, so this one is a looot more serious. They both look so sad. This is straight out of some indie film, or a really intense fanfiction. Clove looks like she’s just realising that the fact dating thing isn’t working because she’s accidentally fallen in love with Ella. The style really reminds me of Lost in Translation too. Oh! Wait! It’s a Titanic AU. They’ve just found out the ship is sinking! And for maximum angst, it’s clearly POST BREAK UP too. Let’s get those tears flowing.

Clove had known that Elenore was also travelling on board the Titanic. She’d known for over a year, ever since their parents had bragged together about having secured tickets on its maiden voyage. That didn’t make the sight of her any less painful. She was following her mother up the gangway, parasol over one shoulder and skirts lifted to avoid the puddles. Their servants trailed behind, dragging a trolley of leather suitcases.

When Elenore caught sight of Clove, standing on the docks with the breath knocked out of her in surprise, she stopped in her tracks.

Elenore’s eyes ran across her face. She opened her mouth to speak. Then her mother turned and said, “Come along, Ella.”

She blinked once, twice, and then turned away from Clove, her jaw tight. When she followed her mother onto the Titanic, Elenore didn’t look back at Clove even once.

It had been over a month since they had broken up, and it still felt like Clove’s heart had been torn out of her chest every time she thought of her. Every time she remembered how things had been once, when they’d been in love and Clove had been happier than she’d ever thought possible. But she had to try to move on, just like Elenore had. Their families were emigrating to completely different states in the New World. After the voyage, they would probably never see each other again. Their relationship wasn’t meant to be.

That didn’t stop Clove wanting to spend the rest of her life with Elenore, curled up in front of the fire reading in a peaceful silence (Clove studying the work of Ada Lovelace, while Elenore translated Latin texts), or riding across open countryside side by side, or engaged in any of the other pursuits they had enjoyed for most of their childhood.

She wondered if Elenore had any regret at all for the way they’d left things.

Clove ducked her head, rubbing the back of her neck, and vowed to put all thoughts of Elenore out of her mind.

Only one week, she told herself, as she followed her parents on board the Titanic. Only one week on this ship, and she’d never have to see Elenore again. And it was the largest ship in the world, after all. What were the chances they’d bump into one another?

The next time she saw Elenore, four days later, she was standing at the bow of the ship. The first thought that crossed Clove’s mind was: she’s wearing the scarf I knitted for her. The second thought was: I am totally, and utterly lost.

It was past eleven at night, but Clove had been desperate for some fresh air. It seemed Elenore had had the same thought. She was framed by stars and the boiling waves of the sea below, her curls glowed golden in the moonlight, and her cream dress swept across deck in an elegant curve. She was absolutely wonderfully stunning. And Clove was still as in love with her as ever.

Clove took a step backwards, trying to slip away before Elenore saw her, but she knocked a life jacket off its hook. It looked to Clove like it fell in slow motion.

When it crashed to the floor, Elenore span around.

“Clove,” she said, the words an exhale.

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“Ella.” Clove nodded tightly at her, and paused, unsure whether she should leave. There was something that looked a lot like longing in Ella’s eyes. “I hope your parents are well?” she asked finally.
“Very well.” Elenore looked at the ground.“Alfie is very much enjoying the voyage so far,” she added.

“I miss him,” Clove said. Alfred was her younger brother. They had played croquet with him all summer, before things had been broken forever.

“He misses you too.” Elenore looked away. “Clove, I-”

Elenore stopped speaking as abruptly, the floor beneath their feet seemed to shudder. An earthquake, Clove thought lightning-fast, before remembering they were on a ship.

“What was that?” Elenore said. She leant over the handrail, looking down at the sea far below them. “Oh! Clove, look!”

Clove walked to her side and peered overboard, breathing deeply to try and still her heartbeat. She wasn’t sure if it was racing because of surprise, or because of Elenore’s arm touching hers.

“Is that-”

“An iceberg!” Elenore said.

It was enormous, white and blue with frost. It was rapidly disappearing in the wake of the Titanic, but smaller shards of ice surrounding it made it clear what had happened: there had been a collision. The Titanic had hit an iceberg.

“Do you think it caused any damage?” Clove asked, worried suddenly. Everyone made a huge fuss about how robust the Titanic was, saying that it was like no ship that had come before it, but the iceberg was enormous. It had been large enough for the ship to shudder noticeably when they had collided.

Elenore bit her lip, frowning. “I hope not.”

Clove shivered, suddenly aware of the ice cold air around them. Just the thought of the sea below them was enough to make her freeze. “Let’s go inside,” she said. “I’m sure it was nothing.”

Two hours later, Elenore and Clove clung to each other in the ocean, gasping for breath. Clove fought to think above the ice cold sting of the water. It felt like daggers, digging into every inch of her body.

“Ella,” she said, and pulled her closer. “I can’t- it’s-”

Elenore sobbed. “It won’t be long. The lifeboats will pick us up soon, I promise.”

Clove didn’t want to say that she thought the boats probably weren’t going to come back for them. The crew had been too scared to risk their boats being overturned.

“I love you,” she said instead, wiping strands of hair away from Elenore’s face – strands which were already turning to ice. “I wish we’d never decided to end things. It wasted the last time we had together.”

Elenore kissed her, cupping her face calmly. Below them, their legs kicked violently to keep them afloat. Clove kissed her back, even though her lips were so numb that she could barely feel the touch.

When they parted, Elenore was crying. “I’m going to love you for the rest of my life, Clove Sutcliffe,” she said. Her voice was determined. “And I’m not letting that end just yet.”

Elenore wrapped her arm around Clove’s waist, tugging her with her as she swam towards the lifeboats, distant lights in the pitch blackness.

“We won’t make it,” Clove gasped, kicking her legs as much as she could. She felt dizzy with weakness, and so cold that her heart was slowing. “It’s too far.”

“We don’t have to,” Elenore said, and grabbed onto a piece of wood floating in the water, one of the last remnants of the Titanic. She pushed Clove onto the debris, and climbed on after her.

“Big enough for both of us,” she said, gasping. She was trembling.

Clove pulled her closer, wrapping her arms around her. She pressed her lips to her ear.

“It’s going to be all right,” Clove said, her voice hoarse. “It’s going to be all right.”

Every year for the rest of their lives, on the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, Clove and Elenore would remember. Quiet and sombre, they would spend the day on the beach at the end of their garden, staring out at the deceptive calm of the ocean. Then they would return to their family and try not to think, for another year, of all the ways they’d nearly lost each other.

The Last Beginning will be published by Walker Books in the UK and Australia on 6th October 2016. It will be released in the US in Fall 2017 by Sky Pony Press. Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones | Foyles | Hive You can add the book onGoodreads or subscribe to my mailing list for updates, or read the prologue on Wattpad. More extras:

#titanic #the last beginning
3RD OCT 2016

Disney crossover!
Three days until my second book is out!! Amazon orders are being wrapped up and shipped out as we speak!!

For the release of The Next Together, I posted the book as a series of different genres, which you can read here. So for the next two days I’m doing something similar for The Last Beginning, inspired by two drawings of my characters Clove and Ella done by the lovely Alice Oseman. Both drawings are of the same scene in the book, but the styles are so different that they look like they are alternate universe versions of Clove and Ella’s story. So, obviously, I’ve got to write them.

Bring on the crossovers! Today’s picture looks really storybook and cute, so at first I was thinking about making this an Enid Blyton Famous Five fic.
But I changed my mind. This is unquestionably an Disney AU. These two are straight out of the first gay Disney animated feature. They’re clearly plotting to overthrow a terrible villain (voiced by Jeremy Irons).

“Do you think I’ll have time to visit Miss Perriwinkle?” she asked Spart, her pony, who trailed along behind her with bags of flour strapped to his back.

“Probably not,” he intoned miserably. “There’s a lot of traffic on the crossroads, you might be late home.”

Clove looked over to the far side of the square, where three carts were at a standstill. One of them was overturned, with apples spilling across the ground.

“Ugh, this town’s infrastructure is the worst,” Clove said. “You’d think the evil Lord of Tring would install traffic lights so there were less collisions. Anyway, I think I’ll be fine. You can get past them.”

“It’s your funeral,” Spart said, and huffed a sigh so strong that it sent her hair flying in all directions.

“I want to borrow some more books,” Clove said. “I’m stuck on a transfiguration spell and I think Miss Perriwinkle has another ‘How to … for Dummies’ which might help.”

“One of these days the evil Lord will find out you’re training with the local hedgewitch and there’ll be hell to pay. He’ll probably make you wash up by hand instead of using the magic dishwasher.”

“It’ll be worth it,” Clove said decidedly. “Magic is my way out of here, Spart. One day I’ll work out how to open the locket that they found me with at the orphanage, and it’ll tell me who I really am. I’ll help me find my real parents and escape this awful, awful place, where there are only three temperature settings on the showers and no bubble teashops. I’ll see the whole world, every shimmering, splendid inch of it. 🎶 Somewhere out there, I just know that waiting for me, there’s a bright and dazzling place, full of people who love me, like my heart says- 🎶”

Just as she was building up to a crescendo, several voices said “STOP HER!” at the top of their lungs. She broke off, thinking for a second that they were talking about her solo.

Then she caught sight of a girl, running at full speed across the market square from the direction of the overturned carts, her wide skirts lifted in both hands. She knocked over the baker with his basket of pastries and galloped through a whole border of flowers who trilled out their disapproval, turning from pink to an angry red.

“Who on earth is that?” Clove asked, stunned. The girl was being chased by three of the evil Lord of Tring’s guards.

“Trouble,” Spart said, and bent his head to pluck a dandelion from the cracks between the cobblestones, chewing on it thoughtfully.

The girl swerved around a farmer herding half a dozen sheep to the barbers. She was close enough now that Clove could see her panicked expression – all pink cheeks and frowny eyebrows. When she caught sight of Clove, her eyes lit up.

For a second, Clove was flustered – the girl was very pretty, with a mess of blonde hair. It only took her a second to realise that the girl wasn’t looking at Clove at all, but Spart. In a running jump, the girl jumped onto Spart’s back. He spat out a mouthful of yellow dandelion petals and gave a surprised whinny, skipped forward a step or two.

“Hey!” Clove and Spart both said, miffed.

“Hop on if you want your horse back,” the girl hissed, watching the guards navigate the chaos she’d left in her wake. Black ink edging her eyes in the style of the neighbouring country, Clove noticed. They had those kind of luxuries there, not like here in Tring, where you could barely find a decent lip balm. “They’ll catch up any second and I can’t wait for you.”

Clove couldn’t see any other choice. She couldn’t lose Spart – he was her only friend! – and she couldn’t exactly leave this girl to the fate of the guards either, not without knowing what she’d done. She’d seen the state of the evil Lord’s dungeons, and the prisoners only got the stalest croissants, and no cream for their porridge, only milk. Nothing the girl could have done deserved that horrible fate.

She jumped up behind the girl, and within seconds they were galloping across the market square, leaving a trail of angry guards and shopkeepers in their wake.

“Who are you?” Clove gasped, grabbing onto the girl’s shoulders awkwardly as they jolted down the main road and out into the countryside.

“Ella Walker, professional investigator. Pleased to make your acquaintance,” the girl said, reaching around to shake Clove’s hand, then wrapping Clove’s arms more securely around her waist. “Hold on properly – you’re going to fall off.”

“What did you do?” Clove craned around to see if the guards were still following them. Ella made Spart jump a stile into a field, galloping through the corn until they reached the river.

They pulled to a stop. Spart dropped his head, panting. He hadn’t had this much exercise in years. Ella twisted down, dropping to the ground. Tied to a willow tree, bobbing in the water, was a small sailing boat.

“I stole a scroll, nothing important,” Ella said, flicking her hand carelessly. “It was barely worth all that drama.”

Clove dismounted and smoothed down her hair, which had gone a little windswept during their getaway. She found herself looking down, just to check which of her dresses she was wearing. She realised with relief it was the pink one – the nicest of Lady Tring’s old cast-offs. She only gave her silk gowns to Clove when they were a month out of fashion, which was terrible of course, but Clove hoped that Ella hadn’t noticed that.

“What kind of scroll?” she asked.

Ella tucked her skirts into of her undergarments, tied up her hair with a black ribbon and jumped down into the boat. She started unravelling the sail as Clove tried not to look at her bloomers.

“Just the Tring country records,” she said, “Really, nothing major. I think they thought I was after the jewels!”

“Jewels! Why would you want some old records if there were jewels?”

Clove thought that now Ella was safely away from the evil Lord’s guards she could probably leave, but there was something captivating about her. Besides, she told herself, Spart needed a rest. She rubbed his neck reassuringly. “You deserve three carrots, later,” she whispered. He flicked his ear at her, still panting too hard to reply.

“I’ve been asked by King Matthew and Queen Katherine of the neighbouring kingdom to search for the long lost Princess. I’m the only member of court who can speak your language,” Ella said, preening a little proudly as she said it. “But your evil Lord’s evil accountant refused to give up the Tring citizen records without months of paperwork, so I thought ‘Evil bureaucracy isn’t going to stop me!’ and I stole them.”

“Tring is the worst,” Clove agreed. “Did you know the public library only lets you take out books for five days at a time, and then you have to go back and renew them in person?”

“Oh my God,” Ella said, her eyes tight with horror. There was a moment of silence as they both contemplated the foul state of the country. “Anyway, I’ll bring the records back in a day or two if I find no trace of the Princess. It’ll be fine.”

“The Princess? What, the one with the silly name? Princess Anise?” Clove asked, confused. “I thought she was long dead!”

“Oh, no! She’s been missing for years, but they have never given up hope of finding her. The prophecy says that when she’s found, the evil Lord of this land will finally be overthrown, and peace and five-temperature shower settings will rule again. I would tell you about it in a song, but I’ve got a terrible singing voice and no time for a flashback.”

“How on earth are you going to track this princess down?” Clove asked. “She was barely a year old when she fell into Prince Thomas’ potion cauldron and disappeared. She must be my age by now!”

“She had a locket with her when the dreadful accident happened,” Ella said, as she started untying the boat from its mooring. “They are hoping that wherever she was transported to, she still has it.” She jumped into the boat. “Thanks for helping me, by the way. You’re a life-saver, I would never have got away from those guards without you. Look me up if you’re ever in the citadel. I’ll buy you a flaming sea witch.”

A spike of cold had been trickling its way down Clove’s spine as Ella spoke. “What kind of a locket?” she asked, voice cracking with hope. “Did it – did it look anything like this?”

Clove pulled her mysterious locket out from her neckline and held it up for Ella to see.

Ella, who had been pushing the boat away from the bank, looked up. Her eyes widened. She spluttered, tried to grab onto a clump of bulrushes to stop the boat from drifting downstream, and abruptly flailed into the river with an enormous splash.

Clove looked down at the water, and then across at Spart, who was chewing on a stem of cow parsley.

“You should probably go in after her,” he said, glumly. “You’ll never overthrow the evil Lord and regain your throne if she drowns in two inches of water first, and she seems the type.”

Ta da! It was a lot of funny trying to fit in as many of their tropes as possible. If only there was a way to portray the visual gags of Disney films in writing.

Tune in tomorrow to see what kind of AU I make out of this picture of Clove and Ella (or leave your suggestions in the comments!).

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

Amazon UK | Book Depository | Waterstones | Foyles | Hive

You can add the book onGoodreads or subscribe to my mailing list for updates, or read the prologue on Wattpad.
2ND OCT 2016

gaymigration: concept: gay characters that live and get gay happy endings

#the last beginning
1ST OCT 2016

totalgracelessness: I have The Last Beginning. It is mine. I am DEVOURING it. It’s everything I’ve wanted forever – and it’s pulling me out of my current reading slump.

#the last beginning #Grace is my fave and this pic is stunning
1ST OCT 2016

June Round-Up

I read 13 books in June, 8 of which were YA. I did DNF quite a lot of books, so I feel like I’ve been in a bit of a slump. However, I did read some lovely books too. Here are the reviews!

Any marked with a * were received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All links to the Book Depository.

Everybody Rise by Stephanie Clifford*

If you’re a fan of Prep, you might want to read this book. It’s set a couple of years after graduation, when a girl who rejects her upper class heritage finds that she needs to insinuate herself back into the world of polo matches and lake house weekend parties for work. She struggles to reconcile her own disdain for the world, with her determination to get ahead at work.
It’s full of rich details of NYC bankers and blue blood supermodels, and it was a really interesting read. It was a little too long for my taste, but for most fans of these kind of books, like The Secret History, that probably isn’t a bad point.
This Side of Home by Renée Watson

About a pair of young black twins, and how they resolve the different ways they treat their race. This is an important, educational and uplifting read.

Poorly Drawn Lines: Good Ideas and Amazing Stories by Reza Farazmand*

I’m a huge fan of this webcomic. The book is a compilation of them all, with a few new extras, and some short prose pieces. I would have liked it if it was twice as long, to be honest.

Really fun, and original.

Sedition by Katharine Grant

Well, that was brilliantly, ridiculously mad. This book is the exact definition of a wild ride from start to finish.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik*

I’m kind of obsessed with this book. The Dragon is the grumpiest, most problematic fave I’ve had in a while. He’s angry about EVERYTHING, and it just makes me want to pat him gently on the head while he hisses at me like a cat. THE DRAGON!! Ahem. And, the rest of the book was good too.

The plot is very reminiscent of Beauty and the Beast, which is not a criticism at all because somehow this story NEVER GETS OLD. I want all the young girls wandering around cavernous empty castles in gold encrusted ballgowns, stealing books from libraries and discovering magic. MORE. In summary: this book is great, READ IT. It’s long and delicious and has come fantastic worldbuilding, and I loved it all.

Inferno by Catherine Doyle

Reviewed in my June Favourites here.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon*

A lovely story filled with beautifully drawn graphics, with memorable characters and an interesting concept. I did guess the plot twist very early on, but still a worthwhile read.

Online bits and bobs

This month I also filmed a video with the lovely Lucy the Reader, which was super fun and silly. Thank you so much to Lucy for having me!

I also did an interview with Marci Lyn Curtis, a guest post on researching for historical fiction for Beth Reekles’ Writing Wednesday series.

Also: my old school wrote about my book, Louise O’Neill mentioned TNT in the Guardian, and most excitingly, people have started reviewing TNT. Here are some of my favourite reviews:

More than just a hobbit said:

The couple themselves are sweet without being too adorable, honest without being too gritty. Katherine is a feisty, comical character that will appeal to teens and her chemistry with Matthew feels comfortingly real. I feel like they really existed, and I loved their banter!

I didn’t want this book to end, I paced myself so as not to read it too quickly and waste the magic, but to be honest I could have read it in one sitting (though my mind may have exploded!).

Sofia at The Reading Fangirl said:

Katherine and Matthew were amazing lead characters. I loved how different they were in each time period but also how similar they were. I honestly could not pick my favourite Katherine and Matthew because I loved them all so dearly and I didn’t want any of them to get hurt. They really are the leaders of this book and without these two main characters, it would really fall apart.

Ayesha at Twins turn pages said:

As for the characters, I fell in love with them. Katherine had a very witty sense of humour and she was utterly hilarious, I just wanted to be best friends with her! Matthew was just so adorable and nerdy and he definitely pulled at my heart strings. I found myself always rooting for them to get together and fall in love no matter what they had experienced or despite their backgrounds. They both felt like real people that I could relate to.

So I’m a very, very happy author right now! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed the book so far. ❤

June favourites! Inferno | Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell | Soap & Glory

It’s July, which means: The Next Together is released in exactly 2 months tomorrow, whaaaaaat?!?!

[high pitched squeal]

[deep, calming breaths]

It also means that it’s time for another monthly favourites post! I really enjoy these, so I’m going to carry on writing them. Previously: April | May

Book: Inferno by Catherine Doyle

Romeo and Juliet meets The Godfather in the second instalment of Catherine Doyle’s Blood for Blood series. Sophie’s life has been turned upside-down, and she’s determined to set things right. But Nic, the Falcone brother who represents everything she’s trying to forget, won’t give up on their love – and it’s Luca’s knife she clutches for comfort. Soon another mafia clan spoils the fragile peace – and with her heart drawn in one direction and her blood in another, Sophie’s in deeper than ever.

Okay, I know this is cheating. The book isn’t out until JANUARY. But Catherine let me sneakily read it now because I am a lucky, lucky, shameless beggar, and I can’t stop thinking about it. I just went to Venice, and every time I saw an Italian boy I wondered whether they were a Mafia Underboss. I blame this entirely on Cat.

I think I’m going to have to start a petition for this series to be made into a Netflix Original show. It’s the best, best, best YA romance-slash-Mafia action film that you could ever HOPE FOR. I was stressed out and thrilled by everything. IT WAS SO GOOD. SO GOOD. SUCH BAD-ASSERY. Sophie totally comes into her own in this book, and I swear to god she’s going to end up being the Mafia Queen, and I’m going to be cheering her on the entire journey. In summary: THIS BOOK IS A WILD RIDE. I need the next one, which tragically isn’t out until 2017. CAN I WAIT THAT LONG? No. Definitely not.

Music: Your Bright Blood playlist This is a playlist about the book The Song of Achilles, and it is super great. I’ve been listening to it on repeat recently. Includes Bastille, Noah and the Whale, Regina Spektor, Vampire Weekend, and other excellent bands. You should listen to it while you read the rest of this post, js.

TV: Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell This is a BBC mini-series that is currently airing, based on one of my all-time favourite books. It’s about two Victorian gentlemen magicians, who are the first people able to do actual magic in centuries. They help the British Army in the Napoleon wars, while arguing over textbooks and becoming acquaintances/enemies/besties. It’s complicated and ridiculous and I love it. It. is. amazing. Mainly because of Jonathan Strange.

Oh, Jonathan, Jonathan, Jonathan. This ridiculously dorky magician is my new obsession. Just look at him do magic, and tell me he isn’t a fluffy-haired dreamboat:

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tumblr_np4o05Q1c31tesvo4o1_500 — Sources

tumblr_nplv4bSMbz1qhc9d1o2_500 — Sources

Do you see my point? You see my point. Jonathan Strange = babe. BABE. Okay, that’s enough gifs. OH WAIT, NO IT ISN’T.

tumblr_nphsu73WIo1qeocdjo7_250 — In summary: Jonathan Strange.

Recipe: Sweet cornbread cake

I made this recently, and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. It’s the most perfectly dense, rich sponge cake, and it has just a tinge of sweetness. I love ittttt.

Article: Maggie Stiefvater’s writing blog series

I’ve been reading one of these a day for the whole of June, and savouring them like expensive chocolates. Maggie’s advice and experiences are so true and real, and I learnt a lot of new things, and agree whole-heartedly with everything else. Some of my favourites: Artist & Thief | Red = Rage. Ocean = Longing. Literary = | Why I’m A Writer & Not a Fighter Pilot | I Sneak Into Your Brain And Make You Think My Thoughts 7509995_whippedclean_showerbutter_1_

Product: Soap & Glory Whipped Clean shower butter

This stuff is great. It smells like heaven does, probably. That’s basically my whole thoughts on it. It’s great.

Stationery: Venetian writing paper I just got back from Venice. It was amazing. Also very hot and busy and expensive. But WORTH IT.

11138069_10153399433084501_8408711163691956367_n — Me, staring at buildings and water for like…..forty hours straight.

20150702_172754 I bought some lovely fancy writing paper while I was there, which I have been stroking lovingly since I got back. LOOK AT IT.

20150702_172934 — If you’re thinking of writing me a letter, now would be a good time, just sayin’.

Nex time you’re in Venice and in need of stationary (AREN’T WE ALL?) then this is great stuff, 100% would recommend. That’s June summaried! I have to go back to staring at my writing paper now. Laters.

tumblr_npmqvbkXPV1qbfcx6o2_r1_500 — I couldn’t resist one last Jonathan Strange gif. Sorrynotsorry. Look at that dork run.

review P.S. THAT’S RIGHT. The Bookseller described my book as ‘funny, romantic and compulsively readable’. I will never be over this. Ever.

Writing a query letter

Before we begin, an announcement. If you preordered my book, firstly: THANK YOU. Secondly, you can get a free signed bookmark! All the details are here. Again, THANK YOU.

I get a lot of tumblr asks with questions about how to write a good query letter, so I thought I’d make a blog post with some advice. There are lots of other similar posts out there with probably better advice; I highly recommend googling round.

Don’t just send your query letter out to all the agents you can find. Sometimes you’ll get given feedback with rejections, and you can make changes to the manuscript based on that. Then you can send the new version to other agents. You can’t do this if you’ve already sent it out everywhere. Send it out in groups of 6 or 7.
Don’t bother printing out your manuscript- there’s plenty of agents that accept electronic submissions and it’ll save loads of money.
Don’t be upset if you don’t get replies immediately. Agents are very busy, and it can take weeks before they even look at submissions. It has no bearing on the manuscript. Honestly, do not take this personally.
Try to find agents who represent books in similar genres to yours, or ones who say they like specific things on their websites. I applied to my agent because she said that she liked humorous stories, so I knew there was a chance she might like mine. It worked!
Don’t give in after a few rejections- it doesn’t mean your MS is bad. It can just mean their list is full, or they already have something similar, or they just don’t fully fall in love with the story. It’s a huge commitment taking on a new client, and they have to absolutely love it to do that. Everyone has different tastes, so keep trying.

How can you get your manuscript read by an agent? I can only tell you what my agent told me about why she read my work. I include little funny messages at the start of each chapter, which I formatted to look like this:

tumblr_inline_nk8nhwlqOO1qzl77q — Basically I tried to make it look as much like a book as possible, to trick agents into thinking it was publishing worthy.

When my agent was skimming through a huge inbox full of manuscripts, this apparently caught her eye as something original, that she’d not seen before. It wasn’t enough to persuade her to represent me, but it gave her a push to read the whole thing.

So I would say that you need to find something that makes your writing unique, even if it’s only a small element of the story. Make sure it’s in the first few chapters, along with all of your very best writing, because when you’re querying that’s what agents will read.

Read your favourite books, and try to narrow down a few reasons why you like that book so much. For example, my favourite YA book is probably Sabriel by Garth Nix. I love it because:

unique portrayal of the afterlife
talking cat
shy adorable boy and powerful confident girl
secret royalty
magical paper flying machines
zombie monsters

That obviously isn’t a full list of the great things about the book, but those are the things that I think about when I get the urge to reread it. Try and make a list of the things that you like about your own writing in the same way. If you love a certain element, make sure there’s more of it! Give it the space it deserves. If someone reading it likes talking cats as much as you, then your work is going to stand out to them.

(This is also a good way to brainstorm if you haven’t started writing yet. If you make a list of your favourite things from your favourite books, then those are things you should try to include in your own writing. For example, try and combine a dystopian storyline with something from your list of favourites that’s never been written about in that genre before – like with STATION ELEVEN, where a post-apocalyptic world is combined with a Shakespearian travelling theatre group. If you love theatre, and you love dystopia, that mix is irresistible. In the same way, if you love secret royalty like me, then maybe writing about what happens to the Royal family after an apocalypse would be fun.)

When you’re writing a query letter, make sure you mention all of these irresistible elements. Read some blurbs from your favourite books, and try and copy how they write. How did they drop in the details that first made you pick up the book? That’s what you need to do! Remember that an agent is a reader, just like you, and they are going to pick up books they want to read, not the books written by people who can write the fanciest query letter. Don’t get too stressed out about it. Just write the best representation of your book that you can!

You’re not trying to write the perfect query letter that any agent won’t be able to resist. You just need to make sure that the one agent who will love your book reads the manuscript. Once they start reading, the book will speak for itself! You just need to hook them.

There are loads of examples out there, but here’s my query letter as an example. I sent it to 6 agents along with the first 2 chapters of The Next Together (then called The Red Earth Rolls). I had one request to read the full manuscript. She accepted me as a client!

Dear [Agent],

The Red Earth Rolls is a completed 120,000 word young adult novel based on the idea of reincarnation, and encompasses genres such as dystopia, regency, romance, science fiction and thriller. An adventure spanning three hundred years, this story has something to interest every reader.

Katherine and Matthew have done this before. They keep being brought back to life and every time they do things seem to be getting worse.

In 1745 Katherine Hallward is spending a little too much time with her coachman, Matthew, when the Jacobites attack the city of Carlisle, on the border of Scotland and England. Somehow the city has to defend itself against the feared Highlanders, and Katherine is determined to help in any way she can, regardless of the consequences.

In 1853 Katy, an orphan girl, is running from the police in disguise when she accidentally gets stuck on board a steamer bound for the battlefield of the Crimean war. Luckily a journalist is there to take her under his wing; although there is the slight problem in that he thinks she is a boy. Together they try and help the war effort as much as possible, despite the hostility of the soldiers.

In 2090 Kate meets a new researcher in her biology lab and discovers that together they bear a startling resemblance to her mysterious great aunt and uncle. Meanwhile, Kate keeps recalling memories that aren’t hers: the siege of a castle, a kiss that never happened on a battlefield from a history book.

In each lifetime they are fighting for what is right, but however hard they try to help, will it ever be enough to stop them being brought back once more? Revealing the power of love regardless of circumstance, this book looks at the determination of two people in the face of growing turmoil.

This book should appeal to students; people who grew up speaking the language of the internet, who enjoy science fiction but also have a soft spot for Jane Austen. The Red Earth Rolls was written by a teenager, for teenagers: I’m currently in the third year of a Chemistry and Physics degree at the University of Nottingham. I wrote this novel after becoming increasingly frustrated by the glamorised science often found in media. This prompted me to write a more accurate story about scientists, and my love of history and genealogy brought forth another element.

I would greatly appreciate any advice you could offer me about my manuscript. Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

I hope this helped a little. Good luck!

A rebloggable version of this post can be found here.

How my reading habits have changed since becoming an author

Before we begin, an announcement. If you preordered my book, firstly: THANK YOU. Secondly, you can get a free signed bookmark! All the details are here. Again, THANK YOU. ❤

It’s now been over two years since I signed with an agent and started thinking of myself as an author of books, instead of (or rather, as well as) a reader of books. In that time, my reading habits have changed very drastically. I’ve been thinking about this a lot, so I thought I’d write a blog post. (Warning: it’s very introspective.)

tumblr_inline_n76e5bwxFr1qiwm72 — The topic of this post. Also, my blog in general. THIS IS MY KINGDOM.

Reading YA

I sometimes joke that when I was a teenager I read adult fiction, and now I’m an adult I read teenage fiction. It’s kind of true. I read a lot, lot more YA now than I ever used to. So far in 2015 I have read 55 YA novels, out of a total of 101 books (54%). In the whole of 2012, when I was writing The Next Together, I read 13 YA books out of a total of 80 books (16%).

One reason for this is because I’m in a community with a huge amount of passion for YA, and it’s hard not to want to read books that everyone you know loves. A less optimistic way of putting that is: I get caught up in the hype a lot more now that I ever used to as a reader. Whereas I previously only read books I really liked the sound of, I now try and read everything that’s getting Big. I feel like I have to keep on top of the YA world.

Sometimes this leads to absolute gems – books I get to read months and months before they hit the shelves (thank you, Netgalley! That website is another reason I read more YA- who can resist the siren call of review books?).

Other times it means that I don’t really enjoy the books I’m reading that much. Because, simply put, I’m not the target audience. I’m just not. There is a lot of crossover potential in YA for adults and teenagers, but that isn’t (and should never be) the main focus of YA novels. YA novels are for teenagers, and I am no longer one. This all tends to mean I don’t get as enthusiastic about books as I really should.

I recently enjoyed The Raven Cycle, and that’s probably the first YA series I’ve read since becoming an author that really clicked for me as a book that I can consider myself a real fan of, rather than reading it and appreciating it for what it is: a good book for teenagers.

tumblr_nnsxdlI9NM1ti97cjo1_540 — I know I’ve mentioned The Raven Boys many, many times before. I’M JUST SO INTO IT.

That feeling of thoroughly, wholeheartedly enjoying a book made me suddenly realise what I’ve been missing. For a while, that kind of feeling will make me read only adult literature, or science fiction, or historical romances – or fanfiction.

Then another YA book will get lots of great reviews on twitter – or, more likely, I’ll start to feel guilty about not reading YA. As a writer of YA, I feel like I have a responsibility to read everything. It is my job, after all! I should know what’s out there! Why am I wasting time reading Neil Gaiman when I should be reading the YA bestsellers? Instead of reading for me, I feel like I’m reading so that I don’t feel like an imposter as an author.

How often I read

Looking through my goodreads list, I read more – a lot more – than I used to. I read 50 more books in 2014 than in 2013.

Some of that is simply because I’ve graduated now, and have more time. But a lot of it is that I feel bad about not having read stuff, like I discussed above. I feel more pressured to be reading as much as possible, so I can keep up with other people. Even as I write that, I know it’s ridiculous. ‘Keep up’? At reading? That’s nonsense. But it’s something I feel.

However, I do give up on books more easily now, though. If it’s something I think I’m not going to enjoy, I’ll stop reading it. I’m not investing time in something I won’t get anything out of. I like that I do that now, whereas I used to force my way through books as a matter of principle.

Reading for enjoyment

I am very, very unforgiving of a lack of diversity, gender equality, and a general lack of liberal values. I will now stop reading a book if it has any hint of racism/sexism/homophobic/transphobia/rape, whereas before I would happily read a 1950s scifi novel with no female characters, without thinking about how terrible that was – or worse, something written by Orson Scott Card. This may just be an age thing, though – I’m a lot more educated about feminism and social politics than I used to be as a teenager.

tumblr_n8a61zgNxf1rl9u3ro1_540 — Me, every time I read a book that passes the Bechdel test.

I read books more critically now from an editorial point of view, as well – I actively assess what books does well, and what they don’t – because I want to make sure my own writing doesn’t fall into the same holes. I don’t lose myself in books any more, in the way I used to.

I won’t deny being a critical reader has taken some of the joy out of reading, but being an author is a job. Reading is just as much a part of that job as writing is – I might even argue that it’s more important, but that’s a blog post for another time.

However, on the bright side: I get that thrill from writing now, instead of reading. I’m always always excited to write (okay, unless I’m stuck on a plot point. Then I’d rather be doing literally anything else.) The feeling I get from writing totally outshines the way I ever used to feel about reading. So I wouldn’t change anything, for the world.

How have your reading habits changed over the years? Are you swayed by books you see on twitter or tumblr?

A rebloggable version of this post can be found here.