Publishing Deal - Amy Alward & James Dawson on Diversity Monitoring

In today's Bookseller, news of a publishing deal for Amy Alward (aka Amy McCulloch):

Simon and Schuster Children’s Books has acquired a new title from Amy Alward, author and editorial director at Puffin.

The Potion Diaries is about a girl called Samantha Kemi who dreams of going to university to study potions. She has absolutely no magical talent but her instinct for putting together a potion is second to none. When the city’s princess is accidentally poisoned Samantha sets off on an adventure to find all the ingredients.

Elv Moody, fiction editorial director, and Jane Griffiths, commissioning editor at S&S Children’s UK, acquired the world English rights from Juliet Mushens at The Agency Group in a six figure pre-emptive deal.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve seen anything that feels as fresh as this,” said Moody. “With pulse-pounding thrills, a contest to save a princess (who is much more Kate Middleton than Rapunzel) takes place in a whirlwind of paparazzi and social media – with just a touch of perfect romantic chemistry.”

The book, described as "a clean teen title for readers aged 11 plus", will be published in paperback in summer 2015.

Also in The Bookseller, James Dawson speaking about diversity:

YA author James Dawson has called for “diversity monitoring” from children’s publishers.

The author proposed the idea as he delivered the annual Patrick Hardy lecture to the Children’s Book Circle in London last night (17th September). In the speech, Dawson said children’s and YA books should feature characters of different gender, sexualities, faiths, abilities, ethnicities, cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds.

“Children’s books are actually quite diverse but it’s hard to know for sure either way,” he explained to The Bookseller. “It would be a big job to monitor for diversity but it would come down to publishers. It they kept track of diversity they would have actual statistics. They would keep on top of good practice as well.” He added: “There’s always the risk of ticking a box then moving along. We want to track the industry to check that we don’t get a situation where, for example, suddenly it’s been 10 years since they last published a title with a gay character.”

Blog Tour: #MurderontheBeach

I'm very pleased to welcome Kate Harrison back to Teenage Fiction for All Ages. Today she's joined by James Dawson and they will be interviewing each other as part of the #murderonthebeach blog tour to celebrate the release of Soul Storm and Cruel Summer.

I'm not going to say too much about Soul Storm as it's the final part of the Soul Beach trilogy, other than it is a murder-mystery with a paranormal element. here are my reviews of the first two parts: Soul Beach and Soul Fire.

Here's the blurb for Cruel Summer: A year after the suicide of one of their friends, the rest of the group decide to spend the summer together in a holiday villa in the Mediterranean. They're hoping to get over the terrible events of the previous year, but then a new guest arrives - claiming to have evidence that the suicide was actually murder. When she is found dead, it becomes clear that the killer must be one of them - but who is it? And will they strike again? A compelling psychological thriller - with a dash of romance.

Ever wondered what authors talk about when they get together? We asked #murderonthebeach authors Kate Harrison and James Dawson to interview each other via Facebook – here are the results!

Kate Harrison: Morning, James! We're supposed to be interviewing each other, so I get to ask all the questions I've always wanted the answers to... like, what's your writing routine? I want the real version, not the 'I work out, write 5,000 words before breakfast' stuff most writers claim they do.

James Dawson: Hi Kate. Given that I'm still in my pyjamas at 9.40 this is clearly not the case! Usually I do try to be writing before 10, but I actually do go to the gym most days at some point in the morning. Then I write until about 6 and have the evenings off unless I'm on a really strict deadline. How about you?

K: Impressive! Well, I am in my gym kit, which is my way of trying to make sure I actually go. Writing full-time from home five years now means I have to shift my writer's booty or it expands very quickly! My routine is get up, do loads of social media, answer emails around writing, and then try to do some ACTUAL writing. I try to write against the clock, otherwise I get really distracted.

So what was Cruel Summer like to write? Loads of writers suffer quite badly with Second Book Syndrome, where they get scared about doing it again. Was that a problem after Hollow Pike did so well?

J: You are looking amazing at the moment! Are you still 5:2ing?

K: *Blushes*. Yes, I've been on this 5:2 diet now for a year. In fact, this Friday is my 'Fastiversary' - exactly 12 months since I first tried this. Since then I've lost loads of weight, written two books about the diet (including a cookbook, yummy) and met 10,000 new dieters on Facebook. But I've been dying to get back to fiction, so it's exciting that Soul Storm is out.

You're not avoiding my question about 2nd book syndrome, are you?

J: Cruel Summer was a funny one. Initially I had envisaged a Hollow Pike sequel as the next book and had more or less written it before I got a book deal (rookie mistake), so in a weird way Cruel Summer is actually my third book! That said it was a leap into the unknown because while the characters in Hollow Pike were based on faces from my past, the Cruel Summer gang were original creations. I did worry that fans of Hollow Pike wouldn't welcome the characters in the same way that they did the Hollow Pike gang, but early reviews have been great, thank God!

How do you feel at the end of the Soul Beach Saga? That must be YEARS of your life?!

K: Yep. Years. About five since I first thought, 'ooh, I wonder what a social network for the dead would be like, where teens could carry on with the lives they're missing out on.' It was more emotional than I expecting, finishing it off. I don't often cry or get spooked or scared when I am writing, but this time I did all three. I was very conscious that I had to finish it in an exciting way for all the readers - including my mum - who'd invested so much time in the trilogy. The first reports are that I managed it, phew...

Cruel Summer feels quite different to me from Hollow Pike. I love both but I think so far *haven't finished so no spoilers* Cruel Summer has the edge. Why the change?

J: I think I have a clearer idea of my brand as an author now; a better understanding of what is it I do well. I think they both have my fingerprints all over them - hopefully snappy dialogue, cliff-hanger chapter endings, creepy imagery - but I agree that Cruel Summer has a clearer voice and perhaps a little more originality.

I can't wait to read Soul Storm. I really think Soul Beach is one of the most original concepts in YA. Will there be further teen offerings from you?

K: Thank you. I definitely plan to write more YA and have about three ideas buzzing round my head right now. They are all quite different - scary but also emotional I think. For me, it's never been about writing for a genre or an age group, it's about writing the stories and ideas that fascinate me, but the brilliant thing about writing for teenage readers is they are so open to mixing it up. I've written novels for them and for women, TV scripts, and now even this diet book. But I think I always come back to the same themes: being tested to your limit, being scared but also excited by what the future holds, and ALWAYS the importance of friendships.

Right now, though, I am working on some short stories and also ideas for my next adult novel as well. How about you?

J: I agree - YA works so well because it's such an open playing field. You can do pretty much anything unconstrained by adult literary rules or adult genre rules.

I have just finished SAY HER NAME which is a proper, actually scary horror YA so I'm frantically trying to finish what will be my second non-fiction book. The deadline is looming.

K: Can't wait!

But talking of deadlines. I reckon that's our cue to finish this and get writing/going to the gym. But I thought it'd be good to share what we're reading right now. I am most of the way through an adult novel, Dearest Rose, by Rowan Coleman, and then it's Fractured by Teri Terry, the follow-up to her brilliant Slated. Too many books, too little time...

J: No! But then I’ll have to do actual work! But you're right of course. I'm presently reading something VERY exciting - a YA offering from an adult author before moving on to Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo!

K: Must get that one next. Fun chatting to you, Mr D. Hope you have a very excellent summer with Cruel Summer - #murderonthebeach is going to run and run!

Thanks so much Kate and James for your interview and Indigo for arranging it.

Look out for reviews of both these books soon on Teenage Fiction for All Ages.

The blog tour continues tomorrow at Winged Reviews.

Some upcoming crime novels

The CWA's crime writing month officially finished last night however I have a couple more posts I'd like to include so I'll carry-on a bit longer!

Crime is doing big business at the moment looking at what's coming in the next few weeks alone These all look very good and I haven't even included Soul Storm by Kate Harrison as I didn't want to see any spoilers as I'm half-way through book two, Soul Fire, as I write.

4 July

Dead Jealous by Sharon Jones

People think of Mother Nature as a gentle lady. They forget that she's also Death. Sixteen-year-old Poppy Sinclair believes in quantum particles, not tarot cards, in Dawkins, not druids. Last summer, in a boating accident in the Lake District, Poppy had a brush with death. But the girl she finds face down in Scariswater hasn't been so lucky. As she fights to discover the truth behind what she believes is murder, Poppy is forced to concede that people and things are not always what they seem and, slipping ever deeper into a web of lies, jealousy and heart-stopping danger, she comes to realise - too late - that the one thing that can save her has been right there, all the time.






Carnaby by Cate Sampson

Sarah aka Carnaby has a tough life, but it suddenly gets a whole lot tougher when her mother is found murdered, her sister goes into labour and her new baby nephew is threatened with being taken into care. Sarah doesn't remember finding her mother's body, but she does remember hearing about other murders on the estate where they live. Is there a connection - and can Sarah find out what is going on, without putting herself and her family in even more danger?










18 July 

Spy Society by Robin Benway

Believe it or not, there are some drawbacks to being a 16-year old safecracker, daughter of spies, and member of an organization that fights corruption and wrongdoing around the world. For example: never getting to stay in one place long enough to have friends or a boyfriend, being the only spy ever to have a 10 p.m. curfew, and being sent on assignment to Russia. In the winter. For Maggie Silver, the compensation for the vast inconvenience of being a teenage spy has been avoiding high school and its accompanying cliques, bad lunches, and frustratingly simple security on the lockers. (If it's three digits or less, why even bother?) But when Maggie and her parents are sent to New York on a major assignment, all of that changes. She'll need to attend a private school, avoid the temptation to hack the school's security system, and befriend the aggravatingly cute Jesse Oliver to gain the information she needs to crack the case, all while trying not to blow her cover. The first in a new series from Robin Benway, Also Known As, is the perfect read for fans of The Gallagher Girls.
  
The Dead Girl Detective Agency by Suzy Cox

Solving the mystery behind your death can be murder. Charlotte wakes up at Hotel Atessa, home to murdered New York teenagers and HQ of The Dead Girls Detective Agency. Before she has time to adjust to her new, erm, dead self, she's thrust into the arms of her new afterlife companions, Lorna, Nancy and the cute - if slightly hostile - dead boy, Eddison. But where does this leave Charlotte and her boyfriend David? Is it possible to have a long-distance relationship from beyond the grave? The only way out of this limbo is to figure out who killed her, or she'll have to spend eternity here. But who could hate her enough to want her dead?







 Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas

It's Spring Break of senior year. Anna, her boyfriend Tate, her best friend Elise, and a few other close friends are off to a debaucherous trip to Aruba that promises to be the time of their lives. But when Elise is found brutally murdered, Anna finds herself trapped in a country not her own, fighting against vile and contemptuous accusations. As Anna sets out to find her friend's killer; she discovers hard truths about her friendships, the slippery nature of truth, and the ache of young love. As she awaits the judge's decree, it becomes clear that everyone around her thinks she is not just guilty, but dangerous. When the truth comes out, it is more shocking than one could ever imagine...






1 August

Cruel Summer by James Dawson

A year after the suicide of one of their friends, the rest of the group decide to spend the summer together in a holiday villa in the Mediterranean. They're hoping to get over the terrible events of the previous year, but then a new guest arrives - claiming to have evidence that the suicide was actually murder. When she is found dead, it becomes clear that the killer must be one of them - but who is it? And will they strike again? A compelling psychological thriller - with a dash of romance.










And a January 2014 release in the US -
No One Else Can Have You by Kathleen Hale

Small towns are nothing if not friendly. Friendship, Wisconsin (population: 688) is no different. Around here, everyone wears a smile. And no one ever locks their doors. Until, that is, high school sweetheart Ruth Fried is found murdered. Strung up like a scarecrow in the middle of a cornfield.

Unfortunately, Friendship’s police are more adept at looking for lost pets than catching killers. So Ruth’s best friend, Kippy Bushman, armed with only her tenacious Midwestern spirit and Ruth’s secret diary (which Ruth’s mother had asked her to read in order to redact any, you know, sex parts), sets out to find the murderer. But in a quiet town like Friendship—where no one is a suspect—anyone could be the killer.