Bryony Pearce's Blog, page 5

Reviews and more

I've had a nail biting week or so, following the distribution of review copies of Angel's Fury. "Haven't they read it by NOW?" "Does everybody HATE IT?" "What on earth have I done?" And so on.

However, I quickly found lots of positive comments on Twitter (have I mentioned how much I love Twitter now – it's kept me quite sane the last couple of weeks, because I knew when people received the book, were reading the book and finished the book) and some swiftly turned into fantastic reviews (I've linked from my website, so full reviews can be easily found).

Gillian Philip, a writer I hugely admire, as anyone who has been following my blog will know, has offered an endorsement ("Bone-chilling and haunting. The worst horrors of our own world collide with those of the paranormal in a gripping tale of terror, love and redemption.") and the book will be printed with extracts from the earliest reviews, which came out just in time to make the print run!

Talking of which, Angel's Fury is being printed THIS WEEK. Yes, somewhere in a warehouse, by Good Friday, there should be stacks of my book waiting to go out. My friend Jen is having her baby on Thursday and I'm sorry to say that I likened the printing of my book, to her new arrival. Okay, both are coming into existence this week, and you might say I've had a long time labouring, but really, Jen is definitely going to have a harder time this week than I am! Good luck, Jen.

Still, I'm excited and so stoked by the things people have being saying about the book so far. I'd love to give those reviewers hugs and bottles of wine and jewellery and so on, but have to settle for lots of good karmic thoughts!

The other good thing that happened this week is that I now have my sweaty hands on Department 19, Paranormalcy and Hidden; all books that I will hopefully be reviewing as part of the Bookette's challenge (I say hopefully, because my current policy is, as my mother always told me, 'if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all' – which means if I don't like it, I'm not posting a review). However, Halahmy's Hidden is getting amazing reviews already "a book to counter bigotry" so I'm really looking forward to reading these and writing lovely reviews (so with any luck I'll get some good karmic thoughts of my own).

It's taken a little while to get these books because I ordered them from my local library (but not that long, they're all only recently published). My financial situation means I can only afford to buy books I really love, so I pre-order from the library, then if I think I'll want to read it again, then I visit a bookshop. So, a quick thank you to my local library for being so great and taking my long lists of reservations with equanimity and good humour.

I hope anyone catching up with me this week has a lovely Easter, a great time off work during the holiday period and lots of fun watching the Royal Wedding (come on – it's a great excuse for a knees up).

Undiscovered Voices 2012

In 2008 I became one of the first winners of the brand new Undiscovered Voices competition.

I had written a Middle Grade novel called Windrunner's Daughter (sort of Anne Macaffrey meets Margaret Atwood, on hang-gliders) and following a whole bunch of rejections I bought a report from Cornerstones Literary Consultancy.

It was Kathryn at Cornerstones who suggested I enter the competition and I'm very glad I did. There were 12 winners of Undiscovered Voices back in 2008 and the prize was to have the first part of your novel published in a book which would be sent to all agents and publishers in the country. There was also a winner's party at which you would be able to meet said agents and editors. So not only did entering the competition get my novel in front of the judges (who are a group of real industry movers and shakers – editors and agents) but I was able to actually meet said agents and editors in person and see my work in print for the very first time.

OK, I'll admit instead of a traditional elevator pitch, I wrote and memorised a POEM which I thought was quite humourous, which told the storyline of my book and which, I hoped, would be both different and memorable. The only person who actually heard said poem, was my husband, who accompanied me to the party. I was too nervous to actually speak to ANY industry experts and basically leaned on my crutch in the corner, gripping a glass of wine as if someone would steal it from me and glaring at my husband who kept elbowing me and saying things like 'What about the woman in red? She looks nice'.

However, I did meet the other winners, with whom I have formed lasting friendships and professional connections. Sarwat Chadda helped me with an early critique of Angel's Fury and I am now part of a writers group called The Edge which was set up by Sara Grant and which includes several UV winners.

I got my agent, Sam Copeland at RCW, very shortly after winning the competition and although Windrunner's Daughter never did get published (I'm rewriting at the moment) my next book is out with Egmont on 4th July and I believe publishers were more open to me having seen my UV win.

I don't have the statistics to hand, but I believe that all of the UV 2008 winners now have publishing deals. Some of them have more than one (Sarwat Chadda, Sara Grant and Harriet Goodwin come to mind).

So if you are a writer for children / teens, have no agent and are unpublished … if you feel you are struggling to get out of the slushpile, enter Undiscovered Voices 2012. It costs nothing but your membership of SCBWI (an excellent community and worth joining anyway) and there's a good chance it'll give you the boost that gets your head above the parapet. If you want to know more, check out the Undiscovered Voices Website or follow on Twitter – @UndiscVoice2012

Good luck.