Sarah Dunnakey's Blog, page 2
April 8, 2018
Read Regional: King Cross, Halifax
My second date on my Read Regional tour was close to home at King Cross Library in Halifax. It’s a lovely library and I received a very warm welcome from the librarians and other staff.
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Halifax was a centre of the cloth trade from the 16th to the 18th centuries, and the town is steeped in history. For centuries the surrounding hilltops and valleys were home to hundreds of spinners and weavers and eventually to mills such as the one that features in The Companion which is set not far from the town.
At the heart of Halifax is the stunning 18th century Piece Hall, where in the past clothiers and merchants met to trade pieces of cloth. It has recently been renovated and reopened and I was fortunate enough to be involved in researching its fascinating history for some of the interpretation material now being used there.
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It’s a beautiful place to visit, with great shops such as The Book Corner and Yorkshire Soap Company and a lovely gin bar called Gin Lane It is also adjacent to the new Central Library and the Square Chapel which in addition to hosting fantastic events also has one of my favourite bars. There are several other great pubs and music venues in the town, such as the small but beautifully formed Grayston Unity and The Lantern, which has led it to being recently dubbed ‘the Shoreditch of the North‘.
King Cross Library is just a mile from the town centre and a short distance from one of the town’s other historical landmarks – the Gibbet.
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This is a 15 foot high replica of the local guillotine that was set up some time in the 16th century. Cloth, in particular, was a precious commodity then and the theft of it was a serious crime for which until 1650 thieves could be beheaded on the gibbet. This local law was considered harsh even in those times, and the saying ‘From Hell, Hull, and Halifax, good Lord deliver us,’ attributed to the poet John Taylor, is thought to refer to the punishment.
The original blade is on display at Bankfield Museum, which is on the other side of Halifax and is well worth a visit for its rich and varied collections particularly of textiles and costume.
It was my second rainy day event but a a good crowd of readers turned up nonetheless. A couple of the library’s reading groups have been reading The Companion and it was lovely to hear how much they had enjoyed it. Library reading groups are such a fantastic idea as the library provides multiple copies of the book and members are able to meet up in the library to discuss it. It was a real privilege as an author to be able to to be part of their reading experience. Thank you Calderdale libraries and readers of Halifax!
The next two stops on my tour are Wideopen Library in North Tyneside on Monday 16th April at 2.30pm and Kirkby Library, Knowsley on Merseyside on Friday 20th April at 11am.
March 19, 2018
Read Regional: Sunderland
The tour begins!
Last Thursday I had my first Read Regional event, at Sunderland City Library. I haven’t been to the city since I was a student – and my memories of a night out there then are a little vague. Though I did remember that there was an impressive bridge (I do love a good bridge).
The weather was atrocious as I left Hebden Bridge – high winds and driving rain – and didn’t improve as my train sped north eastwards. All was well however as Sunderland City Library turned out to be not only warm and dry but positively exotic.
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The library is located in a glorious Victorian building that it shares with Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens. I arrived early so was able to explore the fascinating collections in the museum, including the local lustreware pottery and glassware, a curious collection of pipes and of course, Wallace the Lion.
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I also had time for coffee and cake in the cafe, which not only serves up a very nice cuppa but has views into the deep greenery of the Winter Gardens. A glass dome covers a collection of over 2,000 rainforest plants, a stunning waterfall and a couple of dinosaurs.
I’d been concerned that the weather might deter people from the event, but the folk of Sunderland are made of hardier stuff and I was greeted by a lovely audience of keen readers. I talked about my inspiration for the novel and my writing journey so far and lots of interesting questions were asked at the end. I was glad that I had booked a later train home so that I was able to stay and chat to people and sign copies of The Companion afterwards.
Thank you Sunderland! Next stop on the Read Regional tour – King Cross Library, Halifax on Wednesday 4th April.
January 23, 2018
Read Regional 2018
I am delighted that The Companion has been selected as one of the 12 books for this years New Writing North Read Regional campaign.
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From March to June each year, Read Regional celebrates selected new books – fiction, poetry, children’s books and non-fiction – from the North of England. At libraries and literary festivals across the North, authors take part in events where you can hear about their writing and talk to them about their work.
My tour of the North will take me to Northumberland, Tyneside, East, West and South Yorkshire, Teeside, Sunderland, Cumbria and Merseyside. I will be giving author talks in libraries, taking part in literature festivals and World Book Day, leading a writing workshop and hosting one or two quizzes!
All the details can be found on the New Writing North website, which also has information about each of the books and their authors, and handy stuff such as reading guides and suggested discussion points for reading groups. If you visit a library in one of the participating authorities you will be able to pick up one of these lovely brochures, which also includes interviews with each of the writers.
I have also listed all my Read Regional dates on my Events page
It’s going to be an exciting year!
November 12, 2017
The Northern Writers’ Awards
On 16th November I am taking part in the Northern Writer’s Awards 2018 Yorkshire Roadshow. I was so chuffed to be asked along as winning one of the Awards in 2014 had a huge impact on my writing career.
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On Thursday 30th January 2014 I was sitting at my computer. Working. But I had the occasional glance at Twitter (working from home alone I see it as the equivalent of a bit of office chat time). One Tweep declared proudly that she had just sent off her entry for the Northern Writer’s Awards the day before the deadline and was now crossing fingers and limbs in the hope of winning. Up to this point I had (somehow) never heard of the NWAs despite being a very northern writer.
I Googled the awards to find out more and was excited by what I discovered, especially as I had a whole day left in which to apply.
I had at this point written a first draft of The Companion. It was huge and in much need of an edit. I already had an agent and she had just sent me her notes on it. What I really needed was a solid chunk of time to get my head around what I had written and what needed doing to it to make it into a readable novel. I was working full-time and although my freelance work is flexible, I couldn’t afford to give any of it up. That left evenings and weekends, which I made the most of but I often felt guilty taking time out of family life for a project that I couldn’t guarantee would ever be published.
The winners of the NWAs are supported by New Writing North in a number of ways, the most obvious of which is that they “will receive awards of between £500 and £5,000 to support them to develop work in progress and to complete promising manuscripts.” It sounded like just what I needed.
On 31st January 2014 I sent off my application – essentially the first three chapters of The Companion and a statement of my eligibility and what I intended to use an award for (‘to take time off work to write and edit’). When I was notified in May that I was one of the winners I began to appreciate that there is far more to the scheme than just the (very welcome) money.
My writing had been read, appreciated and deemed by the Judge (that year it was Chris Mullins, a former Booker Prize judge) worthy of an award. This was a huge boost to my confidence that made me determined to get my novel edited and published.
In addition to the monetary award, myself and the other winners were invited to a media training workshop at BBC Newcastle and a pitching workshop. Both were very useful and were also an opportunity to meet the other writers, several of whom I have stayed in contact with.
The most exciting bit was the Agents and Publishers networking event in London, where we put our pitching into practice. It was a fantastic opportunity to discuss our novels with agents and editors who were there because they were looking for new talent and knew from past experience that the NWAs were a good place to find it.
At the awards ceremony when I received my prize in a room full of other writers, including past winners who’d gone on to publishing deals and other successes I knew that entering the awards on the spur of the moment had been one of my best decisions ever.
I am certain that having ‘Northern Writers’ Award winner’ on my writing CV made a difference when my work was submitted to publishers and subsequently in the promotion of The Companion.
If you are a writer of fiction, poetry or narrative non-fiction who lives in the North, you still have plenty of time to apply for the 2018 awards. All the details can be found here.
In addition there are going to be two free Roadshows at which you can hear all about the different awards on offer, ask any questions and chat informally to past winners (including me!) and the award organisers.
Yorkshire Roadshow: Hebden Bridge Library, Cheetham Street, Hebden Bridge. Thursday 16th November 2017, 6-9pm. Free event, register here
Lancashire Roadshow: Print Room Café and Bar, The Storey, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster. Wednesday 29th November, 5.30-8.30pm. Free event register here
October 22, 2017
The Companion paperback
I was very excited to receive this on Friday – the paperback of The Companion. I absolutely love the cover – the focus is still on the two boys but with a more eye-catching colour palette. And a fantastic cover quote for the wonderfully talented C. L. Taylor.
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I mocked up a book shop table at home with some recent paperback purchases and was very pleased with how The Companion stood out among them – hoping it will catch the eye of book buyers.
I’m going to be doing some events to celebrate the paperback’s release into the world. Kicking off with an appearance on the Bob Fischer afternoon show on BBC Radio Tees on publication day Thursday 2nd November and then a book signing in the Guisborough Bookshop on Saturday 4th November. It’s lovely to be heading back to the north east for these and I’m hoping to catch up with some old friends as well as meeting new readers.
July 27, 2017
Publication day
It’s publication day for The Companion! I am now officially a published author and Billy and Anna’s story is out in the world. I will be celebrating later with rhubarb gin and prosecco cocktails.
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Yesterday I had a lovely trip to London. I signed 50 copies of The Companion at Goldsboro Books, who specialise in signed first editions, then had lunch and prosecco with my editor and publicist, Laura and Leanne. I then wandered in to Waterstones Piccadilly and found The Companion on display as a ‘Hardback Delight’.
Before going home I popped into the British Library for a cup of tea and while remembering my time there as a trainee librarian I had a sudden ‘wow’ moment when I realised that there would be a copy of The Companion on its shelves very soon.
July 20, 2017
The Launch!
‘The Companion’ was launched last night in the chapel at the wonderful Birchcliffe Centre in Hebden Bridge. With the help of family and friends the room was decorated with bunting, vintage tablecloths and china and posies of flowers in jam jars. The soundtrack to the 2004 film De-Lovely completed what I hoped was an evocation of a 1930s tearoom.
Despite being giddy with nerves and excitement I had a fabulous time. I talked about my inspiration for The Companion and how it came to be written, aided by a mini slideshow of early twentieth century pictures of the real-life mill turned entertainment emporium that was part of my inspiration. And for the first time I read an excerpt – introducing Billy Shaw and his first encounter with Jasper Harper. There were some great questions from the audience afterwards including “What would your main character’s Mastermind Specialist Subject be?”. Billy’s would definitely be British Birds, but I wasn’t so sure about Jasper – birds innards maybe!
Kate from The Book Case sold lots and lots of copies and I really enjoyed signing them all. [image error]
My only regret is that I didn’t ask my daughter to make twice as many of the Burnt Sugar Buns, which disappeared fairly rapidly. They were delicious and I think Billy would have approved.
(Photos taken by Sakinah Haq, Liz Flanagan and Stuart Ellis)
July 3, 2017
I met my book!
So, on Saturday I met my book!
Like many moments on my journey to publication it wasn’t quite how I had imagined it. I thought it would be a private moment at home, when a parcel arrived from my publisher. But on Saturday morning I left the house before the postman, and the parcel arrived.
The early start was because I was appearing at Bradford Literature Festival as part of a panel discussing ‘Gothic Yorkshire’. The event went really well. Lots of people turned up to listen to us and everyone seemed very interested in the subject.
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Afterwards I headed off to the pop up Waterstones tent in Centenary Square with my fellow panellists Benjamin Myers , Sophia Tobin and Michael Stewart for a book signing event. I didn’t expect my book to be there as it’s not officially published til 27th July, but I tagged along anyway.
And there it was. Twenty times there it was. My lovely book, looking absolutely luscious. I held a copy in my hands and wanted to run off with it. But behind me were five people, also holding a copy of The Companion and asking me to sign it.
I had to borrow a pen from the lovely Waterstones manager – I was that unprepared. My short messages in those first copies might not be the most witty and my signature not the most legible but they were the first people to ever buy a copy of my novel so I hope they felt the love.
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Bradford Literature Festival continues until 9th July and there are many amazing events between now and then. The full programme is available here.
June 29, 2017
The Companion audiobook – an excerpt
June 2, 2017
Interview in the Yorkshire Post
My first author interview about The Companion is featured in today’s Yorkshire Post.
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I really enjoyed talking to the journalist Yvette Huddleston about the inspirations for my novel and the writing process. She describes The Companion as “an engaging and totally compelling mystery… a real page turner, and beautifully crafted”.
I have of course bought, ahem, ‘a few’ copies of the paper today but it is also available to read online here
