Carys Bray's Blog, page 4

Sweet Home on Radio Four Extra

Five short stories from Sweet Home will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra during the week beginning 19th January. I haven't heard them in advance, so I'm really looking forward to listening. 

And now, I'm off to do some writing. I may be some time...

Costa Thoughts

Warmest congratulations to Emma Healey on winning the Costa First Novel Award.If someone had told me a year ago that A Song for Issy Bradley would be shortlisted for the award I wouldn't have believed them. I still feel excited about it - in fact, here's a picture of me feeling excited about it (and insisting that everyone else in the vicinity also be excited about it). 




I wasn't sure

Some thank yous

As we say goodbye to 2014, I feel tremendously fortunate. 

Thank you to everyone at Hutchinson for taking such good care of A Song for Issy Bradley, and in particular to my editor Jocasta Hamilton and publicist Charlotte Bush. I had so much fun doing all sorts of things I'd never done before - best bits included appearing on BBC Radio 3's The Verb and Radio 4's Front Row, festivals at

Books I loved in 2014

Here are some of the books I read and loved in 2014. In no particular order...

I loved this book. 
Perhaps I loved it because I have driven through the night to be at my brother's bedside. Maybe I loved it because I have listened, with clenched fists, to the news that he has, once again, been discharged from hospital, despite not being mentally well enough to remember to eat or change his

Costa Shortlist

Well, this is very exciting! A Song for Issy Bradley has been shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. I'm so delighted, and surprised - I can't believe my book gets to cosy up to books by the incredible writers above, particularly Ali Smith (whose writing makes my heart sing). Hooray! 



*shuffles back to the desk to grapple with the "difficult" second novel*  

Busy Times (otherwise known as swanning around & not doing much writing)

Such a busy few weeks. I had a lovely time at Dundee Literary Festival where I finally met fellow Scott Prize winner Kirsty Logan in the flesh. We discussed short stories, debut novels and fairy tales and during the course of our event we discovered that we both found our agents as a result of writing competitions. 

Kirsty's debut novel sounds wonderful. Here's the cover.





Isn't it

Dundee Literary Festival

I'll be at Dundee Literary Festival on Saturday 25th October at 5 pm with fellow Scott Prize winner Kirsty Logan. We'll be talking about short stories and first novels. 

Kirsty's novel The Gracekeepers will be published in 2015 and it sounds fabulous.

"The Gracekeepers is about a circus boat in a flooded world. North and her bear live on the Circus Excalibur, floating between the scattered

Mitochondrial Donation

You may have heard the discussion about mitochondrial diseases and mitochondrial donation on BBC Radio Five this afternoon (you can listen again here, for the moment).

Mitochondrial donation (aka mitochondrial replacement therapy) is a technique that involves replacing the unhealthy mitochondria in a woman who carries the disease, with the healthy mitochondria from a donor woman, during the

Cheltenham and Wells Festivals

Here I am, getting ready to do the A Song for Issy Bradley Book Group event at Cheltenham with Cathy Rentzenbrink. I took my phone into the event so I could take a picture of the audience, but I forgot (and the lights were blinding, anyway).

Book group events are interesting. As usual, some members of the audience were furious with Ian Bradley while others empathised with him - it's always

Cheltenham

Here I am, about to do the A Song for Issy Bradley Book Group event at Cheltenham with Cathy Rentzenbrink. I took my phone into the event so I could take a picture of the audience, but I forgot, and the lights were blinding. Book Group events are interesting. By the end of the evening people are relaxed and tend to ask quite personal questions. I don't mind answering, but the questions still