Robin Stevens's Blog, page 11

Writing Prompt Mondays: Prompt 27

Hello Detectives! You’ve been very patient as you’ve waited for a new writing prompt this year – thank you for all of your great stories for last month’s Share-a-Story writing prompt!

At the moment I’m not able to give feedback on your work – I only have a few weeks left before I head off on maternity leave, and I need to focus on the second draft of The Ministry of Unladylike Activity! My editor has just given me my notes, and I can already see how much better it’ll be once I’ve made all the changes I need to – but making those changes will take a lot of effort and time.

But while I write, I’m leaving you with a prompt of your own. This will run until the beginning of August, when I’ll give you one last prompt to tide you over for the rest of the year!

The theme this time around is change. All of our lives have changed over the past year and a half, and are still changing, and I’m very interested in what changes will stick, and what changes will be reversed. Of course, as always, you can write about yourselves or characters like yourselves, or you can write about someone completely different. Your change can be magical, scientific, domestic or deadly (a murder is a change, after all …), it can take place in the past, the future, right now or an entirely different world. Whatever you like!

By the way, if you haven’t yet, please do sign up to my newsletter. The theme this month is writing, and I give some (hopefully) useful writing advice to my readers. Even while I’m away, it’ll be kept up to date by members of my team, so if you want to catch up on book news, it’s the best place to do it!

The rules:

It can be as long or as short as you like, and take you as much or as little time as you want.It can be any genre (type) of story you want. If you have an idea for something that I haven’t mentioned, don’t wait for my permission – just go for it! This is your creativity working!You are not allowed to worry about grammar or spelling.You are not allowed to worry if it isn’t perfect, or criticise yourself as you’re writing.You are encouraged to make a plan before you begin, to make it easier for you to get to the end of the story. This can be two words or a whole page! But if you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to.Get to the end of the story without stopping to go back and fix bits you don’t like. Once you’ve finished, read it through again. If you still don’t like those bits, you can edit them now!If you want (and only if you want!) you’re allowed to post the first 500 words of your story in the comments below. I have to moderate the comments so it may take a while for them to show up – please be patient. I don’t want to see you apologising for your story or minimising what you’ve done when you post – writing a story is a triumph and you should be proud!Please do not use your full name when you comment – first names are fine, or you can make up a username that you like! Also remember to stay safe online and not get into private discussions with anyone you don’t know in real life without telling an adult first.If you like someone else’s story, you are allowed to comment to say so! If you’d like to give them ideas that might make their story even stronger, that’s OK, but please be kind and remember how deeply we all care about our writing. A good format for feedback might be something like: ‘I loved ****! Have you thought of ****? I think it might make your story even better!’ I will delete any comment if I feel it’s critical without being constructive.I can’t give feedback on any individual stories – I’m not marking them!This isn’t a competition, and there will be no winners and no prizes.

June update video – Once Upon a Crime and Ministry!

Hello Detectives!

The first draft of the Ministry of Unladylike Activity is finally finished, and so I’ve had time to sit down and film an update video for you while I wait for my edits!

In it I talk about messy, bad first drafts (do you think that published authors’ books are immediately good? Sadly, we’re just like you – it takes quite a few drafts for us to make our manuscripts good enough for fans to read, and I’m at the very beginning of the process with Ministry!), and tell you what’s ahead for the book.

I also talk more about Once Upon a Crime, which will be published in the UK, Ireland, India and South Africa on the 5th of August, and Australia and New Zealand on the 3rd. There’s not long to go now, and I’ve finally seen finished copies – it’s looking gorgeous!

Finally, I tell you about some personal news that you may have already spotted on my social media – I’m pregnant, with my own little detective due in September! A few fans have asked me what this will mean for the publication of my books – the short answer is ‘not much!’ and the longer answer is in the video! Basically, although I’m going to be stepping away from the internet for six months, you shouldn’t really notice any disruption unless you’re waiting for a reply to a fan email!

I’m working very hard to get everything done before I leave, so updates are going to be less regular from now until I go – my priority has to be the next draft of Ministry! Please bear with me – it’s been a very strange year, and I’m just feeling proud that I’m still publishing a book next month, and another one next summer, despite everything that’s happened!

Big news: The full Murder Most Unladylike series will be published in America!

That’s right, US and Canadian Detectives: you’ve been asking for this for years, and I can finally say that every single one of my Murder Most Unladylike books has now found an American home!

They’re being published by my current publisher, Simon & Schuster – originally they decided to only go up to the fifth book, Mistletoe and Murder, but they’ve now decided that due to more and more fans discovering the series, they want to publish the full set! This means books six to nine (A Spoonful of Murder, Death in the Spotlight, Top Marks for Murder and Death Sets Sail) AND the two books of short stories (Cream Buns and Crime and Once Upon a Crime)!

I want to thank my editor at S&S, Alexa Pastor, as well as my agent, Gemma Cooper – Gemma has been working on this deal for years and I’m so thrilled that it’s finally happened!

You may have noticed that I’m calling the books ‘Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries’ instead of ‘Wells and Wong Mysteries’ – and there’s a reason for that! Originally the series was called the ‘Wells and Wong Mysteries’ in the US, but we’ve decided that it makes more sense to have the same series title in the UK and the US. So Hazel and Daisy’s adventures are now known as ‘the Murder Most Unladylike Mysteries’ everywhere English-language editions are sold! The look of the US editions won’t change, though, nor will their actual titles – all of the new books should match Elizabeth Baddeley’s beautiful existing US covers!

It’ll be a few years before all of the books will publish – they’ll be releasing them slowly rather than all at once – so don’t expect them in your local bookstore next month. But it’s just so wonderful that they will eventually all be out there, ready to be discovered by readers. I’m thrilled, and I hope you are too!

Death in the Spotlight in Vogue India

It’s Pride Month, and I’m delighted to see that Nupur Sarvaiya has chosen Death in the Spotlight as one of ten children’s books that feature queer characters and experiences in this Vogue India article.

It’s a really nice mention for lots of reasons – I am very proud that many young LGBTQ+ fans have reached out to me to tell me what Daisy’s coming-out scene means to them, and also so pleased to see my book getting recognition in India, where I’ve been hearing from more and more fans recently.

If you’re looking for some great books to read this month, I think Vogue India’s list is the place to begin!

Murder Most Unladylike and ‘Memorials of the Future’

Hello Detectives,

I’ve got a lot of updates coming your way soon – but for now, please enjoy this fun mention of me and Murder Most Unladylike that I came across today.

Westminster Abbey in London (a place where many famous British people are given memorials after they die) asked some KS2 pupils to nominate people they think should have a memorial there in future. Obviously this isn’t binding, and obviously it doesn’t mean any of the people nominated are going to die any time soon – but I was very honoured to see that Nishka chose me to be memorialised!

‘Memorials of the Future’ is a really great idea for a project – I love thinking about who we choose to remember, and why, and I’m always fascinated to see lists like this!

Murder Most Unladylike and the First Words in Dalston Project

I’m completely honoured and delighted to find out that Murder Most Unladylike‘s first line has been chosen as part of the First Words in Dalston project, an initiative by two local artists to connect Dalston residents to their library while it’s closed due to the pandemic.

I think this is a wonderful idea, and I’m amazed that my book was one of the titles chosen – if you’d like to take part and suggest your own favourite first line, you can submit your ideas on their website. And of course if you live near Dalston you can go visit the installation and see how many first lines you recognise!

National Share-a-Story month writing prompt!

May is National Share-a-Story month, an initiative run by the FCBG (Federation of Children’s Book Groups) in the UK.

2021’s theme is Myth, Magic and Mayhem, and I’m delighted that I’ve been asked to write one of the three prompts for this year’s FCBG’s Story Starter competition!

I know a lot of you have been asking me to bring back my website prompts, which I stopped at the end of last year when my father became ill. I think this is a great way to do that, and also give a lot of you the opportunity to enter an official writing competition. So, May’s prompt is my FCBG story starter! It goes like this:

Mysteries always happen when you least expect them. And that morning, which might have seemed to anyone not a detective like the most ordinary, boring morning in the world, was in fact the beginning of the most exciting mystery ever …

The rules for this month are a bit different than usual! You need to use my prompt as the beginning of your story. Your story can’t be more than 750 words long, and it has to be finished within that word count. When you’re done you can post it as a comment here, as usual, and if you want you can also email it to the FCBG’s competition before the 15th of June 2021 (more details on their website). Because the FCBG is a national organisation based in the UK, you can only enter if you live in the UK – but of course you can post your story here wherever in the world you are!

Good luck, Detectives – thank you for being patient this year, the writing prompts are back!

April 2021 Update Video

My new update video is here – my first this year! I talk about Once Upon a Crime, Ministry of Unladylike Activity, the sprayed-edge editions of the MMU books and also the beautiful international editions that have been published recently.

Enjoy! I’ll be back soon …

Top Marks for Murder has won the 2021 Bucks Book Award!

I’m delighted to say that Daisy and Hazel’s eighth adventure, Top Marks for Murder, won an award today!

Huge thanks to Buckinghamshire KS3 pupils, who voted it their very favourite book of the year. I’m so honoured, and delighted that the book has been enjoyed so much.

This is particularly lovely since in 2019, A Spoonful of Murder won the same award. I can tell I have a lot of fans in Buckinghamshire!

More Detective Societies in the news!

Detective Societies have really been making waves lately!

This time it’s the turn of the Ape Agency Detective Society, four Cork detectives who are really causing a stir in their home town of Ballinlough. They’ve already solved one mystery and they’re well on their way to solving several others. They’ve got posters, a logo and spy gadgets, and you can hire them for only €4!

The full article on the Cork Beo website is here – congratulations to the Ape Agency, I’m so proud that my books have helped to inspire you!