Sarah Holding's Blog

Iceland beckons...

My new YA novel, Road to True North, comes out in less than a month, and I’m excited to see a trickle of reviews coming in now from my advance readers and reviewers, who seem to be saying it’s hitting the mark as an emotionally satisfying read! Next week I’m flying to Iceland to get some publicity shots, and return to some of the places that inspired particular scenes in the novel. Check my social media accounts to see what I get up to! And don’t forget to pre-order a signed copy here.Road to True NorthSarah Holding

Launching The Kiseki Writing Retreat

It’s always been my dream to live in Japan one day, and to create a retreat centre for other writers, and this year both dreams are coming true! I now have a writer’s visa that allows me to be in Japan full-time, and I’ve bought a beautiful old house near Himeji. Next year I will run the first retreat for aspiring and emerging female writers, so check it out here: https://www.thekisekiwritingretreat.com/

Iceland beckons…

My new YA novel, Road to True North, comes out in less than a month, and I’m excited to see a trickle of reviews coming in now from my advance readers and reviewers, who seem to be saying it’s hitting the mark as an emotionally satisfying read! Next week I’m flying to Iceland to get some publicity shots, and return to some of the places that inspired particular scenes in the novel. Check my social media accounts to see what I get up to! And don’t forget to pre-order a signed copy here.

blackloop

‘Stranger Things’ meets ‘The Breakfast Club’

A freak electro-magnetic pulse leaves 17-year-old Bo and six other teenagers trapped inside a building in the British seaside resort of Blackpool, desperately trying to work out what just happened, why they can’t get out, and how to survive the weirdest weekend of their lives. Dealing with each other’s egos and issues is nothing compared to the fallout unleashed by the solar event, because hidden beneath the building they discover it has activated a powerful energy device called blackloop. As blackloop starts affecting everyone and everything in its vicinity, can Bo, who’s still grieving the loss of her mum, summon the courage to confront her fears, realise she’s falling in love, and make a move on Karim before it’s too late?

My latest YA novel ‘blackloop’ comes out in paperback and digital editions this Hallowe’en. To mark the event on 31st October at 5pm GMT I shall be doing a livestream on Facebook and a giveaway on Goodreads and the first 50 people will be send a free copy of the eBook. If you’d like to receive a free copy for your kindle, click the link below! The Goodreads offer is open until midnight on Black Friday…

Goodreads Book Giveaway blackloop by Sarah Holding

Giveaway ends November 24, 2023.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

My recent jaunt to Japan

In May I was fortunate enough to be able to return to the country I love most in the world after England, and since I’d been learning Japanese all through lockdown I especially wanted to see if I could hold a proper conversation now! I’d also had an idea to set a new story in Japan, and I wanted to do some research and test the water a little.

I stayed for the whole two weeks with a lovely couple in their eighties, who rented me the upstairs of their house in Oiso, a small town on the coast about an hour away from Tokyo. My room had tatami mats on the floor and a view over the neighbour’s greenhouses, and they even made me a traditional Japanese breakfast every morning before I walked over to the local library to work.

Of course I also did some exploring, met some interesting people, swam in the Pacific and got to see some astonishing views of Mount Fuji on clear days. Little did I know before my visit, but Oiso is somewhere many writers and poets have lived over the years, including Haruki Murakami who still lives there. All round it was a very special, very nourishing trip!

Storyslamming at The Royal School

Just before half term I visited the Royal School in Hindhead, to help them choose their entrant for this year’s national StorySLAM competition run by United Learning. It was a fun morning of very professional performances from pupils in years 5 and 6, who all demonstrated an exceptionally high standard of creative writing. It was also a pleasure to meet the head, Pippa Smithson, who’s currently spearheaded exciting changes at the school.

Permalink

inland finland

I’m back from my writing residency in Finland now, and still processing the whole fantastic experience of working alongside 11 other people.

I went to Arteles with the intention of deepening my writing practice as a children’s author whose work has a strong connection to the environment. Whilst (and perhaps because) I set myself no actual goals, I’ve come away with a first draft of a YA novel set in Iceland entitled Gap Year, an almost finished draft of another YA novel I’d been working on, and a collection of poems and photographs about my time at Arteles. I challenged myself to meditate and write at least one poem each morning, as preparatory practices before continuing with my novel, and the photographs were taken while out on my daily midday walk around Haukijärvi. At the weekends when I took a break from writing, I made a few small paintings and collages in the studio. Sometimes I also played my flute in the music room. 

It has been an amazingly vital experience to watch autumn turn into winter, to feel the temperature dropping and watch the lake freezing over, to experience a new relationship to twilight and darkness, and to become almost as hibernatory as a forest creature over the course of a month. Accepting and embodying a quietly creative path has become so much easier having been around a dozen other creative introverts, watching their process and getting to know what drives them to make their work. 

Welcome to my new website!

Meet my amazing web team!

Back in the summer when I had the idea to completely re-do my nine-year-old website, I envisaged it as an arduous administrative task not a life-affirming process. But then I guess it all comes down to who you choose to work with. In my case, it was a dear friend Nora Zimerman who offered to be my website ‘doula’ and guide me through the steps.

Learning to ‘embody my brand’ and then plan a photoshoot with Nora felt creative and exciting, and when she introduced me to photographer Cara Mia Petersen, I knew immediately she was a kindred creative spirit and that it was going to be a lot of fun working with her too.

I am very proud of the results: a website that’s driven by Cara Mia’s gorgeous photography, and a concept that really communicates what I have to offer as an author – whether it’s my readers, their parents or their teachers who are visiting this site to learn more.

So please have a good look around, email me with any questions or comments you might have, sign up to receive my newsletter, and do come back from time to time, because I will be putting up more content.

Sarah

My first writing residency

After all the time spent at home during lockdown juggling family life with being an author, I’ve been craving some concentrated time to write that’s away from home in a new environment. I wanted to put myself in a situation where the whole day was available for writing, whether it’s on my laptop at a desk, or in my head on a walk in the woods.

I googled writing residencies and came across Arteles Creative Center in Finland, which offers month-long residencies to writers, artists and musicians, in a converted farmhouse near Tampere.

The thought of spending a whole month there was very appealing, so on the day of the deadline I put in an application, mentioning my love of Tove Jansson and some vague plans about what I would do if I was awarded a Residency.

Guess what? I was picked! And next week I’ll be arriving there, wondering what the experience holds in store…

I will, of course, keep you posted!

Sarah