My next steps

Hi

I’ve been quiet again, I know. Apologies.  I have been trying to work out my next steps and now that I have them I would love to share my journey with you all.

I have written in the past about how impossible it is for the average writer to live off their earnings (from writing).  At the end of last year, with my youngest in Reception, and slim prospects of being able to write a sequel to The Weight of Souls, I decided that something had to change; either I had to get a full time job or I had to find a way of making some money out of doing what I love – writing.

My first step was to get my WIPs finished.  My agent now had two books ready to go out to publishers – Wavefunction and Windrunner’s Daughter.  More on that later.

I have been to a number of school visits recently at which I asked how many children actually enjoyed reading.  The show of hands at these groups disappointed me – it seems that the number of children willing to admit that they dislike reading – to an AUTHOR of all people – is increasing.  Simultaneously, my friend’s little boy, who had been dragged to reading kicking and screaming and hated it for years, suddenly developed a love of fiction.  Why?  He discovered Beast Quest.

This made me interested in ‘series fiction’ as something that obviously inspires a love of reading in reluctant readers, especially boys.  Speaking to my agent, I discovered that Stripes was seeking an author to bring a Young Adult story idea to life.  I resolved to apply.

Junk Pirates was a departure from my usual female-led dark paranormal thriller.  An adventure on the high-seas, it was set in a post-apocalyptic world drowning in the waste or ‘junk’ of previous generations but otherwise suffering from a lack of resources … and it had a male protagonist. Or, in other words, was aimed primarily at teenaged boys.

The last book I had written, Wavefunction, had a male protagonist, so I was comfortable with the idea of writing from a boy’s perspective.  Furthermore, Wavefunction was written in third-person, the POV that Stripes wanted for Junk Pirates.  Two coincidences that made me instantly comfortable with the Junk Pirates POV despite my previous publishing history.

I threw myself into the application, writing the first few chapters and hoping that my style was something that Stripes liked.

They did.

In December I met with the editor who had given birth to the concept and she asked me to write some more: revisions to my early chapters, a full synopsis and extracts from later in the story. By this point I was absorbed in Toby’s world, half in love with Toby, Bric, Barnaby, Polly and the other characters that populated this junk filled future.  I would have been devastated to lose the chance to write Toby’s complete story.

Luckily, Stripes liked my work and I was given the commission to write Junk Pirates one and two.  Phoenix Rising comes out in September 2015.  I am so excited at writing in this new way, at the same time I am nervous: I am bringing someone else’s vision to life and I hope that I can do it justice.

I now am in the unique position (for me) of having to write a complete novel to a deadline.  I’ll keep you updated with how it all goes.

And of course I now have both Wavefunction and Windrunner in the background, in the hope that someone wants to bring these stories to the world.

This year I intend to work as never before.  I already have several school visits, festivals and events lined up.  I want to make a career out of doing what I love, I want to write the best book possible for Stripes and I want to be able to carry on doing this for a long time.

I hope you’re with me!