An interview with debut children's author, Jon Mayhew

I first “met" Jon Mayhew through this wonderful portal called blogosphere. It was about four years ago and we had both recently started blogging and, as is the way of the blogosphere, fell in with the same group of bloggers.

I recall, at the time, reading a short extract of his novel in progress, for children, Mortlock and I also remember Jon wondering how he was ever going to get the book right and get it published. I suggested to him that he join the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and I also mentioned that it seemed that several people were using a writing consultancy called Cornerstones.

Over the years, I looked on as Jon did indeed join the SCBWI, went on one of Cornerstones’ self-editing courses, wrote and rewrote and then rewrote some more and ultimately landed himself an agent – Sarah Davies of the Greenhouse Literary Agency. There was lots more rewriting but it wasn’t that long before Mortlock was snapped up in a three book deal by Bloomsbury. On 30th March 2010 Jon had his official book launch with Mortlock hitting the shelves on the 5th of April 2010.

The suitably atmospheric setting in Shoreditch, London, for Jon's book launch
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

Jon with fellow members of the British chapter of the SCBWI at his launch
(image courtesy of Sue Eves and Candy Gourlay)

I was extremely worried that for some reason I wouldn’t like Mortlock, but it is a brilliant romp and I read it in one sitting. Aimed at children of 10 + years, Mortlock is the wonderfully atmospheric story of orphaned Josie and her twin brother Alfie. They’ve never met, but when they do, it’s to unravel the mystery of their shared legacy, the secret of the Amarant - a magical and powerful plant - and it all has them running for their lives, pursued by three extremely unpleasant aunts, who happen to be terrifying ghuls. Set in Victorian England, the story is darkly gothic, full of magic, thrills and chills. It will appeal to boys as much as girls and will, I’m sure, happily rival Darren Shan and J K Rowling!

There is, I have to tell you, very little better than watching a pal succeed, and so, ladies and gentlemen, ghuls, crows and children, it is with pleasure that I introduce you to Jon Mayhew!

Debut children's author, Jon Mayhew (image courtesy of Jon Mayhew)

With all sorts of shivery delight, I have to ask, as the pre-published to the newly published… What does it feel like to become a published author?

A little bewildering, to be honest. But rather good. You spend so much time handling rejection that it seems too good to be true. Once you accept it, it’s ace! I must admit that I have to remind myself that every copy of Mortlock I see does not belong to me!


When did you first conceive Mortlock and where did the idea spring from?

Mortlock came from a number of sources. Alfie Wiggins, the undertaker’s mute came to me when I was watching my son in a performance of Oliver. There is a scene in which Oliver is ‘sold’ to Mr Sowerberry the undertaker and this ‘what if’ idea sprang into my mind. What if an undertaker’s mute found that he could waken the dead? That was my starting point.


How did you learn about the Amaranth and its immortal powers and what made you choose this is as one of the pivotal elements around which the story is based?

The Amarant is mentioned in Paradise Lost which I studied at university many moons ago. I don’t think any reference is made in the poem to its lifegiving properties but a swift Google search established that some people saw the Amarant as an immortal flower! Originally, there was a character in the story, a sort of Lazarus character who could ressurect the dead but he just got in the way, so I turned him into a flower.


Is there any particular reason why Josie Chrimes, your main character, turned up as a girl?

It was strange really, I started writing from Alfie’s point of view and for various reasons, it wasn’t working. I switched viewpoint several times (which was a pain) but finally settled on Josie. In a way, she is the more decisive and action-focused character and so it was easier then to have Alfie as the calming, sometimes cynical voice.


The three aunts in the story are gloriously macabre, to some extent caricatures of every wicked aunt or stepmother that has ever existed. Where did you draw your inspiration from for them?

If I told you I’d have to kill you! In a sense, they are caricatures. They are an amalgam of every bringer of bad news, every bully and every person I’ve known who smiled so sweetly whilst drilling the pointed blade between my shoulder blades. I kind of know who they are. Paradoxically, I love the aunts to bits. I love the way they twitch and flutter in unison and the way they switch from sweetly smothering to ravenous beak and claw.

The wonderfully atmospheric Mortlock booktrailer

Mortlock is gloriously atmospheric, did you find yourself having to do a lot of research into Victorian London?

It just happened as I went along, really. There were key things that I needed to know such as dates and events in the year it was set, just to make sure I wasn’t missing any good possible plot points. I started out with the basic story and then added detail, checked that something was chronologically correct. There were numerous e-mail conversations about sofas, photographs between my agent and then the desk editor and myself. I enjoyed the research and even visited a nice Victorian hearse up in the North east.


The Jon I’ve come to know is a really nice bloke and a very funny one at that, so I have to ask, where did all this gothically dark stuff spring from!?

I suppose it’s all there… lurking in the recesses of my mind. I try to be a very positive person which doesn’t always work. I suppose I work out all the darkness onto the page, perhaps.

Jon clearly has a bit of a thing about graveyards...
(image courtesy of Jon Mayhew)

Mortlock, despite its horror elements is, at its most fundamental, a story of overcoming the odds, good overcoming evil and ultimately it’s a story of great hope. How important do you believe hope is in children’s stories?

Children spend their lives hoping, don’t they? Hoping good things will happen and bad things won’t, hoping boring things will pass quickly and exciting things will come soon. I think a children’s book bereft of all hope might be a bit miserable. I’d like to think that Josie and Alfie came out of the whole experience with each other and a notion that they love and were loved. That’s important for any child I think.


In many ways, Mortlock reads a lot like a traditional fairy tale. What were the key influencers in the creation of this story and your writing per se?

Traditional song influenced the writing in that the themes of death and mortality haunt all the characters. I love the line “I’ll pike out his bonny blue eye,” in the ballad the Twa Corbies. The word ‘pike’ has so many connotations and sounds so aggressive. I tried to match that in some of my writing. A lot of what I write, I tell myself as I run. I scribble it down and then recraft it. Music influences me too. All kinds, film scores set my mind on the right track.

I suppose one of the key influencers was the writing of MR James. I love those old English ghost stories. The telling of stories is fundamental too. As a youngest child, I was the audience for the goriest, most terrifying stories from my brothers and sister.


You landed a three book deal with Bloomsbury, so we know there is more to come – do you want to give us a glimpse of what else you’re working on and are the other books sequels to Mortlock?

The other books are set in the same time and era with some of the same background characters but the main protagonists change. They aren’t sequels. I rather agree with Geraldine McCaughrean when she says she likes a story to wrap up in one book. I’d love to get the ghuls out and play with them again sometime.

The next book is called The Demon Collector and involves a certain Edgy Taylor (have you heard that name before? Check back through Mortlock) as he becomes involved in the Royal Society of Daemonologie. He hunts demons, helps collect them and goes on an epic voyage to the frozen North to find the lost corpse of the arch demon Moloch. Finally, he finds out which is worse, men or demons.

Jon at his book launch, clutching a newly formed ghul...
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

You not only write, but you’re also the father of four, you have a full time job, you run and you play in ceilidh bands. Do you have a clone or a special recipe for packing so much into your life? And do you perhaps have any plans to give up teaching and become a full-time writer?

I don’t watch much television: Dr Who, the news, Being Human and Have I got News For You. I rarely sit around twiddling my thumbs. My job has reduced to four days a week which is meant to help but in reality, I’ll be spending a lot of time promoting Mortlock. I have to admit that my family are very understanding and cover domestic roles for me a lot of the time. I don’t do all of the things all the time either so at the moment, I’m ramping up the running again and easing off the writing for a little bit… A Bloomsbury Time Turner helps too…

I would dearly love to write full time but I’m under no illusions about how hard this is to achieve. You have to sell a lot of books on a regular basis to do this and I have one title out. I do enjoy my day job too so I’m grateful for that but maybe one day…

Jon and his long suffering family...
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

When we spoke a while ago, you suggested I consider blogging as part of the angle to this interview, so I have to ask, to what extent did blogging play a role in the development of Mortlock and how to you see blogging as being important for pre-published and published authors?

Blogging put me in touch with some wonderful people…yourself included. They gave me excellent advice. You put me onto SCBWI and that was one of the things that put me in front of editors and agents at the Winchester conference. There’s nothing like a bit of professional interest in your work to get other editors and agents peering over curiously to see what the fuss is about.

Blogging has also given me useful feedback on work and even one of my first author gigs when Mickmouse booked me earlier this year to run some workshops at their first ‘Word Explosion’ children’s literary festival down in Cornwall.

It’s just such a great community for support and friendship.

Jon and fellow Greenhouse author, Sarwat Chadda, at the launch of Mortlock. Let's not ask what Sarwat is about to do to that crow... (or what the crow's about to do to him!)
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

Your road to publication, as is the case for most writers, is not something that happened overnight. In what way and how did the story change and evolve to what it is now? And how many rewrites did it take to get you to the final print version of Mortlock?

I have actually lost count of the number of rewrites Mortlock had. It started out very long and quite sprawling. I couldn’t write a synopsis for it because there were so many plot strands and points of view. Cornerstones helped to smooth it out and as with the changing of one character into a flower, it was a question of looking closely at each scene and challenging it to justify its own existence! The book changed quite fundamentally once Sarah Davies got hold of it and more characters were killed off, more scenes axed until it was ready to present to the publishing world.


Now that your first book has been published and you’ve learned a whole lot about writing, how many drafts are you into for The Demon Collector? Do you think the writing process gets easier?

Demon Collector is sitting pretty on the editor’s desk and she told me at the launch party that she loves it. Which is good for morale! Demon Collectors was floating about as I wrote Mortlock and went through about three false starts (upto 10,000 words that couldn’t be used) as I floundered around with characters. It was going to be a modern setting but I couldn’t get the tone right and the characters seemed wrong somehow. Once I set it in Mortlock’s world, it started to fall into place but I still struggled with a main character. Finally, I got it all straight in my head, planned it out (I had to present Bloomsbury with a synopsis by last July) and then I would say it just flowed. At one moment of self-doubt, I started hacking and rewriting but then stopped when I realized that the critical voice in my head was not a good one. It’s taken about two rewrites in all. A far cry from Mortlock.

Book 3? Who knows? Well, I do actually. I have a synopsis and a title and have written about 3,000 words…

Jon signs a copy of Mortlock
(image courtesy of Candy Gourlay)

What are the greatest lessons you’ve learned about writing along the way and what advice would you give to aspiring writers?

I try not to give advice as I’m conscious that I have had great good fortune with my writing. I’m also aware of how much talent there is out there. Just keep writing and reading and enjoying it. We all enjoy our writing, yes? If not, then stop right now and do something else instead.

I suppose if I were going to say anything about what I’ve learned it would be this: It isn’t easy, some of it is down to good luck (assuming you have the writing skills in place). Finding someone who loves your work is the best good fortune and you have to do it twice if you want to land an agent and then a publisher. So your story has to be different and the best it can be. It’s nothing new but it’s true.

If you love writing, then do it anyway. Write your best and never, never, never give up.



Many thanks to Jon for agreeing to this interview and here’s wishing loads of success with Mortlock and his writing career!


For more information on Jon Mayhew and Mortlock:

Jon's blog
Jon's website
The official Mortlock website by Bloomsbury
Jon's Facebook Fan Page
A wonderful article in The Guardian about Mortlock
And if you fancy reading an extract from Mortlock, try the Lovereading website

Synchronicity - life in the balance

Some days, you just get your socks blown right off. When it happens on a dark day, so much the better. Because that’s just synchronicity and universal grace at work.

I woke up this morning in a thorough state of gloom, stressed out and despairing. The current socio-political climate in South Africa is enough to drive anyone to drink and/or distraction.

The murder, purportedly over a wage dispute, of Afrikaner rightwing extremist leader, Eugene Terre’blanche has created a pivotal and dangerous moment in modern South African history. Murder is bad and common enough in South Africa, especially farm murders (it is estimated that between 1000 and 3000 white farmers have been killed since the ANC came to power), but the situation is inflamed by the constant singing of an anti-apartheid struggle song, which includes the lyrics “kill the boer”, by the leader of the ANC Youth League, Julius Malema. ("Boer" is the Afrikaans word for "farmer", but is also used as a derogatory term for any white person.) It’s not like this benighted country needs people stirring up racial disharmony and animosity and picking on ethnic minorities – there’s quite enough of that as it is (remember the xenophobia I wrote about a couple of years ago). While a court order banned Malema from singing the song, citing it as “hate speech”, it didn’t stop him, and moreover, the ANC sided with him when they vowed to fight the ban. As you can imagine, racial tensions are running high and it would seem like all the good work done in the very early years of democracy by real leaders like Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu are being rapidly undone – and by the ANC itself. I was going to write a lengthy post on the subject, but instead let me refer you to the press release from the South African Institute of Race Relations – a liberal and respected think tank – which pretty much sums it up.
(Thank goodness the ANC have today told Malema to stop singing the song - though whether he listens will be another matter.)

Now let me give you the flip side. Having been out, I came home to find a receipt from the post office and duly trotted off to collect my parcel.

Oh what joy! What generosity of spirit! And it couldn’t have happened on a more apt day.

You will recall that a few posts ago I blogged about artist Sara-J, whose work is just so rich, so vivid and, despite the humour, so profound. Since I commissioned my gorgeous painting from her, Sara-J has had several sales.

My totally delicious Sara-J oil painting

She’s wanting to leave the Netherlands and move to France where she’s found herself the perfect studio. But she’s needed to raise additional funds after one of her principal backers let her down. Because I love her work and because I wanted to help, I decided, despite the mutterings of my piggy bank, to buy two small prints.

Craig's Lillies

Summer Lillies

Nice, aren’t they!?

But imagine my delight and surprise when I opened the parcel and discovered not just the two etchings I’d ordered, but three more – a proof of “St Joseph’s”, 1/75 (i.e. a first print) of “St Joseph’s 2” and, joy of joys a wonderfully colourful etching of “Nasturtiums” which I’d considered buying but in the interests of the grizzling piggy bank had refrained from doing.

St Josephs

St Josephs 2

Nasturtiums

I am blown away by Sara-J’s generosity and kindness – and the pictures and her thoughtfulness could not have come on a better day!

Here is someone who not only creates the most stunning art, but who also has a big and wonderful heart. She said, in the note she sent with the pictures, that she wanted to thank me for doing a blog post about her work and for the advice I’d sent her, courtesy of the wonderful Tessa Edwards of Aerial Armadillo, about online galleries where she might promote her work. For me, helping Sara-J was pure pleasure, and her art, which already adorns my walls, was thanks enough, so I am, on one of the rare occasions in my life, left speechless.

All I can say is, “Sara-J – thank you! You are very special and totally wonderful!”

For those of you reading this, do me a favour, and please take another look at Sara-J’s website if you’ve not already done so – and consider buying yourself a little treat! You won’t regret it!

An interview with Keren David, debut author of "When I Was Joe"

Overview:

Being part of the children’s writers’ community on Facebook and belonging to the SCBWI has brought with it a host of benefits, not least being getting to know so many amazing writers – and London author, Keren David is one of them. I had a feeling, long before I read Keren’s debut novel, When I Was Joe, that I was going to enjoy it. What I didn’t expect was the sheer impact the book had on me. I read it pretty much in one sitting and all I can say is, “Wow! Read it”! When I Was Joe is a gripping, vivid and intense thriller told with dramatic pacing. It is a novel which has left me utterly breathless – and more importantly, it’s a novel that has left me thinking long after I closed the book.

14 year old Ty witnesses an incident of knife crime and gives police evidence, doing what he believes is the right thing. As a result, he and his mum are forced into the witness protection programme and are given new identities and Ty becomes Joe. As Joe’s life spirals out of control he attempts to cling to some semblance of normality and his own identity, all while events and his own decisions seem to do nothing more than lead him further down a path of destruction.

In Ty/Joe, Keren David has created a strong and poignant character with a powerful and evocative voice which is full of integrity and credibility. She also shows that she is unafraid to tackle gritty and powerful themes.

Debut YA author, Keren David

An interview with Keren David:


The first thing that struck me when I started reading When I Was Joe was the strength and integrity of Joe’s voice, so I’m intrigued to know, what came first, the character or the idea?

The idea came first. I’d started an evening course in Writing for Children at City University so I was looking around for things to write about. At that point I thought I might write something for 8-12s.

I saw an item on the news one night about a young boy who’d been caught up in a robbery and had to be taken into witness protection and given a new identity. I was struck by the paradox that the witnesses suffered almost a worse punishment than the criminals, and interested in the possibilities that a false identity offered. I realized quite quickly that it fitted a YA book best, because it’s such a good metaphor for adolescence.


Through the power of Joe’s voice, you’ve created a wonderfully rich and credible character and you write with tremendous insight into Joe’s life, his fears, his longings and his hopes. What enabled you to hone in so powerfully on the emotional life of a 14 year old boy?

I thought the boy in my book might welcome the idea of a new identity, and that implied that he hadn’t been very happy in his old life. So I thought about why that might be. A lot of who Ty/Joe is comes from his family background - particularly the absence of his father.

I also thought a lot about teenage boys, their bodies and their emotions, their lives and influences. It was important to me that Ty was a child of his time - he wasn’t going to like 80s music or classic films because it happened to suit me.

Gradually I got to know Ty very well - his voice got easier and easier. I loved spending time with him, he was really entertaining.


When I Was Joe deals not only with issues of identity but also taps into the increasing concern about the rise of gang and knife crime amongst teens in the UK. This is given witness to not only in your book but also in Shank, the recently released movie starring hip-hop star, Ashley “Bashy” Thomas, which predicts the potential future for kids on the streets by 2015. What personally motivated you to deal with these issues? What are your thoughts on the rise of gang-related knife crime and what do you think could and should be done to counter it?

When I started writing, the focus of the book was going to be identity. I picked a stabbing pretty much at random as the crime that Ty would witness, and thought it would remain very much in the background. But I was writing in spring/summer 2008, when there was a spate of horrific knife crimes in London. Every day the papers seemed full of terrible cases of murder, and a great deal about gangs. I learned a great deal from these reports about Ty, his milieu and the crime he’d witnessed. I started responding to politicians and commentators through his eyes.

If I’m out alone I carry my car key in my fist, just in case I need to punch it into the eye of an attacker. This was so much second nature to me that I never thought about it - I’ve been doing it since I was a young reporter 20 years ago, going out to all sorts of potentially dodgy areas. I read about kids carrying knives to protect themselves, and I started examining my own actions and fears. I wasn’t so different from some of the knife-carrying teenagers.

I’m encouraged when I read about initiatives which seek to make kids feel safer on the street and provide help for them to free themselves from gang culture - Strathclyde Police seem to be the leaders.

Although they take a different approach and have a significantly different "flavour", the movie Shank and When I am Joe both show the impact of knife crime and gang violence in the UK

You reveal an acute insight into gang violence, knife crime and the witness protection programme – did you have to do a lot of research to achieve this?

I read a lot, and I talked to a barrister friend who has worked with intimidated witnesses. I was helped by having worked as a news editor on The Independent from 1990-95 – I knew a lot of background about witness protection in particular. I would have liked to have done more research, and talked to the police in particular, but I felt the book was so topical that there was an urgency about getting it finished and - if possible - published.


You’ve packed numerous gritty themes into one novel, aside from gang and knife crime and the witness protection programme, you also look at teen pregnancy, cutting/self-mutilation, religion, abortion, ostracisation, family violence, identity and death threats. Did you plan to deal with so much or did the story just pour out with all these ingredients? And if planned, what motivated you to try and cover so many issues?

Don’t forget disability! I don’t like ‘issue’ books because so often they focus on one person with one ‘issue’. They’re surrounded by ‘normal’ people and their problem is solved by a wise counsellor. I fear books like this could make one feel even more isolated.

In my experience most of us grapple with multiple ‘issues’ and counselling may not be available. Some people cope better than others, and very little is ever completely resolved. I wanted to reflect life as I find it. I didn’t want to dole out messages or glib solutions.

Ty is someone who’s super sensitive about his mum being very young, he’s very affected by perceived slights and criticism. He gradually learns that he’s not the only one with problems.


Apart from simply telling a riveting story, is there anything you’d particularly like your novel to achieve in a greater social context, given your story offers up a strong social commentary of life in certain parts of the UK today? Did you in fact set out to create a social commentary or was this simply how the story unfolded?

I enjoyed reflecting life in the UK as I found it, because I’d recently returned to live in London after nearly nine years in Amsterdam. It’s odd coming back to your home country from a long time abroad, you notice things that otherwise you’d take for granted. So I suppose there was a lot of social observation in the book.

I wanted to make readers think about the questions that arise – about telling the truth, about identity, about criminal justice. I don’t have any easy answers.




You have been a journalist for most of your adult life, to what extent and how do you feel this influences how you write and what you write about?

I left school at 18 and got a job as a messenger girl on a national newspaper, which eventually offered me an apprenticeship as a junior reporter. The Deputy Editor, David Nathan, was in charge of training, and he taught me how to write clear, accurate and punchy English. I owe him a great deal.

As a reporter I learned not to be too precious about my writing - you’re part of a team, not an artiste. As an editor I learned to cut text - probably the most essential skill for a writer.

They say ‘write about what you know’ and I know about news…I know about the media and how it works, how stories get reported and distorted. I know about crime and justice, lawyers and policemen. Being a journalist is a great privilege - you enter so many different worlds, meet hundreds of people in all sorts of situations. It all feeds into my fiction.

I started out as a news reporter, then worked as a news editor. After that I had a job as an editor on the comment page. So this felt like a natural progression – from factual reporting, to commentary to fiction.


When I Was Joe is written in the first person present tense, something I’ve noticed an increasing number of YA authors doing. What prompted you to write in first person present tense and what do you believe this narrative form creates in the story?

Looking back at my notebook, I wrote the very first page of the very first chapter in third person past tense. By the next page it was first person, past tense. By page three I’d settled on first person present tense. It makes everything feel very immediate. In a book about truth-telling, first person present tense feels like you’re getting the unvarnished truth. I found that useful!
In my latest book I’ve switched to first person past tense and I’m struggling with it. I keep on wanted to revert to present tense, but the members of my writing group are urging me not to and it does help to differentiate the narrator from Ty/Joe.


You have a cast of strong secondary characters in When I Was Joe. Who, apart from Joe stands out for you the most and why?

Ty’s mum, Nicki - I felt very sad for her, but I loved writing all the bits where she’s a complete and utter nightmare.

Ashley, Ty’s sometime girlfriend, the sexy control freak - just such fun to write.

Claire, Ty’s friend – she’s very secretive, full of potential. I felt I ‘knew’ her less than any other character. I loved having the chance to find out more about her in Almost True.


What sort of contact do you have, if any, with the kind of kids who inhabit Joe’s world?

My children go to state schools in Hackney and Haringey, north London, and they mix with all sorts of children. I’ve not met any who’ve been so directly affected by crime though. But Joe’s world is my world - what happens to him could happen to any of us.


What sort of response have you had from young people who’ve read When I Was Joe?

I’ve had a great response. I was really thrilled by a 15-year-old boy who reviewed it on Amazon and wrote “I find it hard to believe the writer isn't a teenager themselves, they seem to know exactly what goes on” which was just the biggest compliment possible.


Many writers of young adult and children’s fiction speak about the importance of hope in their writing. Where do you see the hope in When I Was Joe and how important do you believe hope is in children’s fiction?

A story with no hope in it at all would be so bleak as to be almost unbearable. Having said that, I don’t sit and think about injecting hope into a story, or contriving a happy ending. In When I Was Joe I think the hope comes from friendship, and Ty’s growing understanding of the importance of integrity.



The sequel to When I Was Joe is Almost True, due for release in August 2010. Will it be the last we see of Joe, or will there be more?

There’s no more planned at the moment, although the ending of Almost True would make it possible to return to the story - maybe with a different narrator.


Who or what do you feel most influences your writing?

Who: I’ve got a great writing group, which came out of the courses I did at City University. They’re fantastic at giving feedback and support. My daughter is 13 and she reads everything I write. My agent Jenny Savill is a great person to talk to about anything to do with the work in progress and I’ve been incredibly lucky in the talented editors I’ve worked with at Frances Lincoln, especially Maurice Lyon, the editorial director, who has an almost magical ability to plant ideas in my head without it ever being clear (to me) how they got there.

What: the world around me. My children. The things people say. Newspapers, television, the internet. The past and the present.

Keren and her daughter

What was your journey to publication like and what advice would you give unpublished writers?

Now that I know more about the publishing business I can see that I did everything wrong. I started querying agents as soon as I’d finished the first draft - I didn’t even have a title. I got a few rejections and then I was lucky enough to get some good advice from one agent and I rewrote the beginning of the book to make it more dramatic. That did the trick and three agents wanted to represent me.

Submitting the book to publishers was difficult - the recession was upon us and a lot of editors said positive things but couldn’t make an offer. I was very happy when Frances Lincoln made an offer for two books, as I’d written about a third of Almost True by that point and I was very fond of it.

I’d advise unpublished writers to join SCWBI and read Nicola Morgan’s excellent blog. Develop internal and external armour and refuse to take rejection personally. Cut and polish your work. And make sure your first chapter grabs the reader’s attention.


And finally, where to from here for Keren David?

I’m working on a new book, with a female narrator and I hope to be able to tell people more about it quite soon. I love writing fiction, especially YA, and I hope there will be more to come.


Many thanks to Keren for agreeing to this interview and here’s wishing her huge success with her writing and with Joe – she certainly deserves it!

Thanks Nicky!


For more about Keren, news about her books, take a look at her blog