January has been a very busy month so I apologise for not blogging for a few weeks. I had the pleasure of going down to Cornwall to do an author talk at St Mary’s C of E Primary School in Penzance and I popped into Falmouth uni to catch up with my old tutors. It was lovely to see Susy, Tom and the rest of the Professional Writing gang and I even bumped into two people who studied on my course with me. We’d not seen each other for eight and a half years!!!!
While I was there I was able to go and listen to an author talk given by Katherine Woodfine (and her agent). Katherine talked about how she went about getting her agent and first publishing deal for ‘The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow.’ I managed to get the best seat in the lecture room (on the first row, directly opposite Katherine). I found the whole talk so interesting, as a non-fiction writer it was fascinating to find out the journey a fiction author goes on. Katherine spent months writing her book, then once she had an agent they spent a year perfecting it and making a lot of changes, then she managed to get a publishing deal and it took another year of work before it was ready to be printed. I was full of admiration for Katherine because she worked so hard and never gave up.
It made me realise how blessed I was to have an agent and publisher for Robert Pattinson A-Z just a week after sending a few emails. It came out about five months later and the whole process was pain-free. I now write on average three books a year and I get to see them in shops just a few months after writing them.
Since coming home to Widnes I’ve been working with some talented children from St Michael’s school every Wednesday afternoon. We’re writing a book on inspirational people together and we’re having a blast. The children are so excited and are so bright, they have loads of great ideas. Some of the children are working on their first books at home in their spare time – they are so driven and have a thirst for knowledge. Wednesday afternoons are now the highlight of my week – I love every minute I spend at the school.
At church I’m delighted to say that I have some new children in my Sunday School class so that’s really exciting. I’ve had to order some extra colouring books and puzzle books so we have enough to go round. We’ve been learning about Jonah and the children have loved acting out the story.
I’ve been thinking about what my next books could be so please watch this space, all will be revealed soon!
lots of love
Sarah
x
PS Have you seen the new Star Wars film? I loved it and I’m hopefully going to see it for the second time next week.