UKYA Extravaganza Blog Tour: Q&A with Kate Ormand

 

Next weekend, I'm heading to Birmingham - for the first time in years - to attend UKYA Extravaganza, which will be taking place at Waterstones Birmingham! To celebrate UKYA, and the work of the authors, bloggers and other people within the community, Kerry Drewery and Emma Pass have managed to piece together a line-up of thirty-five authors for the afternoon's events! I spent a few panicked minutes on the phone waiting to hear whether tickets were still available over the phone a few weeks ago, just in time before they sold out(within twenty-four hours of initially going on sale!).

 

 As part of the countdown to the event, I'm hosting today's Blog Tour stop with the wonderful Kate Ormand, who is an author appearing at next weekend's event, and one of the cheerleaders for UKYA online. Also, she has an incredible amount of patience when it comes to waiting for questions to be sent by an apologetic blogger!

 

Find out more about Kate and her books:  Twitter | Website | Facebook

Hi Sophie! Thanks so much for having me!

Q. UKYA Extravaganza is next weekend! Now the countdown is coming to an end, what are you anticipating most about the event?

A. I'm so excited to meet everybody! I'm looking forward to getting a few of my books signed by some of the other authors too.

Q. Since this tour stop is a celebration of all things UKYA, can you share with us a few of your favourite books that fit into this category?

A. I LOVE Emma Pass's books, ACID and THE FEARLESS. I recently read 7 DAYS by Eve Ainsworth, which I thought was brilliant. THE SIN EATER'S DAUGHTER by Melinda Salisbury is also a new favourite. VENDETTA by Catherine Doyle is incredible. And I just finished the fantastic SLATED trilogy by Teri Terry.

Q. 'UKYA' is a fairly new term to the publishing world. What do you think has made this 'brand' so popular in such a short space of time?

A. The people who read it, write it and are passionate about it. Teams like Bookish Brits on YouTube. Lucy Powrie has Project UKYA and runs hugely popular Twitter chats that everyone's welcome to. Michelle at Fluttering Butterflies is running a British Books reading challenge this year and always creates UKYA lists on Goodreads. Debbie at Snuggling on the Sofa created an awesome spreadsheet for UKYA this year too! Things like this, and the people behind them, really give UKYA a boost and the love is spreading!

Q. As well as being an author, you also co-founded the blog Author Allsorts. How does it feel to be a part of the UKYA community, both as a blogger and an author?

A. I love it! I love reading and talking about books online, so it's nice to still be doing that - if I wasn't, I wouldn't have been able to join in the Scholastic Bloggers' Brunch with you guys last month!

Q.Most of the books we see being made into blockbusters are categorised as USYA. Do you think this is a genre UKYA can begin to challenge?

A. Definitely! Think of Teri Terry's SLATED or Sally Green's HALF BAD on the big screen - amazing!

Q. You will be at UKYA Extravaganza to promote your debut, Dark Days, which was released last year. What has surprised you the most about life as a published author so far?

A. People reading my books, supporting me, wanting me to write my name on things! Sometimes I don't think about the whole "author" bit, I just write and read and talk about books and go along with my day, then sometimes it hits me and it all seems so surreal and wonderful.

I've fallen head-over-heels for the pink font!

Q. Dark Days is a dystopia novel where the world has been divided into sectors and the people separated. How did you go about constructing this world? Were there notes, maps, drawings...?

A. I did draw a map of the sector and one of the New World to help me when navigating Sia through her setting. I had a lot of notes from reasons  for how the world is the way it is in the novel. I always had them all around me at the desk for easy access and making sure I remembered it all on top of everything else! I also have a pinterest board - images are a great source of inspiration to me.

Q. Sia, the main character, finds out early on in the novel that she has fifteen days before she gets 'eaten' by cyborgs. How would you react - honestly if you found yourself in her position?

I'd be devastated. I wouldn't be able to cope. She's SO much braver than me. And we do see different reactions in the book of how other characters handle the news.

Q. I've also just been reading about your upcoming book The Wanderers. Where does the inspiration for the creatures such as the shifters - and the cyborgs featured in Dark Days - come from?

A. I thought of the idea for THE WANDERERS when I saw a circus poster on my way to university one day. It was bright yellow, all torn and weathered, and I said, "What if I wrote a circus book where all the animals were shapeshifters?" And then...I did! Shapeshifters feature in plenty of books I've read, so I'm hoping to have given them a unique twists. The cyborgs - I like robots! I'm even playing with the idea for another robot book (but they're not vicious and deadly this time!).

Q. Will you be continuing to write UKYA novels?

A. Definitely! I love UKYA and I'm so proud and grateful to be a part of it! Thank you, Sophie!

Thank you so much for answering my questions, Kate!

***

 

You can follow the rest of the blog tour, and keep up to date with news about Saturday's event, by using #UKYAExtravaganza!

I will be writing a recap sharing my thoughts on the event that will be up on the blog next Monday!

Will I be seeing you at UKYA Extravaganza?
If not, would you like to see similar events held elsewhere?

Tell me in the comments!

Sophie
x

 

Sharing the Sin Eater's Daughter Love: Q&A with Melinda Salisbury

You're not the only one wondering how Melinda Salisbury is my Valentine this year. In fact, I feel like I should be baking a batch of heart-shaped biscuits in the kitchen or re-writing lines of prose in a homemade card at the moment. Instead, I'm hosting the blog tour for Mel's debut, The Sin Eater's Daughter (better than cramming a box of chocolates on my own!) which was released last week. Even before publication, comparisons were made between Salisbury's new series and the likes of Throne of Glass and Shadow and Bone, and it's not disappointed! After meeting Mel at the Scholastic Bloggers' Brunch a few weeks ago, having just sent the questions, I loved that her personality shone through in the answers I received!

 

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Q) What was it that made you want to write Fantasy novels in particular?

A) They're my favourite kinds of stories, so it was a natural fit for me. I'm an escapist reader - books, to me, are a passport to another place, and I want to visit places unlike anything I've ever known. Plus, a lot of my other interests fit into that fantasy box - I love medieval history, and magic, and fairytales, all things that also mesh well with fantasy worlds. I think I'd struggle to write a contemporary novel, because I'm not a very grounded person.

Q) What was the writing process like for The Sin Eater's Daughter? Did you have a certain writing spot or snack that helped you through?

A) It was strange, because I wasn't writing it really with the intention of getting it published. Whilst I was writing it I actually had another story on submission with agents, and I started writing The Sin Eater's Daughter a chapter or two a day, just to keep myself occupied. I was sending it to my friend Liv every time I finished a chapter, and she kept asking what happened next, so I'd write another. It was only really at the end I realised I had a book, and it was way better than the one I was submitting. Luckily, the woman who became my agent agreed. I like to drink tea while I'm writing. I switch to coffee when I'm editing. I also have a thing about Cadbury Twirls. No idea why.

Q) Despite being set in a fictional world, are there any aspects of your debut that were inspired by your own experiences?

A) Yes  - many. Twylla's struggles with the life she has have been mine, in the past. I've been in that place where you're going through the motions of doing what you're told you should do, ticking boxes and not really living. Obviously, our actual experiences are very different, but her sleepwalking through her life, shying away from confronting the problems with it have been my struggles too. I suspect there are a lot of people living the lives they think they ought to, instead of the ones they want to. I had everything you're supposed to want and it wasn't enough and it made me hate myself, just as she does. And like her, I was shaken out of it.

I also travel a lot, and that's really influenced the novel. The mirror maze in the book is based on a real one I visited in Prague, the food and geography and climate is stolen from places I've visited. The world of The Sin Eater's Daughter was basically mined from my life, and honed, and made into a thing entirely of its own.

Q) For The Sin Eater's Daughter, you had to imagine the entire Kingdom of Lorene. If you could explore another alternate Fantasy world for a day, which would it be?

A) The wizarding world of Harry Potter. Hands down. I'd want to go to The Three Broomsticks and The Leaky Cauldron and eat Pumpkin Pasties and bow to Hippogriff and see it if bowed back. I'd like to be flummoxed by a moving staircase at Hogwarts, and watch a Quidditch match. But I wouldn't leave at the end of the day. I'd see if I could get a job as Hagrid's assistant, or a Muggle Liaison officer.

Doesn't this dress - worn at the recent
 Vanity Fair Oscar Party match The Sin Eater's
Daughter perfectly?

Q) Multiple Young Adult novels have received a movie adaptation recently. Who would you dream cast if a film of The Sin Eater's Daughter was going to be made?

A) I really don't know! Friends have asked me this, and it's really hard for me to cast people, because obviously in my head I can see exactly what all of the characters look like and they just look like themselves. I can think of some actors that resemble the images in my head, for example Aneurin Barnard in The White Queen was very close to my Merek, and Saoirse Ronan has the wistful sadness of Twylla in her looks, but I think it's something I'd rather leave to readers, or casting agents to decide on.

Q) Was there a playlist that you wrote your novel to? If not, what songs would be a part of it?

A) I don't write to music at all. I need silence when I'm writing, and it's not something I draw inspiration from. I get all of my outside input from travelling and nature. Having said that, I was listening to the radio in the kitchen one night on a break from editing and I heard Broken Crown by Mumford and Sons and thought, "Oh my God, that's the theme song of the book." The same thing happened when I was writing the second one, I heard London Grammar's Sights and it was the song. I'm so excited to see what song encapsulates book three.

Q) So far, what has been the highlight of your publication journey?

A) I know it might sound a little trite, but it's been all of the people I've met. The people I've worked with at Scholastic, my agent, other authors, bloggers, fans, booksellers. The YA scene in the UK is just so incredibly supportive and friendly and I've made so many friends along the way. Seeing a copy of the book for the first time was incredible but seeing my ne friends being just as excited, and proud, as I am is beyond amazing. That so many people are embracing my dream, and talking about it, is humbling and incredible.

As a thank you, I wish I could send some Red Velvet Valentine's Day cupcakes your way!

Have you picked up a copy of The Sin Eater's Daughter yet?
Anticipating the rest of the series?
 

Tell me in the comments!

Thank you to Rachel from Scholastic for asking me to host and Mel for answering my questions!

 

Sophie

x

Apple and Rain Blog Tour: Inspiring Teachers

There were two reasons for why, when I was asked to participate in the blog tour for the Apple and Rain paperback, I replied within moments of seeing the email.

 The first: I absolutely adore Crossan's writing. No matter how much time I had spent staring at the white hardback edition in the bookstore, I hadn't yet managed to pick up Apple and Rain, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Whilst I still like the simplicity of the hardback, I can't help but prefer the bold colour of the new edition; not many people have missed it when I've been reading in class! It's no surprise that, since receiving the copy, I've spent the nights curled up reading it. I've been willing to read anything Sarah has written from the time I discovered Breathe!

Second: I saw a suggestion for what the post could be about - inspiring teachers - and knew it couldn't have fit better with my own experiences at school. I'll admit that I almost live in the English Department, in my own seat beside the radiator, and it's been the teachers there that have inspired me to pick up a pen. It's those that will spend the extra hour after class talking about daily life - what happens outside those four walls - or those that will lend you a copy of a John Green novel they enjoyed, that make an impact. I was introduced to the quote that has shaped the past two years by my English teacher, and been inspired by her support to want to do the same. I guess I've had my own Mr Gaydon! You can see when a teacher cares about what they are teacher, and like Sarah, I can't contemplate why we're still holding back creativity.*

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Have you seen the new ad on TV with that guy from Educating Yorkshire in it? The ad encouraging people to train as teachers? It’s fabulous. It makes me want to get back into the classroom and inspire a whole generation of young people to be their very best selves, to live fully, to dream bravely. And yet, I’m not sure the ad tells the truth about what it means to be a teacher in this country at the moment. I’m not sure it reflects what the government wants from teachers and students. I’m not sure how easy it is these days to be an inspiring teacher.

In my latest novel, Apple and Rain, a teacher called Mr Gaydon promotes poetry in his classroom in a way that’s fun and exciting and completely non-threatening. He gets his students interested and makes them see that poetry belongs to them. My protagonist is transformed by this process. So why did I include Mr Gaydon in my book? Well, I created this impassioned teacher because that’s how I feel poetry should be taught – as something which appeals to our emotions first and intellects second. We allow students to enjoy music before studying it, to ponder paintings before explaining the symbolism, but poetry is taught backwards – it begins as something to be puzzled over and examined, something to feel frightened of, and then we ask students whether or not they enjoyed the poems we’ve taught. And I don’t blame the teachers for this.

As I intimated, I was a teacher myself for ten years, and I know how hard it is to be penned in by a curriculum that leaves very little space for fun. Everything that’s taught is then tested, so how can teachers feel free to let students love poems before understanding them? To feel their musicality before examining the structure of the language? There simply isn’t the time.

And this is where the government comes in. Change the way we teach students and test them. Give teachers time to inspire. Leave space in the curriculum for fun and laughter. Maybe that sounds frightening. What about the unruly teachers, won’t they waste this time, fail to teach young people anything useful? There is that risk. Obviously. But I’d say a very low percentage of teachers would abuse a system that asked them to teach what they love.

When I lived in New Jersey I taught at an amazingly progressive school founded by a smart, warm woman called Suellen Newman where the teachers were encouraged to write their own curriculums and teach their passions, which we all did. The result? Mayhem! No, that's a joke. It was amazing! Teachers were happy and students thrived. Grades soared and the young people were roused to set up their own clubs, societies and interest groups, everyone taking responsibility for his or her own learning. The motivation stopped coming from the teacher and started coming from the students themselves who simply wanted to learn for learning's sake. And what more can we ask of young people than they take ownership of their own educations. Is it a fantasy? I don't think so. I've seen it happen. And maybe if the government eased up just a tiny little bit on teachers, it could happen in the UK too

***

It's the Apple and Rain paperback's book-birthday today(February 12th)! Make sure to pick up a copy - if only to be able to own that cover on your shelves!

 

Any memories of an inspiring teacher?

Share them in the comments!

 

*I was a Year Seven taught Harry Potter to a soundtrack of this parody. I know that was not on the syllabus!