Well, it’s the first day of November and for many people this is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short. The idea is to write a whole novel in a month – giving yourself a strict daily word count and focusing on getting to the end, rather than going back and rewriting. It’s a brilliant idea. Lots of published novels have come out of it. If you’re giving it a go this year, good luck! And if you’re not, think about it maybe for another year.
Meanwhile, I’m busy editing the page proofs of Sequins, Stars and Spotlights – which I think will be the last time I see it before it becomes a real, proper book with a cover and everything! It’s not due out until February, but I know that time flies by in the publishing world, so that’s not really too far away at all.
When that’s done, I’ll get back to writing book 4, which is starting to come together nicely now. My heroine, Ted, has an exciting, important story to tell and I can’t wait to get to the best bits so I can do them justice. I’m hoping to have the first draft finished by Christmas, but that will involve motoring along and not getting sick or distracted (and none of the family doing the same), so we’ll just have to see.
But the most exciting things are things I have no control over at all. First, Threads is coming out in Brazil this month. YAY YAY YAY! I’ve never been to Brazil, but I’d love to go. It’s been in the news a lot recently, with the elections, and it’s going to host the World Cup and the Olympics soon. Even more importantly, the country is packed, apparently, with keen YA readers. I hope they like Threads. Only time will tell.
Then it will appear in America in January under its US title: Sequins, Secrets and Silver Linings. That will be truly amazing. My book, in lots of American bookstores and libraries, and being read by lots of American girls (and, I hope, boys). Wow. Meg Cabot liked it, so I hope everyone else agrees!
And the judging for the Threads competition in Germany (where it’s Wie Zuckerwatte mit Silberfaden) is happening soon. I’ll be going to Hamburg in February to meet the winner and see a fashion show.
Do I have a glamorous life? Well actually, sometimes it is. But most of the time it’s me, in my shed, with page proofs or just my laptop for company, making up stories. Not glamorous, but when it works, that’s the best bit of all.