Category: Blog

Over on the wonderful Snuggling on the Sofa blog today, I’m taking part in the YA Shot blog tour with a piece about story, and how it’s all about trouble. Read more here.

Ooh, look what I just rooted up on the internet – a picture of the Turkish edition of NOW YOU SEE ME, and a bookmark. I have my own Turkish bookmark! *stupidly pleased face*

I’m hoping this post title says ‘Thank you, Turkey’ and not something filthy. I had a bit of a heartstop moment when I typed the title into Google Translate and missed the ‘t’ off Hayat. The result was somewhat alarming.

It’s been a properly hectic few months at Haughton Towers. Most of it good. Was over the moon that Now You See Me got picked for the Amazon summer sale and climbed the charts to a giddying #31 in the Kindle store. Here’s the proof!

In the meantime I headed up to Scotland for a couple of events for the Edinburgh Book Festival, including my first full-length talk, at Glasgow’s beautiful Mitchell library. 

Had a fabulous time – once I’d got over my awful nerves – and the kids were absolutely great, asking a ton of interesting questions. My favourite? ‘When are you going to write your last book?’ Errr…

Next morning, Tim Bowler and I were interviewed by Daniel Hahn on the subject of gripping thrillers. Another great audience from the surrounding schools. 

Here’s a pic of me and the amazing Tim Bowler, signing books after the event. I felt really honoured to be appearing alongside Carnegie medal winner Tim, especially as I’d first met him on an Arvon course for writing children’s fiction. I could hardly believe I was actually appearing alongside him several years later. His latest book, Game Changer, is brilliant, by the way. 

But Edinburgh wasn’t all work and no play. I found time to hop on one of those open bus tours, with great views of Arthur’s Seat

and these boys with bagpipes outside the Greyfriar’s Bobby pub

I was also pretty mesmerised by this:

Sadly, my last night in Edinburgh didn’t go quite so well. On the way back to the hotel, I got into an argument with a paving stone in Charlotte Square. It won.

Result? Two broken fingers and a very swollen, bruised hand. All healing nicely now, but it’s made typing something of a challenge. Have to say a huge thank you, though, to the tremendous staff at the A&E department of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, particularly for that gas and air! And to everyone at the book festival for having me, and looking after me so well. Sorry I can’t be trusted to get back to my hotel in one piece!

Anyway, I’m back home now, with the splint off and a full set of edits to embark on for Book 3, as yet untitled. So watch this space…

I’ve been giving this first post in the series a lot of thought. It seemed logical to jump in at the beginning – at the ideas stage, where and how I first conceive of a book. But then it occurred to me to give a bird’s eye view of the whole process before getting down to the nitty-gritty.

So what follows is the procedure I’ve developed over the last five years. This is what I do, step by step, to get from initial idea to book on the shelf. Some of it alone, some of it in conjunction with my publisher. If you’re starting out as a writer, I hope it gives you some perspective on what it takes to produce a book. If you’re an established author, feel free to have a good laugh at my expense. I imagine other writers have a far more streamlined approach to the whole business, but this is what works for me.

Gird your loins, the list is long and may appear scary. But essentially it’s simply a breakdown of each step in the novel writing process; a guideline, so I always know what I have to do next. In reality, it’s less clinical and prescriptive than it looks. There’s plenty of room for inspiration and changes of heart, and I don’t necessarily do all these steps in this exact order. But I do them all, eventually.

And yes, I’m essentially a planner. Or partially. I’ve read about writers who plan exactly how a scene will unfold, even down to the dialogue. I don’t bother. I just know roughly what needs to happen in a chapter before I start writing. But if you’re a full on pantser, who wings it right from the beginning, then a lot of this will seem alien.

Okay, so here goes

1. I note down ideas for stories, characters, snippets of dialogue, observations etc and store them in a folder on the cloud where I cannot lose them. Hopefully.

2. When I have a rough idea of what story I want to tackle next, I gather together the notes that might just fit into this particular book and stick them into an online project file.

3. Brainstorming an initial plot. This often involves mind-mapping, and journaling story questions, as well as character and plot prompts – more on these at a later date.

4. If the publisher requires a synopsis, this is when I tackle it. It is not final. Much will change down the line. Publishers accept this, and so do I. (I’m monumentally crap at writing synopses, so it’s just as well.)

5. I break down the synopsis, or rough outline, into individual chapters and scenes. I use Scrivener, as it’s easier to shift chapters around. This is the point where I decide on the main novel structure – eg. whether it will involve a dual timeline or just run from the inciting event to the end.

6. Starting to write. I hate this bit. Seriously. I find first drafts terrifying and exhausting, having to dredge everything up out of nowhere. It all feels so… unfixed? Arbitrary? Like there’s no solid ground. I envy people who love this initial writing, but it’s rare for me.

7. While I write Draft One, I keep a snagging list of all the things I know I need to fix/research/make my mind up about in Draft Two. I also try to fix any huge plot holes that arise, as they inevitably do.

8. Draft One finished. Ideally the next step would be to forget about the whole book for a month or so, but I rarely have the time so it’s usually straight on to

9. Draft Two. First I look at my Structure Checklist, and decide if I’ve nailed the main points. Is it pacey enough? Are the characters well rounded? Is the ending satisfying, etc.

10. Once I’m sure no major surgery is needed, I port the whole document from Scrivener to Word, and tackle all the things on my snagging list, inserting reminders in the relevant chapters.

11. I create the book spreadsheet in Excel. This contains everything I need to know about each chapter, but mainly it’s where I nail the timeline, so I know exactly when each chapter is occurring and therefore the season, weather, and things like where each event occurs in the school year.

12. I go through Draft Two chapter by chapter, tidying it up, making the changes thrown up by the snagging list, and with the aid of another checklist – yes I am anal and BIG on checklists –ensure each chapter is pulling its weight in terms of scene-setting, character building, showing emotion, etc.

13. At some point I précis the events from the point of view of each of the main characters, making sure I understand what they do and don’t know, and what they feel at each stage of the story. This sounds obvious, but it can get surprisingly complicated and confusing, especially with dual timelines.

14. As per Step 8. Ideally I’d leave this draft to prove somewhere warm and dark, but I’m usually up against a deadline so it’s straight on to Draft Three. This is the Fun Bit, my favourite part of the whole process, where I get to tweak and polish and play with words. Basically it’s just a case of going through the whole manuscript making it pretty, and I use another, finer-grade checklist, to make sure I’ve remembered to mention the weather, for instance, or made full use of different senses like smell or touch. Most of all, however, I’m making sure the whole thing hangs together in terms of rising tension and emotion.

15. Send my new baby off to my agent and editor. Wait for their response. (NB. This involves much agonising and wine.)

16. Editorial letter arrives with first structural revisions. Weep, rend hair, then sulk for a week or two.

17. I read through the whole book on my Kindle, deciding what I agree with and what I might need to stand my ground over.

18. Once that’s all settled with my editor, I draw up another snagging list containing all the things I have to do.

19. I tackle the big stuff first – deleting chapters, writing new ones, swapping stuff around. Amend the spreadsheet accordingly.

20. When I’m happy with the new structure, I go through, cut-and-pasting my editor’s suggestions at the top of each relevant chapter.

21. Now it’s simply a case of trawling through the book again, making all the changes I’ve noted at the top.

22. As per Step 15, I repolish and tweak, then resend. Drink more wine and pray that’s it.

23. It never is. Rinse and repeat Steps 16 to 22. Restock the wine ‘cellar’ (kitchen cupboard).

24. If I’m unlucky, repeat the last step. (Drink all the wine, and the old bottle of Baileys that’s been sitting there since Xmas four years ago.)

25. When I’m certain we’re close to copy edits – please, God – and there will be no more significant changes, I resend the whole thing to my Kindle and check the document for typos, word echoes, etc.

26. Having made those amendments, I go through the whole novel with a piece of software called ProWriter, which flags up things like overused words and repeated phrases.

27. Copy edits – in theory this is just going through the novel making all the changed suggested by the copy editor. At this stage they should be minor, addressing wording, logical inconsistencies, or continuity issues. If you’re very unlucky – as I was with Better Left Buried – the copy editor will flag up a whole posse of Quite Big Issues that they feel should be addressed. *trauma face*

28. Proof edits – same as copy edits, only you receive a physical document with the pages laid out as in the book. So you can’t go feral and start changing anything beyond the odd word at this stage, or you’ll incur the mighty wrath of your publisher.

29. Write acknowledgements and dedication.

30. Get back on the promotional bandwagon, already mulling over the next book.

So how long does all this take? About six months to get to the initial draft I send to my editor. Which breaks down to:

* A month in brainstorming, researching and planning.

* A day per chapter for Draft One, and as I usually write around fifty chapters, so let’s call that a couple of months.

* A week or two to recover and cogitate before embarking on Draft Two.

* Another day per chapter to get to Draft Three.

* A couple of weeks to tweak and polish.

I could push myself harder and get that down to 4-5 months, but usually I’m doing other stuff too during that time, such as promotion and other writing. So six months is what I need to have the occasional day off and not go insane.

Structural edits – I usually allow at least a couple of months for the first set, given I’m also busy with other work. That time dwindles to 4- 6 weeks with subsequent, lighter edits.

Copy and proof edits: one week each.

 

 

 

Big night for me last Friday. I was lucky enough to be one of the five finalists for the Sussex School’s Amazing Book Awards, sponsored by the Sussex Police.
Held at Shoreham Academy near Brighton, it was hosted by the fantastic new children’s laureate, Chris Riddell. Here he is doing a live cartoon of yours truly, while I related my tale of winning a prize in a poetry competition at my Haywards Heath primary school, which was also sponsored by the Sussex Police. And here’s his fabulous cartoon up close – no words for how much I love it! Here I am sitting with the four other finalists, James Dawson, Sally Green, Jon Robinson, and Annabel Pitcher. Tremendous excitement as they announced the winner – James Dawson – his second year of victory at the awards. Go, James! I went home with a head full of some great memories of meeting so many enthusiastic librarians, teachers and pupils, plus a few other things, notably this beautiful glass trophy:And this wonderful goody bag:Sweeties!And something that’s about to be framed and take pride of place on my office wall – this amazing picture of Danny from Now You See Me. A very generous present from the wonderful Chris Riddell.

 

 

Been keeping my head down for the last  month or so, putting the finishing touches to YA3. Proud to say I pressed Send yesterday, propelling my new book into the inboxes of my agent and editor. Now comes the nail-biting part where I wait for their feedback. 

In the meantime, Now You See Me has had a record-breaking month for ebook sales, after iBooks selected if for their ‘Psychological Thrillers for £2.99 or Less’ promotion, running from June 15^th – 30^th.

This week also saw me appearing on the ebooks by Sainsburys website writing about The Rise and Rise of Female Thriller Writers, while the lovely Ellie Colegate ran a review of Now You See Me and an author interview on her Miss Backwards blog.

And for Better Left Buried, a great review from the equally fabulous Vivienne Dacosta on Serendipity Reviews. Made me want to go and read my own book all over again, which after all the endless revisions, is quite an achievement. Thank you, Vivienne!
 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, a couple of sightings out in the wild – Foyles and Clapham Watersones, thanks to my lovely Twitter friends.

Three weeks on from publication of Better Left Buried, and it’s all been a bit manic. My office looks rather like this. 

But all sorts of good stuff has been happening. Including this recent review in the Sunday Express for Better Left Buried, which also got another lovely write up in the Lancashire Evening Post. Picture me chuffed!

I got to host #UKYAchat with the lovely Lucy Powrie this month, and have been busy on the blog front, with an upcoming post for Sainsbury’s – more on that soon – and this piece for Hive on the rise of YA thrillers and what they bring to the genre as a whole, and another for Serendipity Reviews on using the truth as a base for fiction. And the lovely Kendra Leighton interviewed me for my Better Left Buried book birthday over on Author Allsorts.

In other news, I’m as pleased as punch with this:

Want one? Check out the Now You See Me quote mug over at We Have Crisps, along with loads of other #UKYA goodies.

And to celebrate the publication of Better Left Buried, I’ve made this Pinterest with lots of pictures of Sweden and the island, along with a playlist of some of Sarah’s songs that feature in the book. If you’ve not yet read the book, try out this taster over at Usborne.

Right, off to tidy my office!

Yep. That time of year again when I get to dance around a bit and gorge myself on this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

and this:

because you can now read this:

 

 

And in the meantime you can read my book birthday interview with the lovely Kendra Leighton over on Author Allsorts, or discover how real life can be turned into fiction over on Serendipity Reviews.

Right, now I need some lunch. Tootles!

Blimey. What a Sunday this is proving, and not just because of the sunshine. #UKYADAY, organised by teen Queen of Contemporary blogger Lucy Powrie is already a rip-roaring success, and it’s still got several hours to run.

Sadly, my contribution, a video featuring yours truly and daughter Hetty is taking FOREVER to load – one of the downsides of living in the country is terrible broadband – so won’t make it up to YouTube on time, so I thought I’d throw together a quick blog post featuring five of the six books on the video (to find out what featured in the sixth slot, you’ll have to watch it when I finally get it up there.

So, first in the slot, picked by me, is Lifted by Hilary Freeman. I read this a few months ago and enjoyed it hugely – featuring fame, fortune, shoplifting and blogging, it’s got something in it for everyone.

Second, picked by Hetty, is More Than This by Patrick Ness. She described it as a sci-fi thriller, and has had her nose buried in it for the last week, so it must be good. I intend to find out soon!

Third up, Urban Legends by Helen Grant, the last book in the fabulous Forbidden Spaces trilogy, so I know I’m going to love this. Helen is a fantastic writer, and really knows how to draw you into a story and keep you there.

Fourth, chosen by Hetty, is Cracks by Caroline Green. Hetty read and loved another of Caroline’s books, Hold Your Breath, so she’s really looking forward to this one. I’ve already read it so I know she’s in for a treat.

Fifth on the list is Glimpse by Kendra Leighton. I’ve heard so many good things about this book, and it’s a ghost story, which is one of my favourite kinds of story, so this is right up there on my TBR pile. 

I also want to mention some other brilliant UKYA books I’ve read and enjoyed, but couldn’t feature on the video because they’re on my Kindle!

Seven Days by Eve Ainsworth. Eve is a hugely talented YA writer and this novellooking at the consequences of bullying, is already a great hit.

The Model Spy series by Sarah Sky – those books are just enormous fun.

Land by Alex Campbell – I don’t normally read much dystopia (I worry enough as it is), but this novel really won me over. A great YA version of Orwell’s 1984.

And finally, some books I’m really looking forward to reading soon:

Lies Like Love – Louisa Reid

Minty – Christina Banach

Shadow Jumper – J M Forster

Still Falling – Sheena Wilkinson

The Boy Who Drew the Future – Rhian Ivory

and the upcoming trilogy from the Angel series author Lee Weatherly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Been busy, busy Chez Haughton, with lots happening and even more to do. Including writing my third young adult thriller for Usborne, which currently has the rather imaginative title of YA3. Yep, folks, that’s it. YA3. Sounds like an award winner, don’t you think?

Meanwhile, we’re counting down to the launch of Better Left Buried on May 1st. Head over to Usborne to read the first chapter, or sign up for the giveaway on Goodreads – ten copies on offer! Or you can pre-order a copy from the following: Amazon, iBooks, Google Play, Kobo, Hive, Sainsbury’s, Waterstones and Foyles.  Spoilt for choice!

 

And on Amazon.de, the German edition – is now available with this rather striking cover. 

In other news, the lovely people at Usborne Towers have designed me this beautiful Pinterest page, and on Sunday 12th April, I’ll be taking part in the UKYA day organised by the indomitable Lucy Powrie. Check out here for details.

Phew, well that’s it from me. Have a fabulous spring!