Thoughts for a Thursday

“Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” - Roald Dahl

Novel Writing Workshop!

In more event news, if anybody fancies a trip to Kildare next weekend, there is a fantabulous festival taking place - The Secret Garden Festival run by the very popular storytelling collective Milk and Cookie Stories. The Milk and Cookie storytelling nights in Templebar are always super fun and packed with people - sometimes they have to turn people away because it's full to capacity. They're that good! Last year I became a member of Milk and Cookies, and even worked up the courage to tell a story at their storytelling night. It was one of the most fun experiences of my life. 


Anywho, Milk and Cookies have decided to go one step further and host their very own outdoor festival with camping, in the breathtaking surroundings of Martinstown House. It's taking place Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st July.  Some of the things you can expect:


There will be storytelling and marshmallows around bonfires, music played beneath the apple trees and workshops of all kinds (novel-writing, balloon-making, swordfighting, Street Fighter, burlesque, yoga)! We will host our very own Royal Punble (a battle of puns that will push even the keenest minds to their limit). There will be games (croquet, horseshoes, swingball) and a dance-off (maybe Céilidh, maybe breakdancing). And for those adventurous souls who remember to bring their wits and a change of clothes – plans are underway to create the most epic waterfight the world (Kildare) has ever seen. It'll be like Halo with waterguns.


I will be at the festival on Saturday 30th July, teaching a Novel Writing Workshop. Do you want to learn how to finish your novel, improve it, or even just get started? I'll be imparting all the tips I've discovered over the last four years, top secret information you won't find anywhere else :)


Come along and say hi!


Festival membership is only €32 for the whole weekend (yup, that's not a typo.)


For more info or to book your ticket, go here.


Find The Secret Garden Festival on Facebook

Let's do lunch!

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Are you a kid or a teenager?  Would you like to have lunch with Cathy Cassidy, Sarah Webb, Judi Curtin, Claire Hennessy, Denise Deegan, Anna Carey, ME, and lots of other fabulous writers? Well you can! Come to the Monster Book Lunch in Dun Laoghaire as part of the Mountains to Sea Book Festival. There will be a different writer at every table! It's on Saturday September 10th and is suitable for ages 9+ (early booking is advisable to avoid disappointment.)


In other exciting Mountains to Sea news, there is also a Family Book Quiz on Sunday September 11th with Quizmasters Judi Curtin and David Maybury. 
I LOVE table quizzes, so am seriously excited about this. I love them so much that I put one in Angel Kiss, and also declared my love for them in my author bio... slightly obsessed. Myself and my writer buddies Claire Hennessy and Eimear Ryan will be on a team, come witness our scary competitiveness in action!
Tables are 10 euro and you can book here.


I would love to see some of you at Mountains to Sea! As well as the quiz and lunch there are also tonnes of other brilliant events happening for children and teens, and adults too. Writers appearing at the festival include superstars Darren Shan, Derek Landy, Roddy Doyle, Eoin Colfer, Patrick Ness and Meg Rosoff.


September is going to be seriously fun. 

It's all over now

I'm sitting in my house in Dublin, wearing my Hogwarts badge, about to go see Deathly Hallows Part 2 for the second time.  I unexpectedly got a ticket to a press screening the other day and considered waiting, but I just couldn't turn it down.  Tonight I'm going to see it with my best friends.  When I think about how long we've been going to see Harry Potter movies together it makes me feel very old indeed. I won't say much about the movie, because I don't want to ruin it in any way for those of you who haven't seen it.  But I will say that I thought it was amazing.  I'm feeling a strange mix of excitement and sadness at the moment. I think a post I wrote last year before going to see Part 1 really sums up what I feel for the series, so I'll leave you with that:

The Harry Potter series has been such a huge part of my life so far, my friends and I literally grew up with it. I remember being eleven, finishing the The Philosopher's Stone in one day and dragging my Mum out to buy the next one. I remember the wait for The Order of the Phoenix being almost unbearable. I remember scrolling through the cast photos online, and feeling crazily jealous of Emma Watson. I remember being sixteen and not afraid to dress up in a wizard costume.  I remember texting my friend Anthea and asking her what page she was on. I remember going to the cinema to see The Goblet of Fire and everybody whispering 'oh, cool!' when the guy in the Gryffindor scarf walked up the aisle. I remember reading continuously for twenty hours, eating a cheese sandwich with one hand and turning pages with the other. I remember thinking J.K. Rowling is my hero. I remember being so excited for Deathly Hallows, but also devastated because this meant it was all over. I remember thinking please don't kill off Ron. I remember watching little kids walking out of the bookshop at midnight, their heads down, already on the fifth page. I remember thinking this is insane. I remember thinking this is amazingly, incredibly magical.

Enjoy Deathly Hallows everyone!

18 Kisses Playlist

pictures of you - the cure

sparks fly - taylor swift

nothing left to lose - the pretty reckless

don't believe a word - thin lizzy

emily's heart - jamie t

just like heaven - the cure

keep running - gemma hayes

hound dogs of love - the mighty stef

the sweetest thing - camera obscura

young americans - david bowie

take a bow - lea michele 

floating - jape

lantern - josh ritter

you don't make it easy babe - josh ritter

i got love - the king blues 

safe words - band on an island

beast of burden - the rolling stones

old town - phil lynott

I'm getting my rewrites in the post tomorrow and I have a month to do them, so I won't be doing much else other than writing and writing and writing for a while. Above is the playlist of songs I listened to on repeat when writing the first draft of 18 Kisses. Let me know if you have any musical recommendations, as you can see I have a varied taste :) The notebook is new and is from Paperchase, it has glitter AND a button, so obviously I had to get it. 

"I said remember this moment, in the back of my mind."

The Banqueting House 

my Puffin Party goodie bag

A few months ago a pink envelope arrived in my postbox.  I opened it up and found an invitation to the Puffin Summer Party. To say I was excited is an understatement, but not even I could have imagined how truly awesome the Puffin party would be.  I recently flew over to London, and with my map in my hand I set off to find the party. I was looking for the Banqueting House and spotted two ladies carrying Puffin invitations, so decided to follow them.  Turns out it was pretty easy to find, because it is massive! It was part of the Palace of Whitehall, which was the main residence of the English monarchs in London until all but the Banqueting House was destroyed by fire in 1622. 

There were two big Puffin posters at the entrance, and I saw a flash and discovered that somebody was taking everybody's photo as they went in (here’s hoping I didn’t look too surprised in mine!). I left my  jacket in the cloakroom and picked up my name badge, then spotted my editor coming in.  We went upstairs and walked into one of the most impressive rooms I've ever seen.  There were really huge chandeliers hanging from the beautiful painted ceiling and a red velvet throne up at the top of the room.  There was a bar in the middle, with backlit pink Puffins around it!  And everybody was so stylish! Lots of quirky jackets and primary colours and chunky plastic jewellery. I have seriously never been in a room with so many cool clothes.

There were so many people I admire there.  I got to meet Meg Rosoff and Julia Donaldson and Sarwat Chadda and Phil Earle and loads more! I also spotted Lauren Child and Melvin Burgess. And of course the fabulous Puffin UK team, who are all so amazing.

When we were leaving, everybody got to pick a classic Puffin book to take home. They all had beautiful covers, and it was so hard to choose, but I eventually picked Call of the Wild because I loved that book when I was younger. 

Whenever I’m moaning about having to rewrite something for the 7^th time or upset because I got a not so great review, I’m going to remember the feeling I got when I walked into the Banqueting House that night.  My books are set in reality, but I kind of write a more heightened version, where everybody is stylish and all the places are cool and things are just… shinier. For the first time ever I felt like I was stepping inside one of my books, except this party was better than anything I could have dreamt up.  I felt completely honoured to be there, to be invited to something where so many inspirational people were gathered.  Back when I was younger and reading Matilda for the 56^th time or pre-ordering the new Artemis Fowl, I never thought I’d be at a Puffin party.  It’s a night I’m going to remember forever! 

Thoughts for a Thursday

"...you put everything into your first love, because you really believe it's going to last forever. That is its triumph and its tragedy, the reason you will never forget it, and the reason it is so difficult to let go."

For this edition of Thoughts for a Thursday I thought I'd share with you my own favourite line from Angel Kiss.

:)

Pictures of You

As I mentioned last week, I'm now finished the first draft of 18 Kisses! I'm meeting with my editor next week to discuss the rewrites, but at the moment I'm catching up on all the other stuff I was avoiding during first draft madness, and thinking about book 3! (which is as of yet untitled.) I thought I'd show you some pages from my 18 Kisses scrapbook! In my scrapbooks I have photos that relate to the characters or the settings and also random things that inspire me or which sparked a particular idea.  I also tape in passages from other books that I particularly enjoy! I can't give too much away about 18 Kisses, but you might get a feel for the story from my scrapbook pages :)

 

Quotes from Looking for Alaska by John Green. 

In the pink notebook are my chapter notes, but unfortunately I can't show you those, they contain WAY too many spoilers :)

Angel Kiss First Chapter

Thank you so much to everybody who has bought Angel Kiss or borrowed it from the library so far! Below is the first chapter, if you'd like to read it! Let me know what you think. :)