It was in early January 2014 that I decided to enter the Kelpies Prize and it was definitely a life-changing decision!  I am so glad that I decided to ‘chunk the challenge’ and wasn’t overwhelmed by the prospect of writing 40K words in six weeks. The first draft of The Mixed-Up Summer of Lily McLean was sent off with only a couple of days to go before the end of February closing date. Then all I had to do was cross my fingers and hope. You can see by my expression how thrilled I was when the golden envelope was opened and I was told The Mixed-Up Summer was going to be published.

So, after ten years of writing children’s novels, has being a published author been all that I imagined?  The answer is probably no! Some aspects have been beyond my wildest dreams; being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and signing 200 free books for pupils at the Edinburgh Festival School Gala Day both spring to mind. But when I stood on that tiny stage clutching my giant comedy cheque, I had no idea that publication didn’t mean I’d won the race. I was at the starting line – and I’d entered one of those Tough Mudder endurance runs by mistake.

To be honest, I was  totally clueless when my debut novel came out.  I’d no idea that 10,000 children’s novels are published in the UK every year and that it’s not a level playing field. The world of children’s publishing is dominated by celebrities and frankly, my cat gets more likes on social media than I do.

My books have not flown magically into the hands of delighted readers. A LOT of hard work has been required to get noticed at all and sometimes, the constant effort can feel overwhelming. I am so grateful for the support I have received from my local Waterstones branches and from independent bookshops, particularly The Ginger Cat in Bridge of Weir and The Book Nook in Stewarton. Last year, I loved doing creative writing workshops at the Ginger Cat and have enjoyed some fab school events with The Book Nook.

Ten years ago, I was also naive about author income. At the beginning, I fondly imagined that I might one day be able to live on my royalties but soon realised that was never going to be a possibility. If I was going to make a living as a writer, my income would need to come from school, festival and library visits. But over the last ten years, school budgets have come under increasing strain and now I am often asked to do free visits. Unless there’s a particular reason, I say no, partly because I don’t want to undermine other authors and partly because my bills need to be paid!

Luckily, I’ve got my priorities worked out now and try and play to my strengths. As an ex-primary teacher , I really want to encourage reading for pleasure, so I’ve sent hundreds of letters to schools this year, in an effort to inspire young readers. I’m also keen to support teachers, so I create  comprehensive teachers resources for all of my novels and it’s an amazing buzz to know that my books, The Titanic Detective Agency in particular, are being read in schools all over the UK.

Ten years later, fame and riches have not materialised and there are daily frustrations (often the banging head against a wall sort) but I have no regrets about becoming a children’s author. Every time I get a lovely message from a parent telling me I’ve inspired their child or from a young reader saying they love my books, I feel I’ve won that Tough Mudder race after all.

It has been a busy year so far!

It started with the huge excitement of my son Matt being on television, playing Limbo in  BBC1 and Synchronicity Films brilliant adaptation of Andrew O’Hagan’s Mayflies.

Mayflies was an excellent, heartbreaking production and I am hardly biased at all.

In March, I did my first international author visit, and spent  a wonderful three days  doing workshops at the European School in Luxembourg, plus a lovely afternoon exploring the city. So grateful to the organisers for making it such an enjoyable visit.

My European adventure was followed by Unicorn Weekend at Stirling Castle, which was tremendous fun. I did four creative writing workshops and four readings in the Great Hall over the weekend, all themed around wild unicorns.

After that came the excitement of the launch of Euro Spies in April. Grateful thanks to Waterstones in Silverburn for organising a lovely launch, to all the kind booksellers who welcomed me in for signings and to the schools who engaged so enthusiastically in code cracking and clue solving events!

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Euro Spies is a fun spy caper set in six European cities – Paris, Bern, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Brussels and Amsterdam and I was lucky enough to be on a trip to Rome around the same time. There were so many perfect promotion opportunities. And so much pizza and pasta.

The summer term was packed with school visits, including a super afternoon as guest author at Bo’ness Academy’s fantastic Junior Red event and a lovely trip on the ferry to Kirn Primary in Dunoon. There were also some delightful meet-ups with fellow writers, at the Children’s Books North Social  and the Scottish children’s publishing picnic in Edinburgh.

Thankfully, despite being so busy drinking Prosecco and chatting to writing pals, I’ve managed to fit in some writing. My first reading book for schools, Terror on Titanic, is being published by Badger Learning on the 8th of September. Terror on Titanic relates the terrifying real-life experiences of Ruth Becker, who was just 12 years old when she boarded the doomed ship with her mother and younger siblings.

Currently, I am researching and writing another reading book for schools, again based on a real-life historical disaster, as well as doing line-edits for a new novel, which is coming out next year with Floris Books. More details about this one coming soon!

I’ve ignored this blog for too long and now there’s too much to include, so here’s some happenings from March to August!

The Rewilders came out on the 24th of March, which seems ages ago now, and I had a lovely book signing at Waterstones Silverburn to celebrate. I was keen to keep the event quite low-key, as I’d been told earlier in the month that the dodgy-looking mole on my arm was a malignant melanoma, so didn’t want to add to my already high stress levels! The NHS were amazing and removed the mole in super-quick time. For the next five years, I’ve to go for 3-monthly check-ups on all my moles and if I’ve any worries about them, I can phone the cancer nurse for advice and they’ll see me asap. We are so lucky to have our NHS and should be doing all we can to ensure we don’t lose it!

The most exciting happening in May was the British Book Awards. Cranachan Books had been declared Small Publisher of the Year Scotland 2022 and we were all keen to celebrate in London. It was a wonderful evening and a thrill to meet lots of amazing authors, including Hannah Gold and Val McDiarmid, and to catch up with friends!

In June, I made a delightful trip to Mull to meet the staff and pupils of Dervaig Primary. Getting to do an event in their gorgeous Community Orchard was a real privilege.  I also learned a lot about the local wildlife. When one wee lad told me he was missing his hens,  I asked if they’d been taken by a fox. He gave me a look. “There are no foxes on Mull, Lindsay. The otters came down the hill and killed all my hens.” And there was me, thinking otters were cute.

Inverclyde’s Meliora Festival in mid-June was tremendous fun. My first event in a massive inflatable structure! It was followed by a relaxing week’s holiday in Sorrento and an author visit to the Scottish Game Fair.

August highlights were attending the Edinburgh Book Festival’s opening party, meeting Elmer the elephant, doing an author event ‘Scottish Rewilding Adventures’ at the festival and finding out that my son Matt has got a part in the tv adaptation of Andrew O’Hagan’s Mayflies. So excited about the prospect of seeing my boy on the telly!

Happy World Book Day!

This year has been busy so far with a great mix of in-person and virtual school and library events. It was lovely to be part of Paisley Book Festival’s schools programme in February and there are lots more events to come in March.

My New Year’s Resolution was to get more exercise, so I’ve joined a gym and started yoga classes. In early February, my partner Ian and I went with friends to Glencoe and we walked up to the Hidden Valley. It was brilliant fun, but I didn’t feel properly equipped so I have bought myself new boots and a waterproof jacket for next time. Now I have to go on another big walk in the wilds!

Excitingly, the Rewilders comes out on the 24th of March and has already had its first official review, in the National newspaper. Describing the novel as an unforgettable tale, Gemma McLauglin writes:

This short but stimulating tale based on the rediscovery of nature is aimed at eight- to 12-year-olds but can engage older readers. I was not only able to read it in one sitting but enjoyed every moment, having been pulled into a heartwarming story connecting humanity and the animals of the wild.

As the best kind of children’s books do, The Rewilders has an educational element that does not interfere with the story and characters but is instead carefully interwoven, making the subject matter fun. The conservational concept of restoring areas of wilderness for many reasons, especially the slowing down of climate change, is introduced through this book in a way that is easy to digest, understand and will encourage children to want to learn more about it. 

I was thrilled to receive my box of author copies and love the novel’s matt cover and orange sprayed edges. The dedication inside is completely heartfelt.

Autumn has finally arrived, and after the stresses and sadness of this summer, it feels like turning a page. I’m looking forward to spending the long, dark evenings in front of my lovely new fire, in fleece pyjamas and furry slippers, hot chocolate in hand, fairy lights twinkling on every surface.

Obviously, this will only be a partial hibernation. I have work to do in daytime! In fact, it has been fantastic to be able to get back into schools and libraries this term and I am so grateful to have been invited to take part in some brilliant projects. In mid-September I popped over to Millport to meet the P6/7 teacher and plan this year’s sessions for my Author-in-Residence at Cumbrae Primary. Look how lucky I am!

At the beginning of October I had the pleasure of taking part in a Climate Conversations event at Greenock Central Library, focused on my new novel, Secrets of the Last Merfolk, and I was delighted to be involved in an exciting COP26 project organised by Paisley Libraries Service too.

In early October I spent a lovely couple of days in Edinburgh. If you haven’t been to the National Museum of Scotland, then do visit soon! It’s incredible. The Millennium Clock is amazing and has made me even more determined to visit Eduard Bersudsky’s Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre in Glasgow’s Trongate.

It was also great to have the chance to visit some of Edinburgh’s fantastic bookshops, including Ginger and Pickles in Stockbridge and Blackwell’s. Thank you all for making me so welcome!

In October, two fabulous new novels by Cranachan Publishing are being launched. The first of those is The Sword of Light, the third instalment in a thrilling fantasy YA series by Caroline Logan. With war brewing across the continent, Ailsa and her friends are in a race against time to find The Four Treasures. But will the magical objects be enough to defeat a god?

I’m going to the launch of this one, and I can’t wait!

 Filled with mystery and magic, Victoria Williamson’s Hag Storm is a spooky, historical adventure with a supernatural twist, based on the life of Robert Burns and one of his most famous and best-loved poems, Tam O’Shanter. Hag Storm sounds brilliant and I am very much looking forward to attending Victoria’s event at the Burns’ Museum on the 31st October.

I’ve put the first draft of my own MS on pause this month, to enable my editor to take a look at what I’ve done so far, and to allow me to focus on creating teaching resources for The Rewilders, which is coming out in March 2022. I was thrilled by the positive reaction to the cover reveal in mid-September and am already looking forward to having an in-person launch! Doesn’t the cover look gorgeous?