Here we go with our ✂️✂️✂️ #cheshirenovelprizekidssnippets 20 today and then 10 Tomorrow! This is a closely run race and we’re still juggling! This is not our longlist but our long, long list ! Longlist announced 28th February 2025 at 2pm!

#Cheshirenovelprizekidssnippets ✂️✂️✂️ see you tomorrow at 2pm with 20 more!

Characters' listening can range from "actual words, to body language, to the effect of differing listening skills on a relationship" writersinthestormblog.com/2025/02/craf... #Writers #Authors #WritingCommunity #Writing #KathySWriter

In a world of overwhelming choice, I love the whittled-down book selection at my local street library | Jane Howard

Who else is coming to this? I'll be there 11 - 3 with my books which you can buy from my fair hand, signed and dedicated.

"Shared reading is a public health intervention that should be available to all children." We loved hosting the #ReadingRights summit with Waterstones #ChildrensLaureate @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social this month. Here's what happened - and what's next 👇 www.booktrust.org.uk/news-and-fea...

"This isn't something that's just nice or lovely. It's something fundamental to becoming a human being." Waterstones #ChildrensLaureate @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social shares why reading is a right for every child. #ReadingRights

If she can do it, we can all do it.

This is the face of courage and compassion. Thank you Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde for speaking truth to power on behalf of the marginalized.

Nervous/excited! Please join us for my inaugural professorial lecture: 19 March at The Egg Theatre Bath. All welcome! @bathspauni.bsky.social https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/bath/the-egg/everyone-is-an-artist-the-importance-of-imagination-creativity-and-the-arts-professor-penny-hay/e-yejyje

Mood board for my WIP YA contemporary verse novel. Nice job for a Friday. :) @lynchkenny.bsky.social

"Here are eight new literary agents actively seeking clients. New agents are a boon to writers. They are actively building their lists, and will go the extra mile for their clients." publishedtodeath.blogspot.com/2025/01/8-ne... #Writers #Authors #WritingCommunity #Writing

WIP mood board.

"Before giving up on a project, why not try to resurrect it? Some stories may not be salvageable, but many can be rescued with a little innovative thinking and a few fresh fiction writing ideas." www.writingforward.com/storytelling... #Writers #Authors #WritingCommunity #Writing

Began reading the sequel back in Nov. Have not been able to finish due to discomfiting prescience.

"… writing dark fantasy is not for the faint-hearted. It’s about taking the cozy, light-dappled world of your imagination and dragging it through the underworld, kicking and screaming." bookviralreviews.com/author-blogs... #Writers #Authors #WritingCommunity #Writing

Word of the Day is ‘uhtcearu’ [ucht-kay-aru, with the 'ch' as in the Scottish ‘loch']: Old English for ‘the sorrow before dawn', when you lie awake in the darkness and worries crowd your mind.

🔊 Our 7th annual #ReflectingRealities report is out now! This year’s report shows a significant drop in the presence of racially minoritised characters in books published for children in 2023 in the UK.

"The challenge for a novel’s first line is to begin orienting the reader to the story while also raising a question that inspires them to read the next line. … That’s a lot of pressure to put on a sentence." writerunboxed.com/2025/01/09/6... #Writers #Authors #WritingCommunity #Writing

"... there's nothing inherently wrong with a "weak word," they do tend to hang around trouble areas--just like those red flag words with show, don't tell. They're good places to start when something feels off ..." blog.janicehardy.com/2013/02/five... #Writers #Authors #WritingCommunity #Writing

I’ve written about so many Christmas books over the years that I somehow forgot I interviewed Emily Sutton about The Christmas Eve Tree. It’s the story of a fir that finds itself unsold at Christmas time and is rescued from a department store’s bin by a homeless boy. tygertale.com/2015/12/05/t...

Great reads here!

#UKKidLit #UKKidLitNews

Today Guardian and Observer journalists are on strike over plans to sell the Observer to a loss-making digital start up and put its journalism behind a paywall. 🧵 How can you support us? SHARE our posts WRITE to [email protected] JOIN US - there's cake!

Day 1, Non-Fiction: ‘Into the Volcano’ by Catherine Ard & illust. by Wenjia Tang @flyingeyebooks.bsky.social This book explains the science of volcanoes, but its true beauty lies in its exploration of the myths, stories, & religious importance of these geological wonders. #Spark12BooksOfChristmas

The #Spark12BooksOfChristmas are our longlists, 12 books in each category, specially curated by our panels of teachers and librarians. We will be announcing one book from each category for the next 12 weekdays. Without further ado, here are our first 5 books... 🥁

We're here and in the BCNA submissions inbox until 23:59 GMT, so do get in touch if you need any last minute help!

Good to see the fabulous @natdyer.bsky.social 's #Ricardo’sDream:HowEconomistsForgottheRealWorldandLedUsAstray on the shelf in my local indie bookshop @ylbooks.bsky.social.

And as today is Saint Andrew's Day, here's a list of my five favourite Scots words of all-time... 5. Bawface 4. Bawheid 3. Bawcan 2. Bawjaws 1. Bawbag

The best colloquial Scottish phrase I've come across for describing someone who is boastful or conceited, heard in Aberdeen, is “he thinks he’s the cheese, but he’s only the stink.”

Anne’s newsletter is an absolute must read for anyone interested in children’s books. Thanks Anne for another fabulous round up.

And at number one on the #PillarofPopularity this week is Orbital by Samantha Harvey, the winner of the 2024 Booker Prize! A lot of people picking this up this week, I think it will continue all the way through to Christmas.

Black Friday is a startling reminder of how many companies we have thoughtlessly given our email to | James Colley

"Dialogue is one of the most powerful, engaging, and memorable elements in fiction. So it behooves writers to learn all they can about how to turn good dialogue into great dialogue." www.livewritethrive.com/2024/11/27/h... #Writers #Authors #WritingCommunity #Writing

I was deeply disappointed by the lack of nature/science/climate/enviro on many major end-of-year book lists—so I decided to make my own! Introducing: ✨🎁📚 The 2024 Holiday Gift Guide to Nature & Science Books ✨🎁📚 Please share: Let's make this go viral in time for Black Friday / holiday shopping!

Horse historians: does anyone know when women were allowed to race National Hunt courses? I know the first flat races were women only events from 1972 but were women previously allowed (eg early 20th century) and then barred? They rode point to point and hunted so where was the line?

I love @clairelinney.bsky.social ‘s newsletter. If you write and read MG/YA, I highly recommend if. #kidlituk

A competition open to worldwide entries of YA novel or graphic novels! #ukkidlit #ukkidlitnews www.scottishartstrust.org/young-adult-...

This is going on my Christmas list.

📢 @cmi.no are hiring! They are looking for a research assistant to contribute to research into labour dynamics in and around conservation projects/protected areas in India! 🇮🇳 www.cmi.no/news/3358-re...

"Being read to is such a marker of love." In case you missed it, Waterstones Children's Laureate @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social will be one of the Today Show's guest editors this Christmas! Here, he speaks to Amol Rajan about what his episode will focus on 👇 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/i...

For anyone #writing or looking for #writingtips we have a huge resources section with articles like - The Devil is in the Detail by @samblakebooks.bsky.social which you can read at: www.writing.ie/resources/th... Read more at: www.writing.ie/resources/ #writingcommunity #writingQ

This sounds exciting!

Thanks to all who have shared my Unofficial Guide To Bluesky! MUCH appreciated. Other ways to help: - Pass it forward. Help/welcome a Bluesky newcomer. - I make a living writing/illus #KidLit, so consider boosting, borrowing, or buying one of my books? More: publish.obsidian.md/debbieohi/bl....

If you prefer audio books, two of my novels are available in audio format - both fantasy, centred around 'unlikeable' women. (ie: if they were men they'd be hot) When The Sea is Rising Red www.amazon.co.uk/When-Sea-Ris... and Cast Long Shadows www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B0DH...

My voice actor for the audiobook of Cast Long Shadows starts recording next week! I am legit exited, she's AMAZING (Cathleen McCarron) She's going to be absolutely perfect for this story.

Have you read Val McDermid? AMAZING! I'm very into mysteries, old and new. One of my favorite audiobook narrators is Scottish, Cathleen McCarron, and she reads lots of McDermid's newer stuff. I have listened to several books I wouldn't have otherwise read if it weren't for her, (Eleanor Oliphant)

Tana French is an incredible Irish writer and her use of language is amazing. "In the Woods" (Dublin Murder Squad) series is GOOD! Cathleen McCarron is amazing!! I listened to these books I wouldn't have likely tried but ended up liking, owing in part to the wonderful narration.

📝 Picking the perfect adjective saves words and engages readers. 📝 How would you describe skin? kathysteinemann.com/Musings/word... #Words #WritingTips #WritingCommunity #WritingLife