What does an author read on holiday?

I’m always asked by students what my favourite book is, and I always stress I read voraciously and widely, so the answer takes a bit of time, and varies. Having just been asked this question 18 million times in World Book Week, I thought I’d share my last holiday reading pile.

Relaxing reading on holiday image

The Man who Died Twice (Thursday Murder Club #2) by Richard Osman. I just love this series. Am reading them all out of order as I was given a copy of book 3 first. I passed this on to an elderly relative called Joyce (coincidence – how many book characters are there called Joyce?) who lives in a retirement village (double coincidence). I’m pretty sure that copy will do the rounds until it falls apart!

Night Music by JoJo Moyes. This is on audio and the narration is great, but I haven’t finished it yet so no plot spoilers. Listening to it at 1.2x speed. Does anyone else always listen to a slightly faster narration?

Barefoot Britain by Anna McNuff. I’ve heard Anna speak at an Adventure Queens book club event and she’s a bit bonkers which makes for a fun, slightly chaotic trip. I’m officially adopting the phrase “adventure pace” to describe my own sloooow running – it sounds so much more fun than just being ridiculously slow.

Coffee First, Then The World by Jenny Tough. Tough by name, tough by nature. Crikey this woman is impressive! Also an audio book – narrated by Jenny herself which I always find adds an extra connection to the story for me, particularly for non fiction.

Kevin the Vampire by Matt Brown. I’m writing a funny vampire story for kids so this was sort of for research purposes – I wanted to see how “vampiry” chapter books got. I’m not talking blood-sucking monsters, but I wondered if other authors incorporated just a touch of scare. The answer, in this case, is no.

And finally, A Fresh Start at Wagging Tails Dogs’ Home by Sarah Hope. I’m reading this as part of a book tour. I know I normally review kids books, but this is perfect light holiday reading, plus it has dogs, and rescue dogs at that. What more could I want? There is a bit of drama putting the future of the centre in jeopardy and, of course, a romance with a touch of conflict, but for me the absolute stars of the show were the dogs: they were all such big characters, and I felt they were based on real dogs. Then I got to the end of the book and discovered the author’s connection to a rescue centre, so now I’m sure all their back stories are true. Which makes it all the more heartwarming. Then I realised this is Book 3 in a series (it totally stands on its own) so now I’m off to read books 1 and 2. And now I realise I seem to be making a habit out of starting with book 3!

Since this is a tour, I’m going to include a bit more info than the other books above, also, the author is less well known and deserves a bit more recognition!

Blurb

There’s no place like home… Although dog trainer Sally is relatively new to Wagging Tails, the team she works with have quickly become her family and the dogs her friends. But when Andy, the one that got away, turns up for a brief respite from the city, she is at a crossroads. As tempting as a life with him is, she loves her home of West Par, and anyway, she has responsibilities here. Number one on that list is ensuring the dogs’ home stays in business. A developer has been sniffing around wanting to buy the land, and the team is worried. Sally will do anything to save her home and her friends’ livelihoods but the lure of reuniting with her lost love is strong. Is there a way for her to have both?

About the author

Sarah has been dreaming up stories ever since she was a child. She remembers many a family stroll when she’d daydream up her next story adventure.

As an adult, she prefers to write romance novels and novellas with a Happy Ever After ending. She has two main romance series, the Escape To… series that focuses on single mums taking a chance and fulfilling their career dreams as well as finding love, and The Cornish Bakery series, that follows a busy bakery in a beautiful fictional bay in Cornwall.

Sarah Hope lives in Central England with her two children and an array of pets and enjoys escaping to the seaside at any opportunity.

If you’ve ever wished there was a Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy book for kids, there is now.

I have a special bookcase for my ‘permanent collection’ – the books I go back to over and over again – and it’s impossible to narrow then down to my absolute favourite (a question I’m asked at every single school visit I do), but for a fun comfort read, I’m going to go with Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I’m sure you know it: “So long, and thanks for all the fish” and the answer is 42 etc; but just incase, in a nutshell, Arthur Dent, in his dressing gown, gets whisked onto a spaceship when Earth is demolished for a hyperspace bypass. Luckily, he has his towel with him.

I vividly recall stumbling across the radio series on my way home from school one day in the 1980s. My dad and I sat in the car outside the house laughing our heads off so it has happy family memories, and it still makes me laugh. I listened to the rest of the series on the radio, then got a copy from the library. My own well-read copy is from 1992.

Lexi's copy of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

By the way, I also love the 2005 movie version – no book vs. movie arguments from me. It probably won’t surprise anyone, but Red Dwarf is my comfort comedy TV series. I can quote huge chunks from memory. Given this, why I haven’t written a sci-fi comedy is a complete mystery.

Luckily, I don’t have to write one, because Claire Fayers has done it for me. I’m a huge fan of hers and over the past few years have recommended Storm Hound to many young readers. So I was very excited to hear about Tapper Watson and the Quest for the Nemo Machine.

And I was even more honoured to be asked to provide a quote for the cover, and receive a shiny proof copy. If you’ve ever wondered what the difference between a proof copy and a final published book is, this is it. Actually I love the proof cover, but the colour on the final cover really makes it zing.

Photo of a proof copy of Tapper Watson book beside the finished edition.

Anyway, here is what I wrote for the publisher to pick an extract from to use on the cover.

Pack your towel, we’re off on a Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy style adventure! As always, Fayers has created a totally unique world, and populated it with a fabulous collection of weird and wacky characters from lobster mobsters to talking plants. It’s fast and funny, with a message on our responsibility for the environment, plus I reckon it’s a great way to start conversations with any young readers trying to understand the devastating impact of dementia.

Lexi Rees review of Tapper Watson

So what did they use? Here it is on the cover!

What do you get when you cross Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy with The Northern Lights by Philip Pullman? Tapper Watson. I’m going to put this down for my 2023 book of the year. Enjoy!

What aren’t there more retellings of A Christmas Carol?

In Iceland, giving books on Christmas Eve is a custom known as “Jólabókaflóð” or the “Christmas Book Flood.” Our bookish family tradition is re-reading/ watching Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol every year. I even have a dinky copy: is there anything cuter than a mini book?

So why A Christmas Carol? Apart from the obvious seasonal connection, and my obsession with the Victorian tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas (more on that to follow) a few years ago, my son was lucky enough to play Tiny Tim at the Charles Dickens Museum in London. They were doing “living theatre” performances, so as visitors walked around the house they watched different scenes. Magical!

Given the popularity of a “twisted” fairy tale, I’m surprised there aren’t more creative re-tellings of this classic – it has so much scope, but I’m only aware of two. Please let me know of others to add to the list: there must be more!

  • Bah Humbug by Michael Rosen. “In a school theatrical production of “A Christmas Carol”, the boy who plays Scrooge is extra nervous because his very busy father is in the audience. However, it’s likely his father won’t stay for the duration, due to business. As always. Will the classic story’s message of Christmas cheer and family love reach his father’s distracted heart?”
  • The Miracle on Ebeneezer Street by Catherine Doyle. “When George stumbles across Marley’s Curiosity Shop at the Christmas fair he finds a mysterious snow globe. The scene it contains is just the first in a series of impossibilities . . . George and his Scrooge of a dad are soon swept on a hilarious adventure to Christmases past, present and future. With help from an enthusiastic elf, a rather grumpy purple reindeer and a very mischievous Nan, can George find a way to bring the joy of Christmas home once again?”

So when I saw the book tour for A Christmas Carol with Grandfather Time, I was excited to see what the author had done with it, and it’s great to have something else to add to my very short list above, especially since it is a picture book format.

The messages about sharing and caring in Scenes 1 and 2 are spot on. Personally, I have a slight issue with the characterisation used in Scene 3: Christmas future. As parents, of course we want our kids to be connecting “in real life”, but I believe the image of a computer nerd/ gamer alone and in “terrible gloom” is an outdated cliché. When my son is gaming, he is talking non-stop to friends, a bit like we used to get home from school and immediately phone our friends (much to my parents annoyance if I didn’t wait for the cheaper calls after 6pm). Anyway, given the gaming industry currently makes more than three times as much money as the music industry and almost four times as much as the movie industry, and is still growing, it’s actually likely that young readers of this book, their friends, and/ or family could be involved in the industry, so why put a downer on it? Anyway, conscious I’m probably in the minority on this point.

One other thing, the book is dotted with the work “Boing”. I think it’s the grandfather clock chiming, but I would have described that as a “tock” or “dong” or “bong” perhaps. Boing sounds bouncy to me, which doesn’t make sense. Plus there is a dash in the middle of the word, so it is written “Bo-ing” and EVERY time I saw it, I read it as “Boring”. Ooops! Is that just me?

The blurb

“A modern lyrical re-telling of the Charles Dickens classic for children of all ages. Young Ebenezer hates sharing and is not very caring. Can a magical clock and a ghost puppy help him mend his ways?”

About the author

Living on ‘England’s Green & Pleasant Land’, among the gentle rolling hills of the Herefordshire Countryside, Rose’s house is wall to wall books. She’s a Read-a-holic, whose hobby is to write stories for the young and young at heart.

Working as a school librarian, and sharing her love of books with children, was the best job she ever had. However, life moves on and another chapter was only a page turn away. Working in a very different library now, she is a key worker for the NHS helping to run the Medical Equipment Library in Wye Valley NHS Trust.

After winning FIRST PRIZE in a short story competition with ‘The Magic of Grandfather Christmas’ she is inspired to transform the tale into a collection of stories for all ages. ‘Young Ebenezer’ is inspired by the Dickens classic ‘A Christmas Carol’ and brought into modern times with a strong theme of sharing and caring. Rose has a little sidekick called Miss Ruby Heart, a ruby King Charles spaniel from the Grandfather Time Series. The puppy is the Ghost of Christmas Past and features on the ‘Young Ebenezer’ covers.

Maximising the magic of an author visit

I’ve seen a flurry of posts on various FB groups that I’m in from schools looking for authors to visit for World Book Day (WBD). As an author, it’s our busiest day (or in practice week) of the year. But, like a puppy is not just for Christmas, an author is not just for WBD. We LOVE visiting at any time of the year!

Whilst every school has its own processes for booking and preparing for an author visit, I thought it might be interesting to share a few tips from an author’s perspective on what teachers could do to help the event go smoothly after it has been booked.

Before the Visit

Unless you’ve booked a “big” name (lucky you with the correspondingly big budget!), many of the pupils will likely be unfamiliar with the author. If timetabling permits, some introduction to the the author/ their books can help build excitement. This could take the form of posters around the school, book readings, themed art projects, and classroom discussions. I’ve had students study my website to prepare questions in advance, leading in one case to a discussion on why I hate custard!

Between sessions

We know teachers are frantically busy, but as an author it can be quite daunting to be left to fend for yourself between sessions – it’s a bit like your first day at school: you are completely lost. I’ve had a panic attack about making a cup of coffee in the staff room! Honestly, it’s an absolute minefield – is the coffee communal? Have I picked someone’s special mug? Which milk am I supposed to use?

Outside the staffroom, a classroom assistant or student ambassador to guide the author from classroom to classroom if they are doing a series of events is really helpful. Obviously, check if the author has the necessary Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) approval (in the UK) or equivalent before appointing students to the role.

In your classroom

Please do let the author know if there are any issues within your class that they should be mindful of e.g. pupils where English is a second language, recent family trauma, etc. and be on stand-by to help with any disruptive pupils.

Personally, I like to wrap up any Q&A session with asking a teacher if there is anybody who has had their hand up for a really long time that I’ve missed. Without knowing the pupils, and despite my best efforts, it is easy to miss the quieter child with a half raised hand in a sea of people jumping up and down.

After the Visit

If you do any follow up activities, please do share them with the author! I always try to give positive feedback to pupils who send me stories to read after an event.

Encouraging students to write thank-you notes is not only an exercise in good manners but also a valuable writing exercise, allowing them to reflect on what they learned from the visit. Plus, for the author, receiving personalised messages of appreciation is totally heartwarming!

What would you add to this? Please let me know!

The monster, the puppy, and the mix-up

I do love a Robin Bennett book and have previously reviewed several of his books on here as well as joining him for a chat where he shared his five (and a half) writing tips. So I was always going to say “yes” to reviewing his latest book in the Monster Max series, This Time it’s Sirius.

This has all the essential ingredients: a logo (“Protect and do good stuff”), secret clubhouses, monsters, werewolves, and the cutest puppy. I’m a sucker for a cute puppy with a hidden backstory – check out my exclusive interview with Claire Fayers about her book Stormhound if you don’t believe me.

Anyway, back to Sirius. As a grown-up, the plot was entirely predictable, but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable. This is a perfect fun read for the last week of the school holidays, and doubly perfect given the full moon on the 30th August is both a supermoon and an extremely rare blue moon (hence the phrase “once in a blue moon”). I think we should get practising our werewolf howls, although I’m gutted to discover the moon won’t actually turn blue.

Blurb

Max can turn into a huge monster just by BURPING, and back again when he SNEEZES. Now Max and his best friend Peregrine realise that a dangerous pack of werewolves from Max’s home country of Krit are closing in on him and his family. But Max hasn’t told anyone about Sirius the tiny werewolf cub he found, smuggled home, and decided to keep…

About the author

When Robin grew up he thought he wanted to be a cavalry officer until everyone else realised that putting him in charge of a tank was a very bad idea. He then became an assistant gravedigger in London. After that he had a career frantically starting businesses (everything from dog-sitting to cigars, tuition to translation)… until finally settling down to write improbable stories to keep his children from killing each other on long car journeys.