This is the story of how I wrote my first novel... Last summer I spotted a Facebook post announcing The Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition 2016. The prize was a £10,000 publishing deal. "Nice," I said to myself, "but I don't think I'm ready." Three months later, I saw the same post and I thought… Continue reading I did it. I finally wrote my first novel!
Cripes, I’ve just realised I haven’t blogged since June! In case you’ve been wondering what I’ve been up to, here’s a quick newsflash (actually, there's four of them): NEWSFLASH 1: In July I was commissioned to write another book. This time it was a pocket wellbeing/self-help book. I’m never sure whether I’m allowed to reveal… Continue reading Writing news (another book!)
You know how, when you love the taste of a food, you gobble it up and somehow forget to fully enjoy it? Have you ever had that experience with a book? Right now I am forcing myself to slow down and savour reading The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell. Snow. Russia. Wolves. Adventure. A girl called… Continue reading Gobbling up books
One of my biggest concerns about writing a book – the thing that made me break out in a cold sweat whenever I thought about it - was receiving dire reviews on Amazon. I know it’s not a very impressive thing to admit to. I wish I could say I am beyond such things. But… Continue reading Writing a book + ego issues + thank you
OK, I am going to milk this for all its worth. You are about to witness a historic moment; the very first time that the words ‘bestseller’ and ‘Katherine Bassford’ are uttered within the same sentence! Yup. Remember that extract from Oh Sugar! that was published in the Daily Express a few weeks ago? Well,… Continue reading Bestsellerdom at last!
It's been four months since I finished writing Oh Sugar! and now that I've recharged my batteries, I'm itching to write my second book! The question is, what should I write next? Like most writers, I have ideas coming out of my ears. There’s my children’s novel, for starters. But there are also three non-fiction ideas buzzing round in my… Continue reading My next book
Oooh, here’s a little more publicity organised by the lovely Summersdale Publishers in Chichester: A ‘My favourite books’ interview with local radio station Spirit FM. ‘My favourite books’ is, of course, a topic close to my heart. I could warble on for hours about this given half the chance. But in this interview I was uncharacteristically succinct for… Continue reading My top five favourite books (Spirit fm radio interview)
HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! I am a bit 'ex and shoff' at the moment (Teddy Robinson speak for 'excited and showing off') as I have just popped into Asda and guess what? There was my book on the shelf! I couldn't have asked for a more perfect start to 2015 :-)
The second I emailed my finished Oh Sugar! manuscript to the publishers, I vowed I would not write another book for quite some time. I was exhausted. And yet that very same afternoon I found myself pondering, Yes, but I did write another book, I wonder what it be? Later that day, after I had… Continue reading Will snowflakes help me write my next book?
The best book to write is the one you really want to write. (There’s not much point in forcing yourself to write a book about a disgruntled fairy when your whole being yearns to write a dark thriller set in some grimy seaside town!) But it's interesting to see which type of books earn authors the most… Continue reading Which books earn the most money?
Katherine Bassford 