Anthony Horowitz kicked off his South African tour with an appearance at Exclusive Books V&A Waterfront. It was a great privilege to introduce the best-selling author to the crowd, and an even greater privilege to soak in the knowledge of one of my all-time favourite authors.
23 May 2013
It’s difficult to come back down to earth after a weekend of non-stop celebration, but that’s what it felt like after this weekend’s Franschhoek Literary Festival. It was a whirlwind of friends, wine, good food and happy memories.
3 June 2013
Writing young adult (YA) fiction is a complicated business. Not only do I need to worry about getting the tone and dialogue right, but the story needs to be topical and entertaining enough to hold a young reader’s interest.
Every year around Halloween the Book Lounge is taken over by hideous fiends who come out the shadows to share bloodcurdling stories of horror and macabre.
Continue reading “Bloody Parchment, The Root Cellar and other stories” →
5 February 2013
Whenever I’m out and about, trying to sell books or talking to kids about pursuing a career in writing, the question inevitably arises about why I write YA.
I’ve made it pretty clear in the past that I didn’t specifically set out to write YA. My first novel had young people in it, and as a result, became branded as YA. To be honest I had never even heard the term before then, but rather assumed that books marketed towards the teen market were simply that – teen books. I grew up devouring L.J Smith and R.L Stine after all. I had no idea they were called YA.
13 February 2013
It’s no secret that I’m a bit of a Harry Potter fan(atic). So when I saw that a parody show called Potted Potter was playing at Pieter Toerien’s Theatre on the Bay in January, my heart started beating very fast. Anything Harry Potter related is guaranteed to grab my attention.
25 February 2013
You know that feeling when you have a book for a long time and you just want to kick yourself for not reading it sooner?
A tale of love, loss and robots.
There is no better feeling in the world than being swallowed whole by a book. The Mad Scientist’s Daughter is one of those rare novels that keeps you spellbound to the point where everything else literally disappears around you. I read the novel in a day, totally forgetting about food and everything else I needed to do. This hasn’t happened in a while.
Continue reading “Book review: The Mad Scientist’s Daughter” →
29 August 2012
I have just returned from the UK where I attended the IBBY World Congress. I’ve already blogged about my experience which was nothing short of incredible. Thanks again to everyone who helped make it happen.
28 August 2012
IBBY – the International Board on Books for Young People – does incredible work promoting children’s fiction. I’m a member of the South African chapter, which holds regular Book Bashes to celebrate SA lit. This year’s world congress took place in August at Imperial College in London. The event looked at how children’s fiction crosses boundaries, and included an Honour Roll showcase of notable children’s fiction from around the world, including my second novel, Fuse. I had to go. It seemed like the experience of a lifetime, and I was determined to find a way to get there. And so I did.
Sally Partridge