Guest Post – The Art of Reinvention by Emma Haughton

Hello, lovely blog readers! I know, I know, I've been rubbish about blogging lately (as usual). So to make up for it I've got a very special guest! Emma Haughton, author of NOW YOU SEE ME (out now from Usborne), has stopped by to talk about reinvention. But first, here's a bit about the book…

Three years ago, Hannah's best friend Danny Geller vanished without trace. Not knowing if he's alive or dead, she struggles to move on with a life shrouded in secrets and suspicions... But as hope returns to haunt Danny's family and their desperation is used against them, can Hannah bear to expose the painful truth? Or is it better to live in the dark? A mesmerizing psychological thriller with the most incredible twist you'll read all year.

Sounds amazing, doesn't it? Over to you, Emma!

I’ve been chatting to some online friends about the subject of reinventing yourself. Specifically as a writer. If you want to write in a different genre, or reboot your career, you always have the option of adopting a pseudonym. You can rise, phoenix-like from the ashes, and start all over again with a brand new name. You can even swap genders, a la J K Rowling.

It’s a subject I deal with obliquely in Now You See Me - the idea that people can embark on a whole new life.  I’m not going to say any more, because I don’t want to spoil the book for potential readers, but it is a subject I find eternally fascinating.

And it got me thinking about why people write fiction. I think all of us enjoy the opportunity to reinvent ourselves through our characters. While few authors create characters exactly like themselves, it’s probably true to say that every character contains pieces of their creator - or at least aspects that the writer can relate to. As authors, we get to live out different lives, test drive different choices, put different personality traits through a trial run. It’s part of the fun, inhabiting someone else’s head and world for as long as it takes to write and edit that book.

But beyond writing, I think the idea of reinvention is compelling, however you spend your days. Perhaps that’s why starting over makes for such popular TV. A new house or location, a style makeover, or even just a damn good declutter is something that appeals to most of us, holding, as it does, the promise that we can all shed our skin and start afresh.

As teens we’re very much in flux. We’re trying on different roles, different life options, deciding who we really are and what we really believe. But even in fully-fledged adulthood, very few things in life are fixed. It’s possible to start again and recreate your world at any age, in almost any walk of life. Perhaps that’s why many people dream now and then of disappearing and starting afresh. The idea of beginning again with a clean slate, in a completely different part of the world, can be very appealing.

But of course, walking away from everyone and everything is not something most of us would really want to do. We have bonds, ties, commitments. Abandoning those without a word to anyone is a selfish act, with terrible consequences for those you leave behind, as Now You See Me explores.

That said, reinvention is still open to us. A new job or career, a new friend or lover, a new passion or hobby, even something as small as a new pair of jeans or different hairstyle can breathe life into our jaded psyches, and make the world feel fresh again. Indeed, as a kid, one of my favourite things to do when I was bored or feeling a bit blue was to rearrange all the furniture in my bedroom. It would only take an hour or so, but for days, even weeks afterwards, it made everything feel fresh and different. By doing something simple to jog myself out of the rut I’d got into, I gave a little lift to my soul.

Emma Haughton is a one-time family and travel journalist turned YA writer. Her YA thriller, Now You See Me, is now on sale in bookshops or through Hive or Amazon.co.uk. Her second thriller, Better Left Buried, is coming out in May 2015.

Visit Emma’s website at www.emmahaughton.com for more details, or connect with her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/emmahaughtonwriter or come and have a chat on Twitter: @Emma_Haughton.

Patron of Reading!

I have some very exciting news – I've been asked to become the Patron of Reading for 2014 -15 at Titus Salt School in Yorkshire! I've already visited the school to run a creative writing workshop, and I'm thrilled that I'm going to be working with them more closely.

The Patron of Reading scheme encourages schools to form a partnership with a designated children's or YA author, with the aim of promoting and nurturing a love of reading. As part of my role at Titus Salt, I will be doing author visits, writing a newsletter and much more –  I will post more details here when I have them.

Thanks for having me, Titus Salt, and here's to a great year, I hope!

THE FEARLESS is here!

Publication day for THE FEARLESS is here! I've already had tons of lovely messages on Facebook and Twitter, and it's only 9.30am. Thank you so much, everyone!

For the next couple of weeks I'm going to be doing a trek round the internets (wearing sensible boots, post-apocalyptic style). Today, I've got a post about the fear, the horror, the terror… of writing a second novel over at the fab Kate Ormand's blog, and a post about what inspired some of the settings in the book over at Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books.

And to whet your appetite for THE FEARLESS (although I wouldn't recommend you read this book while you're eating your dinner), here's a sneaky extract from the beginning:

From inside the house there was an animal-sounding howl, and then a gruff shout: ‘It’s locked!’ I wrenched the gate open and ran out into the lane, Mum staggering after me. Pure terror sang through my veins; I could hardly breathe. When I looked over my shoulder I saw Mum clutching her knife in one hand, the other pressed against her bump, her hair hanging in sweat-soaked strings around her face.

‘Keep going,’ she gasped. ‘Don’t worry about me.’

            I heard that howl again, echoing up into the trees, and crashes as the Fearless tried to break down the front door. I tried to run faster, but my legs felt weak; I wasn’t sure I could keep going. Acid burned up into my throat, nearly choking me.

Behind me, Mum moaned and fell to her knees on the track.

I ran back to her. Another shout – ‘There’s something in front of the door!’ – and more crashes drifted towards us. ‘Mum, get up!’ I said, frantically tugging on her arm. She shook her head. She’d dropped her knife. ‘You go, Cass. Run. Get to Sol’s.’

‘No, I’m not leaving you!’

I heard the sound of glass breaking. It sounded as if the Fearless had given up trying to get out of the front door and were smashing their way out through a window instead. I pleaded with Mum to get up. Then I heard another sound from the top of the lane.

A car.

It was coming towards us, fast.
Headlights burst out of the darkness, so bright they blinded me, and the shriek of the engine filled my ears. There was no time to get out of the way. I flung a hand across my eyes, screaming, hearing Mum screaming too, time seeming to slow as I waited for the car to slam into us, and wondering how much it would hurt.

The Fearless Blog Tour!

It's exactly ONE WEEK until THE FEARLESS invades the shelves – eek! And to help celebrate its unleashing, some writer/blogger friends have offered to host a blog tour for me. Two whole weeks of posts, interviews and giveaways! I'm so grateful to everyone who's helped me out with this, so a huge thank you to everyone, and also to Harriet Venn at Random House Children's Publishing for designing me a fab blog tour banner!

Here is where I'll be and when (click to enlarge):

See you in a week!

Ouch!

Hello lovely blog readers! I know, I know, it's been a while again. In my defence, I've been rather busy doing school visits (LOTS of school visits) and preparing for the publication of THE FEARLESS, which is out in ten days. Eek! It's all very exciting in a nerve-wracking kind of way.

Yesterday was pretty exciting too – for all the wrong reasons. I managed to slice a chunk out of the end of my finger and it wouldn't stop bleeding, which meant I had to go to A&E to get patched up. Luckily I got seen quite quickly, as when I went to the desk the admitting nurse misheard me and thought I'd cut my finger off (shudder), but, yeah. I'm going to be staying away from sharp objects for a while…

At least I can do some impressive pointing for a while… 

Anyway, you didn't come here to listen to me moaning about my hurty finger. Let's get back to THE FEARLESS.

First of all, there have been some amazing reviews coming in - hooray! If having a debut out in the world is scary, having your second book published is doubly terrifying, because what if everyone thinks it's a letdown? What if you're just a one-hit wonder and, actually, you can't do this all over again? Luckily, these reviewers seem to think otherwise (click on the links for the full reviews, I'm just going to quote my favourite bits here):

From World of Children's Books:

I love that we’ve got a strong YA writer using dystopian Britain as a backdrop, especially when it’s writing about local areas that I recognise… It’s a different type of dystopian feel to ACID, which is good, because it means there isn’t any re-treading of previous steps, and shows Emma’s breadth of writing ability. She’s got a damn fine imagination, and a damn fine way of making me skip back a few lines just to make sure I read her correctly, such are the OMG moments that regularly crop up… I’ve not read a virus-esque dystopian thriller this good, ever.

From Donna's Room for Reading:

The latest offering from Emma Pass had me gripped from the very first page… I knew it was going to be brilliant and I was not disappointed… something Pass excels in is writing a kick-ass heroine… THE FEARLESS is a fantastic read, in my opinion for ages 12+, maybe a little older depending on the child and definitely on into adulthood!

From Goodreads (thanks, Marta!):

This is a fresh take on zombie fiction… I live in England and have visited several of the places mentioned in this book but the newly named area in Sheffield had me laughing out loud! No spoilers here but those like me who've traveled to that part of the uk will surely get the joke and that surprised me if honest. Amidst all this chaos the author still managed to bring a lighter touch and we even get a canine companion whose bravery will melt the hardest heart.

And there's this one, too (thank you, Beth!):

Thrilling UKYA dystopian/post-apocalyptic combo with very scary zombiesque creatures, a worthwhile (but highly dangerous) quest and some brilliant characterisation (including a lovely hound). Definitely recommended for lovers of YA thrillers, dystopias and the post-apocalyptic.

*happy dances*

With publication day fast approaching, some wonderful author friends have offered to host a blog tour for me. Once I have my blog tour banner I'll post it here, so keep an eye out for it. There'll be guest posts, interviews and giveaways galore! I'm also going to be guest blogger over at Totally Random Books in May, which I'm really looking forward to.

I've also got a couple of VERY exciting pieces of news (not book deal-related, but equally smile-worthy!) which I'm hoping I can share soon.

And tonight, if you're on Twitter, join me for one of Project UKYA's #ukyachats at 7pm, where I'll be the featured author. Search for the hashtag to keep up with the chat, and if you want, you can follow me @EmmaPass.

Hope to see you there!