Julia Golding at OLA

On Tuesday 26^th September, pupils from four schools; OLA, OLA Juniors, St Edmunds and Long Furlong, excitedly waited for Julia Golding to arrive. 

Julia is a multi-award winning writer for children and young adults. She is the author of the ‘Cat Royal’ series of books set in eighteenth century London.

. . 'Reader, you are set to embark on an adventure about one hidden treasure, two bare-knuckle boxers, three enemies and four hundred and thirty-eight rioters.

I was brought up in Drury Lane, so I have become accustomed to a life less than ordinary. But this turn of events, I have to say, surprised even me. Follow me, and I will show you in The Diamond of Drury Lane.'

Julia has also written ‘Mel Foster and the Demon Butler’ a warm and witty gothic tale, perfect for fans of Chris Riddell's Goth Girl and lovers of historical adventure. You can find out more about Julia and her books at www.juliagolding.co.uk.

Before the event began, the sharp eyed among the crowd noticed Julia outside

the auditorium as she signed a pile of pre-ordered books .  Once signing was complete, Julia headed into meet the crowd and what a crowd it was….!  The energy was noticeable in the room with some children clearly very excited to be hearing from such a great author.

Over the course of the next hour or so, Julia regaled the audience with stories of her books and the writing process.  She has been writing since 2006 (longer than some of the audience had been alive!) and writes under three different names so there were plenty of good stories to share with the excitable crowd.

Towards the end of the event, three children were invited to pick out hats from a range offered by the author and were then asked to say what they thought the hat represented.  The favourite response (by far!) was from the young boy who decided that his hat had turned him into an assassin!!!

After hearing Julia speak, the floor was opened to questions.  The questions posed to Julia were intelligent and relevant, ranging from why Julia was an author (because she realised that someone was willing to pay her to do something that she loved) to information about her website (Julia does all of her own web design).

At the end of the event, Julia invited any children whose questions had not been answered to come and meet her at the signing table.  A long queue formed as questions were asked and more books were signed.

Before long, it was time for the children to head home so the last goodbye was said as the final books were signed (we got some for the shop).  All of the children left happy and laden with books.

A huge thank you to Julia for such a great event and to Barbara and the team at OLA for hosting.

Kid's Lit Quiz Heats 2012

The Kid's Lit Quiz Oxfordshire/Berkshire Heat took place last Friday at Saint Gregory the Great Catholic School in Oxford. Thirty-five teams from twenty-three schools battling it out to see who went through to the UK final in Coventry on December 6th - and from there to the world finals in Durban, South Africa next year.

To provide moral support - and test themselves against the teams - fourteen children's authors took part, offered up prizes and questions - and signed books throughout the event.

Many of our favourite children's authors were there, including (out of shot on left) Susie Day, Marie Louise Jensen, Sally Nicholls, and (from left to right in the photo above) Julia Golding, Michelle Harrison, Lucy Coats, Linda Newbery, MG Harris, Dennis Hamley and Richard Knight. The man in the hat incidentally is the legendary Kid's Lit quizmaster Wayne Mills.

(Richard's own experience of the quiz can be found here)

Quite a formidable line-up...with so many schools to co-ordinate between, and a tight schedule, the event is organised with military precision. We were there to support the authors with a bookstall - with a percentage of sales going towards costs of running the quiz:

The quiz was closely fought for more than two hours, but the teams emerging victorious were:

1st: Cherwell School 
2nd: Oxford High School #2
3rd: Abingdon School #1 (Yay! Go Abingdon!)

Think there was only a point or two in it...

Despite the time pressures, I did manage to catch up with several authors - and as always I'm struck by the sheer effort, hard work and creativity (from a business point of view) going on in what is a fast-changing and challenging environment in which to be an author. Many authors are embracing the digital world, and using the opportunity to do different things and experiment with publishing direct to eReaders - whilst still retaining a commitment to the physical book (and independent bookshops, it must be said).

(As an example, take a look at Michelle Harrison launching her own website Tickey End with merchandise inspired by objects adorning her 13 Treasures series. How cool is that?)

A big thank you to co-ordinator Jacky Atkinson for the opportunity to be a part of this global event - take a look here for more details about the Kid's Lit Quiz...

Viking Myths, Pirate Facts, and the Offside Rule for Girls - a day with Julia Golding

The annual Abingdon School's joint author event is a wonderful tradition amongst the town's schools, and it's a real privilege to be invited along to do the bookselling. Last year we spent an awe-inspiring day in the company of Marcus Sedgwick, and this year we spent the day in the company of Julia Golding - who has also recently started writing under the name of Joss Stirling (more about that in a mo).

Julia is an author we have been desperate to meet for ages. When we opened the bookshop in 2006, she had only just published her first book (The Diamond of Drury Lane which was in our opening stock), and as the years have gone by, we've become increasingly in awe of her, particularly the Companions Quartet and Darcie Lock books). Readers - particularly girls - rave about her, and though I'm bound to say many of her books do appeal to boys, it's great to see strong writing that most definitely appeal to girls.

Julia did three sessions throughout the day - two sessions were aimed at year eights and above, and one session was for a slightly younger age range.

Children's authors have to increasingly be part performer, ringmaster and even stand-up comedian, and Julia pulled this off brilliantly by talking about her books, and interspersing readings with insights into the writing process. She also got the kids up on stage to take part in a various games, pirate dressing up and even a Viking quiz...

...where we learned that Vikings didn't have horned helmets (a Victorian myth apparently, copied by Hollywood) and the Viking king "Harald Bluetooth" - who united parts of Sweden, Denmark and Norway - gave his name to Ericsson's ubiquitous, cable-free 'unification' of PCs and mobile devices. How cool is that? (even better: the Bluetooth icon is actually the Nordic runes for his initials, H and B. Now that's a pub quiz-winning question if I've ever heard one...).

So, here's the obligatory picture of bookseller and author, but...notice the signed copy I'm proudly holding. This is Julia Golding writing as Joss Stirling for teenage readers. What do we think of the book in the shop? I'll leave the last word to Julia (that's Mostly Books' Julia, not the author!) who loved this book:

"Sky, forced to move to America from England with her adoptive parents, thinks that she'll never find her soul mate, her other half. But when she meets Zed, the local bad boy of Wrickenridge, that's exactly what happens. On one level, this is a beautifully-written book for teens about love and friendship which touches on the potency that comes with adolescence. But it's also a book with plenty of action and thrills, and some very sinister gangsters who take a special interest in Sky, and her 'gift'..."

There's a neat running joke in the book about 'soccer' and a nice comment about the off-side rule for girls which has taken on a slightly more contemporary resonance since the book was originally published...

It was a great event, and it's given us a great excuse to have a nice big display of Julia's books in the shop...