Reports of 'Unrest' at local schools: Michelle Harrison in Abingdon

Michelle Harrison always starts off school talks 'fessing up about the fact that she writes fairy books. This may or may illicit a chuckle or two from some of the boys in the audience, but, after explaining that her fairies are not of the 'pink' variety, but of an altogether darker hue, she goes on to talk about the dark side of myths and legends, and our need to be frightened. From then on, things get a lot scarier and there isn't much chuckling at all...

On Friday we welcomed Michelle to Abingdon to talk about her new young adult novel Unrest (which we reviewed here)

Over lunch, Michelle spoke to pupils from Larkmead and St Helen and St Katharine. The first extract she read involves the protagonist, Elliot, and a seriously scary episode of 'sleep paralysis', something that is truly terrifying if it happens to you, and for which Michelle got the idea from the experiences of her sister.

(honestly, sleep paralysis sounds horrible, and if you want to put yourself in the mood for what Elliot goes through in the book, take a look at this Guardian article here - I also found it very interesting that great works of art have resulted from the experience).

Michelle explained that she never always wanted to be a writer, and instead studied as an illustrator. But after starting with short stories in her teens - and with her love of the supernatural and horror - the writing slowly took over.

It took her four years to get an agent, and a further year to get a publisher to take her first book, so she certainly served her apprenticeship in her route to being published. In fact, talking of horror, she did make the process of editing (and in particular, copy editing) sound particularly awful - but the result is definitely been worth it.

In the afternoon we zoomed round the corner to John Mason School.

Here - after talking to students and giving another reading from the book - Michelle took questions about film rights, whether she would ever write a sequel, and a very involved question about 'The Exorcist'...

Thanks very much to Michelle, particularly as it was the final day of a gruelling tour around the UK.

 

Unrest deserves to do very well, and come Monday, Michelle has perhaps the most terrifying experience that any author can face, that of the blank sheet of paper - as she begins her next book. We attempted to find out a little bit more...

Five Question With...Michelle Harrison's Writing Life

1.    What are you working on at the moment? 

I'm about to start another teen novel (no title yet!) but this time telling a story from the girl's point of view. It's going to be a contemporary, very creepy tale in the same sort genre as Unrest.

2.    What is the best writing tip you’ve ever been given? 

Get it written, get it right. Can't remember who said that, but what it means is: get it down on paper first and then get it 'right' afterwards.

3.    What’s the best thing and the worst thing about being a children’s writer?

The best thing about being a children's writer is that you get to make things up all day long. The worst thing is anything to do with paperwork (e.g. accounts) - boring!

4.    Do you have a writer’s survival kit, eg a place, thing of snack essential before you can start work? 

Millions of cups of tea! No, I can pretty much write anywhere, but prefer to write on my laptop - so basically as long as I have my laptop to write on, that's fine. However, cutting off the Internet is pretty much essential!

5.    What was your biggest breakthrough?

Getting an agent without a doubt. Once I got an agent, everything started to happen.

Unrest by Michelle Harrison - unsettling, unnerving...and coming to Abingdon

When I was a teenager I loved ghost stories, and the scarier the better. As well as lots of 'true life' ghost books (Reader's Digest Book of the Unknown is one that springs to mind) I devoured every collection of ghost stories I could get my hands on, and this rich diet of the undead brought me to the attention of my English teacher, who - after a harmless walk around the school ended up with me describing trees as 'twisted victims of Satan' - wrote 'See Me' in big red pen, and at that point we both decided to 'widen' my range of reading...

Anyway - a chilling, well-written ghost story for teens is always welcome at Mostly Books, and Unrest by Michelle Harrison is simply superb. We know Michelle very well for her '13 Treasures' series of books, which are written for slightly younger readers. There are plenty of scares and shocks in these 'dark fairy' books which served as a kind of reboot of the fairy genre - but in Unrest, Michelle has gone off into much darker territory, entirely appropriate for an older audience - one that would have grown up on Michelle's twisted fairies...

Unrest is the story of Elliot, a seventeen-year-old who feels and sees strange things when he falls asleep. His doctor tells him it is sleep paralysis and hallucinations as a result of an accident but Elliot thinks he is leaving his body when he sleeps - and also seeing a ghost. In pursuit of the truth, Elliot gets a job at the (supposedly) haunted museum, where he meets not only the enigmatic Ophelia, but also someone (or something) far more sinister. Elliot begins to suspect it is the ghost of a boy who died 100 years before, and as events take an increasing horrifying turn, there is a race to discover the truth.

Julia at Mostly Books read this as soon as the proof came in, in a single sitting. She said "this is a genuinely chilling and totally gripping ghost story, and - with Elliot's nightitime experiences and visions - it shares elements of, say, The Sixth Sense in terms of the atmosphere it creates. There's a particularly scary night-time sleepwalking scene that is *definitely* not for the faint-hearted, the book grips (and shocks) from the start, and doesn't really let you you go to the gruesome (and very unexpected) twist at the end. I loved it".

So - how chuffed are we that we are welcoming Michelle to Abingdon next Friday (May 4) and taking her into two Abingdon schools? First up is a joint event with Larkmead School and St Helen & St Katharine at midday, then onto John Mason School in the afternoon.

Having been a editorial assistant in children's publishing, and even a bookseller (how cool is that?) Michelle now writes full time and lives in Oxfordshire.

If you are lucky enough to hear her talk, you'll be able to get copies of her book - and get them signed - on the day. But if not, we will have signed copies, and you can pre-order them from us at the shop...

And if you would still like to know more about Michelle and the book, take a look at the trailer...

The benefits of a life of crime

For someone who has had more than twenty years to get used to the fact that he’s one of the nation’s best-known and best-selling crime writers, Colin Dexter still has the air of someone who is slightly taken aback by all this fortune and fame.

In an evening where we were exceptionally honoured to be able to welcome him to St Helen’s and St Katharine, Abingdon, on March 20, Colin Dexter said he still thinks of himself as a school teacher (which he was for many years) rather than a writer (and be warned, because if you write him a letter, it sounds as if it is very likely to get marked). 

His great storytelling abilities meant he managed to make all present feel he was having a personal conversation in their front room – all 200 of those present – as he shared some of the journeys life has taken him on since the incredible worldwide success of the Inspector Morse television series, which was based on his books.

Whether appearing in cameos in the television series, working on set with the likes of Anthony Minghella and John Thaw, to receiving letters asking for his assistance in matters urgent and small, Colin Dexter manages to make it sound as if life has been very good to him and really rather jolly good fun.

From the inspiration of Oxford, the wonders of the Ashmolean, to the muse in a bottle of scotch, he also manages to make it sound as if writing his intriguing and compelling mysteries has been pretty effortless – and also pretty good fun.

He wrote the first when bored on a wet family holiday in Wales and went on to write 13 Inspector Morse books, which was expanded in more than 30 episodes of the popular television series, plus the spin-off series ‘Lewis’ and the programme ‘Endeavour’. The success of the television series - and their establishment as a cultural institution - continue to bring people to Oxford to visit the scenes of the crimes.

He has received several Crime Writers' Association awards: two Silver Daggers for Service of All the Dead in 1979 and The Dead of Jericho in 1981; two Gold Daggers for The Wench is Dead in 1989 and The Way Through the Woods in 1992; and a Cartier Diamond Dagger for lifetime achievement in 1997.

And as well as Oxford making a permanent mark on his books, his books have also made a permanent mark on Oxford. For example a bar in The Randolph Hotel (both a landmark in Oxford and a place Morse would often head for a pint) has been renamed The Morse Bar.

The evening finished with plenty of questions for one of our best-known local celebrities, and an audience eager for the chance to get to the bottom of some of the intriguing elements of Inspector Morse’s character.

And there was even time to offer a few tips for writers – Colin Dexter said his best advice is to just get it written, because from then it can always be improved, and to expect that first draft to be pretty awful, but not to let that put you off.

It was a thoroughly convivial evening, and an inspiration of just how unexpected life can be from the roots of writing a simple detective story when on a wet holiday in Wales.

Tuesday Nights

On Tuesday Night we welcomed Joanna Trollope to Abingdon, to talk about her latest book Friday Nights. The event was held at St Helen & St Katharine, in their magnificent Yolanda Patterson Hall. We had an audience of over 200 (which we were delighted with, particularly considering it was a chilly Tuesday evening in January). The event was run jointly with the school, and it was also the first event organised with the Mostly Booklovers. They turned out in force to support the event, helping to run all aspects from checking tickets to opening bottles of wine. We couldn't have run this event on this scale as successfully without their help - and this is certainly the way we would like to run big events in the future. The venue itself has a wonderful 'atrium' area when you first come in, and with the assistance of the Booklovers we'd set up drinks and the bookstall. Many people had come in groups, or met up with old friends - and the atmosphere pre-performance was extremely lively. Once we had managed to usher everyone into the Hall, Joanna came out onto the stage to talk about her writing in general, her latest book Friday Nights, and to answer questions from the audience. She was on sparkling form, putting her previous experience as a schoolteacher to very good use by addressing the packed auditorium without a microphone. After taking questions, we whisked her to a signing table at the side of the hall, where she was able to sign copies of her books, and chat to those queuing up to get a book signed. There was the obligatory end-of-evening photo with the author. Here (from left to right) are Booklovers Ian & Jean, Nicki, Joanna, myself, Donna (librarian of St Helen & St Katharine) and Annabel (another Mostly Booklover who has also blogged the event here). Thanks to everyone who came on Tuesday, and a special thank you must go to those Mostly Booklovers who have set the bar reasonably high on their first event. But of course, we must give a very big and warm thank you to Joanna and her agent Nicky for trekking out to Abingdon in January, and for contributing to a very special evening.