My #bookishWISHES

To celebrate the imminent publication of Holly Black’s new novel,  The Darkest Part Of the Forest, I  can’t wait to share my #bookishwishes with you today.

#bookishWISHES

1) To one day get my own book published. Many of you know, I’ve been on this journey for quite sometime with many hours spent writing, rewriting and editing, in the hope that one I could finally see my name on the cover of the book. I like to think I am further up the road than I used to be. So maybe one day this bookish wish really will come true.
 

2) To see book bloggers gain the same recognition that other bloggers do. The book blogging community is a collective.  We range in age from the young to the old. We are united in our beliefs and our passion for books. I honestly don’t think there is any other blogging community quite like us. However our recognition is limited and our words are accepted by a small circle. My book wish is to see the community grow stronger and gain acceptance in society in the same way that the food bloggers and the fashion bloggers do. We do a good job and we work hard for our love of books. With the recent announcement about the publisher led Blogger Awards, I think we are definitely moving in the right direction towards this. I feel quite humbled to be nominated in the long list for an award. These awards show the mutual appreciation and affection that has built up over time between the book blogging community and the authors and publishers.

3) To see all teenagers represented in fiction.To be human is to be unique. Every teenager is different, therefore every teenager should be allowed to be different.   I am up there waving my flag with all the other bloggers to encourage more diversity in YA and children's books. It shouldn't matter what the colour of your skin is, what your sexuality is  or whether you look different from other people. Teenagers need to see that they are just as important as everyone else, regardless of any of those things.

4) To see more adults embracing books written for teenagers and children. Your age is irrelevant when reading a book. What matters is how good the story is. I still get people looking at me with disbelief when I rave about a YA or MG book. To be honest, I don't give a fig. Read what you want. Re-embrace your inner teenager or child. You won't regret it.

5) For UK Middle Grade books and authors to get the same media attention and respect now given to our  UK YA books and authors. UKYA are dazzling with success and now it is time for UKMG to shine. There are some amazing people on Twitter really pushing this at the moment, so I congratulate them on their efforts. There are some awesome writers out there and they deserve just as much attention. Let's rub out that line that divides both age categories. Let them mingle!
 

So they are my #bookishwishes. What are yours?

FAERIES. KNIGHTS. PRINCES. THINK YOU KNOW HOW THE STORY GOES? THINK AGAIN... NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author HOLLY BLACK  spins a dark, dangerous and utterly beautiful  faerie tale, guaranteed to steal your heart .

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for. Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once. At the centre of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointy as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.  Until one day, he does… As the world turns upside down and a hero is needed to save them all, Hazel tries to remember her years spent pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?
 

THE DARKEST PART OF THE FOREST by Holly Black will be published by Indigo on 5 February 2015 9781780621739/ Hardback at £10.99 and ebook at £5.99
 

About HOLLY BLACK: Holly Black is the bestselling author of YA and children's books including being co-creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles, a NEW YORK TIMES No.1 bestselling phenomenon and hugely successful film. She has been a finalist for the MYTHOPOEIC AWARD, the EISNER AWARD and a recipient of the ANDRE NORTON AWARD and a NEWBERY HONOR. She currently lives in New England in a house with a secret door.