On the blog today, I am pleased to welcome one of my favourite children's authors, Holly Webb. To celebrate Holly's 30th animal story, this post is part of 30 Days of Holly, celebrating such a wonderful writer. Holly has kindly allowed us into her writing room, to show us where her ideas flow.
I write in a tiny little room that used to be the back half of my garage. It’s just about big enough for:
A large purple velvet armchair. I gave up writing at tables ages ago. After all, why call them laptops if they’re not meant for laps? I don’t actually have a desk at all (which helps, given the size of the room…) I used to write on the living room sofa before I had my lovely room made, but it was irritating having to move around all the time, and I kept losing bits of paper. Now I still lose bits of paper and I don’t have any excuse…
A lot of bookshelves. One wall is most covered in built-in shelves, but I think I’m going to have to get the other wall done as well, as I’m running out of space for books. Either that or the foreign editions are going to have go in cardboard boxes behind the armchair, or something. I also have some standing shelves covered in useful bits of paper – proofs, marked-up manuscripts etc. And several bags of random craft supplies for events – lots of glitter! Luckily my bookshelves are wide enough that I can put a few interesting things in front of the books for decoration – like a Mongolian snow leopard toy, a polar bear in a snowglobe, a couple of toy horses. Odd bits!
Two small tables with more books on, and more bits of paper. There’s a theme here… These are books for research – so one table had three books on Pompeii, one on the ancient palace of Westminster, and a life of King Edward III (these do all fit together). Luckily the Pompeii books have got lots of large photos in them, as the Edward III one looks a bit daunting. At the moment behind those is propped up a sheet of artwork by Marion Lindsay, who illustrated my Maisie Hitchins books. I love her work, and especially these sample drawings she did for Maisie. They arrived while I was still working on the first book and made me so happy! I’ve just finished the last Maisie book – it’s exciting to have rounded off the story, but sad too.
A cat basket. Although I don’t know why I bother, really. I have three cats, and Star, who is the one who usually comes and sits with me while I’m working, would rather sit in my chair, or if I’m inconsiderately in it already, on me. With her bottom on the track pad of the laptop so she can edit the current book. But she’s very useful when it’s chilly!
The Secret Kitten by Holly Webb was published by Stripes Publishing in April 2015.
Summary
Lucy can’t help but feel lonely when she and her brother move in with their gran, leaving behind their old friends. Lucy wishes she could have a pet, but Gran isn’t keen on animals. A stray kitten catches Lucy’s attention, and she instantly falls in love with it. Where will the kitten go if she can’t find anyone to take her in? A heart-warming read from best-selling author Holly Webb, perfect for fans of Magic Animal Friends and Animal Ark.
To find out more about Holly Webb:
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