Today I'm pleased to welcome author, Sarah Forbes onto the blog, to talk about where she likes to write and let her ideas flow. Sarah is the author of Elspeth Hart and the School for Show-Offs, which was published at the beginning of May. This is the first adventure in a brand new series for Middle Grade readers.
I write at a little desk sitting in the window of our cluttered spare room. Beside me are boxes of books, because we just don’t have enough shelves for them all, a guitar and a violin (I play both, just very, very badly). It’s not a big space, but I feel very lucky because this window looks out on a park and I have beautiful trees to stare at when stuck for ideas. At the moment there’s a flowering cherry tree… You can also see a smear on the window. My little nephew just walked past with my sister and I squished my nose to the glass to make them laugh. I will clean it, honestly.
I live in Edinburgh now, when when I lived in London I really liked having little things that reminded me of Scotland, so I have an old Dundee marmalade jar for my pens and pencils. There’s a quill in there – a gift from my friend Gwen when I left London. And an old-fashioned letter opener, so I can pretend I’m in an Agatha Christie novel when I’m opening boring electricity bills and the like.
I use a laptop, but keep big A4 pads nearby for scribbling on. As I was just finishing up work on Elspeth Hart and the Perilous Voyage, the second Elspeth Hart book, I have a sketched layout of the HMS Unsinkable, the ship they sail on, so I could be clear in my mind about where everyone’s cabin was! As you can see, I’m not much of an artist! I leave all that to James Brown. I also have my first ever reader review on the wall, from my friend Susan’s little girl. It makes me smile.
Finally, I keep some vintage children’s books in my writing room. There’s an Enid Blyton there from 1949. Like most writers, I love the smell of old books.
Thank you Sarah, for letting us look around your writing area.
Published by Stripes Publishing on the 4th May 2015
Summary
Elspeth Hart and the School for Show-offs is the first adventure featuring the fabulous Elspeth Hart, a modern heroine with doodles on her trainers and unstoppable determination. Can you imagine never being allowed to play outside, dear reader? How about sleeping in a wardrobe every night? That's what life is like for Elspeth Hart. Ever since her parents were tragically washed away in a flood, poor Elspeth has been forced to live with her disgusting aunt, Miss Crabb, in the attic of the Pandora Pants School for Show-offs. Elspeth spends her days sweeping up mouse droppings, washing filthy pots and dodging Tatiana Firensky, the most horrible show-off of all. But what Elspeth doesn't know is that things are about to change...
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To find out more about Sarah Forbes:
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