Tag Archives: libraries

Interview with a Writer~Yasmin Hanif

Posted on by vgemmell

Today I’m really excited to welcome my friend and writer, Yasmin Hanif, onto my blog. I first met Yasmin at an informal Writers’ meet up group, where we do writing sprints and chat about our projects, and the ups and downs of the writing life in general! (and drink nice tea and eat snacks). Yasmin has been so encouraging about my own books and writing; a real cheerleader for other writers, and this has helped me stay motivated (more than she probably realises!). I was so delighted when Yasmin told me her amazing news that Floris were going to publish her debut picture book, Abdullah’s Bear Needs A Name! and even more delighted to attend her launch at Waterstones the other week (thank you Yasmin’s Mum for the very tasty Samosas and Pakoras, and to Floris for the cake!). It’s a beautiful book and I wish Yasmin lots of success with her writing career. Read on to find out more about Yasmin’s writing journey, with links to buy her book at the bottom of the post.

Yasmin is a Scottish writer and educator, specialising in children’s literature. She was shortlisted for the Kavya Arts Prize in 2023 for her story which became her debut picture book, Abdullah’s Bear Needs A Name! (Floris, 2025). She has contributed to various poems in anthologies including ‘Daisy’s Mum’ in Stay At Home (Cranachan Publishing, 2020). She was a writer in residence at a primary school and worked on their project to promote diversity and inclusion within children’s writing and publishing, which won the SAMEE Aspiring Writers Award and the Scottish Education Curriculum Innovation Award 2022. 

When did you first start writing?

I don’t remember exactly when I first started writing but I remember that I started storytelling from a young age. My sisters and I would make up stories and act out the characters that we had created when we were little. I think that started my love for stories and writing.

What do you write?

I write all genres of children’s writing from picture books, poetry, middle grade to young adult. I also delve into short stories and poetry for adults too.

What was your first published piece of work?

I think my first written, fictional piece of work was a poem called ‘Daisy’s Mum’ in the Stay at Home anthology by Cranachan Publishing. This was a collection of specially curated poems and stories by 40 writers based in Scotland to help children aged 8-12 deal with the lockdown during the pandemic.

Why do you write?

There are so many reasons why I write from seeing the joy on people – especially kids’ faces – to the connection it brings between people, ideas, and experiences. I love the sense of humanity it brings out – the connectivity through emotions. I also love engaging with people when writing is performed whether that’s through readings or the discussions it brings about.

On a broader stroke, I think writing and bringing literature to as many people as possible is important for education and improving literacy levels; particularly making children more critical thinkers, and for them to be empowered for their future. Finally, I also enjoy creating something from scratch and I hope that my words have a positive impact on those reading them.

What, or who, has helped you on your writing journey?

So many people and things from writing communities to courses. However, I think the biggest thing that has helped me is finding like-minded people who also write in your chosen genre. They have been very supportive and it’s useful and encouraging to speak to different people at different stages of their writing career. I also worked with a local primary school in the West of Scotland when I started out as a writer. The experience I gained from that was also invaluable.

Share a writing low with us. What did you learn from this?

I had been subbing out my stories for a while and at that time I had also become unemployed from my main (non-writing) job. I kept getting rejection after rejection and it really felt like I was going nowhere. I was just about to give up when I got an email from a publisher saying they loved my book and were taking it to an acquisitions meeting. I really needed that. I learned that hard times can last a long, long time but the most important thing is that they don’t last. So never give up or at least keep going.

Share a writing high?

I recently had my debut book launch at Waterstones, and it was a real dream come true for me. I had friends and family there and did a Q&A and reading from the book. It was a surreal moment being on that stage answering questions and engaging with the audience. There was also homemade food which was themed with the Eid feast in the book and a bookish cake with good chatter. I was on a high from it for about 2 and half days after it!

Share some of your favourite lines from reviews, or comments you have received about your work, which boosted your confidence (tell us what piece of work it relates to)

As I mentioned, I recently had my debut picture book, Abdullah’s Bear Needs A Name! published (illustrated by the very talented Sophie Benmouyal) and received a wonderful review by Kids’ Literature Scotland:

“A beautiful and necessary book. It is wonderful when Scottish children from all cultural backgrounds see themselves reflected in stories…This gorgeous picture book is an encouraging step on that journey.”   

Any tips for new writers?

I would say keep writing, learning, experimenting in your practice and meeting like-minded people. Soak it all up and enjoy the process – from that will come your creativity and possibly your best pieces.

And for all writers; any tips for keeping motivated? And how do you find time to write?

Motivation and finding the time to write can be two of the most challenging things. Through motivation you write, and conversely through writing you find motivation, so it goes hand in hand. As I mentioned about find likeminded people to write with, whether that’s informal creative writing groups, workshops, retreats – somewhere where others are writing too, which helps you stay motivated and accountable.

Do you have a regular writing routine, or do you write in frantic bursts?

I do write in frantic bursts! I always use the phrase, ‘I try to steal time if I can’ – what that means is finding little pockets of time whether that’s 5mins or 25mins!

Where do you write? (A dedicated space, or on-the-go)

I mostly write at home, but I find I do need to switch it up occasionally to keep inspired so I’ll write in my local library or with a friend in a public space like a university or café.

Any stand-out books you have read recently?

I like reading autobiographies and memoirs, and really enjoyed Matthew Perry’s memoir, Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing. I found it incredibly honest, raw and captivating.

For children’s literature, I’m currently reading The Highland Falcon Thief by M.G. Leonard and Sam Sedgman. I’ve only started reading it but so far so good!

Where can we find your book and find out more about you?

Links to buy Yasmin’s book here: Yasmin Hanif books and biography | Waterstones

Abdullah’s Bear Needs a Name! – DiscoverKelpies

You can follow Yasmin on Instagram:  @yhwrites

Submission Stories # Part 2 (blog post 10 of series)

Posted on by vgemmell

This post is about the Journey of Book 2: Promise Me. You can buy my books here.

I’ve tried to strike a balance in this post, of being completely transparent, but not too negative, as ultimately I’m writing these posts to encourage anyone reading to keep going, and to not give up, whichever direction you decide to go with your writing.

When my debut Follow Me was released in 2015 I knew my publisher was interested in reading my next stand-alone, Promise Me.  I was now doing talks and creative workshops in schools and the community, chatting to librarians and slowly building ‘an audience’. Reviews were also starting to come in for Follow Me, and teenagers talked to me about the book at events. (I also got interviewed for Teen Titles magazine at one school).

For the first time in my writing life I was suddenly acutely aware of who might read my new book when it was released, and what their expectations might be. This put a low-level pressure on my creativity; something I had never really experienced before.

I was also trying to juggle the events, (always feeling I was never doing enough compared to other writers I was connected to on social media), whilst working full time. I stupidly went for a promotion at my day job (and got it), all before Promise Me was done and dusted. But it was a time in my life where I felt super-motivated and had more energy (I was younger!!), and the excitement of having a ‘book out’ always spurred me on.

When I had nearly finished my first draft of Promise Me I entered it into the SAW Pitlochry and won second place. The crime writer who adjudicated told me she could imagine her teenage daughter really enjoying having a teen sleuth at the centre of trying to solve the mystery of a crime that had already occurred. I felt this was a good selling point too, and it kept me motivated to get the book finished. I signed the contract for publication in 2017.

Fast-forward two years, copy edits done, release dates promised, then passed, with no response, and so began a repeat cycle. In amongst this a lovely librarian offered to launch Promise Me in her community library in a local area where I had done several events; another librarian wanted to book me for her new festival which would tie in to local schools to promote the release of the book. My publisher knew all of this, and still silence.

I never feel comfortable going into detail about this in a public forum, but needless to say, this was a not a great time for my creative confidence (especially when I genuinely did not know how to explain to the librarians, or to anyone, what was happening, as I had no idea what was happening!).

Every time I heard the question, ‘When’s your next book coming out?’, deep down I felt like a failure.  

I realise now that the people who persistently asked this question hadn’t even read my first book, and had no intention of buying my next one, but the amount of pressure and frustration I felt at the time was immense.

My advice: ignore the external pressures, unless it’s from someone who is involved in bringing your next book to life, and they’re actually nudging out of necessity, or to give you encouragement

The thought of going back out on submission filled me with dread (as the average time of your book seeing the light of day after acceptance, never mind how long it takes to get there, can usually be around 2 years) But I knew I had hit a brick wall with the current situation.

So, at the end of 2019 I took the rights back for Promise Me. I was also in the middle of writing my new YA thriller (Young Blood).

I started to send out Promise Me again to select agents (I was being fussy), but mostly got rejections, or no response. Then I noticed a new publisher was running an open submissions competition for Young Adult novels. I scoured the rules and realised it was open for published writers, as long as you didn’t have an Agent. (Most big competitions like Chicken House and Bath Novel etc. are only open for unpublished writers– see the end of the post for links to these).  

The publisher was professional and dynamic, and making waves, so I excitedly sent off my work.

Fast forward a few months later I received an email to let me know I’d made the long list. The day I moved into my new house in 2020 I received an email from the editor saying I had made the final seven. It was a massive boost. I didn’t win, but the editor had a chat with me and said the book sellers and librarians on the judging panel were very positive about my book. She also offered me some really helpful editorial feedback.

At this point some writers in my network were taking control back, and independently publishing their work. I had watched my Mum do this to a high standard, and she kept saying it was another option I could try.

Not long after this, I entered a call-out for a Zoom pitch event with a big agency. I was selected by the agent to have a chat.

Weirdly she recognised my name as she had been copied in to one of the emails relating to the acquisitions meeting for Follow Me at ‘the big publisher’ I mentioned in my last post. (She was an editor with them at the time).

The agent was really enthusiastic about Promise Me, said she loved the first few chapters and premise, and asked me to send through the full manuscript.

A few months went by with no emails, so I sent a polite ‘nudge’. I received an apology, saying she was behind in reading. I appreciated the update.

Then another six months went by, so I sent another polite email. And never received a response.

To this day, I never did get a response.

I totally understand that agents are busy people. Plenty of agents have ignored me during ‘cold submissions’ which is fine, because most will clearly state on their website, if you have not heard from us in X amount of weeks, we’re not interested.

But when you’ve had a full manuscript request, and a face-to-face chat (it was on Zoom because we were still in semi-lockdown), I think it’s rude to leave someone hanging.

At the time I wish I had used this website called Query Tracker see here You can sign up for free and it provides information on pitching to agents, but also people leave feedback on response times and reply rates from agents they’ve subbed to. The aforementioned agent now runs her own agency, and interestingly lots of people have posted on this site with the exact same experience as me; ghosted after full requests following on from personal contact during pitch events.

During lockdown when life slowed down, it gave me proper time to reflect on what I actually wanted from my writing career. I asked one of my career guidance friends to give me a coaching interview, and this helped me unpick my motivations and priorities.

She asked me an important question: What was stopping me from taking control myself, and independently publishing?

I realised the biggest thing stopping me was fear of perceived external judgement. Who does she think she is….Clearly she’s not good enough if she has to do this herself… We’re not interested in self-published books at this bookshop. But when I unpicked this further I realised none of my worries related to my actual readers. These thoughts related to other writers I knew, random people in my life…mostly ones who had never even read my first book, or cared about it enough to support any attempts at promotion, and gatekeepers (like bookshops *I’ll focus a bit more on the gatekeeper aspect in my next post*).

Returning to the point that the folk who usually ask the most demanding and nosey questions about my writing life (and probably yours), …How many books have you sold? Why’s your next one not out yet?  Are you not quitting your day job yet? Why aren’t you in a window display or the Buy one Get one free in Waterstones? Are you not speaking at X book festival?

..are usually the ones who haven’t even read my work, and are never going to buy my books, even if I get a 5 figure book deal and it’s optioned for film...

In fact those people would probably be the first to ask: How much did you get for your film deal?

I want to point out here that I don’t mind being asked questions about my writing at all, if the intention is good. And I 100% don’t expect everyone in my life to champion my work!  It just made me realise, I shouldn’t care so much about what people think about me and my work, definitely not to the point of stopping me exploring new ways of getting my book out there.

A few months later, I bit the bullet and started the process of Independently publishing Promise Me. It had already gone through many professional copy-edits, I’d received further editorial feedback after the open submissions competition, and I was very fortunate that my Mum is great at editing, and is a genius when it comes to all of the technical support needed to format and publish.

I had already dabbled in releasing a short story collection, and my designer friend Dainty Dora (see site here) aka Rebecca,  supported with a great cover design for this, so I enlisted Rebecca’s support again for the cover of Promise Me.

Promise Me was released into the world in October 2021 and I went with wider distribution, meaning it’s fully available everywhere. I hosted an online launch on release day through Facebook which generated enough sales to put my sales ranking on Amazon alongside big sellers like Holly Jackson. (If you like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder you might like my books, just sayin’) Those kind of figures are fleeting, but it gave me a huge boost on the day to know people were interested enough to buy my new book.

A screenshot of Promise Me in the Top Ten – glad I captured this moment

A librarian friend also invited me to take part in an online group workshop for a teen writing group, and last Spring I was part of the Paisley book festival schools programme, with Promise Me promoted and bought into libraries. During another school event not long after publication, a highlight was seeing teachers sitting reading my book when I arrived to the class for the session, telling me how much they were enjoying it. Last year an English teacher in a school I’m connected to in my day job said that Promise Me is never on the school library shelves and she often sees pupils reading it. After such a long up-and-down road with this book, every single moment like that means so much to me.

Next time I’ll post a bit more about my experiences of Independent Publishing.

In the meantime, I hope this post hasn’t put you off trying the traditional route, as it’s something I know I will attempt again (due to some of the cons that come with Independent Publishing).

If you’re unpublished and have a novel ready to send I recommend trying one of these big competitions which are closing soon

Chicken House Books Competition – for Children/YA books– closing 2nd June

Bath Novel Award – for both Young Adult and General (adult) fiction Closing 31st May

Bridport Prize – General Novel – Closing 31st May

Keep an eye out on Mslexia Competitions – they have run both General novel and Children’s/YA in the past

Happy Writing!

Starting Out (blog post 1 of series)

Posted on by vgemmell

Following on from my post last week this is the first of a series of blogs which delve a bit deeper into what the writing life has been like for me over the years. When I say ‘writing life’ it’s important to emphasise you can be living a writing life without sharing your words, or ever reaching publication.

My love for writing started with a love for reading and as a family we made regular visits to our local library, which at the time was in Inverclyde. My house was always bursting with books growing up and this was thanks to my Mum’s enthusiasm and passion for words. I realised some of my early favourites, such as the Nancy Drew series and Point Horror, have shaped a lot of my writing. All three of my Young Adult books (see here), feature teen sleuths who undercover the truth about some dark mysteries taking place in their Scottish villages.

I wanted this post to be a bit of an overview of what has been important to me over the years. Finding champions (people who encourage, and don’t dismiss your ideas and dreams), and attending writing focused groups/workshops/conferences to learn my craft, have been so important.

Through both, I’ve been supported to bring my stories to life, and found like-minded people to advise and steer me on my way. Being connected to others writers/creatives has kept me motivated and enthusiastic during times I have asked myself why do I devote so much time to this? What’s the point?

For me, writing truly feels like it is in my blood. Even if I take a break from time to time, (or nearly ‘give up’), something always calls from deep down inside me that makes me sit back down at my laptop or notebook (or notes page on a phone!) to shape words into some form of storytelling.

Here’s some key highlights along the way: See links at the bottom of the blog post to help you find groups/courses

  • My Mum has always been an important champion, always encouraging me to keep writing, and submit my work. When I was eleven my Mum took me along to a new writing group she was attending (Erskine Writers).This introduced me to a magical world of writers, and I realised people actually did this writing thing as a job, or at least submitted stories to magazines/competitions and books to actual publishers…and got their work in print. Over the years Erskine Writers has played a massive part in my development as a writer. It’s where I won my first writing competition and started to read out my work aloud to strangers for the first time, and get critiques from people other than my mum. It helped me develop confidence and taught me the importance of listening to feedback to improve my craft
  • When I was in primary seven my older brother indulged me by reading my illustrated Horror novella – Ye olde Castle. Sadly I never kept this notebook, probably too embarrassed by the illustrations of heads rolling down a hill during the unfortunate school trip. My head teacher at the time called me to her office, (not to give me a mental health assessment thankfully.) She encouraged me to keep writing, and showed me a book that a twelve-year-old girl had published (it was about a vegetable family, and I remember being very impressed!). I continued writing many stories during this time – the photo at the top of the blog post is a notebook that did survive. Twenty- odd years later when my first book Follow Me was launched at Waterstones my head teacher attended my launch night and I was able to thank her for her encouragement during my acknowledgements. One of many full circle moments I’ve had in my writing life
  • Another teacher champion: My first year English teacher Mrs Cook told me I was going to be the next Roald Dahl (not quite happened, but this meant a lot at the time as I had grown up loving these books!) and got my class involved in acting out (and I am sure filming!) a play I had written in my own time
  • When I was about twelve or thirteen I finished my first ‘book’ Rhea the Rollerskater and my mum helped me package it and send it off to a publisher. They sent me a very lovely rejection. I love the fact my mum encouraged the process, and the publisher was encouraging, but I think I knew I really needed to give myself a bit more time to develop my craft! And also have some fun along the way. Being too focused on publication can detract from just enjoying the process.
  • When I was seventeen my mum took me along to my first Scottish Association of Writers conference. I was delighted to witness her being presented with a first prize certificate for her short story (from Ian Rankin!) This was a weekend where I first entered a world filled with experienced authors/writers and attended workshops which taught me lots about the craft of writing and storytelling. Twenty years later I was invited to be an adjudicator at the conference. Another full circle moment in my writing life!
  • In my twenties I started getting serious about sending work out and during my early thirties in particular I was on a mission to get my work in print. I felt at this point I had developed my craft enough to write an acceptable short story that could maybe see print. I’ll do a separate post on early submissions/rejections/acceptances and how to approach this
  • Around this time I kept attending the Scottish Association of Writers, as well as attending a brilliant writing festival (that an author at SAW suggested I go to) in York. Sadly this festival no longer runs but I’ve put alternative suggestions in the links below. It was here I met face-to-face with agents for the first time to pitch my novel. What this taught me is a website can tell you only so much about an agent. Meeting them in person allowed me to see how we ‘clicked’ as well as showing me how one totally understood my story, whereas the other did not!
  • Writing friendships ~ I met some of my best friends through writing groups and at a writing networking group. Finding people who are on the same wavelength and who understand the pain and enjoyment writing can bring, as well as being a safe space to share work and your highs and lows, has been such an important part of ‘keeping going’.
  • When my debut YA novel came out I was clueless really about how anything worked in terms of how to organise talks, school events and so on. I’ll do other posts about this, but at the time joining the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) and attending their conference and speaking to published authors was so helpful. Fellow published authors who invited me to, and suggested me for, small festivals/talks was so amazing and helped me a lot. Librarians were also so supportive. Signing up to the Scottish Book Trust Live Literature database has helped me secure writing talks/workshops throughout the years (and get paid for them!)

As I live in Scotland I’ve included some Scottish/UK focused links below to help you find your tribe. Happy writing!

Find a Writing Group:

These lists can help you get started: https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/writing-and-authors/writing-groups-in-scotland

https://www.scottishassociationofwriters.com/find-a-writing-group/

Use social media to help you find local groups. I found an informal Glasgow Writers meet up group via facebook

Ask your local library and community centres. Paisley central library host a local group.

Attend Conferences/Writing Festivals/Courses

https://www.scottishassociationofwriters.com/saw-conference-2025/

https://www.cymerafestival.co.uk/2024-writers-conference-programme

https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/events-and-courses

Check college websites for leisure writing courses/online writing courses. This is a great way to connect with other writers. West College Scotland started an online creative writing course in November. I’ve also seen authors I know sharing courses they are running via Dundee Lifelong Learning

Attend a Retreat:

A popular one with writer friends: https://www.moniackmhor.org.uk/courses/

One I’ve got my eye on: https://www.acornwritingretreats.com/

Happy 2025

Posted on by vgemmell

I was lucky enough to extend my festive holiday this year and flew off to sunny skies just as my office was re-opening. A dose of sunshine and relaxation was the perfect way to recharge and have space to reflect on my writing and what I want to achieve in 2025.

I often find when I’m away from everyday life the creative and ‘ideas’ side of my brain really wakes up. I even managed to ‘type’ a short story in my phone while I was sitting out on my balcony in the sun. Having space to think properly also allowed me to reflect on how I could use my blog here in a bit more of a consistent and creative way.

A lot of young people (and adults!) I come into contact with who have an interest in writing are yet to find supportive communities, and don’t know where to start when delving into the world of writing.

Often when I do school or community workshops I’m asked questions around the practical side of writing, as well as my own experiences and how I have approached things.  I realised there is a lot I could write about on here, starting with where my writing journey began, and all of the different experiences and creative projects/competitions/workshops I have found to be helpful along the way.

I am no expert by any means within the industry, or a big success, but what I’ve had are real experiences – mostly good, sometimes deflating- over a large period of my life, a lot of which I was lucky enough to be introduced to thanks to being immersed in a supportive writing community (which started with a supportive writing Mum).

Over the years I’ve submitted short stories to competitions/journals, and then started to pitch books to a range of agents/publishers, met with them face to face, made it to publication then changed course so had to go back out on submission; had zoom pitches, a chat with an editor when I made the final seven in a big competition. I’ve faced numerous rejections, been ghosted, and most recently delved into independent publishing. I’ve attended writing festivals/workshops/talks/retreats, absorbed advice from top authors, agents, publishers and other writers of all levels of experience.

After my first book was released I started to deliver creative writing workshops and talks in schools, libraries, community venues, small book festivals, rooms to an audience of three… Adjudicated competitions for writing groups, bigger conferences (and even adapted my workshop to an online version during an unexpected lockdown!). I’ve organised in-person and online book launches, written press releases, been interviewed for a magazine and over the phone by a journalist.

I’ve kept my creative momentum going by setting myself numerous silly and engaging creative challenges over the years, which is good to remind myself about, as often when writing starts to feel too serious/stressful it’s good to take some time out to remember how to be creative. I know a massive challenge of any creative is staying motivated.

That was a bit of a brain dump list but introduces some themes I hope to focus on.

I remember reading once that writing should be treated like an apprenticeship; that it’s a journey of learning. I started my ‘apprenticeship’ way back in primary school and I am still very much learning. Every new writing project I start, I want to be better.

This year I hope to start a new type of writing project, and plan to go back out on submission again to try to secure an agent, which I am sure will bring a whole lot of new experiences and learning.

You can get all of my posts into your email inbox if you subscribe (on my homepage).

I plan to give honest insights into the behind the scenes of what a writing life for me has looked like so far (and new experiences going forward), with links to any interesting groups or writing related sites/comps I come across.

The first post will be going live next week.

Wishing you lots of success in your own writing this year, and just a reminder it’s okay not to feel dynamic in January. If you are still Wintering, take that time to relax and recharge!

Storytelling

Posted on by vgemmell

November has been a busy month. In amongst re-adjusting to life back in a busy office in my day-to-day life, I’ve enjoyed connecting with writers at a couple of events.

I’m in the middle of judging a teen short story competition for Erskine Writers group, where I delivered a workshop last month. Erskine Writers was where I first shared my work in public many years ago, and it’s lovely to return to lead workshops.

A couple of Saturdays ago I delivered an online workshop to the Teen Igniting Writing group (part of Wokingham Libraries), talking to a group of young people about what makes a good Mystery/Thriller. I was blown away by some of the extracts they read out of their own work, and had fun answering questions and talking about mystery books we love, (as well as telling them where my inspiration for writing mysteries comes from). I was very grateful to my school friend, Elizabeth, (or Lis as I know her), for organising this amazing session as part of her role as Young People Outreach manager. I don’t often get to engage with teens outwith Scotland, and I think one benefit of lockdown was the realisation online connections can be a positive way of reaching wider audiences/providing wider access.

One young person asked me, “What compels you to write?” It’s a good question, and one that has been circling in my head since. On the day I think I said it was ultimately my love of reading that sparked the desire for me to create my own stories, and I love seeing a story unfold and characters take over, which is all true.

But ultimately I think there is something deep within us all where we crave to connect with one another, and make sense of the world around us, and storytelling in all of its forms allows us to do that.

I was invited to a wonderful session last Saturday at Greenock Central Library as part of Book Week Scotland, celebrating creativity and writing within Inverclyde, organised and led by Writer In Residence, Katharine Macfarlane (who is an amazing Slam Poet. I am currently reading her poetry collection Home Words – it is full of beautiful imagery. You can buy a copy here).

Katharine is so enthusiastic about creativity and has got me involved in amazing events in the past, working with young people in Inverclyde. I grew up in Inverclyde, and previously worked there for ten years as a careers adviser, so it will always be a place I feel connected to. During this particular session I really enjoyed meeting other local writers and hearing them read their work, as well as finding out about future projects. Martin O’Connor, the Inverclyde Artist in Residence, also generated interesting discussion about how we all engage in some form of storytelling every day.

Some of the general discussion about Storytelling, and all of its forms, again made me think about how important it is for voices to be heard and that writing, (or spoken word), is a really powerful way we can encourage people to express themselves and tell their own stories.

In other news Promise Me is now available through wider distribution, both in digital and paperback formats, World Wide. It can be ordered into Waterstones here

Events, Books & Writing

Posted on by vgemmell

Hello! I’m sitting typing this listening to the wind and rain outside, happy to be indoors drinking Early Grey Tea. I had a last burst of sunshine in Italy last month, and since returning home I think Scotland has dramatically descended into Autumn (Winter…) Cue dark mornings, dark nights, and potentially a lot of atmosphere for writing dark fiction.

A couple of very EXCITING THINGS are on the horizon book-wise for me, which I will talk about more in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, I am happily working away on my third teen thriller/mystery, and I have signed up to do two events during Book Week Scotland in November. The first event will be at Strathearn Community Campus, on Wednesday 21st November at 7pm. I will be talking to the audience about REBELS in fiction, as well as discussing the power words and imagination have to give young people a voice. The librarian put together a fabulous poster for my event; see below. This is a FREE event but tickets should be booked in advance through Strathearn Community Library, or the Eventbrite page here 

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On Thursday 22nd November at 2pm I will be visiting West College Scotland, Clydebank Campus, to talk to students during their Literacy Week, about the inspiration behind my ideas, what literacy means to me, and how I became a writer. I’m really looking forward to both events! I’m also going to be taking part in a big Book Fair in Dundee at the start of December. I will post more about that nearer the time.

Over the past month or two I have spent some time travelling through to Edinburgh, meeting up with writer friends at the Book Festival, before heading to the wonderful Teen Title Party at Edinburgh Central library, at the end of August. It’s always a pleasure to be in the company of Kirkland Ciccone, who delighted the audience at the Teen Title party by flinging free copies of his wonderful new YA book, Glowglass, into the crowd. Here’s some pics from the party below. (And a shameless #shelfie pic of me posing by my books in the Edinburgh Book Festival bookshop).

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Yesterday I took a jaunt to the Portobello Book Festival, where I listened to my writer Mum, Rosemary Gemmell (link to her website here), talking about the art of writing short stories. My Mum was joined by other writers, Elle Turner and Jane Tulloch, and chaired by Lynsey May. I really enjoyed the walk along the beach front at Portobello before the event.

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It was really interesting to hear their different approaches to writing, and the benefits of writing shorter fiction. I agreed with much of what they said; that writing shorter fiction allows you to experiment creatively, with different styles and themes. I love writing short stories, as well as longer fiction. Flash fiction in particular is a great way to learn the importance of making every word count and definitely encourages me to push myself creatively.  Even although I write teen novels, my short stories are much more contemporary adult themes, and I enjoy switching between the two.

I think one of the most fun parts of being a writer is getting to meet other writers and listen to them talk about their work, and the feeling that we are all a part of one big community.