school event | VICTORIA GEMMELL

Hello! It’s been a while since I’ve given an update on here. I finally got keys to my new house last week and currently have no carpets and half painted walls (which feels a bit like the unfinished draft of my second book…)

I’m looking forward to taking a bit of a break from the domestic things in life to get out and about to meet with readers and aspiring writers very soon! Here is a rundown of some key events I’ll be taking part in over the next few weeks:

On the 24th March I’m really looking forward to leading a workshop with 4th year pupils from Clydeview Academy, which will be hosted by Gourock library.

A couple of days after this on Saturday 26th March Oak Tree Arts creative writing group in Paisley have invited me along to speak at their End of Term Party. This is going to be lots of fun as a local cafe are hosting the event and the owner will be making us brownies!

Oak Tree Arts meet every Saturday morning in Abbey Books in Paisley. This is a brilliant little independent bookshop, which stocks both second-hand and new books. Follow Me is currently on sale there. You can view their website here

I will be getting involved in a couple of school events in April also, one of which is the brilliant Yay!YA, at Cumbernauld Theatre on 21st April, where myself and a bunch of brilliant YA writers will be meeting with 200 school pupils from various high schoools across the West of Scotland. The brilliant Kirkland Ciccone is the mastermind behind this event and I’m so delighted that he asked me to be a part of it. You can read more about it on the Yay!YA website here

Next weekend I’m going to be attending the annual Scottish Association of Writers event. I really enjoy this event as it’s a great way to catch up with lots of writers and attend helpful workshops. My publisher, Strident, will also be attending this year’s conference. It feels good knowing that my book will be for sale in their bookshop this year! I’ve been attending the conference on and off since the age of 17 and have been inspired by so many of the authors here over the years.

Lastly, it was lovely to see two new 5* reviews for Follow Me pop up on Amazon last week, here and here I really appreciate it when anyone takes the time to post reviews.

Watch this space for some interviews I’ll be taking part in soon…

Yesterday I visited a group of thirty 4th years in St. Columba’s High School in Gourock. As it was the start of Book Week Scotland this was a perfect time to talk about books and writing. My journey there was eventful as my train got stopped due to an accident affecting the line, with no news on when they would be up and running again. I had to jump off and get a taxi down and just made it in time! I had a very interesting conversation with the taxi driver about books, writing, dyslexia and art, so that actually helped to calm my nerves.

At the event I delivered a presentation about my writing journey, what’s involved in getting published and the inspiration behind ideas. I then asked the pupils to write a short flash fiction story, using some of the images of headlines I had posted up to inspire them.

One of the pupils, James Patterson (what an appropriate writer name!), let me read his very imaginative story – I’ve posted a photo of that below. A couple of the girls great stories too. It was brilliant to see everyone’s enthusiasm and I enjoyed talking to them all. If any of you are reading this, I hope you gave the 3 letter word story challenge a go!

At the weekend I was in Winchester for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference which was brilliant. It was great getting to meet creative people and talk about writing. I also attended some really informative workshops, and it reminded me of the magic you can feel when you are involved in creating books. (and of course the hard work involved!).

A highlight was taking part in the mass book launch party on the Saturday night in the Winchester Discovery Centre (the library). All of the participants book covers’ were emulated on the big cake, which looked and tasted amazing! There was a sea/pirate theme, so I decided to dress as an alternative pirate. This is a photo of me below in my pirate gear, on stage with my book. RRrrr. I loved Winchester too and hope to return one day soon!

VICTORIA GEMMELL

YA author

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A visit to St. Columba’s and dressing like a pirate