Ten-Minute Blog Break - 17th March

I had two ideas for blog posts last week, but wrote neither of them. Why? Well, there was a SCBWI social, a book launch, I wrote a short story and worked on another creative project plus my full-time job. So I'm very glad that there were others who found the time to put fingers to keyboard!

First up this week, it's time to talk about the state of YA. In an insightful post for Space on the Bookshelf, bookseller Nicki Thornton tries to pin down what YA is nowadays, given that its audience is mostly made up of adults. Meanwhile, a blogger at The Edge is dipping a toe into the scary world of YA horror and asking 'why isn't there more of it?'

From the state of YA to the state of the mind. Mental health is a massively important issue, but has long been a taboo subject. Sarah Broadley reports back from a Scottish Mental Health Association panel featuring author Matt Haig (who has just published a memoir on his own battle with depression). Elsewhere, Alistair Lane considers the value of poetry as therapy - can writing poems help him to cope with everyday trauma and stress?

I discovered a pair of posts by Chitra Soundar this week, dealing with the state of reading for pleasure amongst Indian families. We hear so much about this issue from a UK perspective, and it's fascinating to find about how different things are in another country. Here's part one and part two

Miriam Craig has managed to stay off the Blog Break radar up until now, but her post interrogating children aged 8-13 about what they read and why, is required reading for all middle grade authors!

Finally, another big Blog Break hello to Patrice Lawrence, whose blog was mentioned to me by three different people at the aforementioned SCBWI social! Patrice has just signed a deal with Hodder for two YA crime thrillers, and her blog post about how she got to that point is a great place to catch up.

Nick.


A SCBWI member since 2009, Nick Cross is a children's writer, Undiscovered Voices winner, occasional blogger, ex-zombie and part-time superhero for two hours every Wednesday evening (but only after putting the bins out).

He also writes children's short fiction for Stew Magazine.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the shout Nick. I just wanted to say it is about Indian families here in the UK and back in India across the diaspora.

    Loved all your other recommendations too. Loved Miriam's post. I think I am going to gather more survey responses for her in my next school visit.

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