Super news, Shortlists and Series Deals for This Week's Celebrating SCBWI's!

Steve Hartley

I'm thrilled to report the launch of a brand new series from Steve Hartley;  breaking news for Anne Marie Conway;  shortlistings for Sam Hepburn and a series deal for Julie Fulton!

The first in a new series for age 7+, Oliver Fibbs: Attack of the Alien Brain by Steve Hartley  was published by Macmillan Children's Books in January. The second book, Oliver Fibbs and the Giant Boy-Munching Bugs will be published in June. Oliver Fibbs is described as an ordinary boy with an extraordinary imagination, quite frankly that sounds just like Steve Hartley!

 Steve was one of the deserved winners of the 2009 Undiscovered Voices competition. As a result, he got an agent, then a publishing deal, and in 2010 the first books in his Danny Baker Record Breaker series were published. Eight books later, Steve and his huge pink pants and giant bogey are in great demand for school visits and festivals - and adult writers’ workshops!

If you ever get a chance to go to a writers workshop with Steve Hartley - go. Funny, warm, full of energy and with an amazing feel for character it's no surprise that Steve's books are doing so well.

---

A huge hoorah for Anne-Marie Conway author of Butterfly Summer the first in the Star

Anne Marie Conway

Makers series. Despite a very strong shortlist, I'm delighted to announce that Butterfly Summer has WON the Oxford Book Awards. The next book in the series, Forbidden Friends, is due to be released on May 1st. 

The Star Makers series is for all children aged 8+ who love to sing dance and act! Butterfly Summer is a dark and mysterious novel for slightly older children, and Forbidden Friends tells the story of two girls who become best friends but discover that a secret that binds both their families in the most tragic way might keep them apart forever.

 Anne-Marie lives in London with her husband and two boys and spends her time writing, teaching dance and drama at a local primary school, and running her own theatre club for children on Saturday afternoons. 
Sounds like excellent research Anne- Marie. Well done!

---

Sam Hepburn

 Sam Hepburn  also has a new book coming out.  Sam, who worked for many years as a documentary maker for the BBC, has also published two teen fantasies under the name Samira Osman - Quicksilver and Serpent's Gold - and was longlisted for the Waterstones and Branford Boase awards in 2010. Her writing has been described as "Smart entertainment deftly done" by the Financial Times and "Superbly constructed and vividly depicted" by Daily Telegraph.

Her new book,  teen thriller Chasing the Dark  was bought by Chicken House after Sam won a one-to-one with Barry Cunningham at the SCBWI 2011 conference and will be published on 3rd June this year. Fantastic SCBWI news indeed - and it's available to pre-order . I know because I've already ordered mine!

---

Julie Fulton rounds off this week's amazing SCBWI success stories. Her first picture book

Julie Fulton

‘MrsMacCready Was Ever So Greedy’ has done so well that Maverick Books have requested a series. The second tale came out this February – ’Tabitha Posy Was Ever So Nosy’ and the third is due for release at the end of September – ‘Miss Dorothy-Jane Was Ever So Vain’. 

After that they’re aiming for a book every September, to fit in with illustrator Jona Jung's busy timetable. Julie says 'The fourth looks like being about a rather lazy boy. It's very much a work in progress at the moment.' 

Julie lives in Worcestershire, where she reads, gardens, goes narrow boating, looks after her friends’ dogs, dances and sings, though not necessarily all at once or even in that order. She works as a music teacher but she now feels able to mention her writing when asked what she does.  I'm not surprised Julie - I'd be shouting it from the roof tops,  A Scooby Writer's Future Is Brighter!

Don't forget the Brand New 2014 Undiscovered Voices Competition launched this week -  event report here. I'm looking forward to celebrating masses of success so get entering - you have nothing to lose, even if you don't win you WILL get your work under the noses of a tip top selection of judges.

Do it!

---

Kathy Evans is Celebrations Editor for Words & Pictures. She is South East Network Coordinator with Mariam Vossough and is represented by Sophie Hicks at Ed Victor.