GUEST BLOGGER ANNA WILSON

Exciting news GHBers! Anna Wilson, the best selling author of Kitten Kaboodle and Monkey Business, is blogging with us today. Hi Anna. Thanks for stopping by. Can you tell us about your latest book?  

My latest book is a new departure for me: a story for young teens without a crazy cat or a dopey dog in sight! How come I’ve written such a different book and where did I get the idea?

I’ve always wanted to write a family mystery with a ghostly theme, but I didn’t know where to start. In the end, it was a place, rather than a person or a plot, that inspired Summer’s Shadow. That place is a magical house in west Cornwall, where my family and I go every summer.

It has a gorgeous rambling garden which leads down to a secluded, rocky beach, and it’s the perfect setting for a story. For years I scribbled in diaries, describing the place over and over, but never managing to create a strong character, not to mention a plot!

Then after the death of my grandmother I found myself writing in my diary about grieving and the loss of a mother figure (as that is what she was to me). Suddenly I realized that I could put this into a book, and that is how I created Summer, a grieving girl who is sent to a strange house in Cornwall . . .

The scene that really kicked things off for me is a passage which finished up at the end of the book, where Summer’s cousin, Kenan, challenges her to a dangerous swim across the bay. I knew once I had written that scene that I had two good, strong characters and the makings of a plot.

So if you are an aspiring writer and don’t know how to start, my advice is this: pick up a pen and get scribbling with whatever ideas you have, however big or small. You never know where they might lead!

Thanks for blogging with us Anna. Summer’s Shadow sounds wonderful. Good luck with it.

Anna and her publisher, Macmillan Children’s Books, are giving away 3 copies of Summer’s Shadow here at GHB. To try and win a copy then answer the question below correctly and we’ll put you into our prize winning draw. HURRY!  You’ve only got until Thursday 14th August to enter.