PaperBound Magazine

Interview with YA author Natasha Devon

27th Jul 202226th Jul 2022 paperboundmag

Catch our interview with Young Adult author Natasha Devon as featured in the latest issue of PaperBound, as she tells us all about her new book Toxic and offers her own tips for aspiring writers.

Discover even more great content in all our issues.

Can you tell us about your book, Toxic, and what inspired you to write it?

I visit an average of three schools or colleges every week, delivering talks and conducting research on mental health and related issues. The research involves doing focus groups with 13-18 year olds and a theme that emerged just before I wrote Toxic was how to navigate difficult friendships. I thought fiction was an ideal format to explore this because it’s such a very nuanced and complex phenomenon.

As kids, we’re taught that life is divided into heroes and villains and that good always triumphs over evil. But as you grow up you realize that actually, the world is just full of flawed people doing their best to get by. Sometimes two people create a dysfunctional dynamic and it’s okay to acknowledge that, to extract yourself from the harmful situation without having to hold a grudge, or encourage everyone you know to ‘pick a side’. That’s the central theme of Toxic, it’s about a young woman learning how to have boundaries.

Your main character, Llewella, struggles with anxiety and panic attacks, which the writing captures so well. Did you have to do any research when writing about these topics?

I actually have a diagnosis of panic disorder and, with the knowledge I now have about the condition, have realized that I’ve been having panic attacks since I was ten. Back then, mental health wasn’t acknowledged or spoken about in the same way it is now, though, so I was misdiagnosed with asthma and allergies as a child – I didn’t receive the correct diagnosis until much later. So, writing about panic and anxiety came very easily to me.

Having said that, panic attacks vary massively from person to person. When I’m talking to young people who experience them, I encourage them to plot how their panic manifests from stages 1-10, so they can identify them early – this is actually a technique I learned from my therapist and that Llewella uses in the book.

Friendship can often be tricky to navigate when you’re a teen. What advice do you have for any young people struggling with toxic relationships?

This applies to many struggles we face, not just friendships: Think about the advice you would give someone you really cared about if they told you they were in the situation you are in. This is a technique I learned from one of my best friends, Shahroo, who wrote a book called The Kindness Method. She noticed that we are often kinder, more forgiving and understanding to the people we love than we are to ourselves.

The chances are, you would tell someone whose interests you had at heart that they tried their best, that being in a difficult friendship dynamic is not a reflection of their value and that you wouldn’t judge them at all for taking a step back for their own emotional safety. The same applies to you!

Toxic also explores racial identity and the personal challenges some people might face. Did this change how the story developed?

The racial dynamics within the story definitely add another layer of complexity.

I was inspired to create Llewella when I watched a Channel 4 documentary called ‘The School That Tried to End Racism’. One of the contributors was called Farrah and she was of mixed heritage with one white parent and one from Sri-Lanka. Like Llewella, Farrah was light-skinned and you wouldn’t necessarily assume she was mixed. When her class were split into racial affinity groups, she didn’t know whether to join the white or the racialized group. There was this moment of pure panic on her face and, as a viewer, I found myself wondering if this was a reflection of not knowing where she fitted in generally, not just in the context of the exercise.

There was also an activity the children had to do later in the documentary, where they brought in objects which reflected their culture. The children from racialized backgrounds were bringing in items such as beaded prayer mats and African jewellery and were able to explain exactly what they represented and how they were used. The white children seemed really embarrassed and had brought in things like the England flag, not really understanding why. It made me reflect on whether having a strong sense of cultural identity is a form of privilege. Hence Llewella, who was raised by a single white mother and doesn’t know her Asian father or his family, started to form in my mind.

Aretha (who is the other half of the toxic friendship in the book) is also mixed. Her mother is white and her very present, supportive and loving father is Black. Aretha both experiences and demonstrates racism towards darker Black people in Toxic. She also uses elements of critical race theory to bully Llewella into doing what she wants. The point I’m trying to make is that you can’t just cherry pick aspects of CRT when it suits your agenda, or throw around terms like ‘privilege’ without properly understanding them (both of which I see a LOT of on social media).

Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?

I read an incredible book when I was in the early stages of writing Toxic called ‘Story Genius’. It posits that all engaging stories are about a protagonist who is trying to avoid something which the audience knows is inevitable. It also talks about how we, as the reader, actually join the story part way through. The characters have already had experiences and challenges and triumphs which have shaped them before the reader ever meets them. It’s important not to think of your characters as blank canvasses at the beginning that just have stuff happen to them (which if often how we are taught to approach story writing in primary school).

Can you tell us about anything else you’re working on at the moment?

I have a non-fiction book called Yes You Can: Ace School without Losing Your Mind coming out in August. It’s about how you don’t have to choose between your academic performance and your mental health – looking after your brain makes you cleverer (because mental health and cleverness both happen in your brain).

Natasha Devon is a writer, broadcaster & activist. She tours schools and events throughout the UK and beyond, delivering talks and conducting research on mental health, body image, gender & equality. She presents on LBC Radio every Saturday and writes regularly for Grazia Magazine.

Toxic was published 7th July 2022 by UCLan. It is available in the UK and will be released on audiobook soon.

Don’t forget you can catch up with the latest issues of PaperBound Magazine here. All our issues are completely free and run by volunteers, however if you would like to support PaperBound and the work we do, you can help us out by buying us a virtual book.

Blog, Interview, Interviews

Interview with children’s author Jen Carney

19th Apr 202219th Apr 2022 paperboundmag

Catch our interview with children’s author Jen Carney as featured in the latest issue of PaperBound, as she tells us all about her book series The Accidental Diary of B.U.G and offers her own tips on how to write comedy in fiction.

Discover even more great content in all our issues.

Can you tell us a little about your series The Accidental Diary of B.U.G. and where the inspiration for your main character, Billie Upton Green, came from?

The Accidental Diary of B.U.G. is a contemporary comedy series firmly rooted in reality. Each book is narrated by Billie Upton Green, a sparky ten-year old who sneakily ‘repurposes’ boring old spellings practice jotters into diaries that she doodles and writes in when she should be going to sleep. Billie’s funny observations on life knit together so that each book tells a story. In The Accidental Diary of B.U.G., for example, the story is about a thief in Billie’s school.

Billie was inspired by my son. He wanted to read a funny book in which the main character was happy, feisty, and had two mums, like him.

Your books have been praised as ‘perfect for fans of Tom Gates, Wimpy Kid and Jacqueline Wilson’. What was your initial reaction when you first heard this?

I was filled with joy and a little nervous! These are marvellous books and wonderful authors! I was aware that Liz Pichon’s Tom Gates books were real gateways to reading for children sometimes classed as reluctant readers, so that was a real compliment for me as I’d written the first book to appeal to that market – my son hated reading for a long time and these were the kinds of books that piqued his interest. He moved on to Wimpy Kid after Tom Gates and I think the B.U.G. series sits well between the two. As for being compared to Queen Jacqueline – what could be better! She’s a wonderful writer who kept my daughter entertained every night for many years.

Your main character, Billie, often finds herself in the middle of surprises and hilarious happenings. What do you find is the hardest thing about writing comedy?

Trying to come up with jokes and laugh-out-loud moments can be hard while staring at your keyboard! Fresh air helps loads, as does life in general. Also, finding the right balance for your target demographic can be tricky – not under/over-estimating their ability to infer.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers who want to write comedy?

Keep a pen and paper on you at all times. Inspiration comes from all sorts of places and when you least expect it. Also, read your work aloud frequently and test things out on your target age group. Be prepared to cut LOADS when no one laughs! Think back to when you were the age your main character is. What did you find funny? Read other writers’ books and see what makes you laugh/smile.

What’s the best thing about writing a series and how do you come up with new ideas?

I like being able to develop characters; not just Billie but the secondary ones too. I’m constantly coming up with new ideas, so a series gives me the opportunity to explore them more fully without trying to squeeze them into one book. It’s also great to be able to carry themes through a series. So, in this series, acceptance of differences, navigating a new friendship, adoption and The Biscuit Laws run through all the books.

As for new ideas, I think about my life, and that of my children and those that I have taught and play around with ideas until I have something I’m happy with.

Your main character, Billie, is adopted by her two mums and has a larger-than-life personality. How important do you think it is for children to read inclusive books?

I think it’s vital that children have access to books that both mirror their lives and provide a window into the lives of others. Age-appropriate inclusive books really help children to empathise with people who are different to themselves and broaden their knowledge of our world and the people who live in it. Similarly, reading books about people a bit like them, or someone in their family, can really validate a child’s experience of life.

Are there any other authors out there who you admire and, if so, why?

I read loads and there are so many authors I admire. A few to mention are Sarah Hagger-Holt who isn’t afraid to tackle same-sex parenting head-on, Louise Gooding who is an amazing advocate for inclusion, Masie Chan who brings other cultures into popular fiction, Emma Mylrea and Heneka Statchera whose world-building is brilliant, Joanne O’Connell whose book Beauty and the Bin I thought was a brilliant novel for bringing food waste issues into children’s lives, Jamie Russell who is building a fantastic series to engage gamers and entice them off their consoles, and Louie Stowell whose comedy skills are top notch. I could go on!!

Are there any more books from The Accidental Diary of B.U.G. series on the way?

At the moment, B.U.G. is a three-book series. However, the door has been left ajar on it, and I’d love to write more in the future. At the moment I’m working on a new comedy series targeted at the same age range. Watch this space!

Jen Carney is a children’s author-illustrator living in Lancashire. Co-mum to three children, Jen is passionate about the representation of different family units in children’s books, and promoting reading for pure pleasure. The Accidental Diary of B.U.G is her debt comedy series.

Follow Jen on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

Sister Act, the third book in The Accidental Diary of B.U.G. series, was published on 3^rd Feb 2022 by Puffin, currently available in the UK and Commonwealth.

Blog, Interview

Interview with children’s author Anthony Burt

5th Apr 20222nd Apr 2022 paperboundmag

Catch our interview with children’s author Anthony Burt, as featured in the latest issue of PaperBound, as he tells us all about his middle grade debut The Animal Lighthouse from Guppy Books. Packed full of adventure, this is one book you don’t want to miss.

Discover even more great content in all our issues.

Can you share a little about your book, The Animal Lighthouse, and the inspiration behind it?

The Animal Lighthouse is a middle-grade adventure story with a classic Treasure Island-Jungle Book feel to it. Set on a secret island somewhere in the Caribbean in 1704, it’s about a boy called Jim Rogers who washed up on the beach (as a baby) in a barrel of rum.

Jim has been brought up by animals and he knows no other life but that of a lighthouse keeper. The animals are his family, and have kept him safe, until one day a thief steals the lighthouse bulb filaments. Whilst on a mission to find the thief, Jim learns secrets about his family’s piratical past and pirates invade the island to try and take him away.

A warm-hearted adventure with lots of animal antics, gross stuff, and action-packed moments, The Animal Lighthouse came about because I spent all my childhood playing and walking around Portland in Dorset, under the watch of the Portland Bill lighthouse. I also used to live near Moonfleet, where Blackbeard smuggled his loot, so – along with my love of animals – I combined all the elements I love to create the kind of fun-filled, epic middle-grade story I’d want to read!

One of the main characters is Oskar the orangutan, an older animal who loves to invent things and is always showing Jim how to repair the lighthouse. Oskar is based on my late grandad, a very special and magical man, who I spent many happy years learning skills with, like gardening, painting, building, fishing, and cooking. Oskar is Jim’s father-figure until he discovers who his real pirate father is …

This is your first book for middle grade readers, but you’ve also written a picture book. What is it about writing for young people that you enjoy?

Yes, I’ve also done a STEM-based picture book for young children called The Wish Fish. That’s about two kids who want to fix their grandad’s broken old boat but don’t believe they can. Until, that is, the Wish Fish comes along and shows them they do have the skills to do it!

I love writing for children because you can let your imagination run wild, have lots of weird stuff happen in your stories – like talking animals – and children will go along with it. I think there are a lot more rules in depicting ‘real life’ in adult novels, so I much prefer the freedom that writing for children gives me. I love to create worlds that are fun and magical too – worlds children want to be in.

This issue of PaperBound is an action/adventure special, and The Animal Lighthouse sounds full of action and adventure with pirates, animals, gadgets, and mysteries. Can you tell us a little bit about how you prepared for writing in this genre?

I did A LOT of research on lighthouses and how they work! This included discovering how different metal filaments work inside lighthouse bulbs for the thief part of the story. And, because my book is set in 1704, I needed to depict very old lighthouses, so I visited one of the oldest in the world in Portland, Maine, USA. The Portland Head Light was built in 1791 and it has an amazing museum inside it with loads of information about the lights, structures, and internal gadgets. Most people don’t realise that lighthouses were invented over 2000 years ago, but I found some amazing examples that were in existence in the UK at the time my book is set.

The lighthouse in my book is very special too, because beam ‘three and a half’ does something a bit magical, using line-of-sight illusions, to hide Jim’s island. This ‘magic’ is based on a real-life, light-bending phenomena called a Fata Morgana Superior Image. Look it up, it’s very cool! I also learnt loads about how different animals move in real-life for this story as I wanted each one to have their unique personality and movement.

There are several illustrations in this book that complement the story. How important are they to you as the author?

There are an amazing 50 illustrations in this book, and I am utterly blown away at how beautiful, fun and clever they all are. Ciara Flood is so talented, and she has the kind of classic adventure illustration style that really help bring to life the characters’ personalities and exotic settings. Although not all middle-grade fiction has illustrations, I personally think when they’re done really well, they add a level of intrigue to the story as well as an accessibility to the book itself for more reluctant readers.

What are your top middle grade recommendations for readers right now?

I adored October, October by Katya Balen – it has such beautiful writing and gives the reader a really different point of view on the world. My fave comedy series at the moment is Knight Sir Louis by the Brothers McLeod, and Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly about a deaf girl’s struggle to help a songless whale be heard is beautiful too.

Do you have any tips for anyone thinking of writing an adventure story?

With adventure stories, even though it’s often about exciting action scenes you really mustn’t neglect the ‘quieter moments’. These are the moments where we get to know the characters and what they want, and of course why they’re on this adventure in the first place. Without this motivation and depth of reason for doing the adventure, the action scenes will feel emptier and almost pointless. So, write fast-paced scenes, but make them matter!

Anthony Burt is a qualified teacher and experienced youth worker of 17 years, working across primary, secondary and college education ages, mostly with children with SEND. He has been a book festival host at the Edinburgh Book Festival, written for Disney, BBC Doctor Who magazine, Nickelodeon, CiTV, and Macmillan. He lives in Frome, Somerset with his black cat, Watson.

Follow Anthony on Twitter, Instagram and visit his website here.

The Animal Lighthouse will be released 12th May 2022, published by Guppy Books.

Blog, Interview

Interview with children’s author Gabriela Houston

2nd Apr 2022 paperboundmag

We are so excited to share our interview from the latest issue of PaperBound with children’s author Gabriela Houston, whose new book The Wind Child is out now. Read on to discover more about this fantastic middle grade adventure and what inspired Gabriela to write it. You can catch even more great content in all our issues.

Your book, The Wind Child, is a beautiful, heartfelt tale of loss, adventure and belonging. Can you tell us a little more about the book and the inspiration behind it?

The Wind Child is a Slavic-folklore-inspired novel about Mara, the granddaughter of Stribog – God of Winter Winds – setting out on an epic journey with her bear-shifting best friend, to bring her father back from the dead.

I like to centre my writing around family and friendship love stories, rather than romantic love stories. In this novel, I wanted to explore the need to protect, which children often feel for their parents or guardians. Mara is a very lonely child. She knows she doesn’t quite match everyone’s expectations, on both sides of her family: god and human. So the relationship with her father, the one person who offers her the affection and reassurance she craves, was immensely important to the core of her identity.

Mara is untrusting and insecure, yet resourceful and endlessly stubborn. I wanted to explore the emotions a child like her might go through at the loss of the one person who gave her stability. Because of Mara’s heritage, the normal grieving process didn’t feel like the only option. Mara wouldn’t fear the gods – after all, she grew up among them. She wouldn’t care for what’s considered proper for the humans – she wasn’t fully one. She finds herself a loophole to try and do the unimaginable and defy death itself.

In the process of trying to bring her father back from the dead, Mara has to explore the duality of her nature, including all the aspects of it she’s been running from: she is half human-half god, but others only see one part of her. There is a struggle to prove herself, to prove that she can belong in both worlds. Her father is her link to humanity, but she believes that that nascent god nature inside her might be the key to saving him.

Torniv, Mara’s friend, also struggles with his dual identity, and he sees something in Mara, someone who can help him belong.

Mara and Torniv, the two main characters in The Wind Child, come up against deadly monsters and difficult challenges in this book. Did you plan the entire story out, or did the characters lead the way?

I never plan my stories in advance, as I like to get to know the characters first, and feel what’s natural to them before I make things happen. In terms of their adventures, my focus is on Mara and Torniv’s friendship – how those two lonely children find their way to trust each other. The creatures and the challenges they meet along the way expose their weaknesses, they feel the cracks in their armour. As they learn to understand each other more, Torniv and Mara begin to rely on their friendship. This learning to empathise and learning to trust is always gradual, and I wanted it to feel as organic as possible.

The Wind Child is said to have been shaped by your childhood and the landscape you grew up in. How does it feel to put these things on the page for readers to discover for themselves?

Writing Slavic-folklore-inspired fiction is, in a sense, a way for me to reach back towards my early childhood, to the stories I grew up with. Slavic mythology is still not as well-known as its Western counterparts, not even in the Slavic countries, and while I studied Greek and Norse mythologies at school and university, Slavic folklore remained confined to the space of fairy tales, of children’s bedtime stories.

Returning to it, and studying it critically for the first time, has been a real joy. It has such a sense of wonder to it, and it fits in so well with the landscapes I remember. It makes me so happy to be able to share this small part of my heritage with my own children and with all the readers who might not have come across Slavic stories before.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

For a long time it was my ambition to be a writer-illustrator, but while art will always be a part of my life, writing definitely comes easier to me. I dared not presume as to what success or lack thereof I might experience. But writing was just something I have always done, because not doing it would be unthinkable.

This is your first children’s novel. How does it feel to write for both children and adults?

I want to write all kind of books, for everyone to enjoy! I want to do novels, and comics, and illustrated novels, and picture books! It’s all storytelling, and my appetite for that is boundless!

Do you have any favourite characters from children’s literature and, if so, who are they?

Ronya, from Ronya, the Robber’s Daughter by Astrid Lindgren. I read that novel so many times as a child! Ronya is adventurous, and brave, and mischievous, but also fiercely loyal and loving. In a way, she encapsulated how I saw myself, and how I wanted to be. I envied her for the freedom and opportunities for reckless adventure, I suppose.

What’s next for you and your writing?

I have an adult novel project I’m working on right now, but I also have a children’s novel all finished, which I can’t talk about just yet! I hope to be able to show people more of Mara and Torniv for sure!

Gabriela Houston is a Polish writer based in London, UK. She writes Slavic-folklore-inspired fantasy. Her adult fantasy debut, The Second Bell, came out in March 2021 from Angry Robot Books, and her children’s fiction debut, The Wind Child, is out now from UCLan.

You can follow Gabriela on Twitter, Instagram, and visit her website.

The Wind Child is out now from UCLan.

Blog, Interview, Interviews

Interview with children’s author Lee Newbery

28th Mar 202225th Mar 2022 paperboundmag

To celebrate the launch of The Last Firefox by Lee Newbery, we are excited to share our interview with him from the latest issue of PaperBound. Read on to discover more about the inspiration behind The Last Firefox, a heartfelt, inclusive middle grade novel full of magic and wonder – with buckets of personality.

Can you tell us a little about your debut book, The Last Firefox?

Of course! The Last Firefox tells the story of Charlie Challinor, who’s got a few big life problems. He’s getting picked on at school, he’s pretty much terrified of everything, and his dads are in talks of adopting another child. How on earth is he supposed to stand up for his little brother or sister if he can’t stand up for himself?

But then he accidentally becomes the guardian of the last firefox, and his whole world changes. Because the firefox is covered in magical fire fur that’s governed by its mood, and now Charlie has to keep his furry little friend a secret from his bullies, his dads, and a sinister monster from another world that’s hunting it down. Cue endless hilarity, adventure and danger as Charlie uncovers his own inner fire! The book is published by Puffin, and it’s beautifully illustrated by the amazingly talented Laura Catalán. I’m a very lucky debut author!

Where did the inspiration for The Last Firefox come from? Why did you want to write it and what do you hope readers will take from it?

The inspiration for The Last Firefox came from a few places, actually. I’m a huge Pokémon fan, and when I was younger I was always making up my own fantastical critters. One of them was a fox covered in fire instead of fur, which it could use to protect itself or show affection (a close relative of Vulpix, maybe?).

But the true inspiration for the book came from my experiences of going through the adoption process. When my husband and I first embarked upon our journey towards becoming a family, I couldn’t really see many books out there with adopted children as the main character, books where the character has two mums or two dads. I wanted our future child to see himself represented in the world, so that was how this book was born.

We’ve now got a three-year-old son, and it warms my heart when he opens my book, points to an illustration of Charlie and his dads, and declares that it’s him and his daddies (there may or might not be some similarities between Charlie’s dads and myself and my husband!).

Your main character, Charlie, has to deal with/ overcome a few issues in the book, such as bullying. Was there anything that you found difficult to write about and, alternatively, was there anything that came more easily?

Actually, this was one of those rare instances where the first draft of the book wrote itself (alas, it hasn’t happened since!). I think because it was so closely tied to my own experiences as an adopter, and as a shy child who, a bit like Charlie, was intimidated by everything, it just sort of leapt from my fingertips. I was writing from the heart every step of the way. Even the bullying scenes – difficult to read, perhaps, but easy for me to write because they were so engrained in Charlie’s character arc.

Could you tell us a little bit about your journey to publication?

Ah, the journey to publication! I would love to say that I wrote a book, found an agent straight away, went on sub, entered a ‘hotly contested’ auction with several publishers after a few days … but that did NOT happen. It sort of happened the long way for me. I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was eight, and in the second year of University I started taking it seriously. I wrote a YA book about a girl who could see dead people and subbed to agents, but that didn’t get any offers. Then I wrote another YA about magical teen runaways, which did get me an offer of representation from an agent – but only one, and that was after intense reworking and rewriting according to her insight. We went on sub with that YA, and that didn’t get any nibbles from any publishers.

So, I wrote my first MG, The Last Firefox, and we went on sub with that. An editor from Puffin said, “Hmm, I like it, but not enough to buy it yet … come back to me if you don’t get any offers.” And that’s exactly what happened. No other publishers offered, so we went back to the editor at Puffin. We met in London (this was about two months before the UK went into lockdown for the first time), had a lovely dinner, and he offered me some editorial advice.

I went home, spent a few weeks editing, then resubmitted. I waited some more, and then in May 2020, Puffin offered a two-book deal! It just goes to show that it only takes ONE person to love your book. One agent, and then one editor!

What would be your biggest tip for anyone thinking of writing a book for the first time?

I know this sounds cliché, but write whatever the heck YOU want to write. Writing is so much more fun when you’re writing a book you yourself would love to read, not what you think other people want to read. It’s pointless trying to write to a trend – if the trend is current, then you’re already too late! Forget about all that and write the book of your heart.

What kind of stories/books did you love to read growing up?

I was a sucker for fantasies and horrors. I loved R.L. Stine and Darren Shan. But I was also a huge fan of A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Joseph Delaney’s The Spook’s Apprentice books!

Are you writing anything else at the moment?

I’m currently waiting for edits on my second book with Puffin (which I can’t talk about yet, but I think I can at least tell you that it’s another standalone, not a Firefox sequel!), so I’ve been working on a just-for-fun YA. It’s a bit over-the-top and outrageous and dark and funny. It might never see the light of day, but I’ve had SO much fun writing it so far!

Lee Newbery lives in South Wales with his husband and their little boy. Their favourite thing to do is go on adventures together, which they blog about over on their family Instagram account. The Last Firefox is Lee’s debut novel, though there may or may not be a YA book of his hidden far away in the depths of Wattpad, never to surface again.

Follow Lee on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

The Last Firefox was published 3^rd March 2022 from Puffin (Penguin Random House).

Blog, Short stories

‘Children of the Woods’: Rachel Keating

16th Mar 202214th Mar 2022 paperboundmag

Each issue, we choose a winning entry from all the submissions sent to us. For the spring issue of PaperBound Magazine 2022, our winning entry is short story ‘Children of the Woods’ by Rachel Keating. Keep reading below to find out more.

Children of the Woods

by Rachel Keating

There was an inevitability about it, the way the blade entered her. He knew that it would kill her. Just one movement is all it took. The weird thing is that, at the precise moment when he took her from us – her children, I’m not sure that he even wanted to. It’s not that he didn’t want to either — he could have stopped himself and spared her. It’s that he didn’t care either way it seemed; death is just the way it went, this time.

Oak, beech, hawthorn. We’re surrounded by trees, some with trunks so large it would take this despicable man and three others to hold hands in order to reach all the way around. Perfect hiding places, indeed many animals are doing just that right now — scarpering into hollows and flitting away from this hideous scene that has no place in the middle of these majestic woods. But we cower in the undergrowth next to her, fixed to the spot, small and still in the dense shade.

The man turns, she’s not even dead yet and already he’s finished with her. We’re relieved though, he’s walking away. His heavy boots crunch through a floor that’s alive. We’re safe, for now. We can have our last moments with her privately. Of course, the connection we have isn’t something that can be seen anyway —that bond between parent and child, it’s like no other.

These woods are big. It’s not the amount of trees here that tell you that; it’s the air. The air is completely different to other places— cooler, moister, richer. The fresh atmosphere whispers of the size and greatness, at the same time as the canopy of leaves above shows the intimacy to be found here too. Mother nourishes us with what I know are her last reserves. It’s like she’s pumping everything into us, from her body into ours. She talks to us, she tells us about the danger, she tells us that we’re loved.

There are actually scores of children in these woods on this drizzly spring day, being taken care of by their parents. He’s amongst the others now, the man. I can feel the screams through the earth. It’s the parents he wants.

The sun tracks westwards across the sky and the woods are quiet now. Time simultaneously means everything and nothing. What happened to the rest of them? We already know but we don’t want to. We haven’t moved from our places. This is our woods now, if we can survive on our own.

“Y’know trees talk to each other. Through their roots.”

A new voice. A human voice.

“Oh really,” comes the response.

They are close, these two people. Right next to me in fact. A boy and his mother out for a walk in the woods.

“Yeah,” he continues. “They send nutrients to each other, carbon and stuff. The mother trees even favour their own saplings. Mum, y’know baby trees are called saplings.” He looks down, lips pouting in concentration as he reads out loud from a book…

“Trees talk to each other through a complex network hidden underground.”

As he reads he leans on our mother and traces his little fingers with ease through the deep fissures of her bark. He stops at the top of the stump — her open wound bearing the chainsaw marks.

“The network is made of fungi which connect the roots of different trees. This is known as a mycor… rizz… Mum, how do you say this word?”

The lady is distracted.

“Hmmm? Let me see,” she says before noticing. “Oh careful! Don’t touch that, it’s been felled recently. You might hurt yourself.”

He lingers though, reluctant to pull his hand away completely.

I think he can hear us, this human child. He’s listening in on our underground conversation as our mother prepares us for our future without her as best she can. Our bendy stems reach only up to the boy’s knee. Our leaves are so young and fresh, paler than our mother’s. There’s not enough sunlight on this part of the woodland floor, she’s been sustaining us, feeding us, nurturing us until we’re old enough. That’s what mothers do.

With her help we’ve grown so fast from the acorns she dropped in the autumn. He visited us then too, this boy. She remembers. The thick rubber soles between his feet and the ground did nothing to stop him feeling the thrum of activity beneath him, our relationships playing out in the same dirt he has under his fingernails. Our mother shed her leaves on him as he stood and they were still.

Still, but busy, both boy and tree. But whereas she had been reabsorbing, preparing for winter, conserving; he was expending. His body was only just keeping up with his mind. She could sense then his wisdom. His own mother knows it too and she nurtures, she feeds, she gives of herself and nourishes him. It’s what mothers do.

“You’re not supposed to be in this bit! It’s the start of the clearing! There’s a sign! You need to leave!”

The man. He’s back, calling loudly to the boy and his mother as he approaches. He treads the same path as they did, only differently.

“Oh, we didn’t realise,” she’s saying, instinctively leaning towards her son and flashing him a look of warning, his eyes and body responding by mirroring her — mother and child speaking the visceral language of protection.

“Well, there’s a sign.”

“We didn’t see it.”

“Right, just go back the way you came. This area is being felled. We’re due to be chopping more today.”

“No,” said the boy.

Rachel Keating

Nature and children’s literature are huge passions of Rachel’s. Mix them together and it doesn’t get much better as far as she’s concerned! Rachel is about to be querying agents with her MG novel about a girl who connects with nature in an extraordinary way. The book features OCD, a theme very close to her heart. Follow Rachel on Twitter.

You can read even more spring stories, author interviews and more in our latest issue by clicking here. All our issues are completely free and run by volunteers, however if you would like to support PaperBound and the work we do, you can help us out by buying us a virtual book.

Here at PaperBound, we love stories. Want to be a part of ours? Find out more.

Blog, Covers

Runner up: Jillian Nichole Anderson – Winter 2021/22

17th Dec 2021 paperboundmag

Jillian Nichole Anderson entered her stunning fantasy illustrations for our winter 2021/22 issue and we loved them instantly. Along with several other illustrations she submitted, we chose one in particular for the front cover.

You can read this issue in full here.

Jillian Nichole’s artwork on the cover of PaperBound’s winter 2021/22 issue

Jillian Nichole Anderson has loved creating art since she could hold a crayon. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family and fills her days with drawing and painting mostly with watercolors and inks. She also loves using her iPad and Procreate, and creates many digital designs. She has put many of her drawings and paintings on home decor and apparel and sells prints of her work at jilliannicholeillustration.com

You can discover even more of Jillian’s illustrations in the latest issue of PaperBound Magazine by clicking here. All our issues are completely free and run by volunteers, however if you would like to support PaperBound and the work we do, you can help us out by buying us a virtual book.

Here at PaperBound, we love stories. Want to be a part of ours? Find out more.

Blog, Short stories

‘Fable’: Emma Whitehall

15th Dec 202115th Dec 2021 paperboundmag

Each issue, we choose a winning entry from all the submissions sent to us. For the winter issue of PaperBound Magazine 2021/22, our winning entry is short story ‘Fable’ by Emma Whitehall. Keep reading below to find out more.

Fable

by Emma Whitehall

When the witch told my parents their First Born would be a Hero, they were ecstatic. There’s a reason I’m named Fable, after all. They were so excited, so eager to set me up for greatness. Until I was born, that is.

Heroes come around once every generation or so, always special in their own ways; full of potential for bravery or cunning or magic, or even just really good at swinging a weapon in the right direction. Whatever their specification, Heroes are always born with strong hearts and big dreams and a jaunty song forever on their lips. They don’t need to be beautiful – not beautiful like a princess in a tower, at least – but they all have…something. Dark, intense eyes, or a beguiling smile. Some magnetism around them that pulls you in, dares you to join them on their adventure. To tie yourself to their cause. To adore them. They find themselves a band of merry men, a quest to embark upon, and happy endings just wrap around them like warm shawls on a cold day.

And then there was me. The Custodians say I was probably born with a book in my hand, since I’m never seen without one. I’m prickly. And mousey, in hair and in personality; even when I’m happy (usually an occasion involving a hot drink, a cold night, and a novel). I apparently give off a general aura of ‘please leave me alone before I bite you and make this situation much worse than it already is’. So Carys, my roommate, says. And so, when I turned five and no quest nor curse nor blessing seemed to be coming for me, my parents sold me to the Custodians of History, shrugged, and started planning for their second First Born.

I spent years haunting the Custodial Halls like a ghost. Years spent leafing through books with crisp, light-brown pages, tracing my fingers over the words of authors long since dead. Ten years of rats, dust motes, and Carys as my only playmates, with a pat on the head from a friendlier-than-usual Custodian the closest experience I ever had to having a parent. Nothing ever happened at the Custodial Halls.

So you can imagine my surprise when the dragon attacked.

I was in the mess hall, trying to balance a bowl of porridge and honey with a book on combining fortune-telling and Herbal Magic to create the perfect cup of tea. The huge, oak doors flung themselves open, and every single Custodian – as well as the entirety of the nearest small village – poured into the hall. It was suddenly very noisy. I didn’t care for it. Then, the entire building shook as something incredibly, unfathomably heavy landed outside. A sound – part roar, part shriek – tore through the air like a rusty knife. The villagers screamed. I put my book down.

‘It’s a dragon!’ Carys whimpered, flinging herself into my lap. ‘They’re saying it came down from the mountain, destroyed the capital … the King, the Queen, the Prince … all gone …’

‘What about the Hero?’ I asked, trying in vain to disentangle Carys’ arms from around my waist. She’d always been clingy. I pretended I didn’t enjoy it. ‘They live at the castle – isn’t she betrothed to the prince?’

I knew full well that she was betrothed to the prince. The Hero of our kingdom was my younger sister – married to the prince after some adventure they’d shared involving a hoard of angry gnomes, a terrible curse and a forest made of sugar. I wouldn’t be invited to the wedding. Why would you invite a sibling you’ve never met?

‘Why didn’t she protect –’

‘She ran,’ a villager behind me sobbed, sinking to their knees beside me. ‘She ran, and she left them … she left us to burn. My shop, my home … it’s been in my family for a century, and now … now it’s ashes…’

I reached out an arm and patted the villager on the head. ‘There, there,’ I offered.

‘What are we going to do?’ a small child said, clambering into my lap.

‘Um,’ I suggested.

The dragon roared again outside, accompanied by the unmistakable crash of age-old masonry crashing to the ground not too far away.

‘I’ve never seen anything like it,’ an old woman murmured, lost in her terror, ‘not in all my sixty-seven years. A horrible, evil beast – black as death, with wings dipped in blood …’

Something inside me clicked into place.

‘Red wing trim?’ I asked, turning my head towards the woman slowly. ‘Are you sure?’ She nodded.

‘Not pink? Definitely not maroon?’

‘I know the colour of blood when I see it,’ she said. ‘Does it matter?’

‘Of course it matters,’ I snapped, standing up and vaulting over the table towards the library, launching Carys and various villagers who’d attached themselves to me into the air as I went.

I dashed through the halls, dodging falling brickwork and destroyed artifacts as I went. More than once, I saw a brilliant flash of flame crest over my head, or slash past what was once a windowpane. I kept going. What I needed was on the sixth shelf down on the third bookshelf to the right in the library, behind the books on architecture throughout the centuries and animal husbandry for unusual winters. An old, half-rotted, forgotten tome I’d read from cover to cover when I was ten and kept my own little secret.

Cursing Dragons: The Novice Dragon-Rider’s Guide to Binding Your First Mount.

Every dragon was vulnerable to a specific set of words; an enchantment that would bring them to heel and make them biddable. But, since dragons were perpetually hungry, angry and breathing fire, you only got one chance. Even after binding, the book said they were barely tamed, and so the practice had fallen out of fashion. Heroes these days seemed to prefer swords – perhaps slaying dragons was more in line with the stories than controlling them was.

Luckily, the library was still intact; though the wall of the room opposite had vanished as if it had never stood there, giving me a perfect view of the scarred, broken lands around my home. Another quake rattled the Custodial Hall walls as I yanked books off the shelves. I paid it no mind as my hand closed over the soft, over-used leather of my prize. I sat on my backside with a thump and began to flick frantically through the pages. Green Horned Vipers, Blue-Tipped Wyverns … come on, come on, where were the Blood-Doused Hellions?!

Something moved in the corner of my vision. I ignored it, humming some half-imagined tune absently as I skimmed the pages.

‘Can I help?’

I looked up with a jolt. There was Carys, standing in the doorway. Her blonde hair was a tangle around her head, and she shook like a leaf in a storm. Close by, something crashed to the floor, and she jumped. I glared at her before snapping my attention back to the book.

‘What are you doing here?’ I asked, flicking to the next page.

‘I wanted…’ Carys looked at the floor, embarrassed and confused. ‘I don’t know. I think I wanted … to help you. I need to help you. Fable, just tell me what to do.’

But there was nothing to do. Because, snaking up behind her with a silence that should have been impossible, was the dragon. A huge, battle-scarred, scale-and-pock-marked creature, with eyes like hot coals and a snarl that seemed more like a smirk.

I’d always been good at ignoring things that I didn’t want to deal with. Like interruptions when I was reading. Or the fact my parents hadn’t wanted me. Or that a colossal, world-destroying beast had spotted me minutes ago.

Carys’ eyes widened as the dragon’s breath brushed over her back, and her mouth fell open in a soundless scream just as the book fell open on the right page. Almost like fate.

‘Blood-Doused Hellions are a difficult breed to bind, but not impossible for a skilled, or particularly lucky, rider…’

The Hellion growled. It opened its mouth, yellow-stained teeth as long as my arm filling the space behind Carys. I stumbled to my feet, book clutched in hand. This probably wasn’t going to work. I wasn’t a Hero, after all. But the Hero had left us to die. So I had to try.

‘I love you, Fable,’ Carys whispered, tears dripping down her cheeks. ‘I always have.’

I stood my ground. So did the dragon. I took a deep breath, opened my mouth, and spoke the words.

Emma Whitehall

Emma Whitehall is an author, bookseller, editor and introvert from the North East of England. A former Waterstones bookseller turned indie bookshop champion, Emma writes fun, emotion-driven fantasy with characters that you’ll want to take for a coffee. Or wrap in a blanket. Or both. Her debut YA novel, Clockwork Magpies, is being published in February 2022 with Northodox Press. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram, and visit her website here.

You can read even more winter stories, author interviews and more in our latest issue by clicking here. All our issues are completely free and run by volunteers, however if you would like to support PaperBound and the work we do, you can help us out by buying us a virtual book.

Here at PaperBound, we love stories. Want to be a part of ours? Find out more.

Blog, Interviews

Interview with children’s author Lucy Hope

4th Nov 2021 paperboundmag

To celebrate the launch of Fledgling by Lucy Hope, we are excited to share our interview with her from Anne Manson, available in the latest issue of PaperBound. Read on to discover more about the inspiration behind Fledgling, a dark, gothic middle grade adventure set in the bavarian forest.

Anne: Fledgling is set in the past—a kind of surreal past. What came to you first? Setting? Character?

Lucy: The setting definitely came first, and partly came from my experience of growing up in an ancient house in North Wales. I’ve always loved the look and feel of faded grandeur, dusty bookshelves, and buildings that take on their own character due to their age, and was keen to build these things into the setting for Fledgling.

Fledgling actually began as an exercise on the MA (Bath Spa University MAWYP). Inspired by David Almond’s Skellig, I created an alternative world with a cherub instead of Almond’s angel. I decided to set it in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps as I love how the little towns there are often dominated by huge rocks, easily large enough to hold a house – and high enough for a passing cherub to find its way into! I started by writing 1200 words. And then the story just came to me—the setting, the atmosphere, the mother, the father, the hint of steam punk—over many, many sleepless nights. The characters came one by one and their voices were just there in my head, as if they already existed, so I didn’t have to try too hard to find them.

Anne: The house feels a bit like a character on its own, and also a representation of the family generations that came before Cassie, your heroine.

Lucy: Yes. When you grow up in an old house, you do feel a sense of the generations that lived there before you. My family house had chests full of unusual things and Edwardian dresses that would crumble under your fingertips as soon as you took them out. That was part of my childhood and part of my teenage years. I had a great uncle in North Wales whose mountainside house also inspired the setting for Fledgling. There was no road going to it so he used to take his own steam train along the Ffestiniog Railway to his private platform above the house. As an ex-army officer, he had a dynamite license, and managed to get permission to blow up a driveway that zigzagged up the mountainside, and that’s how we used to get to his house. Driving through its hairpin bends was quite a terrifying experience!

Anne: You’ve really piqued my curiosity about your family. Are there cherubs in your family? You have to tell us.

Lucy (laughs): I haven’t found any cherubs yet. We didn’t have neighbours growing up and I lived inside my head a lot as a result. To have had my own cherub would have been amazing!

Anne: What part of the book was hardest to write?

Lucy: I would say the middle. The strange thing about the book is, as I was writing it, I really didn’t know what was happening. I was entirely in Cassie’s shoes, wondering what was going on. Things were happening around her, but what was the root cause of it all? Because it’s written in the first person, she couldn’t see beyond that, and I couldn’t either, which was a strange situation to be in, and quite scary. What would happen if I didn’t find my way through this? But I think you have these moments when you’re writing, and you take some time away to sit and think, and you realise: Ah! That’s what’s going on. Then, all the other things you’ve written tie together, and you think, how did that happen? I’m constantly mystified by the process of writing because I’m not a plotter. I always get that feeling of having to make myself sit and write and coming away having not entirely enjoyed the process. But then you get through it, and that’s when the joy comes. And I love editing! For me, writing is a journey of discovery with some nice and some tricky surprises.

Anne: Do you have a writing routine?

Lucy: No. My writing routine normally means circling the house like a dog waiting to settle down, going to the fridge, finding a snack, having cups of tea, thinking, I just need to pop out and do that thing. So, I’m pretty awful at getting started. I would love to have more of a routine.

Anne: Have you thought about a sequel for Fledgling?

Lucy: I’d love to write one. It might sound strange, but I just love being in that world. It’s a very happy place for me to be; it feels like home. I think the setting of your first novel is a place that you hold in your heart. And I think that’s why everyone’s first novel is the book of their heart.

Lucy Hope grew up in North Wales, but now lives in the Cotswolds. After jobs ranging from designing websites to working in schools, she did a master’s degree in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa University. Lucy loves exploring the countryside with her husband and big, shaggy dog, Bronte, or can be found trundling around the UK in her Bongo camper van, seeking out ideas for her next story. Like most writers, when she’s not actually writing, she loves eating cake (lemon drizzle or chocolate brownies in case you were wondering), sipping coffee and chatting to friends about all things books and writing.

Fledgling is published on 4th November by Nosy Crow and available at all good bookshops.

Anne Manson recently won a City Writes competition for her short story, “Bones”. She is working on her second novel, The Girl with the Hole in her Heart, a MG fantasy about a stolen pen, a lidless eye, and a mysterious Clockwork Artificer. She has published two short stories in PaperBound magazine, “Winter” and “Happy Day” and has a Masters in Writing for Young People from Bath Spa University.

Blog, Interviews

Interview with children’s author Lesley Parr

1st Nov 20211st Nov 2021 paperboundmag

We are delighted to share our interview with children’s writer Lesley Parr, author of The Valley of Lost Secrets, on the featured content section of our website. Join us as we chat to Lesley all about her writing, inspiration for her books, and what you can expect from her next.

You can catch the full interview here in our spooky issue of PaperBound – all our issues are completely free!

Can you tell us a little about your novel, The Valley of Lost Secrets, and what inspired you to write it?

It all came from a writing task when I studied for a Master’s Degree at Bath Spa University. We were asked to write a short historical piece. When previously researching a different story, I discovered the true account of children finding a skull in a tree. So I used that as a starting point for my own characters, setting and mystery.

How did it feel to put yourself into the shoes of your main character, Jimmy, while writing this book, and why did you decide to set it during wartime?

I found it surprisingly easy to write from the point of view of a 12-year-old boy! I only realised after I’d written it just how much of me is in Jimmy. His loyalty to his dad and nan, his resistance to change, his love of comics, his fear of small spaces is all me!

Oddly, I didn’t ever see myself writing historical fiction, even though I’ve always been interested in history. This whole book came from the chance to try a new genre. Once I’d started, I knew it was a story I wanted to tell.

Your main characters go through a lot of change and emotional challenges in this book. What was the hardest part of writing it?

The emotional stuff isn’t what I found difficult – my writing is very character-led and how they feel and what they think pulled me through the story. It’s pace and structure I found hard. The skills of my tutors and my editor got me through that! But that’s okay – my husband calls it Writing Top Trumps…I have accepted that no one can have a 10 in every category. And it’s great because I’m learning with each new book.

The landscape is a big part of this book and Jimmy reacts to it strongly – particularly where he’s from, and where he is evacuated to. Did you always want to use setting as a strong driving force for this novel?

I didn’t plan to, I don’t plan much to be honest! I need to write to get a feel for all aspects of my stories. I suppose the setting was bound to come alive for me (and therefore hopefully the reader) as it’s what I know – a small, close-knit Welsh valley community. Because it’s all so alien to Jimmy I was able to show it through his eyes and take the reader there with him. In one scene, Jimmy is on the mountain with his new friend Florence (another evacuee):

‘I love being so high,’ she says, looking out over the valley. ‘I’ve never seen anywhere as lovely as this.’

And Jimmy says he tries to see what Florence sees. This is perhaps the first sign he’s beginning to want to be there.

Are there any writers that have inspired you in your writing and life?

David Almond is always an inspiration as he writes so beautifully about working-class characters in working-class settings. He was a professor on the MA for which I studied and it took me about three times of meeting him to be able to have a conversation because I was in awe! And I love books by Patrick Ness; like David, he writes with such simplicity to show real heart and grit. Emma Carroll is someone else I admire, as she proves historical fiction can be authentic to its era and feel fresh at the same time.

If you could share one writing tip with an aspiring young writer, what would it be?

The simplest words are usually the best. It’s easy to fall into the trap of overwriting when you’re new to it (I definitely used to). Writing in 1^st-person from the point of view of a 12-year-old, I often have to simplify my language. So I tend to use a thesaurus in the opposite way to how people usually do. I think of a word and look it up to find one a child would be more likely to use. This is especially important in dialogue. Think about how people really speak! Adult characters, too!

Sum your book up in three words:

Friendship

Brotherhood

Secrets

Can you tell us about anything else you’re working on?

My next book is called When The War Came Home (out January 2022) is about a girl called Natty who, with her mother, moves to live with distant relatives. It’s set in the early 1920s when the world was still reeling from the Great War. It’s about boys who lied about their age to go to war and how Natty helps them. And it’s about how she learns to fight for something. It’s quite political.

Lesley Parr grew up in South Wales, at the bottom of a valley and quite near a seaside steelworks. Now she lives in the middle of England (almost as far from the sea as it’s possible to get) with her husband and their rescue cat, Angharad.

She shares her time between writing stories, teaching at a primary school and tutoring adults. Apart from books, rugby union is her favourite thing in the world, especially if Wales is winning. Lesley graduated with distinction from Bath Spa University’s MA in Writing for Young People. The Valley of Lost Secrets is her first book.

The Valley of Lost Secrets was released in January 2021, published by Bloomsbury Children’s, and available in the UK, India, Australia and New Zealand. You can keep up to date with Lesley on Twitter, Instagram and on her website.