Tag: Middle Grade

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Interview: The Silver Kingdom by Radiya Hafiza

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Author of The Silver Kingdom, Radiya Hafiza, shares her passion for epic romance and explains the historical influence on her YA novel.

Could you tell us a little about your YA novel, The Silver Kingdom?

I’ve aways wanted to write an epic love story. Two star-crossed lovers, soulmates kept apart by their circumstances, a love so deep it’s ineffable. The hope for The Silver Kingdom had always lived in my head.

Romance is one of my favourite genres to read as I am a sucker for a happy ending but the joy of also seeing two people fall in love and getting to experience that alongside them is such a treat as a reader. I wanted to write a book that made people feel that kind of love, but it wasn’t until a few years ago that I found the right framing for the story.

… the joy of also seeing two people fall in love and getting to experience that alongside them is such a treat as a reader.

Could you tell us about the inspiration behind the historical setting of The Silver Kingdom?

It was summer 2023 and I was speaking to my parents during South Asian history month about their experiences of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. It had always been quite a taboo topic to speak about the war because of the genocidal crimes committed against Bengali people by the Pakistani army. My dad told me about his family experiences of the war: seeing bombs fall on his city, communities ripped apart, having to flee from persecution. And as he spoke, I knew I wanted to commemorate this part of our family history the best way I knew how: writing a story.

When writing, how did you approach the balance between history and fantasy?

The Silver Kingdom is inspired by the events that transpired under British colonialism and the partition of India. But instead of writing a direct retelling, I wanted to use fantasy as a way to explore these difficult themes – like colonialism and racism – and set about creating a world inspired by these events, with a particular focus on Bangladesh which Dakaria is modelled loosely after. Fantasy gave me a way to explore these themes from a distance without having to live it directly, making it easier to write such challenging and traumatic moments that occur in the book.

… I knew I wanted to commemorate this part of our family history the best way I knew how: writing a story.

What did you like to read as a young reader? Has that translated into your own work?

As a Bengali myself, I’ve never seen much representation of people like me in the books I read growing up. I still adored the stories I read regardless of who it was about with favourites like Jacqueline Wilson, Malorie Blackman and Tahereh Mafi on my shelves. Their books explored important subjects from family drama to bullying and racism, challenging stereotypes and more.

As a teenager, I naturally leant towards YA books, particularly in the fantasy and dystopian space because it created a whole new layer of adventure when the world is entirely new and limitless. Even though authors from the global majority weren’t many in my teens, the authors that I did find gave me the courage and hope to one day become an author myself.

Can you tell us about the importance of South East Asian representation in YA novels?

When we talk about representation, there are so many layers to it: visual representation, cultural nuances, interpersonal relationships, traditions and practices, thoughts and beliefs – there are so many ways people express themselves and share their identities. For The Silver Kingdom, I wanted to create a world shaped by all of these elements but in such a way that the representation was part of the story, and not the point of the story.

I want readers to pick up The Silver Kingdom and see a swoony romance, devastating secrets, magic and political intrigue. And I also want them to pick it up and find unapologetically South Asian inspired characters. Representation in YA books in particular is so important because we need to give all young people a chance to see their stories, their hopes, their dreams mirrored in the literature they consume so they know that the world, their futures, their possibilities are infinite.

The Silver Kingdom by Radiya Hafiza is out now, published by Simon and Schuster.

Radiya Hafiza

Radiya Hafiza is the acclaimed author of the Rumaysa duology and Aya and the Star Chaser. Her debut, Rumaysa, was the first Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month after lockdown in 2021 and has garnered critical acclaim. Her works focus on putting brown characters at the centre of her stories.
The Silver Kingdom is her debut young adult fantasy, exploring empires, history, and forbidden love. Radiya lives just outside of London with her family and works in communications.

PaperBound Magazine  is an online magazine and blog for the young, and the young at heart. We are dedicated to showcasing authors and illustrators for children’s and young adult fiction and we strive to deliver inspiring content, uplifting stories, and top tips for young and aspiring writers yet to burst on to the literary scene.

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.  We appreciate any support you can give us!

Don’t forget you can read with the latest issues of PaperBound Magazine – completely free –  here.

article, Blog, Blog series, Bookshelf, Interview, Interviews, on writing, Writing craft

Interview: Alan Carrigan on writing and debut YA novel Then We’ll Be Happy #DisabilityPrideMonth

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We are thrilled to welcome screenwriter and debut novelist Alan Carrigan to the PaperBound blog, where he chats to us about his YA debut Then We’ll Be Happy and what it means to have his book out there on the shelves for readers.

Could you tell us a little about your debut YA novel, Then We’ll Be Happy?

Sure! The novel follows seventeen-year-old Sam, who has cerebral palsy. When he is excluded from yet another school tour, he has to spend the day with Patrick, somebody who previously bullied him but is now himself also in a wheelchair. This drives Sam to create a campaign for an accessible bus but in doing so Sam gets more than he bargained for.

At its heart, it’s a story about finding your team in many senses of the word. But to find out what I mean by that, you’ll have to read the book.

Have you always wanted to write, and did you always know you wanted to write for a young audience?

I would say I have always been creative, but writing has been a fairly new development for me. I was the only wheelchair user in my school growing up, and I used to always talk to my friends about the lack of disability representation, so when I got out of the school system and had a bit more free time on my hands, I decided to write.

Truthfully, I’m more of a theatre person than a book person, but I didn’t know anybody in the theatre industry, and although getting a novel onto the shelf of bookstores takes a village, the initial writing phase is just you, the author, so it seemed like a good place to start.

… although getting a novel onto the shelf of bookstores takes a village, the initial writing phase is just you, the author, so it seemed like a good place to start.

You have a very active role in increasing positive representation when it comes to living with disability and sharing what that’s like, from public speaking to your own writing. What does it mean for you to have your book out there for young people to read, particularly those who also have disabilities?

That’s very kind of you to say. I am a person who is very grateful to have been given the opportunities that I have. When I was growing up, the representation of disability in media were often depressed, medical stereotypes, so I wanted to write something more grounded. The point of this novel is not to increase positive representation but to increase nuanced disability representation.

Just like any character, disabled characters can have a full range of emotions: happy, sad, or sometimes not knowing what to feel. The fact that the people of Chicken House saw what I was trying to do with this book and helped me turn it into reality means the world. And while it is impossible to know what readers may take from it, I know that teenage Alan would’ve loved this type of story when he was in school!

What is your favourite thing about your protagonist, Sam, and why? Did you have a favourite scene you wrote for this novel?

I think my favourite thing about Sam is his imperfections. He doesn’t have everything figured out, but he keeps going. For this reason, the pub scene was very interesting to write, but that’s all I can say without spoilers!

What do you hope readers – of any age – will take from this novel?

I don’t think it’s for me to say what readers get out of stories, but I hope readers can use this book as a springboard for starting conversation. I know the plot focuses a lot around finding community, but I think that is something that story in general is also good for. Conversation and maybe a few laughs along the way.

… over time I learned publishers, for the most part, aren’t looking for perfection, they’re looking for a good story, so don’t let your tools get in the way!

What are your top three book recommendations for young people right now, and what did you enjoy reading as a child?

I think Elle McNicoll is just fantastic in both her YA and adult novels, the latter of which is one of my current reads.

Nathanael Lessore is genuinely laugh out loud funny, anytime I listen to one of his stories on audiobook. I know it’s going to be a good time.

There are also lots of great Irish writers: Allison Weatherby, Stephen Daly, Jenny Ireland, Sue Divin, and Dave Rudden, to name but a few – all phenomenal writers and lovely people as well.

My favourite author, when I was a teenager, was John Green; he has a new book coming out later this year, which is an adult book, and I’m very excited to read it. I know he is quite well-known. But if you haven’t read John Green’s YA books, I would highly recommend them. 

Do you have any writing advice for our readers, particularly young writers who are just starting out on their journey?

Writing doesn’t actually have to mean physically writing.

If that is a barrier for you, you can create stories in another way that is more accessible to your needs. Technically, when I write, I dictate; most computers or writing software now have some way of speaking to the computer. You can even do it on a mobile device.

Now I will say that you will need to go back and correct it manually, as in my experience it only picks up part of what you say. Dictation does eliminate the fear of the blank page, and in a way, for every draft you’re writing, you’re actually writing two because when you go back and correct it, you might start to add things, but the important thing is that you’ve got started!

When my novel was picked up to be published my grammar wasn’t the best, but over time I learned publishers, for the most part, aren’t looking for perfection, they’re looking for a good story, so don’t let your tools get in the way!

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

I’ve got nothing contracted as of me writing this, but I do have lots of ideas, so hopefully I’ll get to publish another book at some point. My ideas range from contemporary to fantastical, so I’m not sure which direction I’m going next, but I’m excited to find out!

Then We’ll Be Happy by Alan Carrigan is out 30 July 2026, published by Chicken House.

Alan Carrigan

Alan Carrigan is an Irish novelist and screenwriter with quadriplegic cerebral palsy who has worked as a script editor for Ink and Light Films and D11 Stories, and was one of the writers selected for Screen Stories 2025 with Tilting the Lens and Screen Ireland. 

His own work focuses on character-driven, witty, and nuanced stories, most of which feature the types of authentically disabled characters he needed but rarely saw growing up.

While his words can be found on the page, his eyes are often glued to a stage, as he is a big fan of musical theatre.

PaperBound Magazine is an online magazine and blog for the young, and the young at heart. We are dedicated to showcasing authors and illustrators for children’s and young adult fiction and we strive to deliver inspiring content, uplifting stories, and top tips for young and aspiring writers yet to burst on to the literary scene.

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. We appreciate any support you can give us!

Don’t forget you can read with the latest issues of PaperBound Magazine – completely free – here.

article, Blog, Blog series, Bookshelf, Interview, Interviews, on writing, Writing craft

Interview: Kamizen: Fortress of Lost Memories by William Yamaguchi Dobson

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Recently, we not only got to attend the brilliant book launch for Kamizen: Fortress of Lost Memories, but we also interviewed the author, William Yamaguchi Dobson. Read on to discover more about this magical and heartfelt debut, based on Japanese myth and folklore.

Could you introduce us to your book, Kamizen: Fortress of Lost Memories?

It’s a middle-grade fantasy about a boy called Jonty who meets a mystical bonobo in Yorkshire and is offered the chance to enter through The Gate of Memory so that he can recover lost memories belonging to his beloved grandfather and help him finish his memoir about life as a primatologist.

What can you share with us about the inspiration behind the book?

Inspiration, I find, is a mystical thing in itself – if I could pinpoint the exact source, I would drop a GPS pin and camp there for the rest of my writing life. Thinking back now, I would say there were several whispers in my ear. I wanted to write a story about the relationship between a child and grandparent. One of my all-time favourite stories is Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book. I then wondered if I could combine that with my interest in primatology and jazz, as one does on a quiet afternoon. And because of the experience I had with my father’s dementia for over a decade, I had been reading widely about the science of memory. Everything slowly fell into place.

… memories are what make us human and it’s through stories that we remember those who no longer remember us.

The story combines real-life sensitive topics with a highly fantastical world. How hard was it to balance the two? And what do you hope readers take from this story?

The book is aimed at children eight and over. My children witnessed my father’s cognitive and physical decline from a very young age. They had never known him other than “Grandad is poorly”. Many families I imagined were in the same boat. So I wanted to write a story for my children and fellow passengers about preserving the memory of a person before the anarchy of dementia changed them – a time before grandad became poorly. I don’t think I necessarily planned it this way at the outset, but the message I wanted to convey gently is that memories are what make us human and it’s through stories that we remember those who no longer remember us.

I didn’t find it too difficult carrying out the balancing exercise between telling the fantastical story and handling the topic of dementia. The reality of end stage dementia is that it’s relentlessly grim, but you can’t write a children’s story (or an adult one) with relentless grimness. Nobody would read that and nobody should. You sow enough hints about the reality and let your readers water it with their imagination, because the primary duty you have to the reader is that your book is there to entertain them.

There are so many wonderful characters in the book, including a talking bonobo and lots of brilliant yōkai characters. Were all these taken from Japanese mythology and folklore, or did you create anyone specially for this book. And, also, did you have a favourite to write?

A few characters were borrowed from folklore and myth. The kappa is one of the best known yōkai, alongside the tengu. The earth spider is also from a legendary tale. The talking bonobo, however, is entirely my invention, although there is a yōkai known as a satori, which has monkey-like features.

Lafcadio, the Irish kappa, wrote himself. Once I figured out his voice, he was telling me how he would say things and crossing out what I’d written. And to give PaperBound an exclusive, did you know the paintbrush yōkai, Kaita Zanko has several layers of hidden meaning? Kaita is the past tense of “to write” in Japanese. Kaita Zanko is an anagram of Takai Kozan, patron of the Edo period artist Hokusai and himself a painter of nightmarish yōkai.

Zanko is a one-armed yōkai in tribute to Shigeru Mizuki, one of Japan’s most treasured manga artists and folklorists who repopularised yōkai among postwar audiences.

This is your debut book, but it also came out first with Audible. Could you share a little about your experience with the creation of the audio book, and your journey to publication?

Audible acquired the book first and Scholastic bought the print rights shortly after. I had simultaneous edits and a smooth journey through production on both counts. The team Audible assembled was out of this world and you can tell from the quality of the production. There are so many highlights from the time, but two that stand out are: (1) when I was sent the audition clip for Tomoya Errington, who went on to be cast in the lead role. He stars in every single scene and is brilliant in every way; (2) when I first heard Timothy Spall playing Gramps I was walking along Tottenham Court Road and burst into tears as he sounded so much like my father (it happened opposite Waterstones, where I ended up holding my book launch!).

What has been the best publishing experience so far? And has there been a worst?

Working with Polly Lyall Grant and Karen Ball, my editors at Scholastic, and the wider team there has been a joy and painless experience. I wish I could find something to quibble about to give a juicy answer, but I’ll have to disappoint you! Best publishing experience? I received my first copy of Kamizen on my mother’s birthday when she happened to be staying with us, so I let her open the parcel without telling her what was inside. That was a lovely shared moment, entirely coincidental. 

Can you tell us about anything else that you are currently working on?

I am reverting to writing longhand for a new project that may result in a highly illustrated middle-grade novel about a boy, a forest spirit and an unforgettable summer in the mountains of Japan.

What piece of advice would you give an aspiring writer thinking about writing for young people?

Know your audience. If you have children, watch what they’re watching – see what makes them laugh and holds their attention: you can translate some of this to print fiction. You should already know what they’re reading and be familiar with the latest titles. Most importantly, in the words of Inspector Harold Francis Callahan, “you’ve got to ask yourself one question.” Why would a [insert age] child want to read the book I’m thinking of writing?

Kamizen: Fortress of Lost Memories by William Yamaguchi Dobson is out now, and published by Scholastic.

William Yamaguchi Dobson

William Yamaguchi Dobson worked as a barrister before turning his hand to writing fiction. His childhood in Japan and love of manga influence his stories. When not looking after his children, he can be found reading or writing and likes to start the day with a cup of matcha and a smile.

PaperBound Magazine is an online magazine and blog for the young, and the young at heart. We are dedicated to showcasing authors and illustrators for children’s and young adult fiction and we strive to deliver inspiring content, uplifting stories, and top tips for young and aspiring writers yet to burst on to the literary scene.

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. We appreciate any support you can give us!

Don’t forget you can read with the latest issues of PaperBound Magazine – completely free – here.

Blog, Blog series, Bookshelf, Interview, Interviews, on writing, Writing craft

Interview: John Hearne chats about his speculative sci-fi novel ‘Someone’s Been Messing With Reality’ for middle grade readers

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We spoke to the author of middle grade speculative sci-fi Someone’s Been Messing With Reality, John Hearne, about his writing process and what readers can expect from this new, pacy novel.

Can you tell us a little about your novel, Someone’s Been Messing with Reality, and what inspired you to write it?

So here’s my tagline – ‘When Martin Ryan sees a video of his father flying unaided through the air, he realises that everything he has assumed about his life up to this point has been a lie’.

The whole novel arose out of the following proposition: ‘What if you were an alien, but didn’t know it?’ The moment Martin discovers the truth is also the moment that his parents disappear. He and his friends Tina and Enda realise that their disappearance is part of a larger conspiracy which they must unravel and thwart.

What inspired me to write it? I liked that proposition. Like a lot of writers, I log all the different story ideas that occur to me. Most of these ideas will never go anywhere, but if I hit one that’s sufficiently intriguing and exciting, I’ll start sketching out where I might go with it. What kind of characters could carry this kind of plotline? Where could I set it? Where will the intrigue come from? Once the ball gets rolling, it takes on a life of its own.

There’s a lot of mystery from the get-go of this book. Did you always know where the story would go, or did any part of writing it surprise you?

I’m a plotter and a planner. I like to work out where I’m going to go before I get there – but things always surprise you during the writing phase. I like to think of my outline as a map. I’m going to use it to get to where I’m going, but if I spot something interesting that doesn’t lie along the planned route, I’ll go explore it. The writing process tends to generate fresh ideas, and I think you’ve got to be open to evaluating them rather than sticking rigidly to the original plan.

Also, I often find as I write that that clever little plot detail or character quirk that I thought would work actually doesn’t, so I often stop midstream and rethink things. I find too that once you’ve established how a character acts, you’ve often got to give them more freedom that the original plot allowed. In Someone’s Been Messing with Reality, Martin’s friend Tina caused both him and me a lot of grief through her impulsivity – I had to keep readjusting things when I realised that ‘Hmmm, Tina would never do that…’

You have already written another romp of a book published with Little Island, The Very Dangerous Sisters of Indigo McCloud. Did the writing process for this book differ in any way?

The process was similar, though it did have a lot more steps. I spent a lot of time figuring out exactly what would happen with Indigo before I dived into draft 1, but because this was my first attempt at anything like this, draft 1 was pretty much like the first chair that a trainee carpenter might make. The back was crooked and all the legs were different lengths. It went through several redrafts before I arrived at something that I would willingly show anyone – and the finished product didn’t bear much resemblance to the first draft. It’s true that most books aren’t written, they’re rewritten.

The Very Dangerous Sisters of Indigo McCloud had a fictitious setting – the absurdly miserable town of Blunt, and was choc-full of outlandish characters. I wanted to set Someone’s Been Messing with Reality in the real world, and make the characters a little more human. This is sci-fi – yes – but the relationships and problems and characters themselves are all real, or as real as I could make them.

There are so many fun elements about this book, from crazy secrets to adventurous antics, but the characters also feel very relatable and grounded. Did you have to do any research when creating this story, particularly when it came to Enda’s character?

Enda is one of the three friends at the centre of the book. He’s recovering from a brain injury. The emotional arc of the story rests on the different ways in which his two friends deal with this. I’ve always had an interest in brain injury. I made a radio documentary for RTE Radio 1 a few years ago about someone who was recovering from a very serious head injury. The weird thing is that after I had started work on this book, and after I had written Enda into it, I fell and hit my head. I gave myself what would be termed a ‘mild brain injury’. It may not have been life threatening, but it was very debilitating.

To cut a very long story short, I suffered from prolonged bouts of fatigue and could do very little work of any kind for a long time. Thankfully I’m fully recovered now, but the process took a couple of years. I couldn’t use a computer for much of that recovery. I had damaged the visual cortex at the back of the head, and my brain simply couldn’t deal with the kind of light that emanated from the screen. So much of this book was actually written longhand.

… if you’re ambitious for your writing, you need to show it to people – and not just any people – I’m talking about people who understand the market and know what good writing looks like.

Can you tell us what your journey to publication has been like so far?

It has been lengthy! Much rejection, much rethinking, rewriting, repositioning. Getting published is hard and getting harder. This book – my second – was a little easier than the first, because I had a good relationship with the publisher, and they were happy to read what I wrote, but it had to reach a higher standard to get through. Rising costs have made it more difficult for independent publishers to take a chance on something, so they’ve got to love it before they’ll agree to put scarce resources on the line.

What other children’s books do you enjoy reading, or can recommend to our readers?

Since my book is science fiction, I’ll stick to that. My favourite in the genre is When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. A wonderful book, with a plot that rumbles slowly under the surface – you don’t quite realise that it’s sci-fi until close to the end. I also really like Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, the Dune books and The Iron Giant. My kids also love Hilo: The boy who crashed to earth by Judd Winick.

Do you have any tips for aspiring writers?

Much of the standard advice is correct. I think you need to do three things – read in the genre you’re writing in, develop your craft by reading about writing or taking classes, and finally, get feedback on your work. The third one is the one that most of us struggle with, but if you’re ambitious for your writing, you need to show it to people – and not just any people – I’m talking about people who understand the market and know what good writing looks like.

The other thing I’d say is that if your sole ambition is to get published, you are probably letting yourself in for a great deal of misery. Unless you’re exceptionally talented and blindingly lucky, the chances of getting published early in the game are low.

I write because I want to get published, yes, but I also write because I love to write. If you don’t love it for its own sake, I would chuck it in. You only get so much time on earth, so you’ve got to get something out of the journey. Without a love of the process, the time will feel wasted, and the destination – even if you do reach it – will not live up to expectations.

Are you working on anything else you can tell us about?

I’m working on something alright, but as we speak it’s an unholy mess. I’ll let you know if and when something readable emerges from it …

.

Photo courtesy of David Ruffles

John Hearne

John Hearne was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1970. He worked as an economist in Dublin before changing direction and becoming a freelance writer. He has ghostwritten and edited a range of bestselling books, while his journalism has appeared in numerous national and international newspapers and magazines.

His first middle grade novel, The Very Dangerous Sisters of Indigo McCloud was published to critical acclaim by Little Island in 2021. His second book Someone’s Been Messing with Reality is out now. You can find him on Instagram @johnhearneauthor.

www.johnhearneauthor.com

Someone’s Been Messing With Reality is published by Little Island and out now.

PaperBound Magazine is an online magazine for the young, and the young at heart. We are dedicated to showcasing authors and illustrators for children’s and young adult fiction and we strive to deliver inspiring content, uplifting stories, and top tips for young and aspiring writers yet to burst on to the literary scene.

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. We appreciate any support you can give us!

Don’t forget you can read with the latest issues of PaperBound Magazine – completely free – here.

Blog, Blog series, Competition, on writing, Writing craft

Guest Blog Post: Branford Boase Award Judge, Christine Pillainayagam, on the 2024 shortlist

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by Christine Pillainayagam

We are excited to bring you another fascinating article on writing, this time from the unique perspective of Branford Boase Award judge Christine Pillainayagam, who shares her thoughts on the judging process, and her thoughts on why writing for children is so important.

Brandford Boase Award 2024

Founded in 2000, the Branford Boase Award was set up in memory of award-winning author Henrietta Branford and her editor Wendy Boase of Walker Books, who both died in 1999, and is unique in honouring author as well as editor.

When I wrote my debut novel Ellie Pillai Is Brown, I wrote it for me. Or more accurately, for 15 year old me. A girl who’d never seen herself – a brown, second generation, Catholic, Tamil immigrant – reflected in the world around her. Not in books or magazines or films or music. The places she looked to for comfort and guidance, never showed her a version of who she could be. Growing up, that feeling of invisibility, of not belonging, sticks. Like glue on the inside of a book spine, it forms a fundamental part of your structure.

Decades later, I sat down at my computer and a book began to pour out of me. I remember vividly the feeling of typing the first words onto a blank page – My name is Ellie. Ellie Pillai – and so my hero was born. Both me, and so much more than me, Ellie is a 15 year old brown girl caught between two cultures – a traditional Tamil upbringing with her family at home, and the life of a classic British teenager at school.

This story, loosely based on some of my own experiences as a music obsessed teenager growing up in a predominantly white area, is what the book industry describes as ‘own voice’ – meaning exactly that. A book written by an author with intimate knowledge and understanding of the material, because it is lived first hand.

As a debut author, taking an ‘own voice’ story into the world can be frightening. It can feel as if not simply your writing is being judged, but yourself and the validity and relevance of your experiences. I was told time and time again, by agents and publishers alike, that my story wasn’t really a story. That there wasn’t a ‘hook’ or a sense of jeopardy, yet to me, I felt the transformation of this shy 15 year old from someone determined to be invisible out of fear of racism, to someone with the courage to stand up and stand out, was a story needed by so many children today. Luckily, my brilliant agent and publisher agreed – and so did the judges of the Branford Boase Award who made me the winner of the prize in 2023.

Winning the BBA has had a profound impact on how I now view children’s stories and their importance in the world. The foundation they build in young people’s lives. The glue we create in their book spines. This year as a judge for the prize, I was delighted to see more ‘own voice’ stories being promoted by publishers. Books that speak to the reality of children’s lives and represent every version of who they are and who they could be.

With a longlist of 25 incredible books, my fellow judges and I had some spirited discussions about who would make the shortlist, but in the end, the word that comes to mind for all 6 shortlisted novels is ‘powerful’. Each one, through a mix of humour, joy, love, pain, fear, compassion, representation, felt powerful. Stories that stick with you long after you turn the final page.

… that feeling of invisibility, of not belonging, sticks. Like glue on the inside of a book spine, it forms a fundamental part of your structure.

Like the amazing You Think You Know Me by Ayaan Mohamud, which gripped the judges with its use of pace and tension as a terrible incident unfolds, and deals sensitively and beautifully with themes of racism, Islamophobia and microaggressions. Or the hilarious The Swifts by Beth Lincoln, a classic whodunnit full of twists and turns that has such a distinctive voice and is so cleverly layered with themes of identity and family that it becomes a celebration of individuality. The Jhalak Prize winning Safiyyah’s War by Hiba Noor Khan, a compassionate story full of heart, which taught us something we didn’t know, then made us want to learn more about it. The brilliant The First Move by Jenny Ireland, a YA love story with depth, that speaks openly and authentically about disability and covers themes from LGBTQIA+, to mental health and housing security. The outstanding The Final Move by Matt Goodfellow, a verse novel that draws you into a world so often unrepresented in children’s books – a hopeful, playful masterpiece.

And of course, our wonderful 2024 Branford Boase Award winner Steady For This by Nathanael Lessore, a book of joy, emotion, light and shade. A story that confronts heavy subject matter in a life affirming and generous way. We wanted to push this brilliantly funny book into the hands of as many children as we could.

Each of these powerful novels represents the future of children’s books. One that is filled with hope and safety, whoever you are.

The complete list of titles on the 2024 shortlist are:

The Final Year Matt Goodfellow, illustrated by Joe Todd-Stanton, edited by Charlotte Hacking (Otter-Barry Books)

The First Move by Jenny Ireland, edited by Ruth Knowles with Sara Jafari (Penguin)

Safiyyah’s War by Hiba Noor Khan, edited by Eloise Wilson (Andersen Press)

Steady for This by Nathanael Lessore, edited by Ella Whiddett and Ruth Bennett (Hot Key Books)

The Swifts by Beth Lincoln, illustrated by Claire Powell, edited by Ben Horslen and Julie Strauss-Gabel (Puffin)

You Think You Know Me by Ayaan Mohamud, edited by Sarah Stewart (Usborne)

The Branford Boase Award is delivered in partnership with the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) and supported by Walker Books. For more information about the award, including a full list of past winners, visit the Branford Boase Award website.

Brandford Boase Award 2024

Christine Pillainayagam

Christine Pillainayagam was born in Norwich, grew up in Sheringham and attended school in Holt and Norwich. She now lives in Faversham in Kent.  She is a writer and retail strategist. A mild obsession with The Beatles and the desire to write a story that reflected her own experiences growing up as a first-generation immigrant led her to put that love of music and words into a book. Ellie Pillai is Brown features songs written by the protagonist, Ellie, and they are available to listen to via QR codes in the book. Ellie Pillai is Brown was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Award and the Jhalak Children’s and YA Prize and won the 2023 Branford Boase Award.

Ellie Pillai is Brown, Ellie Pillai is (almost) in Love and Ellie Pillai is Not Done Yet are out now.

PaperBound Magazine is an online magazine for the young, and the young at heart. We are dedicated to showcasing authors and illustrators for children’s and young adult fiction and we strive to deliver inspiring content, uplifting stories, and top tips for young and aspiring writers yet to burst on to the literary scene.

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. We appreciate any support you can give us!

Don’t forget you can read with the latest issues of PaperBound Magazine – completely free – here.

Blog, Blog series, Bookshelf, Interview, Interviews, Writing craft

Interview: Clare Pollard chats about her new middle grade fantasy ‘The Untameables’

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by Caitlyn Ould

Poet and author Clare Pollard chats to our contributor, Caitlyn Ould, about her middle grade fantasy The Untameables, inspired by Arthurian legend, in the latest interview on the PaperBound Blog.

Cover illustration by Reena Makwana

Can you tell us a bit about your book, The Untameables?

I’ve always absolutely loved Arthurian myth, from the sword in stone to the lady of the lake, faeries to questing beasts. But reading the tales to my children I was suddenly very conscious both that the legend of the ‘round table’ has been used historically to defend the idea of a ‘ruling class’, and that the stories are very violent. I suddenly had a very clear vision of Rowan and Elva, two children who live below-stairs, setting off on a quest to get to the holy grail before the knights do. And I knew they had to get the grail with kindness, not force.

What made you want to set your book in Camelot?

Tales of Camelot are often considered part of the ‘Matter of Britain’. In many ways, Camelot has always been an idealised version of England and Englishness. I began writing this around the time of Brexit, and I wanted to explore what it is to be born under a ruler you don’t agree with. And, historically, England has of course done lots of very bad things. What if your nation are ‘the bad guys’? How can we embrace the best things about our history and culture, whilst resisting the narratives of those in power?

What if your nation are ‘the bad guys’? How can we embrace the best things about our history and culture, whilst resisting the narratives of those in power?

You have created some brilliant characters. Who were your favourite characters to write in this story?

Elva is my favourite, I think. She just came to me fully formed, with all her righteous fury! Quests are all about overcoming obstacles, and young people who have disabilities or are in pain have a whole extra set of obstacles they have to overcome every day. She is a total heroine.

You must have had so much inspiration at your fingertips writing a book based on Arthurian legend. Was there any particular inspiration you had when it came to creating your version of this world and its characters?

I love T.H. White’s Sword in the Stone. It actually has a dog-boy in it, which I think I must have half-remembered when I invented Rowan. I’m also a poet, so I was very inspired by poetry – Simon Armitage’s translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Tennyson’s The Lady of Shalott, Browning’s Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, as well as medieval riddle poems. I’ve been enjoying going into schools and getting children to write their own.

As a writer, are there any other fantasy worlds that you would want to breathe life into?

I am currently working on another children’s book about the voyage of the Argonauts. I am crazy about Greek myth, so am having a lot of fun with this. There’s a little girl who wants to be the Oracle of Delphi when she’s older who has joined the crew. Also a six-year-old siren with a really horrible singing voice!

Here at PaperBound, we love behind-the-scenes stuff when it comes to authors’ writing journeys. What has your route to publication been like?

I actually found it very hard to get The Untameables published. It was rejected by a lot of publishers. I think the children’s book world can be naturally quite conservative and the fact it has political parallels – that the round table is a sort of Bullingdon club – put them off. I also got asked if I could rewrite it so Rowan wants to be a knight! Little boys are supposed to be ‘knights-in-training’. So I think the fact this book is anti-knight worried editors. It was in a drawer for a couple of years before I saw that The Emma Press, who I knew as a wonderful poetry publisher, had a call-out for children’s chapter books and I submitted. I think as a small press they’re more open to radical texts, and I also knew they would make a very beautiful book. I am so happy they asked Reena Makwana to illustrate it – she is a total joy to work with.

Are you working on anything new at the moment?

I’m promoting my adult novel The Modern Fairies, and have a poetry book coming out next year. But yes, I have started another children’s book – my children are 8 and 11, just the right age, and there’s nothing like the pleasure of reading them a new chapter every night. It makes me feel very lucky.

Clare Pollard

Clare Pollard has published five collections of poetry, most recently Incarnation (Bloodaxe). Her play The Weather (Faber) was performed at The Royal Court Theatre. Her translations include Ovid’s Heroines, which she toured as a one-woman show. She has also written a non-fiction title, Fierce Bad Rabbits: The Tales Behind Children’s Picture Books (Fig Tree), her first children’s novel, The Untameables (The Emma Press), and two adult novels, Delphi and The Modern Fairies (Fig Tree).

With thanks to Sophie Davidson for this image.

The Untameables is published by The Emma Press and is out now.

PaperBound Magazine is an online magazine for the young, and the young at heart. We are dedicated to showcasing authors and illustrators for children’s and young adult fiction and we strive to deliver inspiring content, uplifting stories, and top tips for young and aspiring writers yet to burst on to the literary scene.

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. We appreciate any support you can give us!

Don’t forget you can read with the latest issues of PaperBound Magazine – completely free – here.

Blog, Blog series, Writing craft

Guest Blog Post: Emily-Jane Clark on Writing Comedy, author of The Beasts of Knobbly Bottom series

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by Emily-Jane Clark

We are excited to bring you another fascinating article on writing, this time from author Emily-Jane Clark, who shares her thoughts and tips on writing comedy in fiction, and her process on writing for children.

“Can you write a joke about this building that looks like Donald Trump?” This was just one of random things I worked on when I was a TV comedy writer!

Before I was a children’s author, I wrote for television shows such as The Mash Report, Mock the Week and The Jonathan Ross Show, where I learnt a lot about joke-writing and how to use comedy to engage an audience, both of which were really useful when I started working on my funny series for children – The Beasts of Knobbly Bottom!

Writing jokes about feminism, politics, pop culture and parenting, may be very different to the humour in my The Beasts of Knobbly Bottom books but actually the process I use to come up with funny ideas is the same!

One of my favourite ways to come up with a comical situation is by using my ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if?’ technique. I will take an ordinary everyday occurrence or current issue and think of a way to make it silly, fun, or sometimes absurd! For instance, what if … toilets came alive and were really cross that people were weeing on them! Or, what if the King accidentally did a massive burp during his Christmas Day speech or even, as I put in my first book, wouldn’t it be funny if sheep turned into mean gangster vampires?

Writing jokes about feminism, politics, pop culture and parenting, may be very different to the humour in my The Beasts of Knobbly Bottom books but actually the process I use to come up with funny ideas is the same!

While it was a lot of fun creating comedy for grown ups, I find you can be even more bonkers when writing for children, which is one of the reasons I wanted to write a kid’s novel. That, and the fact I love a good bum joke, which tend to go down much better with under elevens…

Another form of humour I love to write is observational comedy – I did a lot of this for The Mash Report and the Daily Mash, so I really wanted to incorporate it into my books! As a mum of two young daughters, I realised that some of our discussions (OK, arguments!) are pretty funny. Children often try to find a loophole in their parents’ rules, think very literally or just be plain cheeky, and this can be hilarious. Therefore, I tried to include this in the relationship between my Knobbly Bottom mum character, Lucy, and her two daughters, Maggie, and Lily. It was important to me that their interactions were realistic and relatable and make parents laugh along with their children.

I love writing comedy for adults, but as a mother on a permanent quest to make her children laugh, and a massive kid at heart, creating Knobbly Bottom and all its weird and wonderful characters really has been a dream come true.

Emily-Jane Clark

Emily-Jane Clark is a TV comedy writer, author and part-time drama teacher whose passion for stories and making children laugh inspired her to turn her hand to funny children’s fiction. She has written two books for children aged 8 – 11  THE BEASTS OF KNOBBLY BOTTOM: ATTACK OF THE VAMPIRE SHEEP and THE BEASTS OF KNOBBLY BOTTOM: RISE OF THE ZOMBIE PIGS (out on the 4th January).

The Beasts of Knobbly Bottom: Rise of the Zombie Pigs by Emily-Jane Clark will be published in January by Scholastic.

PaperBound Magazine is an online magazine for the young, and the young at heart. We are dedicated to showcasing authors and illustrators for children’s and young adult fiction and we strive to deliver inspiring content, uplifting stories, and top tips for young and aspiring writers yet to burst on to the literary scene.

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. We appreciate any support you can give us!

Don’t forget you can read with the latest issues of PaperBound Magazine – completely free – here.

Blog, Blog series, Interview, Interviews, Writing craft

Interview: Author and WriteMentor creator Stuart White on new middle grade book ‘Astra FireStar and the Ripples of Time’

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by Steve Blackman

We are very excited to bring you an interview from author Stuart White, also the creator of WriteMentor, who chats to our regular contributor, Steve Blackman, all about his new middle grade book, Astra FireStar and the Ripples of Time.

Please tell us a bit about yourself. 

I’m a secondary school biology teacher who escapes from a busy job and family life by escaping into my small office and writing about fantastical worlds and characters! I’ve been writing seriously for about 13 years or so, and have now published 3 books under my own imprint, Penobi Press. I have two kids, E and X, who are 8 and 3, and quite honestly, way too much for me to handle!

Astra FireStar and the Ripples of Time is your third book. Can you tell us what it’s about?  

Yes! It’s perfect for fans of Dr Who and I pitch it like this:

When new girl and time-fugitive Astra crashes a space-octopus into twelve-year-old Sam’s school, he swaps his unhappy home life for a timeless adventure to the stars. On the run from the time-police, they travel to far-off planets, in space and time, meeting new and unexpected friends, as well as many enemies, and growing a closer friendship than Sam could possibly ever have imagined. But when given a chance to resurrect his dead brother in exchange for Astra’s freedom, he must decide – change his past or forge a new future.  

But at its heart, it’s about loss and grief, and accepting the past and learning to move forward with your life.  

So, you’re a writer and teacher, AND you co-run the Write Mentor Hub and community. Surely you’re using your own time machine to achieve all that?! 

The key to me doing all this is simple: I am not very good at any of it! Seriously, I’m lucky to enjoy and be reasonably competent at a number of things, which I also love, so that Venn diagram intersects nicely across teaching/writing/community building, so I use many of the same skills across each, which make it easier to manage.

In all honesty, I might not still be writing if I hadn’t met lots of like-minded writers back in the early 2010s on Twitter, and so much of what I do is to help others see there’s hope and a wide community of writers there, all in it together, trying to achieve the same goal, and there’s a lot of strength and joy that comes from being a small part of that.

Self-publishing has become much more accessible in recent years, and you’ve been very generous in sharing your experiences. Can you give us your top tips? 

Honestly, I could write a book on this (maybe one day I will!) but the secret is keeping it simple. There’s SO MUCH information out there and so many ways to do it, that it’s best to try, initially, to drown out the noise and do the basics well.

Get a great editor and cover illustrator/designer, talk lots about it (remember you’re just as deserving, if not more so, of shouting about your book than someone who is traditionally published – after all, you’re doing about 3 or 4 times the work they are, so don’t be shy!), and focus on connecting with readers and the gatekeepers to those readers (i.e. school teachers, librarians, parents, grandparents, etc.) to get your books noticed by them. Everything else, and there’s a LOT of everything else, can be worked on later. 

What do you hope your readers will learn or take away from Astra? 

I hope readers have fun and enjoy the adventure. Escapism is something that saved me from the harsh realities of my life when I was younger, and I hope this book can provide that for young people who are finding life hard or don’t have the perfect home situation. I don’t like to bang readers over the head with the theme, but there’s also an important lesson on letting go of your past and forging a new, exciting future for yourself. So many children from underprivileged backgrounds don’t think they can change their stars, and they have to follow the path of those around them and before them. I want Sam and Astra to show them they can do, and go, wherever they want.

Looking to the future (without a time machine), what’s next for WriteMentor? And what new books can we look forward to from you? 

We’ve just announced a partnership with Bonnier Books UK for our awards, and they’re keen to be involved in other things we do, too. They share a similar vision that we do, in that we want to provide opportunities for new voices to share their stories and give children a chance to read those great new voices. But we really do have a lot of pots in the fire, gently warming, and we’ll be continuing to put writers first, and organise things which will best help them to achieve their publishing goals, whatever they are. 

For me personally, I’ve got a Kickstarter coming next year for the next 3 Eva Knight books in the series, with Jen Jamieson, my brilliant cover illustrator, already agreeing to draw those. I’m also working on the sequel to The Nameless, my YA debut, and have an MG diabetic superhero story and YA serial killer thriller set on the moon that I think I will submit to agents in 2024. I’ve also outlined a Scottish Mythology MG which I want to write, but I might not get to that until 2025 (or maybe it will be a secret project that I can work on late at night when no-one is looking!). 

If you had a time machine, where and when would you visit? 

Great question! I always dreamed of being an explorer as a kid, but so much of Earth was already explored and discovered. So I’d maybe go back 200 years or so and set on a mission to one of the poles, or to climb one of the big mountains. Or go the other way, and fast forward into the future and be an astronaut who explores new worlds both within and outwith our Solar System. That would be fun! 

Stuart White

Stuart is an award-winning author and secondary school teacher. He has a Masters Degree in Creative Writing and founded, and now runs, WriteMentor. In 2020 and 2022 he was placed on the SCWBI Undiscovered Voices longlist and named as an Hononary Mention for his novels Ghosts of Mars and Astra FireStar and the Ripples of Time.
In 2023, he won the WriteBlend award for his middle grade debut, Ghosts of Mars. Stuart was included in The Bookseller’s 2021 list of Rising Stars in the publishing industry. He can be found at @StuartWhiteWM on most social media platforms.

Astra FireStar and the Ripples of Time is out now and available worldwide via Amazon, or you can order a copy from your local bookstore (in most countries).

Steve Blackman

Like his career, Steve’s writing is filled with tech and engineering, although his speculative thrillers tend to have higher stakes and fewer meetings. Before he found himself advising companies on digital transformation, Steve was a copywriter, a magazine editor, a communications director, a product designer and a webcaster, though not at the same time. Home is South London, where he lives with his wife and teenage daughters. They wish he’d stop saying, ‘What if…’

PaperBound Magazine is an online magazine for the young, and the young at heart. We are dedicated to showcasing authors and illustrators for children’s and young adult fiction and we strive to deliver inspiring content, uplifting stories, and top tips for young and aspiring writers yet to burst on to the literary scene.

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. We appreciate any support you can give us!

Don’t forget you can read with the latest issues of PaperBound Magazine – completely free – here.

Blog, Blog series, Interview, Interviews, Writing craft

Interview: Jennifer Burkinshaw on her new YA book ‘Happiness Seeker’.

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To celebrate the launch of Jennifer Burkinshaw’s new YA release, Happiness Seeker, we are delighted to bring you an interview with the author herself on all things writing, inspiration and what she’ll be working on next.

Your thrilling new YA book, Happiness Seeker, has just been released. Can you tell us a little more about it?

Happiness Seeker tells the story of just one week’s sixth form field trip to the beautiful but lethal Morecambe Bay. On her very first afternoon, Allie meets a mysterious lad on the shore which changes the lives of everyone involved. One reviewer has described Happiness Seeker as a ‘thriller-mystery-love story’ which does sum it up its genres neatly; I’d add in ‘tragedy’, as the prologue tells you someone is lost in the vast, dark seas of Morecambe Bay.

We’ve been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the first quarter of Happiness Seeker and can’t wait for readers to discover Allie’s journey too. What inspired you to write this story?

Places seem to be what spark a story in me, both in my debut Igloo and Happiness Seeker. Visiting my parents in Grange-over-Sands on Morecambe Bay so often; learning about the history of the Bay and seeing people, every day, still walking out onto the treacherous sands despite all the warning signs. Before my parents even moved there, though, I once took a Drama group to a hostel near Grange to rehearse, which is pretty close to the set up in the novel; however, none of my group broke every rule in the book and we all went home safely.

At the heart of the story is what could be described as a political issue which particularly concerns me, so I recruited the advice of the charity Unseen during my writing process.

Map and plan of the novel’s setting by Douglas McCleery, architecture student

Have you always wanted to write for young adults? Can you tell us a little bit about your route to publication?

I first started to feel an irresistible pull to write about twenty years ago and knew I had to start to learn the craft, an endless journey, of course. Since I still feel seventeen in my head, writing for young adults was a natural move to me; I love the intensity of feeling you need to create in YA fiction; the need to be immediate and and pacy, as well as reflective; I love how so much of YA fiction deals with first and life-changing experiences for its characters. So, I did an MA in Creative Writing for Children at Manchester Met; after that I joined the Golden Egg Academy and was mentored by Imogen Cooper. I count myself as extremely fortunate that then Debbie McGowan, my genuinely brilliant editor and publisher at Beaten Track, offered to publish my debut, Igloo, and now Happiness Seeker.

Drama is a huge theme in this novel, as well as the dangers of the elements when underestimated. Did you always want to include these themes, or did they take shape organically when writing?

As a former Drama teacher, I couldn’t resist creating a group who, having to script a piece for their A Level, choose to write it about Morecambe Bay and the many who have drowned there over the centuries. These past tragedies soon bleed into the present of the story. I also include some reference to Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge which Allie is reading that fateful week; Miller is my favourite playwright but, also, the action of his tragedy has some echoes in the story happening ‘now’ in Happiness Seeker.

Map and plan of the novel’s setting by Douglas McCleery, architecture student

Your book also features the magnetic yet mysterious boy, Mareno, who Allie is drawn to when they first meet. Was it difficult to strike the balance between intriguing the reader and revealing too much when it came to his character, and/or the message for the book?

What was really tricky was to work out what Mareno would reveal to Allie and when – especially since he has such compelling reasons not to tell her his whole truth. I spent ages thinking what he would least mind Allie knowing and what he’d try to keep from her at all costs. I hope he intrigues the reader; I tried so hard to see him through Allie’s eyes – what draws her to him even as she finds him such a ‘dark horse’.

I love the intensity of feeling you need to create in YA fiction.

The friendships and rivalries Allie deals with throughout this novel are captured incredibly well and full of tension. Did you draw from any personal experience when writing these characters, or scenes?

Allie has a painful rivalry with Courtney, a girl in her drama group who has bullied her since Allie joined the school late in Year 9. To some extent, I am like Allie – quieter, on the fringe of groups and I do remember girls at my single-sex school who could be cutting like Courtney. Allie’s best friend is Finn but unfortunately, he falls for Courtney which causes Allie a lot of heartache. I haven’t experienced having a boy as a best friend but I relished creating their deep friendship which is at the heart of the story just as much as Allie’s new relationships in Grange.

We’d love to read what you write next. Can you tell us about anything else you are working on right now?

I need to get back to ‘Going West’, a story told from the POV of a member of each of three generations in a family who move from Essex back to the mum’s childhood home in Wales. I’m toying whether to tell some of it in verse …

Jennifer Burkinshaw

Jennifer’s debut book is Igloo, a winter coming-of-age story of first love set in the French Alps and Lancashire, where she grew up. Happiness Seeker is her second book.
Now, she’s a bit of a nomad – loves spending time by the sea as much as in the mountains and with her growing family.
You can visit her website here.

Happiness Seeker is out now and published by Beaten Track Publishing.

PaperBound Magazine is an online magazine for the young, and the young at heart. We are dedicated to showcasing authors and illustrators for children’s and young adult fiction and we strive to deliver inspiring content, uplifting stories, and top tips for young and aspiring writers yet to burst on to the literary scene.

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. We appreciate any support you can give us!

Don’t forget you can read with the latest issues of PaperBound Magazine – completely free – here.

Blog, Blog series, Interview, Interviews, Writing craft

Interview: Author Jennifer Claessen chats about her new book ‘The November Witches’.

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We are delighted to bring you an interview with Jennifer Claessen, who spoke to us all about the sequel to The October Witches.

Your book, The November Witches, is a delightful new release perfect for reading at this time of year. Can you tell us a little more about it, and what inspired you to tell this story?

The November Witches picks up Clemmie’s story immediately after all of the things she did – and feels bad about! – in October. She’s expecting a magic-free month and all of the witches are mostly miserable about it but, of course, magical mayhem is about to ensue. It’s up to Clemmie to learn to speak up for herself and the young hags though, as it’s only together that they can fight back against the fires and knights plaguing them.

The November Witches is a spectacular sequel to The October Witches. Did you always want to write a sequel to continue Clemmie’s story?

Thank you so much! And yes, I was already thinking about Bonfire Night and marshmallows and a strange knight knocking on the door even as I wrote The October Witches! November doesn’t always get the festive love that October and December get but it’s an amazing month for forest walks. I moved house just before writing this book and now live on the edge of an incredible, ever-changing forest which definitely inspired the story.

Autumn is one of our favourite times of year here at PaperBound. Do you have any family traditions in your household at this time of year?

My family is costume-obsessed so we usually dress up at least three times for Halloween, always cute, never creepy! This year one of our fancy dress outfits was the ‘soot sprites’ from My Neighbour Totoro which was pure chaos and so fun. Toasting marshmallows outdoors is a must of course. Like the Merlyns, I have mixed feelings about fireworks but I love a bonfire. Oh, and Pie Night, like Aunt Connie creates, is essential too! Autumn clothes are the best too – the season begins for me when I put on a scarf and a big pair of boots, or for Clemmie and her coven, a binbag.

You have a brilliant way of weaving witchy story elements with traditional Arthurian legends, such as witch-hunting knights, magic, and strong bonds. Did anything surprise you along the way when you started writing this story?

In The October Witches, Clemmie wrestles with coming into her power but now, in a magicless November, she’s struggling with using her voice. I write generally knowing the ending as I love a big, busy, bustly finale where the covens get together and finally sort out their problems! I think this is officially a spoiler but, just between us, there’s a dragon in The November Witches, too hot to even touch, and she was a surprise!

Do you have any book recommendations on the theme of witches and/or magic?

I love everything magical! I’m currently reading The Thief of Farrowfell Hall by Ravena Guron which has a really cool magical system as the magic is edible. I love the world which is believable and compelling and the magic itself, though it often sounds disgusting to eat!

I went to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge to be completely surrounded by armour and imagine what it was like to be a knight – mostly pretty uncomfortable it turns out!

Although this book is fantasy, did you have to delve into lots of research when writing/editing?

I’m always super happy digging deep into some magical research! For the whole ‘A Month of Magic’ trilogy I did lots of reading about the old, wise, male Merlin (versus my young, self-conscious and female Merlyns!) and what happened to him. I’d never even heard of ‘Avalon’ where some Arthurian scholars believe the Once and Future King will still rise again from but became pretty fascinated by it. For The November Witches I went to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge to be completely surrounded by armour and imagine what it was like to be a knight – mostly pretty uncomfortable it turns out!

We’d love to read what you write next. Can you tell us about anything else you are working on right now?

Well, now we’re this deep into autumn, we have to finish the trilogy! The December Witches comes out in 2024 and I’ve just had a sneak peek of early cover designs and it is looking gorgeously sparkly and snowy! Writing-wise, I’m working on new myth-inspired tales, this time set in Ancient Greece – and in a summer holiday!

Photo by Jack Barnes

Jennifer Claessen

Jennifer was born in Reading and grew up a book worm. She studied literature and theatre at the University of Sheffield, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Canterbury Christchurch University and Central School of Speech and Drama. A teacher and theatre-maker, Jennifer loves stories, especially for children, whether on stage or page. Jennifer currently works in the West End, taking children to the theatre and lives in the East End with her partner, a Dutch toymaker, and their baby daughter. She loves reading, travel and ice cream. You can find her on her yellow bike or in a red velvet seat in the stalls, applauding.

The November Witches is out now and published by UCLan Publishing.

PaperBound Magazine is an online magazine for the young, and the young at heart. We are dedicated to showcasing authors and illustrators for children’s and young adult fiction and we strive to deliver inspiring content, uplifting stories, and top tips for young and aspiring writers yet to burst on to the literary scene.

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. We appreciate any support you can give us!

Don’t forget you can read with the latest issues of PaperBound Magazine – completely free – here.