You may have heard of the UKYA or UKMG extravaganzas – two massive events happening very soon with an unbelieveable amount of authors! I’m so sad I can’t make it to either of them, as they’re too far up norf’ for me to get to, but I’m lucky enough to get the next best experience – I’m part of the UKMG Extravaganza’s blog tour!

I’ve been paired with Julia Lee, who’s the author of award-nominated books for children. Exciting, right? 😀 I sent Julia over some questions about MG books, and I love her answers so much! Before we get to the interview, though, here’s a little more detail about Julia –

Julia Lee has been making up stories for as long as she can remember. She grew up in London, studied English at university, and has an MA in Creative Writing. She has worked in education and for children’s charities. She lives at the seaside and writes at a transparent glass desk, not helped by a cat who chews the computer leads and adds lots of xxxxxs to whatever she is writing.

Julia writes mystery adventures for 9-12 year olds which have been described as ‘Dahl meets Dickens’ and ‘like an anarchic Frances Hodgson-Burnett’. Her first book, The Mysterious Misadventures of Clemency Wrigglesworth, was shortlisted for a number of prizes including the 2014 Booktrust Best Book Awards. Her latest book features a hopeless housemaid-turned-detective.

So, here we go, enjoy the interview…

GW: Hi Julia! Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your books?

JL: Hi Georgia! Thank you for being my host on the UKMG Extravaganza blog-tour.

I write Middle Grade fiction – natch – but became a children’s writer almost by accident. I was stuck on a novel for grown-ups, so I did what lots of writers do when they’re feeling a bit down about a current piece of work: I had a look at some other stuff in my computer files to see if it was any good.  I found a story I’d written purely for fun, when my kids were about the right age to read it – but I’d never had the courage to show it to them. (They’re a tough audience.) It galloped along with lots of cliff-hanging moments and questions to be solved, and made me laugh. And it became The Mysterious Misadventures of Clemency Wrigglesworth. That makes the process sound suspiciously easy, but it wasn’t!

My books are adventure mysteries with a bit of comedy thrown in, oh, and lots of animals. The first two, Clemency Wrigglesworth, and The Dangerous Discoveries of Gully Potchard, are set in dark and dastardly Victorian times. They feature travelling theatre folk, rags and riches, nasty villains, wicked crimes and thrilling escapes.

Now I’m working on a series set just after World War One. Its heroine, Nancy Parker, is a 14-year-old who dreams of being a detective – she reads lots of sixpenny crime thrillers – but on leaving school has to take the first job she can get, which is as a housemaid. And, strangely enough J, this lowly position is just the right place to spot a crime.

When not writing – or thinking about writing (I know it doesn’t look like work, people, but it is!) – I spend far too much time reading. Also I love walking on any beach, anywhere, and always come back with my pockets full of interesting pebbles. I’m good at whistling, useless at finding things I’ve just put down somewhere, and if I had a super-power it would be to look at people and make them think, ‘Oh, I’ve just got to get a book…’ in the same way they go, ‘Oh, I’ve just got to get a coffee…’
Your next book, Nancy Parker’s Diary of Detection, is released in March 2016. What was your favourite thing about writing it, or your favourite part to write?

Half the book is made up of Nancy’s diary entries. I haven’t written anything like this before and I had really good fun with her voice, and her writing style, including spelling mistakes and crossings-out. She draws jokey sketches, writes lists, and notes down anything that could be evidence. My editor, Liz Cross at OUP, encouraged me to go to town on this aspect. It was so exciting to see how the book’s designer and illustrator turned my fuzzy ideas into gorgeous reality.
Do you want readers of Nancy Parker’s Diary of Detection to take away a particular message from it?

It’s a fun book so it doesn’t have a deep message. But I have lightly scattered in some social history of the time: about girls and education, women and work, the sad after-effects of the War, but also the thrill of exciting new things like films, flying, and 1920s fashion – shorter skirts and bobbed hair! And my books always have a clash of cultures. Children from privileged and poorer backgrounds meet and find out some unexpected truths about each other and the world. So really that’s questioning the tired old stereotypes about people whose experience is far from yours.

And I don’t think there should be ‘girls’ books’ and ‘boys’ books’. Books are for whoever wants to read them. I always try to create appealing lead characters of both sexes. They’re not incredibly brave or talented or clever – like most of us! So I have to come up with ways to make them ingenious, work out their own strengths, and get together to solve problems even if they make some nerve-shredding mistakes along the way.
What do you love about middle grade fiction?

The best ones take you on a roller-coaster of emotion and suspense but are so life-affirming. They help you to love and trust the good in fellow human beings (and animals!) The endings aren’t just a total happy cop-out; there can be quite a challenge there, but always the reassurance that good can triumph over bad.

And they often make you laugh – not always out loud – but a sort of smiley ‘hrmmph’. A smiley hrmmph is a very good sign.
Did any MG books inspire you to write in that age category?

With my first children’s book I was writing just for me and had no clear idea what age-group it was aimed at. I left that up to my agent and the publishers. But always in the back of my mind were The Wolves Chronicles by Joan Aiken. Fantastic historical world-building and memorable characters. I tried to put some of their vibrant spirit and sprightly language into my fiction.
Are you currently working on a new project?

Yes! I’ve just been given the go-ahead to write two more detective books featuring Nancy Parker. Plus I’m finishing a non-funny book set in the 18^th century, based on a strange-but-true story. So watch this space.
And finally… Have you read any awesome middle grade books recently that you want to give a shout out to? 🙂

Erm – have you seen the rest of the amazing line-up of authors for UKMGX?? Can we start there?

Also, shamefully, I’d never heard of the late Eva Ibbotson until a couple of years ago and now love her books – they’re in the classic children’s lit style.  The one I’ve read most recently is The Star of Kazan.
I love Eva Ibbotson! I haven’t read any of her books in ages, but I definitely recommend them too. Thanks for visiting the blog, Julia!

Be sure to check out some of the other posts on the UKMG blog tour and spread some love. Here’s a handy schedule!

If you’re interested about Julia Lee’s books and want to find out more, you can visit her at @julialeeauthor and http://www.julialeeauthor.wordpress.com!

For lack of a better title… 😛

So if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen I went to Amsterdam a few weeks ago. It was the most beautiful city I’ve ever been to, and I feel really lucky to have had the chance to wander around the streets and the canals for four days. I thought I might make a blog post about what I read while I was there and all the literary things I saw. Plus a slightly less related arty thing, because why not?

A bit of a jumble of a post – but without further ado, here’s all of the literary-related things that happened in Amsterdam.

#1 – Anne Frank Huis

(I didn’t manage to get many great photos of the outside of Anne Frank’s house sadly – this photo’s mainly the modern building neighbouring it)

We queued from two hours before the house’s opening, just to make sure we could visit, on our last day in Amsterdam. It felt incredibly surreal when we were inside – climbing the stairs Anne Frank and her family did; walking through the rooms they stayed in for so long in hiding. It was so saddening to read about the terrible things that happened to them in the place where they actually had been, years ago.

At the end of the walk around Anne Frank Huis, there’s a room with glass casing in the walls. Inside, there are loose pages from one of Anne Frank’s rewrites of her diaries, mounted on the wall. And in the middle of the room; the famous diary itself, opened on a page crammed with her writing, and a photo of herself.

It didn’t feel real to be seeing it, the original diary that’s been read by so many millions of people, right in front of me. It’s an experience I will never, ever forget: it’s both beautiful and heartbreaking to see Anne Frank’s writing get the fame she always wished for.

#2 – The ‘TFiOS Bench’

Although it wasn’t the original bench Augustus and Hazel sat on in the movie (believe it or not, that got stolen! This one’s the replacement), I dragged my family around the smaller streets of Amsterdam to find it. I figured that because when we went the first time, (yup we went twice) the street would be empty – but both times we were there, and the times we passed the street, there was always a group of people there. Taking photos of themselves on the bench, talking about the book, or writing their names or quotes on the bench. It was pretty incredible, seeing how so many people visit it. It’s like a pilgrimage for John Green fans or something.

Although we didn’t spend long there (more people kept appearing, wanting photos too!) it did feel quite special to watch the view Augustus and Hazel (fictionally) looked over in the most important scene of the film, and to read everyone’s writing on the seat. I love the plaque that’s been put on it.

#3 – Van Gogh Museum

The queue for this museum was crazy, but I don’t regret waiting such a long time to see so much of Van Gogh’s work at all. Van Gogh is one of those artists I’ve always admired but never fully appreciated, but seeing the brush strokes up close and reading about his life in the Netherlands was really incredible. My favourite part was seeing Sunflowers (not just because of Doctor Who, honestly). I actually didn’t realise it was such a large painting, and it’s ten times better up close.

Holiday Reads:

ONLY EVER YOURS by Louise O’Neill – I finally bought a copy of this at YALC, and after hearing O’Neill talk about it, I couldn’t wait to read it much longer. It was really eerie and unsettling, but it carries a really important message. And if you look at some of the events in this book, they’re not all too different from life today. And that’s terrifying.

COLORLESS TSUKURU TAZAKI AND HIS YEARS OF PILGRIMAGE by Haruki Murakami – After reading many glowing reviews of Murakami’s books, and being pulled in by the spectacular covers, I purchased this one completely at random. Emotionally taut and depressing, yet vaguely optimistic, Murakami’s writing has quickly become a favourite. I’m really looking forward to reading more of his books.

Also, the Best Purchase Ever Made:

Posable William Shakespeare figure with a book of illustrated Shakespeare puns.

Best. Three. Euros. Ever. Spent.