WASTED, DEATHWATCH AND A CRY FOR HELP

This week I've been around the UK doing school events for Wasted and I've had a lovely time answering superb questions from pupils who have really engaged with the ideas behind the book. When I set out to write it, I worried that because it was such an unusual book lots of people would find it TOO unusual, but if they have they haven't told me! (Long may that continue...)

Bizarrely, I also heard this week that my previous novel, Deathwatch, was the No 1 best-seller for the year June 2009 to June 2010 in the Edinburgh Children's Bookshop, outselling JK Rowling, Stephanie Meyer, Michael Morpurgo and everyone! I can hardly believe this and I'm wondering if the bookshop owner, Vanessa Robertson, might have made a mistake but she assures me she didn't. So, Vanessa wonders, can she do the same for Wasted? I hope so. She's certainly selling it well already.

But, I need your help, since if Wasted is to sell well it's going to need word of mouth success. It is actually achieving that at the moment, thanks to you and to some fabulously supportive friends. When a book is not a "highlight" title for its publishers,  the author has to work extra hard, and that's what I'm doing - nothing special: all authors have to do this, unless they're big commercial sellers with big marketing budgets. So, if you enjoyed Wasted, please do one thing for me: tell a librarian. Librarians are very important when it comes to spreading the word about books and without them authors are dead. There's a press release which you can give them to explain about the response the book has had - if you want one, let me know and I'll email you a copy.

Do I sound desperate? I am! I've had the most fabulous response to the book on Amazon, Twitter, blogs and in The Times, among other places, and I just want it to have the best chance. Until I know I've done my best for it, I can't get stuck into writing my next one.

It's an emotional roller-coaster being a writer!