This week we are recognising the achievements of SCBWI member, Paula Warrington, and hear how she is inspiring others to strive for their literary dreams. Paula has written for children on and off for many years and celebrates today as her short story is published in Timelines Anthology.
The brief was to write a short story with an historical setting, suitable for a 10-14-year-old audience. Join us in celebration as we applaud Paula’s short story titled ‘Thicker than Water,’ which was one of 17 stories chosen for the first edition of Timelines Anthology; an historical collection of short stories for young teenagers.
Paula tells us a little more about her story;
“In August 1848 a local newspaper, ‘The Leicester Chronicle’, reported a drunken riot in which policeman Sgt. Frank Tarratt was injured. I knew that Sgt. Tarratt had six children. What if one of them had been caught up in the rioting too? That was the starting point for my story. My protagonist is Charlie Tarratt, a 13-year-old with mixed feelings about growing up as a bobby's son, a knack for getting into trouble, and a hankering to play detective."
The Anthology launched at The Manchester Children’s Book Festival in October 2013, where Paula gave her first book reading in the company of her MA Creative Writing classmates, inspiring others to hold on tight to their dreams. What an experience!
Paula says;
“We were all a little nervous about reading at the launch but the day went well and we really enjoyed hearing one another's stories. The afternoon went by so quickly... I hope we'll get to do it all over again one day soon!”
Paula lives in Leicestershire (as her particular patch of Mercia is now known) and finds inspiration in traces of the past still visible in the towns and countryside around her. As a child she enjoyed Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series, and would be thrilled if she could convey an equally strong sense of place in her own work. She hopes to have her first full length novel, a tale set in ninth-century Mercia, completed by September 2014.
...so watch this space!
Clare Welsh joined SCBWI in Feburary 2013 after her marriage to her lovely husband James was under threat from constant chunterings, questions and reading aloud over the football. She is thoroughly enjoying all that SCBWI has to offer, including helping Tania celebrating SCBWI successes as part of the Words & Pictures editorial team, and is pleased that her marriage is still firmly intact.
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