If Only W&P Could Talk...

The title nicked and bodged from James Herriot's 1973 classic is not such a vain hope, oh no. We're running with the marvellous Sara O'Connor's idea to transform the very popular Ask a Publisher post into a podcast.  We have some wonderful publishers on board and two very-lucky-to-get interviewers - thank you Catherine Jacob and Rowena House!

I'm going to leave you guessing about the incredible interviewees we have lined up so far but just to say they're BIG. Instead I'm going to introduce you to our interviewers.

Catherine is a broadcast journalist and news presenter. Among others, she's worked for ITV News, Granada and Tyne Tees and is the youngest journalist ever to be awarded the Golden Nymph for Best News Story at the Monte Carlo film and TV awards. She's also a SCBWI member and gained an honorary mention in Undiscovered Voices 2014. Look out for Catherine's UV excerpt next month when we'll be congratulating the latest crop of  honorary mentions and giving them the opportunity to link to their oh-so-very-nearly there pieces.

Rowena is an ex-Reuters foreign correspondent in Europe and Africa, now a sub-editor specialising in international affairs. She turned to writing fiction for young people to meet a deep desire to tell gritty stories that are true in an emotional sense, without being constrained by ‘the facts'. She's a SCWBI member, on the MA in Writing for Young People at Bath Spa and has already made significant contribution to Words & Pictures, notably with her wonderful interview with David Almond last year.

In other news...

Last week's highlights:

• The lovely Sarah Lean was brought to us by Charlotte Comely including some brilliant tips from Sarah on how to find yours and your characters' 'voice'. Thank you Charlotte and Sarah.
• The Blog Break, brilliant as ever, Nick is so good at choosing. 
• Catriona's When Words Get Together is chock full of useful and entertaining tidbits on hyphens and hyphenated words
• We revived Trish Phillips' pop up post from the SCBWI Illustrators Blog 2010 as a prelude to next month's Pop Ups Part 2
• Congratulations Paula Warrington! Great to have another short story celebration!

And next week...
With the Blog Break and Celebrations, we welcome Sallyanne Sweeney to Words & Pictures with an Agent Confidential on Wednesday, we have a new featured illustrator on Friday and tomorrow it's a W&P feature surprise (schedule is the W&P motto but sometimes we have to work to the wall!) We also have some Network News from Southampton, yay!

I'm popping along to UV2012 Honorary Mention, Liz de Jager's launch this week then literary lunching this week with some lovely SCBWI friends the next day - exciting!

Hope your week is exciting too,

Jan Carr

---

Jan Carr is the editor of Words & Pictures. Her fiction is all over the place, she blogs occasionally and loves to write in magenta. You can contact her at editor@britishscbwi.org.