New York, Part 2 and COMPETITION!

Okay, where were we? Yes, Homeland Security. So, eventually dropped off at Essex House. C'est magnifique! Chandeliers, marble lobby, porters and, OMG, a view over Central Park!
I'm so overcome with excitement I fall asleep.
Thursday morning it all kicks off with a video interview. I fumble my lines, sweat profusely under the glaring lamps and forget everything I know about my book. The camera man is momentarily blinded by the light off my bald patch. With much patience something is cobbled together. Apparently it'll be appearing at the Disney Parks. Be afraid, very afraid. Lunch is with my editor of awesomeness, Ari. I meet the gang and Disney Hyperion and start embellishing my tale of detainment. There may be a book in this at some point. Everyone is apologetic on behalf of their government so I decide not to blame all of America. The view is suicidally high (but truly amazing) from their offices and their windows a health and safety nightmare. We go for a legendary publsiher lunch and the steak keeps me full for the rest of the week.
Dinner is a BBQ and I'm stuffed after the starters, and with trousers straining I'm forced up onto the stage amongst Times bestsellers (hiya Cinda!) and wards winners (hiya Mo!) and basically surrounded by extraordinary talent. I manage my five minutes without tears, swearing (much) and a great big thank you to Immigration for inspiring my next project: 100 Days in Gauntanamo.
So bloated now I need a bellywheel I'm taken back to the hotel and stay up all night due to overexcitement. I watch 'Blades of Glory'.
Right, Friday is the BEA and that'll be part of my next blog. One of the key things about the BEA is the freebies, namely books and books and more books. I have City, the new one by China Meiville. Fire, the prequel to Graceling. Maze Runner, Airhead, Ink Exchange, Demon King, etc. THEY ARE YOURS! Some are signed, some aren't. Some are out, others you won't see on the shelves for quite some time yet, so this is your chance to get in way early. Some I will read first then post (I'm make sure I don't bend the spine too much).
Just email me at info(at)sarwatchadda(dot)com with your address and I will randomly pick one out of the crate and send it to you. Can't say fairer than that, can I? I will post to foreign lands, within reason. Once posted I'll delete your address, obviously.
For those who've had advanced warning via the newsletter, I'm sorry but I gave Catching Fire away already! I know it was the one EVERYONE wanted, but it went to a worthy cause, if that's any comfort. Also, don't enter twice. One book per person the judge's decision is final, blah blah.

New York, Part 1

Just back from my first trip to New York, courtesy of Disney-Hyperion, my US publishers.
So much has happened at the Book Expo America that I'll be dividing it up over a few blogs, with a competition at the end, depending on when my crate arrives, so bear with me for that.
However, this blog is not directly concerned with with the BEA, but with my encounter with Homeland Security...
Anyway, after a grueling eight hour flight where I passed the time watching the last two Harry Potter movies I was quite looking forward to going to my hotel and having a sleep, then maybe explore Manhattan a bit and maybe find a cinema showing Terminator: Salvation. Picture this scene...
Lady at Passport Control: Passport please.
Me: Here you go.
LaPC: What's the purpose of your visit? Business or pleasure?
Me: Business. I'm a children's author and my publisher, DISNEY, has invited me here.
LaPC: Not good enough. You look highly suspect and I think are a danger to the security of the free world. Escort! (okay, she didn't really say that but what followed next led me to believe she was thinking it REALLY hard).
Enter man with a gun.
MwaG: Follow me and don't make any sudden moves.
Me:Errr...
What follows next is me waiting anxiously in a large empty hall surrounded with many more Men with Guns. I decide to act calm and natural. I get out a book to read. It has an exploding airplane on the front cover (see above). With horror I realise I have underlined paragraphs (I always do that with Cussler books since he's been a big influence on my style). I slowly slip the book back in my bag.
Eventually a Woman with a Gun turns up.
WwaG: Purpose of visit?
Me: My publisher, DISNEY, you know DISNEY? Like, the most patriotic employer in America? They'll vouch for me, honestly! Please don't imprison me! (Okay, I didn't actually say that, but was thinking it REALLY hard).
WwaG: Have you traveled to any of the following countries? Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan, Sudan?
Me: Er...yes?
WmaG looks at me like she's sizing me up for a jump suit. I try and explain I look really awful in orange. MwaG starts checking the latest weather at Gauntanamo. I'm starting to feel quite flustered.
WwaG: Do you have any relatives in the US?
Me: Er...yes?
WwaG: Now this relative wouldn't be the one who recently had dinner with the President of Iran?
Me: Er...yes?
WwaG concludes I'm probably a Large in jump suits. They're now checking for the next flight to Cuba. Seriously, orange isn't good for me. Doesn't that count for something?
Eventually I name-drop the entire Disney Hyperion staff list in my increasingly desperate attempt to persuade WwaG I am legit. So, if at some point in the future their offices should be raided by a SEAL team, I apologise now in advance. The WwaG takes down a lot of details, then smiles and bids me "Have a nice day". I am ridiculously grateful. I'm only stopped once more before finally leaving the airport to discover the chauffeur has called the publishers telling them I was a 'no show' so they think I've missed my flight. Phonecalls are flying back and forth across the Atlantic to find out where the hell I am.
I have been in the US two hours.
There's more on the following:
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/87052-british-author-detained-on-way-to-bea.html

Writing Jam! Maybe even marmalade!

Do you want to be a writer? Dreamed of having a line of books with your name up on the shelves? To be immortailized in print?
No? Well don't bother reading further and come back next week when I'll move onto a new topic, probably the new Terminator movie.
Anyway, for those still with me there's a small workshop on writing to be held by yours truly on Saturday 20th June at Herne Hill, South London.
It's at the old Apollo video shop which, for the month of June will transform into an arts venue with cinema, music, artwork and all sorts of weird and wonderful things.
Now, rather than me decide what we should do, it's up to you. It'll be open for 11+, so kids are more than welcome. The only limit is that it'll be focused on Writing for Children, and we'll be looking at basic principles, plotting, characterization, scene design or something similar. That's my background (well that and engineering but I'm not sure who'd take me up on running an engineering class) and I want it to be as interactive as possible, so bring pens and paper.
To get the ball rolling, here's my suggestions:
1. Scene writing. What is a scene, how does it work? Would you recognise one if it ran you over?
2. Characterization. Designing your story's hero or heroine and we'll discuss what makes a character work. This will overlap with...
3. Plotting a story. We'll look at the Hero's Journey and the common events that occur in most classical stories. Unless they're written by David Lynch.
It's a free event, and I'll blog the specific times and any further info closer to the day, but it'll be in the afternoon.
So, if you have any suggestions or ideas, do drop me a comment. This should be a laugh!

Who is Billi SanGreal?

I've been thinking about the extent a fictional character grows into life, so thought I'd share my musings, not quite sure where they'll lead.
Billi's fifteen, and recently I established her birthday being 15th January. So she was born in 1994.
Her mother was murdered when she was five, in 1999, and since then she's been brought up by her father.
She's not that academic, that's for sure. Since the age of ten she's lived a dual life, normal school-kid during the day, Templar squire at night. Her skills are swordplay, occult lore and ancient languages. These skills are not much in demand in the 21st Century marketplace.
What's she want to be? That's the question? What future does she want for herself, and what future will be decided for her by fate? As much as we like to believe we can create our own opportunities, we know that's not true. Our circumstances, our status and our environment have a huge influence on who we are and who we'll be.
For more years than I care to remember, I was trapped in a profession I'd fallen into, not picked, but had planned for me by others.
You're either seen as a science/maths/engineering type of person, or an arts orientated person. People get confused when you say you want to be both. I went to a purely technological university. No English students, no languauge students, no arts students AT ALL. Those things didn't exist in my world.
Which is a terrible shame.
People will give you all sorts of advice about what you should be and what's good for you. They all mean well. They want you to be successful, to be happy.
But do they know about your deepest dreams? Do they live in your skin and feel how your heart beats faster when you see your favourite actor, or singer, or when a brand new sports car is unveiled on Top Gear?
The things that quicken your pulse, that's your life beating away, telling you what you really want. It's the drum-beat of passion, of desire, of love.
Listen to it. When all the rest of the noise is exams, is university choices, is career paths, listen to that drum-beat. Hey, it may be too quiet to hear right now, or you might not know what it is. It's taken me twenty years to understand it, and there are many friends who still can't hear their own.
Listen.