News, etc.

[Julie Bertagna]

A few bits of news:

*ZENITH paperback is out in the UK in February 2008, but copies will probably appear in bookshops end January, so if you want to use up any Christmas book tokens....

It will be Waterstone's Book of the Month for February which is great.

*EXODUS will be out in the US April 2008, published by Walker Books.

*Some new posts up on my Spark Gap blog on the website and there's a new green EarthSpace page about to go up. It's not yet on the main site but you can access it from the Spark Gap's links sidebar (www.juliebertagna.com)

EarthSpace is for everyone who writes to me, worried about the future, and for all the schools who contact me after reading Exodus and Zenith. This will be a growing resource - LOTS more to go on it.

And there will soon be MySpace pages for Mara and Fox and other characters. (Did I already say that somewhere? I forget.)

More later....

[Julie Bertagna]

Nice to start the week with good news... just heard that ZENITH has been nominated for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal 2008.

All my YA novels have been nominated, including Exodus, so I know not to hold my breath about the shortlist. It's hard enough to get nominated - there are many thousands of novels published for young readers in the UK alone. But what is great about a nomination is that schools all over the UK 'shadow' the official awards process, so many more people hear about and read your book - and lots of other books. The Carnegie is great for readers and writers - and is named after the philanthropist and founder of thousands of free libraries, Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), a fellow Scot - so I'm delighted.

[Teresa Edgerton]

Congratulations, Julie!

[Mark Robson]

Many congrats, Julie. Feels good, doesn't it? That said, you already made a major shortlist with Exodus, so I'm sure you're familiar with the warm fuzzy glow by now. I, on the other hand, am still in a state of shock at finding one of my books on that list!

[Julie Bertagna]

Hello Teresa and Mark!

That's very kind of you both.

Teresa, your forum is inspirational. I love it. I know I haven't posted but I do enjoy dropping in for a read.... some great topics and advice for any writer at any stage.

Mark, belated congratulations! I only just caught a glimpse of the Carnegie nominations list this morning so didn't know you were there too. Also belatedly (just because I'm swamped in stuff) I have now read your first two Imperial books and really enjoyed them. Fascinating, as I'm mid-trilogy, to see how you developed your world and the story....that is much too brief a comment, more later, but you have now solved a Christmas present dilemma for some young people I know.

As for the Whitbread, I was pretty measured about the whole thing but the run up to it turned out to be so palpitatingly stressful with much more attention than I ever expected, it kind of put me off being on a shortlist! If there ever is a next time I will be doing lots of deep breathing and yoga....

[Julie Bertagna]

Lots and lots of news, which I haven't had time to post. But for now, a bit of news about two nice friends of mine, who both happen to be very good writers.

Jamie Jauncey and Catherine MacPhail write for teenagers/ young adults and are doing an Avron course at Moniack Mhor in March. Knowing them both, the course is sure to be fantastic. (I'd love to go myself if I wasn't so busy, but if I was starting out thinking about or beginning to write for children and young readers, I'd have my name down like a shot. There are still places, so for anyone who would like to get writing in a wonderful setting with a couple of Scotland's best writers for young people, here are the details:


Award-winning teen novelist Cathy Macphail and James Jauncey are co-tutoring an Arvon Foundation course, Writing for Young Adults, at Moniack Mhor, March 31-April 5. If you are interested in coming, contact Moniack Mhor (01463 741675) moniackmhor@arvonfoundation.org asap. Cathy and Jamie have a really cracking programme lined up....

Also see James Jauncey

[writergirl12]

Belated congratulations! That is very exciting!
And that class by your friends sounds very cool! Too bad I don't live in Scotland...oh well.
I have a question, also. I just finished reading Exodus (It was fantastic! Definitely in my top 5 books now! I just did a book report on it, actually.), and was wondering when Zenith is going to come out in the US?
I'm waiting in suspense now. I have to read Zenith before I break down and go read a spoiler summary online! Just kidding! Sort of...
But I do hope it comes out in the US soon. I've looked around the web but haven't found any info [about the US release date].

[woolleywrld]

I think it should be coming out next Spring. And then Aurora will come out a year after that. But if you can't wait that long you could probably find copies of it on Amazon.com or something similar. I just happened to know when it was coming out in Scotland so I ordered a copy in advance!

[woolleywrld]

Actually, here it is!

Amazon.com: Zenith: Julie Bertagna: Books

[writergirl12]

Thanks a ton, woolleywrld!