Hi everyone! I’m Suzy Puttock, and I’m back in the third book in the Suzy P series, Suzy P, Forever Me. And, guess what, I’ve put my foot in it yet again… because I’ve made a promise I can’t keep. Kind of a big promise. To my entire school!
Why, oh why, did I say The Drifting would be performing at the Collinsbrooke fundraiser? As if trying to sort out that mess wasn’t enough, I also need to make sure Dad’s birthday bash isn’t a total disaster – especially as he’s already showing signs of a mid-life crisis…
Even with my best mates helping out, will I be able to pull off TWO parties of a lifetime?
It’s certainly not going to be easy…
Somehow these things just keep happening to me – if you’ve ever read the other Suzy P books you’ll understand. So here, without further ado, are some lessons I’ve learned in my life, which will hopefully stop you embarrassing yourself as much as I do on a daily basis. Cringe.
1. Think before you speak. Always engage brain before mouth. Don’t, for example, promise world famous bands at your school party, when it’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to make it happen. That would be a seriously stupid thing to do.
2. Never cartwheel near a canal.
3. Don’t run in public. Especially near football players – you could fall over, pull someone’s shorts down, and reveal their Bart Simpson pants to the whole school.
4. Avoid camping holidays like the plague.
5. Always make sure you’re fully dressed when a fire alarm goes off.
6. No good can come of a date in a seafood restaurant.
7. A good hair serum is a must if you have out-of-control-wild curly hair. This may take some time to find
8. Never been seen in public in a bridesmaid’s dress.
9. Avoid mean girls with camera phones.
10. Most problems can be helped with hot chocolate with marshmallows. And/or cake.
Suzy P, Forever Me; Suzy P and the Trouble With Three and Me, Suzy P by Karen Saunders are available to buy online and from all good bookshops. If you’d like to find out more about the books or the author, do visit Karen online at www.karensaunders.co.uk, ‘like’ her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/karensaunderswriter or follow Karen on Twitter @writingkaren. Suzy tweets too, @suzyputtock, so don’t forget to follow her, too!
Last week it was Bath Children’s Literature Festival, or Bath Kids Lit Fest, and, being lucky enough to live very close to it, I spent most of the week there.
The first day that I attended was Sunday and, before any of my events, I met up with Georgia from Books and Writers JNR and we spent nearly 45 minutes in Waterstones Bath (I love their YA section!). I bought The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater whilst Georgia bought Shipwrecked by Siobhan Curham. It was so nice to meet her, as we’ve spoken for quite a while now on Twitter and she’s always come across as really lovely – and she was!
The first event I went to was one with Karen Saunders and Mark Lowery. I briefly met Karen back in June so it was really nice to speak to her again, and I loved hearing about Mark’s book as it sounded so funny. I’m really
hoping I’ll be able to read it soon because I loved the parts he read out to us.
The other event in the evening was with David Levithan and I was really looking forward to it. I’d read Every Day a few weeks earlier in preparation and loved it. I met the lovely Charlie at the event who I’ve recently started talking to on Twitter after we both won copies of Every Day. Serendipity! It was really nice to hear David speak and read from Every Day. Afterwards, I got my books signed but accidently left Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares at home, which I was kicking myself for afterwards.
Monday night meant getting the chance to interview Holly Smale and Andy Robb before their event. Their event was the one I was looking forward to the most and I wasn’t disappointed at all. At the event, I also got to meet Jesse from Books 4 Teens and Katie who vlogs at kitkatscanread. I also got to hang out with Anya from An Awful Lot of Reading who is such a great person and we live very, very close to each other so the blogging vibes are obviously travelling our estate.
After a much needed rest on Tuesday and Wednesday, I got to interview Tanya Byrne on Thursday. I loved Heart-Shaped Bruise and she was such a lovely person too. I also got to meet Blondie at this event, who I’ve met again at another event too. She’s such an awesome person (you can see her talking at the end of the Tanya Byrne interview, with her brilliant hat)!
Friday meant an event with Malorie Blackman, which I went to with Becky. It was interesting to hear Malorie talk, especially as her plans for the UKYA conference had just been announced. The signing afterwards was so long and we were right at the back too. 🙁
Saturday was another crazy day. In the morning I went to a writing workshop with Siobhan Curham who was so lovely. I got to meet Sophie from A DayDreamer’s World which was nice. The workshop had a lot of stuff about blogging in it and I loved hearing about other peoples ideas for their own blogs. I really wish I had been to something like the workshop when I had just started blogging. After the workshop I stopped for lunch at Patisserie Valerie, which is heaven in a cake shop. I never thought I’d say it, but I couldn’t finish my cake. The next event was one with Alexia Casale and Janne Teller which I was very excited for. I got to meet Katerina briefly before the event when I was hanging around the production room upstairs. I really hope we’ll be able to meet again in the future now that she lives near, because she was so lovely, and I love talking to her on Twitter. I also met Marieke who is such an awesome person and it was so nice to meet her in person. I got to interview Alexia and, let me tell you, she is one of the loveliest people I have ever met and am ever likely to meet. I was blown away
by her kindness, and she was just amazing to meet. You all need to meet her!
Sunday was such a hectic day, but it was definitely the best out of the whole festival. After getting off to a rough start when one of the attendants made me sit right at the back, even though I had a ticket and was at the venue first, and after nearly falling down a massive drop, things turned awesome. I got to meet Debbie, Faye and Daphne, and see Katie again for the event with Sarah J. Maas. I’m a massive fan of the Throne of Glass books so it was great to hear Sarah talk. The signing queue was massive and we were sadly right at the end, which meant a mad rush to the Patrick Ness event right after. Daphne, having already met Sarah previously, saved us seats at the venue of the Patrick Ness event, but the rest of us still had to manically run across lots of streets, which caused lots of squeals and mad dashing. It’s something that I will always remember, and I really hope I get to meet these girls in the future because they’re just the best. Despite turning up late, we finally made it to the Patrick Ness event which was awesome and quite funny/weird at times. It’s one of those events that’s memorable because it had some very odd moments. Daphne sprinted to the signing queue so we were right up the front and I even have a special signed copy of More Than This, because Patrick signed it in the wrong place. That’s my claim to fame!
Bath Kids Lit Fest was so much fun and, writing this post, I realise how much I miss it. I met some incredible people and experienced so many amazing things. I need to send a million thank yous to Sarah, who made things extra special. She’s one of the awesomest people I know, so go follow her on Twitter if you don’t already! You’re really missing out! I also need to thank my parents for lugging me around everywhere. Also, thanks to my mum who finally worked out how to use the camera. No, Mum, you’re pressing the off button, not the button to take a picture….
Thank you to EVERYONE who was involved in the festival! I’m really hoping to see more of you at the festival next year! 😀
Letterbox Love is a UK based feature where book bloggers showcase the books that they received that week, be they e-books, paperbacks, hardbacks or any other format. It is hosted by Lynsey from Narratively Speaking.
This is a manic, packed haul today from last week which was Bath Kids Lit Fest. I’ve tried to put piles into some order, so I hope it’s clear!
Signed:
Noughts and Crosses and Checkmate by Malorie Blackman – I still need to read Checkmate but I loved Noughts and Crosses. I read it when I was just starting to seriously get into YA and so it means quite a lot to me.
Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! It is hosted by Tynga’s Reviews.
This week I have decided to film a vlog!
Books mentioned:
Me, Suzy P by Karen Saunders
Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind by Andy Robb
Downside Up by Hayley Long
Kite Spirit by Sita Brahmachari
The Bone Dragon by Alexia Casale
More Than This by Patrick Ness
Follow Me Down by Tanya Byrne
Noble Conflict by Malorie Blackman
Cruel Summer by James Dawson
Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano
The Oathbreaker’s Shadow by Amy McCulloch
I also got Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin but must have edited that part out without realising. Thank you, Macmillan Childrens Books!
What did you get this week? Link me to your own posts below!
