The Branford Boase Award was set up to reward the most promising new writers and their editors, as well as to reward excellence in writing and in publishing. The Award is made annually to the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist. You can read the full list and find out more here.
Beetle Boy has been selected for the longlist of twenty wonderful titles, and I'm delighted about this because it gives me an opportunity to celebrate the work of my incredible editors. Let me introduce you to them. They help me make the Beetle Trilogy the best it can be.
My senior editor is Barry Cunningham OBE. He's famous for discovering, publishing and editing J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books. He's also the man that read the Beetle Boy manuscript and offered me a publishing deal before I had an agent. I take all my hats off to this man.
Rachel Leyshon
Rachel Leyshon is the Editorial Director at Chicken House and the editor who has the most hands on dealings with editing my books, taking me through copy edits, proof edits and a million other tiny details. She's the one who listens to my groans and talks me through my tangles and I love her for that. She's calm, clever and a joy to work with.