If you’ve been visiting our blog for a while, you’ll remember that I was shortlisted for a York Women Mean Business award.

At the time, the categories were related to what you did, and I’d been put in the ‘Business Support’ category. I was flattered, and immediately wrote off any idea of winning because the other women in the category were all so incredible.

Friday the 10th of November rolled around, and I had the privilege of being in a room with hundreds of female entrepreneurs. We had a wonderful evening of fun, dancing and celebrating each other.

When it came to time to announce the winners, the fabulous event organiser Tracy Burleigh, Business Consultant (and if you need someone to help you find your path or your buzz for your business then she’s the lass for you) said the panel of judges had decided to change the categories.

Faced with all the incredible talent in the YWMB group, they’d felt inadequate to judge on quality. So, Tracy did what she does, which is to find a way that works better. The panel agreed to new categories.

I ended up in ‘The why’. That was a group of entrepreneurs who had blown the judging panel away with their motivation for their work. My full answer to the ‘why’ question is long but it can be summarised in this extract:

I have found that what I love is writing, plain and simple. Truth, fiction, it really doesn’t matter. I love seeking out the stories and telling them for people.

When I was called up to stand beside the other ‘Why’ ladies, I knew I wasn’t going to win. There were amazing people like Andrea Morrison in the line-up and one of my favourite people, Emi Ralph.

Emi was the first friend I made after moving to York. She’s a remarkable person, full of passion and creativity. She has her own business, Mama Pixie, where she makes gorgeous things out of fabric. She’s also a doula, supporting women with their birth choices. She’s fabulous at both.

Emi won the award, and I completely agree with that decision. Had I won, I would have had the worst case of imposter syndrome! I was absolutely delighted to win a prize in the raffle though, a fabulous selection of re-usable kit from I am Reusable.

Friday was a great day for me. I signed a contract for a new associate role, which is going to open up some amazing opportunities to do what I love. I got to spend a wonderful evening in the company of like-minded women and I danced past midnight like no one was watching.

I certainly feel like a winner.

I’m absolutely delighted to announce that Alfie Slider vs the Shape Shifter is a Red Ribbon Winner in this year’s Wishing Shelf Book Awards!

‘Fast-paced and exciting. A Red Ribbon Winner and highly recommended.’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards

For these awards the book is read and reviewed by a qualified panel and the reason I love it? Qualified in this case means children. Here’s the feedback that I got…

Title: Alfie Slider vs The Shape Shifter

Author: Sarah Dixon

Star Rating: 4 Stars

Number of Readers: 16

Stats

Editing: 8/10
Writing Style: 9/10
Content: 8/10
Cover: 5/10

Of the 16 readers:
14 would read another book by this author.
5 thought the covers were good or excellent.
15 felt it was easy to follow.
12 would recommend them to another reader to try.
16 thought the opening chapter was very exciting.
14 felt this author understands what children enjoy reading.

Readers’ Comments

‘The opening chapter on the spaceship is sooooo exciting.’ Boy, aged 11

‘I didn’t like the cover or the blurb. But I read the story anyway and I liked it a lot. The first chapter is exciting. Then it drops off a bit. Then it is exciting all the way to the end. The writing style is easy to follow, and this author is very good at making the adventure really exciting. I will read other books by her.’ Boy, aged 12

‘I like sci-fi so this a perfect for me. And it was!!!!! Loved the story, loved the characters and I loved the ending. Not too long, not too short. Also, not too descriptive with plenty of speech. Boring cover though.’ Boy, aged 12

‘This is a gem of a book. Ignore the poor cover and badly-written blurb and delve in. This author can write. Her descriptive work is excellent, and she can balance speech and pacey adventure well. Tons of imagination too. Repackage it and this will do well.’ Publisher, aged 53

‘I liked many things. The chapters are not too long so I can read it before I go to sleep. Also, there’s so much happening on every page. I never get bored.’ Girl, aged 12

I was 1 point away from being a finalist, and all I can think is that by sending the PDF ‘Advanced Review Copy’ rather than a physical book or finished eBook, the cover didn’t look as amazing as I know it is. I haven’t met anyone who didn’t love the cover!

Rather than dwelling on that, though, I am just delighted with how the readers responded to the story. It’s a real boost now we’re approaching six months of publication to get such great feedback and to win this accolade. A boost to my confidence just as I needed one!

We’ve been going to York Unleashed since it started in 2014, but it was special last year. It was special because I’d just signed the contract to get Alfie Slider vs the Shape Shifter published and I realised that I could attend next year (now this year!) as a trader. Even a year out I was getting excited at the idea of being part of something that had come to be one of the highlights of our family year, so when I saw that there was a new comic-con event planned for York I got in touch straight away.

Paul and Bethany, the organisers, were very friendly and asked if I would be a bigger part of the event. I offered to do a reading and Q&A, and gave some thought about how best to display the stall. Then time went into fast forward and before I knew it, it was the day itself!

So there we are! As you can see I had the full support of the kids, my eldest tried to wear his Alfie cosplay but it was too hot insde so that ended up being part of the stall instead 🙂 They love comic-cons, but this one had a game area with a great group of people who taught them both how to play the Pokemon card game which kept them busy.

When the time came for my reading, I got up to the stage and introduced myself to two rows of empty chairs. As the con was pretty quiet I’d prepared myself for that. I’d made some notes so that I had things to say, even if noone asked questions. It wasn’t going to bother me!

And then I started speaking, and the PA sounded ridiculously loud. It started fine, people stopped what they were doing and turned to listen. I spoke and then started reading…and slowly the noise of the con re-asserted itself over the PA. I finished the first reading, asked if there were any questions – there weren’t. I babbled something about where the stall was and disappeared from the stage. Blergh!

So, that part didn’t really go how I had intended but the rest of the day was great fun. I got to enjoy all the other speakers and performers, and chat to some lovely people who came by the stall. I was helped by being next to Martin Ballantyne, an actor who had been in both Harry Potter and Batman. I learned from listening to how he interacted with people, and from the time people spent waiting to talk to him, looking at my stall!

I’m hoping that Yor-Kon comes back next year, I’d love to do it again.

A few weeks ago I met my friend and co-author Dan Crow to talk to him about Alfie, writing and more for his Yorkshire Writer Podcast. I had a lovely afternoon, even with getting locked in at our local Costa 🙂

You can listen to the interview here.

I once had to make small talk (aka torture) with a woman who I had not met before. On the surface, she and I were very different; she was impeccably elegant and poised, I was my usual roughly put together bundle of anxiety, but, as we talked we found common ground. We both had children, we both worked, we both loved York and the opportunities it afforded us.

Then she asked me what I did for work, and I said, ‘I’m a writer!’ and she looked at me as though I had just grown another head. ‘Oh, I could never do that,’ she said. ‘I have absolutely no imagination.’ Suddenly, I faced her across a void of infinite proportions. What did she mean, she had no imagination? How…what?

It’s incomprehensible to me, that other people don’t have brains that work like mine. A thousand browser windows open at once, and a relentless questioning (why? how?) that is usually answered with a gleeful, ‘Magic!’ or ‘Aliens!’ I love being alone with my brain, it’s endlessly entertaining, I never know what idea it’s going to come up with next. I never mind being kept waiting, or how long a journey takes, as long as I have my brain for company (which I usually do) then all is well with the world.

All this neural activity means that I can sit down and let the ideas pour out my fingers (only when they’re entirely ready, of course) and transmit my ideas via the internet, or the pages of a book or e-reader, to other people. I love being able to do that; being able to make other people as excited about a subject as I am myself. It’s a gift, in every sense of the word.

But I understand that not everyone has this natural ability, that for some people finding ideas is hard. Either they’ve never done it, or they haven’t done it for so long that they’re out of practice. I also worry, a lot, that all the creativity is being taught out of children via our school system and the obsession this government has with SATS and results and measuring things that really, truly, cannot be measured.

Faced with this problem, I (of course) had lots of ideas. I disregarded the ones involving magic and aliens, and concentrated on the more practical ones. So, coming soon, will be a series of posts about writing starting with the most basic building block – finding something to write about.

Watch this space 🙂

 

Last year, back when I was just approving the internal proofs and finalising the cover design, I messaged the two local independent bookshops to see if they’d be interested in me coming in for a book signing. One of them replied to say they didn’t have space for author events, the other asked me to pop down to talk it over.

That was the first time I set foot in Readwell and Wright, a gem of a bookstore in the bustling market town of Pocklington. Nic was welcoming and enthusiastic, we had a cuppa together and made plans for me to do a book signing in the Easter holidays. Back then, that seemed like such a long time away!

 That day arrived last week. The weather forecast threatened rain and it was certainly blustery enough, but I packed my trolley with books, bookmarks and that all-important signing pen and hopped on the first of two buses that took me from home to Pocklington.

I made it to York station with plenty of time to space at which point EYMS tested my nerves to breaking point; the bus to Pocklington was over 10 minutes late and the driver took a break. I’d planned the journey to give me an hour to grab some lunch before the signing but in the end I stepped over the threshold and into Readwell & Wright a perfect (for me) half an hour early.

Nic had set me up a lovely little signing station, we set out some books and made a cuppa then sat back to chat while we waited for people to come. I then whiled away a lovely two hours; customers came and went, I met some great children and their parents and we talked about Sci Fi, books, writing and more. I read a couple of chapters and, most importantly for me, sold a book to every family I spoke to.

It was a slightly surreal experience, to suddenly be (in a very small way) a celebrity. I felt that I was representing not just myself, and Alfie, but the joy of reading in general. A few people asked to take pictures of me with their kids, meeting me has become part of their holiday snaps! I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that.

I think perhaps my favourite moment was when a young lad called Jonah started reading; he was sat with nose firmly in book and had to be told to put it down while he was walking along the street. Although perhaps it was when Nic’s son came and said, ‘I’ve just seen someone with one of your books in the bank!’ Or the way the kids eyes lit up when I added a special space doodle, or…yes, lots of lovely moments to choose from.

I really loved being in the shop, even when customers hadn’t come in to see me. Spending time in bookshops is a favourite thing, anyway, and Readwell and Wright is a lovely example. Nic has a real passion for books, and reading, and that came over in her customer care. It’s something you just don’t get online or from the big, chain retailers. The very personal touch.

And then, (another cup of tea later!) it was all over. I packed my trolled (thankfully much lighter on the way home!) and wandered down to the bus stop to go back home. The sun was shining, and I’d just fulfilled a lifetime’s ambition. Days don’t get much better than that, really.

Missed the book signing? Check out what other events I’m part of or order your signed copy online!

Back when I was 8-years-old and my first ever piece of writing was published (My Cat, a poem that was included in the Anthology Poems by the Children and People of Bracknell), I imagined that life as a writer was pretty cushy. You wrote an amazing book, someone paid you a fortune for the privilege of publishing it, and then you flounced around the place being lauded and cherished for your brilliance. Turns out, real life isn’t like that.

Alfie Slider vs the Shape Shifter was published in January, and although I’ve had payment for the direct sales I’ve made, I won’t get any royalties for copies that were bought from Amazon, Kobo, iBooks or through ‘real’ bookshops until later this month. In fact, at the moment, I don’t know how many copies I’ve sold.

I knew that sales alone weren’t going to generate me an income, so I started contacting schools, libraries and other such places to see if they’d like me to go and visit; but of course the schedules for those kinds of things are planned well in advance so, while people are interested, they won’t be able to slot me in until next year, or later.

My motto has always been: Start where you are, use what you’ve got, do what you can. Being a qualified fundraising consultant as well as a writer, I wondered if perhaps I could get some grant money, so that I could offer schools free author visits, rather than tying up their budgets. Research is currently underway on that one, but watch this space.

In the meantime, I am using my skills to earn money in other ways – I’ve edited work for other writers, and I offer a critiquing service too. I’m writing blog posts for a whole range of freelance clients, mostly through copy-writing portals, but I’ve also had some direct approaches; and today I did a test piece for a transcription service. That work involves listening to audio recordings of meetings and writing them up, sometimes verbatim and other times giving them a bit of the old polish so they read more naturally.

These are the things that will keep the wolf from the door (and hopefully mean I can be there at school drop off and pick up every day for my kids) until someone finally realises my genius, and starts lauding, cherishing and paying me squillions to do what I love.

Fingers crossed 🙂