I'm so glad you liked the book. I'm looking forward to coming to your school too. If the rest of the week is anything like today, I think it's going to be loads of fun. See you there!

This message arrived on 4th October from Chelsea

hi sarah i have been reading about your books/life it is all so interesting you are coming to visit my school on monday the 5th october and i'm very excited about it.

Hi Chelsea

I'm looking forward to the visiting your school too - are you at St Mary's in Lurgan, or Lurgan Junior High? Either way, I'll see you tomorrow!

This message from Kate arrived on 3rd October

'The Trap' was utterly fantastic!

The ending completely caught me by surprise. WOW!

Thanks Kate! I'm glad you liked it.

I got these messages on 2nd October

The forbidden trap is so good my eyes have been glued to the page all day from period to period at school. Also im from ljhs from Matthew

Hi Matthew

I hope you didn't get in to trouble for reading in all your lessons! See you Monday

no no. u c it was always before class.also even this morning at after 8 o'clock all i could think about was reading thr book again

Oh, that's okay then!

see u there

love laura

Thank you to Laura and everyone at Lurgan Junior High for all these messages. My website has never had so many hits before!

This message arrived in the evening on the 1st October

hey my name is sarah and i write stories i really want to be an author im reading the trap now it is really interesting so far you are coming to my school on monday morning and i want to ask you plenty questions im going to buy some books from you im so excited because your coming i just wanted to ask how did you come up with such brilliant ideas usually i give up cause i always cant come up with ideas all my stories are left unfisnished what do you think i should do from sarah xoxo

Hi Sarah

I find writing really hard sometimes too. I make myself write something, even on days when I really don't feel like it, and on those days it's really hard work but on other days I can hardly type fast enough to keep up with my ideas. I think you just have to keep at it. Usually when I start a book I pretty much know how it's going to end, but I'm not sure about the whole journey to get from the begining to the end, and sometimes the end changes on the way (does that make sense?). I can't always tell when I read back over it which bits came easily and which where like getting blood from a stone and sometimes what I write on the 'blood from a stone' days turns out to be the best bits. Keep going - I hope I get to read your books someday :-)

It's the 1st of October, and I've had heaps more messages from pupils at Lurgan Junior High School:

cant wait to u come my school ljhs from Jackson

I'm looking forward to it!

when i looked at the trap i thought it was going to be boring but it was brilliant !!!! im from ljhs and comming to see you on monday the 5th october from Craig

It's funny how books are sometimes much different from what you imagine from looking at the title or the cover - I'm glad you liked The Trap better than you thought you would!

When i looked at your books they looked really good and intresting =] . I am so sorry to here about ur rat =[ well i should see u on monday bye for now from Lisa

i have never read your books but i think they would be good. i am so sorry abut your rat from Josh

Yeah, it was sad when Gomer died - still he was a pretty old rat.

I am in the middle of an english homework and i was just wondering how you come up with such good ideas and descriptions of characters? From Amy

It's hard sometimes coming up with ideas. I read lots and watch TV and movies, so sometimes I get ideas from that (or sometimes from true stories on the news).

Im from ljhs and your coming to us on monday i want to buy one of your books cant wait ! What one is your fave out of the two you wrote?

I don't know which I like best out of those two - I like different things about each. I think my favourite book that I've written is one that hasn't been published yet (but hopefully will be soon) called Blood and Snow.

Next week is the Children's Books Ireland Festival, and I'll be visiting ten different schools across Northern Ireland during the week. This message came on 30th September from Stefan

looking forward to seeing you on monday- by the way im an ljhs pupil. Ive got a good question for you on monday

Hi Stefan,

I think it's great when school kids have questions ready for me - it's more interesting answering questions than me just bletheing on! Is is a hard question, Stefan? Should I be worried?

I was at an event in England in June with three other writers and we were all asked lots of questions. The only one that stumped me was 'What question do you hate to be asked?' It's kind of ironic that I couldn't answer that one! The other writers gave good answers though, and I though, oh yeah, I should have said that, so I figure I'm ready for anything now!

Another message come in on 30th September, this one is from Louise

Hi I love the start of your book (Forbidden room) and I am going to buy it when you come to my school Lurgan Junior High School.

I think you have good taste in TV programs. I watch Bones Every Thursday night do you think booth and Bones are perfect for each other!

Hi Louise,

Bones and Booth really do balance each other out don't they? They're pretty sweet together too (and sometime really annoying!). We're watching Bones on DVD and we've just started season four, so we haven't caught up with the TV yet. We have to be careful when flicking channels in case we see bits of episodes that we haven't seen yet and they give stuff away.

This message from Matthew arrived on 30th September

I have recently been reading the forbidden room it is brilliant!!!!

Hi Matthew

Wow, four exclaimation marks! Cool. I'm glad you're liking it so far!

This message also arrived from Laura on 30th September (I'm pretty sure it's a different Laura to the Laura below)

Hi i cant wait until you come to my school. I am about to read the forbidden room. Cant wait to see you!!!!

Hi Laura,

I'm really looking forward to all visiting all the school's next week. It'll be the most school visits I've ever done in a week so I hope I don't lose my voice! I hope you like The Forbidden Room.

This message arrived from Laura on 30th September

Hi i loved the first page of the forbidden room (that is all i have read) hope to finish it love laura

Hi Laura!

I'm glad you liked the first page - I tried to make the first page exciting so people would want to read on. I hope you do read the rest and I hope you enjoy it!

Hi i really cant wait to meet you. i have a few questions for you when you come to Lurgan Junior High School on Monday. See you then love laura xx

I got this message on the 11th September from Blake

Hey i loved The Trap and was wondering if you were going to bring out anymore books of its kind. It was truely great, you worded it well.

your no.1 fan Blake

Thanks Blake! I'm so glad you liked The Trap - have you read The Forbidden Room? As to when I'll be bringing out new books, I wish I knew! My publishers, Faber, dropped me after they published The Trap, and even though I've finished two books and started another since then, I still don't have a publisher for any of them.

The books I've written since The Trap are:

Blood and Snow - a murder mystery set in Iceland about a girl who might have murdered someone, but all she can remember is a scene with blood spattering out over snow. A police pyschiatrist gets her to gradually remember things from her life until she finally remembers the murder and we find out what really happened.

Wild Thing - a book set partly in the 1980s and partly in the modern day and partly in England and partly in the African country Gabon. It's again a mystery with attempted murder and bullying.

Ruby Dead - this is the book I'm working on at the moment. It's about a girl called Ruby who's dead. She had a baby boy just before she died and her 'spirit' is staying on earth and following him about. It's a murder mystery again, and also one of the characters from my first book, Stephen Holland (from The Forbidden Room) is going to be in it so all the people who wanted to know what would happen to him after the end of that book will find out!

I have an agent (called Simon Trewin) who people seem to think is a really good agent, so I'm hoping he will find me a new publisher, although so far he hasn't.

During the first week in October the Children's Books Ireland festival will be taking place, and I'll be visiting different schools around Northern Ireland all week. This message came on 7th Sept from Monica.

Looking forward to meeting you with our Year 9 Class in October at St Mary's in Downpatrick

Hi Monica,

I love doing school visits, and I'm pretty excited about the Children's Books Ireland festival - it'll be the most school visits I've ever done in a week (ten different schools, I think!)

I'll try to remember to say hello to you when I'm at St Mary's in Downpatrick.

See you soon!

It's 2nd September now (yeah, the kids are back at school!) and Michaela emailed to tell me her prize draw book (The Trap) arrived.

Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you.

I GOT IT

I'm so excited thanks so much im so happy.

now i can show my teacher and my other classmates!

my dad told me that i got a package and i looked and i ripped it open and i rushed to the computer to write this email.

from

Michaela (excited)

p.s

THANKS

Cool, glad you got it Michaela!

Michaela sent another message on 2nd Sept

I have started reading. the prologue is really mysteryous.

Did u know that im a type 1 diabetic and have been for 1 year and 3 months. and i am on a pump (dont know if you've heard of it just type insulin pump into google and you'll get an idea) that was my other birthday prezzie from my parents.

from

michaela

I didn't know that Michaela! I know that I messed up some of the details about being diabetic in The Trap - I read loads about it, and my mum is diabetic (type two) but I still managed to get some things wrong. A girl called Heather wrote to me because she is a diabetic too and she was pretty annoyed at me for the things I got wrong (you can scroll down and read her message.) I apologised and she was pretty cool about it though. I hope my mistakes don't annoy you too much.

I emailed Michaela to tell her she'd won the free book, and she sent me her address (in Australia!) as well as a couple more messages. (25th August)

It's morning here - what's the time difference with Australia? You're way ahead of us, aren't you. Hold on, I'll check on google......Okay, Melbourne is ten hours ahead of GMT, so if it's twenty past eleven am here, it must be twenty past nine at night there? Cool.

I find coming up with good ideas really difficult - everything good has already been done! Sometimes I get ideas from stories on the news (real life is often stranger than fiction) or from other books I read or movies I watch (see what I wrote to answer Alex's question below.)

Hey,

Finished the book - fantastic. Our group gave the talk on you. Chapter 15 was my favourite. Epilogue was funny. LOL

Seeya

Michaela

I'm glad you liked the book. I had to rush off and find a copy to see what happened in chapter 15 - I like that bit too. My favourite bit is just before that when the bus driver holds up Mandy's diary and suddenly everyone knows that Jenny knows what's going on and you're thinking (hopefully) oh no what's going to happen next!

This message arrived on 25th August from Josephine

Hi Joey,

Fluffy the snake has never bitten me, although he did lash out at my son Christy one day. His teeth are really tiny though, so his bite didn't even leave a mark, but still both me and Christy are a bit scared of him now. I can pick him up if I wear rubber gloves though, because his mouth is so small you wouldn't feel it though the gloves if he did bite.

Becca's rats are lovely (or rat now, since one died) One of them had an ear infection, and I had to take him to the vet every day for a week and during that time I got really attached to him - he would climb up onto my shoulder and kiss my ear. He was very kissy - he never bit. The other rat was a bit of a bully, and used to fight nice rat but then nice rat died :-( Bully rat has got nicer now though - I think he misses nice rat and is more chilled now that he's quite an elderly rodent.)

I'm glad you like my books - I'd love to visit Australia - you should tell everyone to buy my books and then if they get popular enough in Australia maybe I'll get to come over and do a book signing tour! (Michaela sent me her address because she won the free book draw and she's in Australia. I'm assuming you're from the same school - maybe you're not and you're wondering why I'm going on about Australia?)

Wow, lots of messages today (25th August). This one's from Alex

hey i'm alex and i'm at skool with micheala and this week we hav to make a speech about a specific part of ur profile(author's profile from last week) and i hav to do ur inspirations and i no you just answered it but like why were they your inspirations and how did they help you with your writing(sorry to be a pain) btw the book;s really good)

Boy - you girls are making me work hard. Well, I love to read, I probably read on average two new books a week, and have done pretty much all my life, so lots of writers influence me. There are some, like the ones I already mentioned (Madeleine L'Engle and C.S. Lewis) and others Like Phillip Pullman, or Markus Zusak or Eoin Colfer who I aspire to be as good as one day, then there are others (some that I enjoyed reading, and other that I didn't so much) that made me think I could write as well as them and inspired me to give it a go. I try not to write in the style of anyone else, or copy plots, but quite often small things in books I read like something a character says or a situation will spark my imagination and I'll start there but go off on a tangent and end up with a totally different plot. (Markus Zusak's books, The Book Thief and I Am The Messenger were so good they almost made me want to give up because I could never write as well as that.)

Michaela sent me this message on 19th August

Hello in school for lit circles we are reading your book the forbidden room and for homework we have to do an author profile on you and i was wanting to ask a question.

Who was your inspiration?

Please RSVP ASAP!

Hi Michaela,

Thanks for your message.

I hope you enjoy The Forbidden Room. As to your question, who was my inspiration - hmmm… I have loved so many books by so many authors in my life that it's really hard to pick one - maybe the American writer, Madeleine L'Engle inspired me, especially her book 'A Wrinkle in Time' I read that book so many times when I was a teenager, and still do from time to time. Also CS Lewis - the Narnia books as well as the adult fantasy books that he wrote. Those are writers that I aspire to be as good as, although in a way it was books that I didn't think were so good that inspired me to write my own - when my kids were little and I used to read to them at bedtime, sometimes I wondered how the books I was reading them ever got published and I thought 'I could write better than this' so in a sense those books inspired me to write (I'll not say which books I thought were bad because the people who wrote them might read this and be upset (or come after me!)

Isnt it ironic the girls in 6 Red are reading a 'wrinkle in time' and they all love it. Thanks for that. My friend was on your website and saw my comment and she's like omg that girl is reading 'the forbidden room to isnt that strange' then she looked at the name and it was moi.

That is funny - whoever it is who chooses the books for you lit circles obviously has good taste! Can I ask where you're from? 'Cause the schools here in the UK are not back from the summer holidays until next week (at least most of them) so I'm guessing you're from somewhere exotic - Australia or New Zealand maybe? I get excited when I get messages from people far away!

This message from Jodie arrived on the 23rd June

Hi Sarah,

I am writing to tell you that I have read 'The Curious Incident of the dog in the night time' It is a brilliant book because I can relate to it as I have Aspergers. I think your newest book, 'The Trap is brilliant' because the introduction is so gripping!

Thank you,

Jodie

Hi Jodie,

I've read 'The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Nightime' as well. I really enjoyed it and it was of interest to me as well because one of my nephews has Aspergers. I'm glad you liked 'The Trap'. I tried to make the begining very exciting because I think people might flick through the first couple of pages in a book shop, and if they think it's exciting they might be more likely to buy it! Also, when I send my manuscript to publishers, I think if they're not gripped by the first couple of pages, they might not bother to read any more.

PS Jodie, I tried to send you an email thanking you for your message, but it bounced back - could you have typed in your email address wrongly?

I took a writing workshop in Antrim Library on 10th June, and this message from one of the young people at the workshop arrived a couple of days later.

hi sarah its me shannon from the creative writing class in antrim I just wanted to say if u never get blood and snow published mail me the manuscript.

Hi Shannon, It was nice to meet you again (Shannon was at a school visit I did earlier this year as well). At the workshop someone asked me if I would consider self publishing (sometimes called vanity press) which means paying a company to print books from my manuscript. It's tempting because I'd really like to have something to show all the people who ask me when the next book is coming out. I'd really love people to be able to read it because I am quite proud of how it turned out. I still think it would be better to wait for a while at least and hope that a 'proper' publisher takes it on instead. Hopefully they will, and then everyone would be able to read it and I wouldn't have to pay! If nothing happens for a while thought, I'll have to think about other options. I'll keep your address, Shannon, so you never know.

A new message from Fong arrived on 8th June. My email program tried to translate some bits from Korean, so I'm guessing that Fong is Korean - how cool is that?

Welcome, would you write more stories for teenagers? It would be great if you do! I like reading books so much!

Hi Fong,

I would like to keep writing for teenagers for a long time, although I'd like to write for adults sometime as well. I have two finished teen books, and I've started another, but I'm having trouble finding a publisher for them. I think I need to wait until the economy gets better and publishers have enough money to take on new people. I really hope that happens soon!

Oh, Fong replied:

thx, I am from Hong Kong! haha

I'm very excited to have a fan in Hong Kong! I wonder why my email thought it was Korean?? I can add Hong Kong to Australia and South Africa and the UK- is anyone out there from anywhere else?

There seems to be a problem with messages coming into my website - I just got some that were sent weeks ago. If you have sent a message and haven't had a response, sorry! I'm trying to deal with the backlog, and I'm looking out for any more messages that might arrive late.

This message came in from my old friend Rubii on 6th June

Oleriite Sarah?

Long Tiime No Speak..

Lol u memeber me ?

What Book you wriitin atm ? x

iim stiil wriitin Sky .. But i seem to have a writers block Lol ,, i just cbb writin atm.

Wow a cornsnake how cooll :D

anyways wb xxx iin abit ly xx

Rubii! So nice to hear from you again!

I'm very well - all better from my gallbladder surgery, thanks. I hope you're well too. I am writing a new book and guess what? The title is inspired by your cool name. It's called 'Ruby Dead' and it's about a girl called Ruby who's dead! She had a baby just before she died, so she's kind of following him about to make sure he's okay. It's also about the family who foster the baby and their daughter Megan and how Ruby helps Megan with her life too.

I know what you mean about writers block. Ruby Dead is going VERY slowly. I'm finding it hard to be disciplined since I still don't have a new publisher.

Fluffy the corn snake is pretty cool - when I'm brave enough to hold him, he wraps his tail around my wrist really tight and slithers about my hands with the rest of him.

I'm taking a writing workshop in Antrim library tomorrow, and later this month I'm going to Preston for the Lancashire Children's Book of the Year Award - The Trap came third! So I'm looking forward to that.

Have a great summer, Rubii, and try and keep writing even when you don't feel like it (and I will too!)

This message was sent in April, but I didn't get it until the begining of June! Obviously the website contact form has some problems!

hi my name is emma steenson,

i am in first year in bangor academey in bangor . our english teacher told us about you today and gave us ur web site to look up if we want. we also were told you are coming to vist us. we read the first chapter of the trap which was really good and i wanted to read more. i saw on this that you come and bring books so i might buy the trap i am quite excited about you coming,see you soon ! xxxx emz

Hi Emma!

I'm so sorry not to have responded to your message sooner but I only just got it! And so sorry your school visit was cancelled because I was sick when I was supposed to do it :-( Your teacher is going to rearrange it in September, so I hope your year group still get to come to it.

Fong sent this message on 29th May (although I didn't get it until June!)

Yesterday I went to the book shop and found the book 'THE TRAP' and of course I found it interesting and adventourous!

Thanks Fong! Can I ask where you live? From an email you can't tell if a person is just down the road or the other side of the world. I'd be interested to know where everyone comes from - it would be pretty exciting for me to get messages from people who have read my books from other countries!

Hanna sent this message on 17th May

love your books btw when is the next one coming out?

its on my must have list!

xx

Hi Hanna,

I don't know when my next book is coming out. My agent is looking for a new publisher for me, and until today I hadn't heard from him in ages. I wrote last week asking him if I should give up all hope. He wrote back today, and said that although things are tough with the credit crunch and all (stupid credit crunch) that he still has lots of irons in the fire, and I should keep everything crossed. He also asked me to send him my manuscript and synopsis (which is just a page describing what the book's about) for the new book Blood and Snow, because he was away from the his normal computer. I read over the synopsis before I sent it and remembered how much I love Blood and Snow. I guess that sounds a bit arrogant, but I'm the most pleased with Blood and Snow out of everything I've written, so I really really hope my agent finds a publisher so it can make it to the shops soon. I hope people like you still want to read it when it eventually makes it (see, I'm being optomistic and saying 'when' and not 'if' it makes it!).

P.S.I've entered you into the next free draw, Hanna, which will happen at the end of July.

Hanna sent this message on 7th April

heyya.

i finally bought the forbidden room and i started reading it in the morning on the 7th. i finished reading it about a minute ago. (6:30 that same day) i loved reading it and i wish you had more books. i hope to be a good writer like u someday and maybe (thats a big big maybe) someone like me - a 14 yr old kid who is slightly weird and a bit of a nerd - will write to me like this and i will be their inspriation like u are mine.

xxx

This is the reply I sent her:

Hi Hanna,

Thanks for your email. I just got home from spending a week in hospital with stomach pains, and I have to go back in two weeks to get my gall bladder removed, so your email really cheered me up. I'm a slightly weird nerdy type too and writing is the perfect profession for people like us! I'm not sure when I'll get around to putting your message onto the website, but it should be in the next couple of days.

Hanna replied:

Dear Sarah.

i hope you feel better soon and good luck on the operation. im still thinking about the book. will you make a sequel? i would love that because then we could really find out what happened next!

Well, I've finally got around to putting these messages on the website - I'm feeling a little stronger today and less muzzy-headed. Lots of people ask me about a sequel to The Forbidden Room, and although I'll probably not write a full blown sequel, I had the idea to have Stephen Holland appear in a new book as a teenager, and he could tell us a little bit more about what happened after the end of The Forbidden Room. I've started writing this book - it's kind of a ghost story, but Stephen will appear in it (alive). The writing is going pretty slowly at the moment though, what with one thing and another, but hopefully when I'm feeling better I'll pick up the pace. I still have to find a new publisher, and I've got two finished books to get out there in the mean time, but if you're patient, you will eventually get your answers!

There haven't been many messages for a while, but this one came in on 21st March from Skye:

I was at your talk in strathern. I bought both your books!! They're brilliant!! I read the forbidden room first, I loved it. I didn't expect the ending. You should write a follow on to it? I read it in 4 days.

I loved the trap as well. You're realy good at making up unexpected endings!

Please write more fantastic books. You're my fav author.

Hi Skye,

Thanks - wow, that's pretty cool to be someone's favourite author! Lots of people have asked me if I'm going to write a sequal to The Forbidden Room. I wanted to leave some things as loose ends, so that people could make up their own minds, but I know that a lot of people find that annoying and want to know what happened next. I've just started writing a new book, which is partly told from the point of view of a girl who's just died, and partly from the point of view of another girl. I'm thinking that the live girl (Megan) will make friends with Stephen Holland, now a teenager, and although the book won't really be about him, at least he could answer some of the questions that were left hanging at the end of The Forbidden Room. I don't know if or when this new book will be published though, since I have two finished books that don't have a publisher yet, so you could have a long wait to see what became of the Hollands - sorry!

I got three messages from Hanna on 28th Feb

hey Sarah, I live in Australia, do u know where I might be able 2 buy the Forbidden room?

hanna xxx

hey sarah! its hanna again!

I have just read the spooky story written by Eleanor and i loved it! she is very talented and i did not expect the ending!

i loved the describing words, it felt like i was actually in the spooky mansion!

hanna xxx

hey sarah!

I've got a spur of the moment question for you...

if someone came up to you and asked what your fav book was, what would be the first thing that would pop into your head? like, it might have nothing to do with the question...but whats the first thing you think when someones asks you it?

hanna xxx

Hi Hanna!

It's so cool getting messages from someone in Australia - how did you come across my website?

I'm not too sure which bookshops in Australia carry my books. I do know that they have them in some libraries in Australia, and there are online bookshops that have them too (www.allenandunwin.com, www.qbd.com.au, www.booktopia.com.au, www.collinsbooks.com.au). Hope that helps.

I've entered you in the free draw, which will take place at the end of March, so you never know...

I loved Eleanor's story too - I'll put your comment after it on the 'your writing' page.

I'm no good at those 'what's the first thing that comes into your head' things. The first thing that comes into my head is always something really random and stupid like cabbage! I just finished reading a book called 'Saving fish from drowning' by Amy Tan which I really enjoyed. Its narrator is someone who has just died, which is pretty cool because I'm thinking of writing a book from the point of view of someone who has just died. I really like a book called 'Good Omens' by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, and I love 'A Wrinkle in Time' by Madeline L'Engle. There are so many books that I've loved at different times in my life that it's hard to pick one.

hey sarah,

in answer to ur question, i came across ur website after i read ur second book 'the trap' i found the book in a bookstore and just decided to buy it, after reading it i loved ur writing so much i just typed into google ur name and ur website came up!

thanks also 4 the websites 2 where i could find ur book, i think i might buy it from booktopia!

xxx

On 24th February I did a school visit for a very nice P7 class in Hazelwood Primary School in Belfast. One of the girls in the class, Darcy sent me this message on 26th Feb:

Hi sarah wray, its Darcy from hazelwood. You know the way you told us all your fave books? Here are three of mine: WolfBrother, Midnight for CharlieBone and Skulduggery Pleasant:!!!!!!

Hi Darcy! I loved Skulduggery Pleasant too. I haven't read the other books though. If lots of people tell me their favourite books, maybe I'll start a new page of the website for them all?

PS Darcy - I tried to send you a reply to the email address you sent me but it bounced back - maybe you typed it in wrong?

Natasha and Abbie both sent messages on 15th February

>Hi Sarah,

In my last message I mentioned that I had finished the forbidden room and that i was going to read your second book the trap. I was just wondering where you can buy your book. My mum and i aren't very fond of ordering items of the internet after my mum was purchasing a pair of ugg boots of ebay. The person that was selling them took the money of my mum and said that he wasn't going to give us the boots a week later. About 6 months after we received a letter saying that the ugg boots were ready for collection in our local post office. Even though we got the uggs in the end my mum is still quite wary of purchasing of the internet and hasn't done so since. please reply as I am desperate to read it!!!!!!!

Abbie

Hi again Abbie!

Hi Sarah,

I have recently finished the Forbidden Room and I especially enjoyed it. You have, in a way, inspired me to continue writing. I have a few questions -

1) How long would you say a chapter should roughly last? In the novel I'm writing at the minute, they vary from 6 to 12.

2) How would you get a book published? Is it easily done or do they rarely publish books by new authors?

3) What inspires you most when writing?

The thing I love about writing is that when I'm writing a story, I can see it like a film in my head.

Thank you for writing such enjoyable books and I look forward to reading more.

x

Hi Natasha,

1)I think chapters varying from 6-12 pages sounds about right, although I guess that depends on how many words are on a page! When I'm writing I use 12 point font with double spaced lines and that comes to about 300 words a page, and my chapter lengths are usually between ten and twenty pages, I think.

2)I have heard of one or two people who got their first books published fairly easily but it's much more normal, I'm afraid to spend a long time being rejected before you find a publisher who will take you on. So many people send manuscripts every week to publishers that lots of them get sent back without even being read. I guess maybe you need to have something about you that stands out that you could put into a letter that you send with your manuscript, or concentrate on the first pages of your book being really good, in case that's all that's read.

3)Lots of things inspire me. I read a lot, all kinds of different types of books, and that inspires me, as well as watching movies or tv programs, or even sometimes hearing people speak in an interesting or poetic way.

I know exactly what you mean about seeing a story you're writing like a movie in your head - I think it helps to daydream about the characters in a book, to make them seem more real and for them to take on a life of their own.

This message from Emma came in on the 14th February

You where great at Strathern school. I love your book. The picture of u, me and my friend was on the front page of the school newspaper. I am writing a book it is called "love and Blood".

Hi Emma!

Thanks - I had a good time at your school. I hate photos of me, in my head I'm much younger and thinner looking! Love and Blood sounds exciting. If you're brave enough, why not send in a bit of it and I'll put it on the 'your writing' page?

Abbie wrote to me on 12th February

Hi Sarah,

Its Abbie again(from Strathearn school)

I finished your book about one and a half weeks ago and all I can say is WOW!! I couldn't put the book down. In fact I even got some eye strain!! My brother started reading it and that's all he can talk about. Even my mum seems interested in reading it. Every time I go to talk about it at dinner or in the car she tells me to be quiet because she doesn't want me to ruin the book for her. On one school night I can remember reading until 2 o'clock in the morning!

To be fully honest with you I wasn't really interested in reading books. I first heard of the forbidden room when my english teacher Miss Ferris (Joanne Ferris) metioned it during class. I was very fussy with what books i read. I have to like it 100% and be fully interested in it before I complete. my two favourite books are The phantom Tollbooth and The secret of Epsilon. You've truly inspired me in reading and writing books. Thank you so much. i'm looking forward to buying and reading the trap. it sounds so good.I was just wondering what is your absolute favourite book if you HAD to choose??!!

Please reply!!

Abbie

Hi Abbie!

I love it when books have me so gripped that I can't stop reading them even late at night. It's so exciting for me to think that my book had that effect on you - wow! I really like The Phantom Tollbooth too. I haven't read the other book you mentioned, The Secret of Epsilon - maybe I'll look for it. It's really hard to think of one book that's my favourite, because there are so many books that I love, and it kind of depend on my mood what I like most at any time. I love The Wish List, by Eoin Colfer, and I love The Madeline L'Engle Book called 'A Wrinkle in Time'. I remember loving the Anne of Green Gables books when I read them, but I haven't read them in ages. I used to read the Narnia Chronicles over and over but I haven't read them in ages either. Philip Reeves Mortal Engines series is really good too. See what I mean - I can't chose one book, I could go on and on remembering more books that I love. My daughter (who's almost fifteen) really likes the Stephanie Meyer books and also the Mallory Blackman books, but I haven't read those yet.

This message arrived on 11th February

Hi my name is Pebbles and one day I would hope to be a writer like you . At school we had to choose a book from to read and review , I chose your book 'The forbidden room ' ( It was great !!!! ) Anyway I have to write about you and give a speech about you . I was wondering if you could give some answers to these questions because I can not seem to find them anywhere.

1. What inspired you to start writing ?

2. Where do you get your ideas from ?

3. Any unusual facts about you that you would tell me ?

Thankyou so much and please reply !!!

It would really help me !

Thanks,

Pebbles

Hi Pebbles,

I'm glad you liked The Forbidden Room, and I'm honoured that you chose me to do your speech about! You might find some answers on the page on the website called 'The I Wonder Years', but I'll try to answer them here for you anyway.

1. I've always loved reading and my books are very precious to me. When I was at school I used to keep a diary and also write short stories, but I kind of forgot about all that when I went to University and studied Genetics. I worked as a science teacher after I got married but I stopped work when I had my first child. I had three babies in three years and one time I got angry with my husband because he was ignoring me and the babies to watch football, so I said (just out of the blue, I hadn't been planning it or anything) that I was going to ignore him and go and write a book! I realised very quickly that writing was what I loved doing most in the world, so I kept on writing even though it took me seven years to get my first book published!

2. I get ideas from lots of places - I might really like a character in a book I'm reading, and borrow things about them to put in to one of my characters, or bits of plot from books I've read or movies I've watched. Just watching the news gives me ideas, because of the strange and sometimes terrible things people do in real life and it make me wonder why these things happened and what's the story behind them and then I start imagining things and sometimes it turns into the plot for a book. For The Forbidden Room the idea came to me after watching a news story about a couple who's little boy was dying of a genetic disease and they wanted to have a baby using IVF and to select the embryo so that it would be the right blood type that they could take stem cells to treat their little boy. I don't know what happened to that family, but they gave me the idea of what would happen if a family took something like that into their own hands.

3. Oh, I don't know... I grew up in England (in Formby in Merseyside) and spent a year in America when I was a teenager, and now I live in Belfast where I've picked up the accent, although I still say some words 'funny' (ie the English way). I love animals and I wanted to be a vet when I was little, but I didn't do well enough in my A levels. My favourite author is probably Terry Pratchett, although I have lots of favourites really. My daughter just got her nose pierced (eek!) -it's easier writing about teenagers than being a parent to them!

I hope that helps, Pebbles (great name!) and I hope your speech goes well.

My new books arrived so I was able to do the January draw (just a few days late) and the winner was...Carol Thompson from South Africa! Congratulations Carol. The next draw will take place on 31st March - good luck everyone!

Eve sent me a message on 5th Feb

Hi. This isn't a question its more a good comment. My sister got me the book 'The Trap' when you went to her school. Its a brilliant book i just love it! i could read it over and over again !! One of my favourite authors!! I'm planning to read 'The Forbidden Room' next!! :) Brilliant books I LOVE THEM !! xxx

Thanks Eve! I'm glad you liked The Trap, and I hope you like The Forbidden Room too. (Sometimes sisters can be pretty cool!)

I don't know if you remember back in October I got an email from Neal James, whose new book A Ticket to Tewkesbury had just been published. Here's a link to Neal's book on Amazon:

A ticket to Tewkesbury, Amazon link

Neal's Blog

Well, Neal just emailed me to tell me that he will be signing copies of his book on March 7th at Lichfield Library

Way to go Neal! I hope lots of people turn up!

I'm not too sure where Lichfield is, but if anyone reading lives nearby, why not show up and tell Neal that you read about him on Sarah Wray's website!

(At a recent book signing of mine in Lisburn, apart from my friends and family, only one random person showed up to buy a signed book! One day (in my dreams) people will queue for hours to get me to sign their books...)

This email from Abbie arrived on 30th January.

I am a pupil from Strathearn.(one of your recent school visits) I bought one of your books the forbidden room. As soon as I got it started reading it. It is a great book, in fact it is one of my favourites. My passion is to become an author but I'm not very good at creating story lines. I was wondering if you could give me some tips on creating a story line and also what inspired you to become a writer?

Hi Abbie,

I had a great time at your school, and I'm really glad you are liking The Forbidden Room so far. I've entered you into the free draw, but it will have to be delayed for a few days since I sold all my copies of The Trap at your school, so I'll have to phone up my publishers on Monday and order some more.

I also find it really hard to come up with good story lines - I think that's the hardest part of writing for me, once I've got a good story the books almost write themselves! I sometimes get bits of ideas from other books I've read, or movies I've watched, or even from things I hear about on the news. I try to write down any wee bits of ideas, and then if they start swimming around in my head, and taking on more substance, I might try and plan out a whole novel around them, and if not, I'll leave them for a while, and then maybe read over old ideas when I'm stuck again, and see if they come to life then.

I think what inspired me to become a writer was the way I love to read so much, and the way I daydream a lot and tell myself stories in my head, and then when I started to write them down I enjoyed it so much that I never wanted to stop!

Bethan sent these two emails on 23rd January

I go to Hazelwood primary, we are reading The Forbidden Room and I love it!!! :) We are only half way through but it is the best half of a book I have ever read!

Hi Bethan,

Thanks! I'm looking forward to coming back to your school to talk to you all and answer your questions when you've finished reading The Forbidden Room. I hope you like the second half as much as the first!

PS I love QI too!

This message from Dean Bartlett came in on 21st January

Hi Dean,

Thank you! I'm glad you liked both books, and I'm so happy you wrote to tell me. It's frustrating that both my books are hard to find, especially The Forbidden Room. I guess I'm just not famous enough for much money to be spent on promoting my books and I have to rely on word of mouth - so tell your friends you liked them! (You can always get them from the internet - Amazon at least pretty much always has them both in stock.) I have finished two new books, but so far my publisher, Faber hasn't told me if or when they are going to publish them, and it takes about a year from they start work on them until they get to the shops, so it won't be for a while. I get so frustrated at how slow it all is that I wonder what's the point, and then I get nice emails like yours and I think that as long as I love writing, and as long as at least some people out there love reading my books, then I'll keep going, and just hope that a publisher gets excited enough by me to start selling my books more. (Or if I had enough money, maybe I would self publish, but sadly I don't.) As soon as I get word that one or both of my books has a release date, I'll post it on the website, so keep checking!

Heather sent this message on 18th Jan

Hi Heather.

I'm glad you like The Forbidden Room, and some things about The Trap!

My mum has late onset diabetes, and her dad had it too, so the chances are I'll get it as well eventually, so my ignorance will one day come back and bite me on the bum if that's any consolation!

I did try to do loads of research into the condition, to make Luke's experience as authentic as possible - I read lots of internet medical sites as well as forums and people's blogs, but obviously I messed up once or twice (the thing about taking insulin before meals rather than after has been pointed out to me by my GP friend as well. I don't how I managed to get that the wrong way around and I can only apologise. I think I read it somewhere on the internet, which only goes to show that you can't believe everything you read.)

I think that when Luke was in the cave he was in such a stressed state that he wasn't necessarily thinking straight, although I thought you could go hypo if you go for a long time without eating, even if you haven't had insulin - is that not right?

I really enjoyed writing the bit where Luke slips into delirium so I hope it wasn't all total rubbish!

The last thing I wanted was to annoy any actual diabetics out there so I really am truly sorry, Heather.

I've written two books since The Trap, (I don't have publication dates yet for either of them, but hopefully they will be out sometime in the not too distant future) and neither of them has any diabetic characters, so hopefully you will like them!

Sarah

This message came from Hanna on 10th January

Hi Hanna,

I love drawing. They don't let me design the covers for my books, and it's always a little bit scary waiting to see what they'll come up with (the publishers still get to use a design even if I don't like it) so far though, I've been very happy with the covers so maybe I shouldn't worry. I'm glad you liked The Trap, and that you're not too traumatised by it - I'd hate to think that my books actually gave people nightmares or something -they're not that scary, are they?

Eleanor sent another message, and a story for the 'Your Writing' page on 5th Jan

Thanks Eleanor. (I removed the middle bit from your email because it would give away the ending to people who haven't read it yet). I think your story is really good. Very atmospheric and descriptive - I felt like I was really lost in the spooky forest or the creaky old house - and the ending made me gasp out loud. (Read Eleanor's story here.)

I got this message today (3rd Jan) from Eleanor

Hi Eleanor! Thanks for the email - I hope you like The Trap. My old books probably weren't good enough to be published - I think like anything, my writing gets better with practise. I've got two finished books now with the publishers and I'm waiting to hear from them if and when they're going to get published. I really hope they do. I can't wait to see them in print and to see what people who liked my other books think of them.

Roxie is lovely - she's really good natured and fun-loving and affectionate. I think everyone should have a dog just like her - Cavvies are the best!

Rubii emailed me a few times in December and sent me the start of the book she's writing, and I thought it would be a good idea to make a new page and put Rubii's writing (and anyone else's that send it in) onto it. I was sick with 'flu, and then busy being Christmassy, so I'm only just getting around to it now. But here it is:

Tahli Evans emailed me on the 1st Jan

Hi Tahli. I'm glad you liked The Trap. So far I have only written stand alone books and don't have plans for any sequels. I do have two more finished books with the publishers which will hopefully be out before too long though. If I could come up with a good idea for a series I would try that because series sell well. I did have one idea - for a series about teenagers with hybrid human animal DNA which gave them special powers, but my publishers said it had been done before (yeah, but.... everythings been done before, hasn't it?)

This message came in from Nicky Sebastian on 18th December:

Thanks Nicky - I'm impressed with your dedication to try so many bookshops. I passed your email on to my publishers - haven't had any reply from them though!

The winner of the November draw was Jade Danielle Arnott - Congratulations Jade! If you entered this time and didn't win, you can always enter again for the next draw.

Jasmine sent this message a few hours after I announced the winner of the November draw:

Sorry Jasmine! I haven't read The Knife of never letting go, but I think my son might like it if it's violent - he judges books on the gore level! I just read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, which I liked, but then I'm a huge Neil Gaiman fan. I like the Philip Reeve books in the Mortal Engines series too - I've been reading them to my son and we're two books in. At the moment I'm reading Lollipop Shoes by Joanne Harris - it's an adult book, the sequel to Chocolat which I loved (and I loved the movie that had Johnny Depp in it!). I've only just started it, but I'm loving it so far. There's another book that I read ages ago called Inkheart that they've made a movie of - it was good too.

This message from Tanja came in on 24th November

Hi Tanja!

(Did you injure your hand, or have you just been typing so much that you had to stop?)

I find it really difficult to come up with good ideas for the plots for my books - sometimes it takes months between finishing one book and finding an idea that I'm happy enough with to start another. Sometimes I'll take something out of a book I've read - not to write the same story, but maybe some wee part of it, and put it into my own story. Or sometimes news stories are really freaky, and it's so amazing that something like that could actually happen that it almost seems like something out of a book, and that can give me inspiration. Quite often though, when I'm reading through something I've written, I think it's pretty lame, even the things that have been published - it's hard to be objective about your own work - maybe your stories are better than you think?

You asked about school visits in Northern Ireland - do you live in Northern Ireland Tanja? We could be neighbours! I have done quite a lot of school visits here, if you want me to come to your school, you would have to ask either an English teacher or a librarian to contact me to organise it, and then I would be happy to.

These messages came in from Tanja and Briony on 23rd November

Hi Tanja and Briony,

I love going on school visits and other events where I can meet people who've read my books, but because I live in Northern Ireland it's hard for me to travel around mainland UK or anywhere else since I don't really have enough money to pay for air fares or hotels and stuff. If a school wanted to book me, they could try contacting my publisher, Faber and Faber and they might pay my travel over (if we're lucky!)

I got a new message from Ruby on 20th November

Hi Rubii,

(Are you meaning to do double 'i's everywhere or is there something wrong with your keyboard??)

It's really nice to hear from you again - your idea for the book you're writing sounds brill! I can see that being a really good book. If you send me the first few pages I'll read it. I am working on a new book, although I also have a finished book that I sent to the publishers in April and they still haven't started work on publishing it yet! The new book is almost finished as well - I'm really enjoying writing the exciting end bit at the moment.

Tomorrow I'm the guest speaker at a Save The Children prize giving lunch for a writing competition they did, so I'm feeling a bit nervous about that.

Good luck with your exams. (Is it okay if I put this message on the website)

Sarah

lol... sorii ii just do teh ii <<

okay ii wiill mail them to you soon!

the exams were k !

and thanx i think it cud b a good book lol!

dont b nervous you wiill be fine! : )

anyways i gtg ... but yur corse its okai if you put this on the webby : P

write bakk

love xxx roo xxx

p.s... tell me some details bout your New books :) :) :) quite excited ! x

My guest speaker thing went okay, and a teacher at it asked me to come and speak at her school, so it can't have been too bad! The book that is at the publishers is a murder mystery - the main character is an Irish girl who finds herself in a kind of prison in a foreign country (Iceland) and all she can remember is an image of blood spattering onto snow. A psychiatrist helps her to remember things from her life, and it's like a jigsaw fitting together the pieces to find out what happened and whose blood it was. I'm pretty pleased with it - I hope they hurry up and publish!!

The one I'm writing at the moment is partly set in Formby in Merseyside where I grew up, and partly set in the African rainforest. It's kind of a scary thriller, but I don't want to say too much and give away the plot!

I got this email from Jasmine on 17th November

Hi Jasmine, it's always nice to hear from you. I was looking at A Little Princess on Amazon, and the list of books that people who bought A little Princess also bought has some really good books in it - you should look at that for inspiration. I haven't read Kiss by Jacqueline Wilson, but I do like books that make me cry. When I read Private Peaceful, by Michael Morpurgo I cried so loudly that my husband came running in from the bathroom where he was shaving to see what was wrong with me! Have you read Airman by Eoin Colfer? It's a new book, but feels like a classic. It's maybe more of a boy book than a girl book, but I liked it.

This message came from Brittany T. on 15th November

Wow, thanks Brittany! I really enjoyed writing The Forbidden Room, although I cried when I wrote the sad bits! I based Jenny on a real girl who I saw in a TV programme, because she was very inspiring, and I really tried hard to make her character more than just a girl in a wheelchair. I have a finished book with my publishers, which I am very pleased with, although they haven't said when (or if) they are going to publish it yet, and I am working on another book which is about three quarters written. It's very encouraging for me when people like you tell me to keep on writing - I love writing and never want to stop but I do get discouraged when my publisher drags it's heels - so thank you for cheering me up!

Polly Huscroft wrote this on 4th November

Hi Polly, Thanks! I'm glad you like The Forbidden Room. When I'm writing books I still worry about what my mum will think of them when she reads them, and I'm 39 years old!

I got an email on 27th October from new writer Neal James whose first book has just been published. I know how difficult it is to reach that milestone, so congratulations Neal, and I'm happy to give your book a quick plug here. It's called A TICKET TO TEWKESBURY and is a political thriller with a bit of murder mystery and romance thrown in.

Here's a link to Neal's book on Amazon:

A ticket to Tewkesbury, Amazon link

Natalie Lorimer contacted me on 20th October:

I'm very well thank you, Natalie! I'm getting ready to do a school visit tomorrow so I'm a little nervous but also excited. I'm so glad you like my books. I have finished a third book, but my publishers are waiting for more copies of The Trap to sell before they'll publish the new one, so thank you for telling your teacher and your friends about me - the more people who buy The Forbidden Room or The Trap, the more likely (or quickly) the next book will get published. It's a little scary because I don't ever want to stop writing and I hope the publishers don't stop publishing me. Getting emails like yours, Natalie make it all worthwhile and makes me all the more determined to keep going. Thank you!

This message came in from Jade Arnott on 18th October:

Thanks Jade! I'm so glad you liked The Forbidden Room. I really like the cover of it too - it's eye-catching. I had nothing to do with designing it, that's thanks to the people at Faber (thanks people at Faber!). I cut out a little bit of your email (sorry!) because it gave away some things from the book that people wouldn't know if they hadn't read it. I've entered you into the free draw, which will take place at the end of November. Good luck!

It really makes me happy to get emails from people who've enjoyed reading one of my books. This message from Jasmine on 10th October made me smile a lot.

Thank you so much Jasmine! I love The Secret Garden too - I loved it when I was younger, and I loved reading it aloud to my daughter recently. I also love The Little Princess - have you read that as well? I don't realise how scary my books are when I'm writing them, until people read them and tell me they were terrified! Still, it's fun to be a bit scared sometimes (I hope). I go to a book group too - we're all middle aged women, but we have lots of fun and spend more time laughing than talking seriously about the books. They wanted to discuss The Forbidden Room but I was too embarrassed, so I wouldn't let them!

Here's Jasmines reply:

Hi Jasmine! I do love The Railway Children - it's another one that I read as a child and then read to my own daughter. I haven't heard of the Garbage King, but I'll keep an eye out for it now. I've entered you into the next draw that will take place at the end of November. Good luck! By the way, have you read the Anne of Green Gables books? - I really liked them. Another set of books I would recommend are the Mennyms books by Sylvia Waugh - I think they're brill too.

The winner of the September draw was Michael Wilson.

Congratulations! I'm waiting for Michael to contact me with his postal details so I can send him his prize.

Michael Wilson sent me three messages on 29th September:

I really like your book (The Forbidden Room). It was a really captivating story. My family and I give it ten out of ten. I would like to be entered for the free draw if that is possible. Keep on writing more books. I will be looking forward to your next one!!!

I REALLY LOVE YOUR BOOKS!!! I am looking forward to buying The Forbidden Room for Christmas so that I can read it again and again. What made you be a writer in the first place??

Thanks Michael! I've entered you into the draw which takes place TOMORROW! - Good luck! I have a finished book with the publishers, who are deciding whether or not to publish it, and they told me they'd give me an answer by the end of September, which is tomorrow and I haven't heard yet!! EEK!! I think it's a good book so I really hope they decide to publish it. I'm writing a new book as well  - I love writing and will keep going as long as I can get things published.
I looked up Uffculme High School on google and found that it's in Devon - cool. I love doing school visits but so far I've only done them in Ireland, unless I'm over in England for something else and then I'll try to fit in some school visits while I'm there. If a few school in an area wanted me to come and were willing to pay my air fare from Belfast between them, then I would happily come.
I became a writer because I'm a total bookworm and have always loved reading. When I had children I stopped work when they were babies to be at home with them but I got kind of bored so I started writing then and found I loved it so much that I never went back to work but I just spend all my free time writing now.

This message came in on 22nd September:
My name is Nathan Barr I am 10 and am reading The Forbidden Room at the minute in school. My school is Glenwood P.S. on the Shankill. I'm really enjoying The Forbidden Room and can't wait to find out what happens next so I might get my mum to buy me it so I can read it at home too.

Hi Nathan! I'm glad you like The Forbidden Room - Thank you! The Shankill is just down the road from where I live in Belfast, so if your teacher wanted I could come into you school one day and meet your class. Maybe when you've finished reading the book, you could all think of some questions and I'll come in and try to answer them. I could sign any copies of The Forbidden Room or my other book The Trap that you have, or I could bring some with me in case anyone wanted to buy their own copy. Your teacher could email me if she (or he) wanted to arrange that.

Here's an interesting question from Monica Matassa:

I love your books and they have been a total inspiration for me as I now want to be a writer! I completely devoured "The Trap" and read it in a couple of hours non stop ha! Have you got any tips on how I can make my stories longer as mine usually are only 2 pages long even though I try to be as descriptive as possible?! Please answer, love Monica.

I'm glad you like my books, Monica - loving reading was what made me want to be a writer too. It definitely takes practice to be able to pace your writing for a long story or novel. Teenage novels should have about 60 000 words, and adult novels should have at least 80 000. The first books I wrote only had about 30 000 words, which I thought was loads. I think because it takes so long to write the words, you forget that it doesn't take the reader very long to read them. If you want to write a novel length story, I think it's a good idea to plan it out first - what's the main plot? what other things are going on at the same time that make it more interesting? What are the characters like - what scenes could you have to show what kind of people they are? Where is it set etc, and then write each scene like it's a story in its own right, but when lots of scenes come together it makes a book. Sometimes I think it helps to think of the story like it's a movie, and think about what scenes there might be in the movie  that would be fun to watch, or that help you to get to know the characters or that give clues about the main plot. I hope that helps! Although, maybe writing short stories is your skill - you should try sending them off to magazines or short story competitions - you never know what might happen...!

I've been ill this week with tonsillitis and haven't had any energy to update my website, but today I'm feeling a little better, and this email came from Eleanor:

I love your book, The Forbidden Room. I got it as a present for Christmas one year, and have read it two or three times over. The Trap is definitely on my Christmas list this year! I can't wait to read it! Will you be writing anymore books?

Thanks Eleanor! I'll add your name into the hat for the free draw at the end of September, so you might even get The Trap sooner than Christmas! You asked will I be writing any more books - well, I have one finished book with the publishers, and another that I'm about a quarter of the way through writing. I hope that I will keep on writing books all my life - as long as people keep buying them! Because people have less money at the moment (with the dreaded credit crunch) not as many books are being bought, which makes publishers a little wary of publishing new stuff, but hopefully things will improve and my new books will hit the shelves soon.

The winner of the June free draw was Ruby Leather. Ruby received a signed copy of The Trap, and this is what she wrote about it:

I have finished reading the trap it is awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i agrreee with the sarah who commented on you there has to be a sequal ... cos i luv it !?!?!!?!? i think star sounds quite annoying and matt sounds HOTT lol .....i gotta question ?!?!?! ...

was it easier writing from a girls point of view (forbidden room) rather than a boys (trap) ????

Thanks ruby! I'm glad you liked The Trap and that's a good question about the boy girl thing. It's funny, my sister's thirteen year old son has read both books, and he said to his mum that Aunty Sarah is much better at knowing how a teenage boy thinks that how a teenage girl does, and when she told me I thought, how does he know how a teenage girl thinks!

It was quite fun writing as a boy, but I was tempted to poke fun of boys a bit and I had to discipline myself to be nice to my character.

The next book that I've finished writing but isn't published yet has a girl as the main character, and the one I've started writing now has different bits from the point of view of different characters, so I get to be a boy and a girl!

(PS Ruby, I tried to reply to your email personally but the email bounced back to me - sorry.)

I got these two messages from Caitlin on 22nd August:

hiya im caitlin im 11 and i love the trap im reading it now and i cant put it down :) its amazing i like drew the counciler the best lol
i go to smithills high school in bolton and i saw ur book in waterstones and ive been a big fan ever since lol :)

i really want to write as good as you you are fantastic such an imagination :)!

Thank you so much for the messages, Caitlin. I'm glad you like The Trap - my sister just read it and said it made her too scared to go outside in the dark!
I read loads of books and I like watching movies as well which helps with my imagination, and it took me years to write something good enough to get published. If you want to write my advice is to read loads and to practice writing loads. Good luck!

I'm so excited! I got my first message from someone who's read The Trap. This message arrived from Margaret on 11th August.

I've just finished reading "The Trap". I thought it was incredible, I could not put it down until I was done. Thank you for writing such a great book, I'm really glad I read it. Now I'm going to read  "The Forbidden Room" which sounds great too. I like the way you right and I hope that one day I'll be half as good a writer as you, and if I do then I would have really accomplished something in life.

Wow! Thank you Margaret. It's quite nerve wracking waiting to hear what people think of my new book, and I'm so relieved that the first review I've had is so positive. I really hope I do get to read one of your books one day, Margaret.

This message came on 5th August from Tom:

I couldn't put it down, it is the best book I have ever read and I was sad to finish it. Really want there to be a sequel book.

Thanks Tom! There isn't a sequel to The Forbidden Room, although I have an idea where a character or two from The Forbidden Room might make a guest appearance in a different book. My second book The Trap is out now though!

I was having a bit of a ratty day on 4th August, and then this message from Jess W arrived and really cheered me up!

I cannot describe how much I enjoyed reading "Forbidden Room"! It's the best book I've ever come across. Before I'd even finished reading it I was looking for you and your books online but to my disappointment there was nothing. But a few months ago me and my Mum came across this site that said your new book "The Trap" was coming out soon. I was so excited. My 12th birthday is coming up and you wouldn't guess what is at the top of my list!

Love Jess

Thanks Jess! I got a review on Amazon the other day from someone who obviously hated my book, and they said it read like 'a sack of potatoes falling down the stairs' so it's especially nice to get a message from someone like you who liked it. I hope you like The Trap as well, and happy birthday!

I got this message from Jessica on 30th July

This is the reply that I sent to Jessica:

Hi Jessica,

Thanks for you email. It's interesting what you say about the ending of The Forbidden Room. I've been surprised by how many people really didn't like the slightly ambiguous ending - although people don't necessarily agree about how I should have ended it. Slightly more than half wanted the Hollands to get their comeuppance, but a sizeable minority wanted Jenny to stay with them and let them keep taking her blood, or to do what she did for the good of Stephen. I think that even though things usually don't resolve neatly in real life, people like books to. Personally I like books that make you think and wonder what would happen next, or want to discuss them with other people, which is what I hoped The Forbidden Room would do, but nonetheless, I've taken the feedback I've got from The Forbidden Room, and tried to give my other books more definite endings (not necessarily happy endings, although I know people like happy endings as well.)

Sarah Wray

P.S. I know what you mean about reading books as a writer, I'm always thinking I would have done this or that differently, or alternatively being so impressed with how someone did something that I despair of ever being that good!

I got this message from Ruby Leather on 12th July

Hiya Sarah

I'm just writing to say hi....x so hiya! I'm 13 and live in the lake district a couple of weeks ago I was rooting around for a good read when in my sisters room I noticed a book (The Forbidden Room) as soon as I turned the first page I was captured I think it was brilliant and captivating...I have always wanted to be an author I love writing and when I read your book it inspired me I've read it 3 times now lol :) and I ♥ it ! but anyway I wanted my own copy cos I cant reli nik my sisters =P so I read you page on wn a signed copy is said to send an email adn use the term free draw I don't know what that is but... FREE DRAW "laugh" anyway wb luv ur kwl fan...

roobi roo

P.S. I can't wait until ur next book camp hope it gonna be sound =D x

Thanks Roobi roo!

The free draw has been a little delayed this month, because I was waiting until I got some copies of my new book The Trap (it does say Camp Hope on the cover, but the title is actually The Trap!) I've got two copies so far, and my son and daughter claimed them. My son has just finished reading one (and he loved it - phew!) so I can offer that as a prize now (only slightly dog-eared!). I'll make the draw today, and contact the lucky winner by email. Fingers crossed!

I got this message from Sarah on 4th June 2008:

Wow! This email really made me happy - I've been a total bookworm for as long as I remember, and to think that something that I wrote inspired you to get interested in reading and studying English is just fantastic. I wish you all the best in your studies, Sarah - who knows, maybe one day I'll be reading your books!

I got this message from Rachel:

I'm not sure how it relates to The Forbidden Room, but, hey, I'm all for expressions of true love. Let's hear it for Rachel and Jasper!

Rachel added:

Thanks Rachel!

*Spoiler alert*

This question was sent in by Danielle.

The idea for The Forbidden Room came to me when I was watching a news story about a couple whose little boy was dying of a genetic disease. The couple wanted to have a second baby so they could use its blood to make stem cells to treat their dying child. I wondered how far parents would go to save their children from dying if they could. So I thought of the Hollands, who had already lost two daughters, and would do anything to save their only remaining child. I wanted the story to be a mystery, told from the point of view of Jenny, who didn't know what was going on. When I was thinking about Jenny - who she was and why she was in a foster home, I thought of the accident that killed her mother, and thought that it would be fitting if the accident also made her disabled - because she felt guilty about the accident, and felt that she should be punished, and also her disability added to making Jenny an interesting person. As to the last bit of your questions, about the Hollands not growing, I think that was about Helen Holland being so upset about her two daughters dying, and the thought of losing her son, that she didn't want to lose him in any way even by him growing up and leaving home. Also I heard about a scientist who predicted that stem cell therapy could make people live much much longer lives, and I thought that raised a lot of questions about whether living forever would be a good thing or not.

I got a message from Sophie, that I liked so much I printed it out to show my whole family. I tried replying to Sophie's email personally, but unfortunately the email bounced back (Sophie, if you're reading this, maybe the email address you gave me wasn't right?).

Wow! see what I mean - what a great message. I have always loved reading, and I think it's amazing that people read things that I've written now - It gives me a real buzz to hear from someone who's read my book and liked it.

My second book, The Trap, is not out until 7th August, so your library won't have it yet, but hopefully it will after that. I just sent a new manuscript off to my publishers a few days ago, so I'll let you know if they want to publish it.

I don't have any plans for a sequel to The Forbidden Room at the moment, but quite a few people have said they wish I would, so you never know, maybe one day.

This question was sent in by A. Khan:

What was the hardest part in writing The Forbidden Room ?

Usually the hardest part of writing for me is coming up with a good idea for a book - with a storyline and characters and setting that all come together to make something special - it can take me weeks or even months to settle on an idea that I think is good enough to write. I was lucky with The Forbidden Room, because the idea came to me very quickly all at once when I was watching the news one day. Because I was very excited by the idea, the actual writing came quite easily - although I do get upset and cry when I write emotional scenes! Also, when I decided that the character Jenny was going to be disabled, I felt a great responsibility to write her in a way that didn't offend or annoy people who really do live with disability. That was quite hard, although I was inspired by a girl who I saw in a TV documentary who like Jenny had both her legs amputated above the knee, but who didn't let that stop her from doing all the things in life she wanted to do, and being a person who you would want to get to know for herself regardless of her disability.

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