Blogger Spotlight; Michelle talks British Authors

Hello! I’m absolutely thrilled to be here today. Thank you so much to Faye for inviting me! If you don’t know already, I’m Clover, the blogger behind Fluttering Butterflies. I have a passion for many things – reading, blogging, jelly beans, winning at Scrabble – but today I want to talk to you about something very close to my heart. And that is supporting British authors.

Some people might find that strange because, in fact, I am not British at all. I am American born and bred. But something that I grew up knowing, and I don’t feel it as much since I moved to the UK, is that you’re always meant to support the home team. And as a reader and as a book blogger, for me, supporting the home team means shouting from the rooftops about my favourite British authors and the books that they write. And you know what? You are in so much luck because so many of my favourite authors are also coming out with new books this year. 2013 is going to rock for awesome YA books!

1. Patrick Ness – First up, we have an American expat, Patrick Ness. Yes, he’s American, but he lives here now, so he counts! Patrick Ness is the author of one of my all-time favourite ever series of books, The Chaos Walking trilogy. It’s sci-fi and I think it’s set on a different planet and it’s not the sort of book I’d normally read but I don’t think any of that matters. I think the reason it should be read is because of how brilliantly Ness tells this story, and creates this characters and situations that feel so believable and emotional and so messy and complicated. These three books were absolutely addictive and I wanted to put my entire life on hold in order to finish them. Wonderfully, Patrick Ness has TWO books out this year, The Crane Wife, an adult book and a YA book called More Than This expected to be published in the fall… September can not get here any quicker!
2. Kevin Brooks – I’m on a mission to read all of Kevin Brooks’ backlist as soon as possible. I’ve only read 4 or 5 of his books so far, but oh man, were they good. I’ve loved all of his books I’ve read whether it be about bullying or a mysterious loner who arrives for an eventful summer or about the death of a loved one, but probably especially Naked, this story about a girl falling in love in 70s London amidst the emergence of punk music. I thought the way in which the music was written, it really made me feel involved in the story. Without having any sort of prior interest about punk music or the punk movement (?) as I was reading Naked I felt myself being hugely fascinated and almost mesmerised by every single detail of it all. And I think that takes a lot of skill. So it was with great excitement that I heard that Kevin Brooks’ new book, The Bunker Diary, will be published this summer. It’s being described as ‘Room meets Lord of the Flies’ and it just sounds so good. Like something that will scare me but will also have me glued to the pages! I cannot wait.
3. Hayley Long – Next up we have Hayley Long! I first came across Hayley’s books when I was looking into books about mental health issues for a themed event I did a few years back. Hayley Long has written three books about Lottie Biggs, in which the first book Lottie suffers from a ‘mental disturbance of a significant nature’ but what’s so brilliant about this book, and the rest of the books in the series, is that they are written in such a funny and engaging way and while they do cover some serious-ish topics, they aren’t weighed down by seriousness. In fact, there’s a lot of silliness and goofy little drawings that still make me smile! I love that about them. But it was What’s Up With Jody Barton? that really blew me away and planted Hayley Long on my list of favourite authors. I started Jody Barton thinking ‘this is a really cute story and even though I think I know where this is headed, I still think I’ll have a great time getting to where it’s going’ – and then wham! this twist happens and it turns out that this book isn’t at all how I thought it would turn out to be. And with that, it became something that got under my skin and made me think. Jody Barton’s story has really stayed with me. So look out for Hayley’s new book, Downside Up, coming at you in July! I know I will be reading it, will you?
4. Tabitha Suzuma – I hadn’t really heard of Tabitha Suzuma before the publication of Forbidden. But that was a book that really made a lot of people sit up and take notice. Because, hello? a YA love story that involves a consensual incent relationship? At first, I was thinking ‘no way’ and then after a few people read it and raved about it, I forced myself into reconsidering. And I’m so glad that I did. Forbidden is nothing if not absolutely surprising and it really made me reevaluate what I felt was right in this sort of situation. It’s a book that promotes love without any restrictions and boundaries and I think it was a beautifully written love story. After it tore my heart into pieces, I decided to look up Tabitha Suzuma’s backlist and was very pleasantly surprised by what I found, especially after reading A Note of Madness about a pianist’s struggles with bipolar disorder. She quites incredibly emotional books that push boundaries and test limits. And I have very high expectations for her latest book, Hurt, which is due to be published in August!
5. Meg Rosoff – Feeling a little bit bad that we have yet another American who has taken to living in the UK, but hey, that describes me as well, so we’re just going to go with it. And I really think Meg Rosoff has earned her spot on my favourite authors list! While I didn’t love There Is No Dog as much as her others, I have raved about her other books so much. I love the unconventional love interests, I love the strong women, I love her quirkiness. I love how much I get sucked into the beautiful writing and how much I feel like I’m right there with the main characters. I’m super excited that this spring sees the release of the film version of How I Live Now. There isn’t a bunch to know about Meg Rosoff’s new book, Picture Me Gone, due out in September, but I believe it is about a road trip in the US, with a girl and her father on this journey of discovery, a book about questions and answers and that fuzzy divide between adults and children. I am definitely looking forward to this!

So those are my top 5 British authors with books due out this year. But this list is only the very tippy-top of the list! There are so many more that I’m excited about in 2013 – with books by Sophia Bennett, Phil Earle, Zoe Marriott, Tanya Byrne and Louise Rennison amongst so many more!