Guest Post – Fun At Yalc by Marisa Noelle
Today I am honoured to welcome the brilliant Marisa Noelle to the blog to celebrate the release of The Shadow Keepers!
The Shadow Keepers is released today published by Magnolia Press.
Happy Book Birthday Marisa!
Now if you’re like me and suffering from the post YALC and Comic Con blues (take me back!) I have the perfect guest post! The lovely Marisa is telling us all about visiting YALC ….oh the memories.
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Sixteen-year-old Georgia Boone has seen the shadow creatures in mirrors and other reflective surfaces since she was six-years-old. But no one–not even her brother, the person she’s closest to in the entire world–believes her. She is all alone in the hellish world where crow-like creatures hunt her everywhere she goes
When an afternoon of shopping ends in violence and blood, Georgia is sent to the UK’s most prestigious mental health hospital: Brookwood Hospital. There, she’s forced to face her fears and answer the question:
Are the shadows real, or is this all in her head?
At Brookwood, the shadow creatures are more present than ever. Each day they grow stronger. With the help of a mysterious boy who lives inside the mirror world, she might be able to prove that she’s not hallucinating and stop the shadows from destroying the human world.
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Fun At YALC
This past weekend I got to attend the YALC conference for the second time. For those who don’t know, it stands for the Young Adult Literature Conference and is part of London’s Comicon. Jetting past the long queues for the Comicon entrance, I wound my way into the YALC entrance and up to the second floor to be greeted by stands and stands of books. This year I came well prepared; with a sturdy backpack to keep all the books I bought and bring copies I already had for signings.
YALC is a great place to meet other authors, bloggers and publishing professionals. You can pitch to agents, do workshops, attend panel meetings and have your favorite books signed. When I came the first time two years ago, I was hunting for my second agent and carried a lot of anxious energy around in preparation for pitching. With only five minute slots, the stress of trying to make an impression in that short space of time definitely adds to the armpit odour! Although I didn’t make any meaningful connections with agents that year, I know plenty who have! And it’s not as scary as it seems. (Agents are actually human and can be pretty nice!)
This year, with my debut set to come out in a matter of hours and my second novel coming in November, it was an entirely different experience. I didn’t have the stress of pitching or even networking all that much. I came to support many of my debut author friends who happened to have slots on panels, workshops and signings. It was so fun to meet some of them in the flesh for the first time after spending months chatting on Twitter. It made the panels more interesting and meaningful for me and I felt like a kid at Christmas while I waited in their lines to get my books signed. I had a few of my bookmarks out at the Waterstones so here’s hoping a few people out there got one!
Not only is it a great place to hang with authors, but bloggers are there in force. I got to meet Chelle and Amy McCaw in the flesh, both who are taking part in the Shadow Keepers Blog Tour, and Amy was my mentee last year for Write Mentor. It’s lovely to meet people from all sides of the publishing industry, get advice, give advice and generally chat about our general love of books. (Something that no one else in my household understands!!!)
I was only there for one day this year, but I plan to be back for more year after year. If you’re an aspiring writing, a blogger, a publisher, or a reader who just loves books, I’d wholly recommend the experience. But wear comfortable shoes, take plenty of water, (and deodorant), a fan, and be prepared to have the best day ever.
I didn’t make it down to the Comicon section this year, but I had a friend helping out there who got me the best gift ever! For anyone who’s ever been on my website, they’ll know that The Karate Kid is my favourite movie of all time!!!
You can buy a copy of The Shadow Keepers here
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Marisa Noelle is the writer of middle grade & young adult novels in the genres of science-fiction, fantasy & mental health. The Shadow Keepers is her first novel. The Unadjusteds is due outin November 2019 & The Mermaid Chronicles – Secrets of the Deep at the end of 2019. When she’s not writing or reading or watching movies, she enjoys swimming. In the pool she likes to imagine she could be a mermaid and become part of some of her make-believe words. Despite being an avid bookworm from the time she could hold a book, being an author came as a bit of a surprise to her as she was a bit of a science geek at school. She lives in Woking, UK with her husband and three children.
Check out her website at www.marisanoelle.com.
Or why not catch Marisa on Twitter & Instagram: @MarisaNoelle77
Or Facebook www.facebook.com/marisanoelle77 or www.facebook.com/theunadjusteds
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Blog Tour
You can follow or catch up on the rest of this fab blog tour at the following stops!
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A huge thank you to Marisa for a fab guest post and for having me on the blog tour!
Have you read The Shadow Keepers? What did you think? What are your favourite part? Did you go to YALC? Why not leave a comment using the reply button at the top of the page or tweet me on twitter using @chelleytoy !
