Blog of Camilla Chester - Children's Author

500 Words

23/2/2020

You've all heard of the BBC 500 Words Children's Writing Competition right? No?? Where have you been...
Click here immediately: 500 Words.
You have less than ONE WEEK to get your entries in.

Guess who has been accepted as one of the judges?
ME!
I'm not one of the big name, glitzy, very famous judges, but I still get to read lots of your gorgeous stories.

Get scribbling everyone and Good Luck!

Waterside Academy

8/2/2020

Wonderful visit to Waterside Academy School in WGC on Thursday.

I always think the best visits are the ones where the children have done a bit of investigation work about me and my books. It makes them excited to meet me and enthusiastic. They want to take part in activities and have lots of questions. Waterside was just like that.

I had one or two questions that I had never been asked before, such as - 'how old are you?', 'how do you pronounce Sade' and 'what was your last dream about?'. There was an outright winner for True and False game who was the same girl who presented me with a drawing she'd done of me - also a first.

The other great thing about the visit was that two of my books were being read in different classes. Y4 were reading EATS and Y6 Jarred Dreams. Having my books read to a class and discussed was one of my dream goals as a Children's Author. It is an amazing feeling when it happens. I especially like it when children discuss my books and the characters. Something which was only within my head becomes real.

I'm still waiting for another dream of mine to come true. I'd love to see someone reading one of my books, maybe on a train, or waiting in an airport, or somewhere unexpected, so that I can say, 'I wrote that book' and see the look on their face. One day! Meanwhile thanks to Waterside Academy for such a wonderful visit. Going to schools really is my all time favourite part of being an Author.

An Article About Me

4/2/2020

Oh the fame - the fame.

I'm on the The Literacy Consultancy website and due to go out in their newsletter this week. The TLC article is all about a story that I had critiqued because I won it as part of my Mslexia prize and how Serial Mash has now agreed to buy it.

If you would like to read the article, here is the link: TLC Article

Sad Day

23/1/2020

This very nice bottle of champagne is coming off the ice and going back in its box as today my fourth book, Darna’s Sky, is being confined to the drawer. It has been rejected (mostly very kindly) or ignored by all the publishers it has been sent to.

It feels like a toy that nobody wants to play with anymore. It's a sad feeling, but Darna's Sky has worked hard for me and I'm very proud of it. The story was born from a trip to Singapore and led me to meet some really interesting people. It was a finalist in the Mslexia Competition - which is a huge achievement. It also meant that I found the perfect agent in Laura West at DHA. Laura also assures me that I now have a few fans within some of the main publishing houses. That's a hardworking book! Let's hope it comes out of the drawer sometime not too far into the future. I so wanted readers to meet Skye and Darna and hear their story.

Not meant for now, but maybe one day...

Catching Words

13/1/2020

It was my second and final session with the Y2 class in Bethnal Green today.

A really nice class who worked well to share their ideas for their book.

I now have the wonderful job of pulling it all together into a story, keeping to their ideas, thoughts, words and inspiration as much as possible. I have the characters, the setting, the story and the title: The Adventure of the Lost Ship.

Wish me luck - I'm going in!

Remember - if you're attached to a primary school in or around London, please check out the Catching Words project. The Discovery Children's Stories Centre only has funding for this and next year. Don't miss out!

New Year, New Catching Words Project

12/1/2020

I'm delighted that I've been able to start the new decade with a new Catching Words project.

Here I am a few days ago outside St John's C of E Primary School in Bethnal Green, London about to start my session with the Y2s.

Little did I know what kind of pirate adventure I was in for! Lots of ideas and creativity buzzing around the classroom and I'm looking forward to my final session with the class where we fill in the blanks and really get to grips with our pirate crew to create our class book.

If you're reading this and you're attached to a primary school in or around London, I can't recommend the Catching Words Project more highly. Yes, it is a big commitment of classroom time, but the benefits are unbelievable and it is cheaper than an author visit. To find out more visit here: Catching Words

Christmas Reading

27/12/2019

I hope you all got lots of gorgeous books for Christmas.

Since I last blogged about what children's books I'm reading I have since read:
The Time of Green Magic by Hilary McKay
Not My Fault by Cath Howe
Madame Badobedah by Sophie Dahl
Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans
Brightstorm (book 1) by Vashti Hardi
and I've just finished
The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke

All of them I have reviewed on Goodreads, well except the last one, as I've only just put the book down. It was brilliant - wish I'd written that one.

Townsend School

28/11/2019

Another great school visit and my first time with working with students in years 8 and 9. The visit was a complete surprise to some students, who has been rewarded with the Creative Writing Workshop for making such a good start in the new year.

The reason that I am pointing to my band T-shirt (CHIC) is that the visit coincided with Radio 6's Wear Your Band T-shirt To Work Day #TshirtDay

Where Am I Next?

27/11/2019

You can catch me next at The Royal Albert Docks on Saturday 7 December at the Children's Book Fair which runs from 2-5pm.

I've got two half an hour sessions where I will be chatting about my books, doing a couple of readings and answering questions. I'll be around for book signings too.

The event is totally FREE for anyone to attend and there are other authors there too.

To find out more please click on this link: Royal Albert Docks

Another Day, Another Interview

25/11/2019

You can read about how I am now officially a success story of the Write Mentor programme by clicking on this link: Write Mentor

If you don't already know about this organisation and you're a budding children's or young adult writer then I can't recommend it highly enough.

Write Mentor has many different aspects to it and allows you to take a step closer to becoming published. Here's what their website says:WriteMentor started as a small, voluntary programme to help writers of children’s fiction take the next step in their writing career. Since, it has grown and we now offer paid mentoring (via Spark), weekend workshops across the UK, our 15 week intensive online courses, the Children’s Novel Award and our exciting online conference, WOW-CON! WriteMentor is highly inclusive and we endeavour to make all of our opportunities as affordable and accessible as possible. We regularly offer scholarships and free opportunities, so do keep an eye out for those.

It's well worth taking a look. I enrolled onto the SPARK programme, which is paid mentoring. It was very affordable and everything via email so easy too. You get access to all kinds of additional information and support, and every month you can bypass the slush pile and apply directly to the SPARK agents.

I'm really happy that I took part. It made a big difference to me. You can read more about my experience by reading my interview: Write Mentor Interview