2016 and All That by Miriam Halahmy

Quiz winners with some of the Scattered Authors Society ( SAS): the writers'group which set up ABBA.

This is a rather poignant post to write. After six years or so blogging monthly on ABBA I have decided to step down... time for a new voice methinks. I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of this great literary community and the group behind the blog, The Scattered Authors Society. Fortunately there will still be many opportunities to meet up with author friends in this amazing society.

The Scattered Authors' Society has given me such tremendous support since I joined in 2010 just before my first Y.A. novel, HIDDEN, was published. The wealth of experience in the group has been my benchmark ever since, showing the way and providing support through the peaks and troughs of the writer's life. Writing for ABBA once a month was so important as it encouraged me to organise my thoughts  and write a coherent piece on writing on a regular basis. When one is part of a group for a long time it is easy to take things for granted. So just writing this final blog has allowed me to reflect on how much I have benefited from being part of the SAS and how much I look forward to continuing the relationship in different settings.

For my final blog I thought I would reflect on what has been quite a momentous year for me.
After two years in the wilderness with no book contracts, losing a publisher and changing agents suddenly everything happened in 2015 and as a result 2016 has been a richness of publication.

The year started with HIDDEN being optioned for the stage by Theatre Director, Stuart Mullins. Over the year a script writer has been chosen, the wonderful Vickie Donoghue and funding applied for. Rebecca Hayes Laughton,  Producer, and Temor Al-Kaisi, Iraqi Theatre Maker, have joined the team and our meetings have been exciting and tremendous fun. The play will tour schools, community centres and small theatres from September 2017.

HIDDEN was published in America this summer by Holiday House and was chosen by the Junior Library Guild as one of their Fall books. To cap it all, I then received two copies of the audio book in the post! I've listened to the whole book and its terrific.

HIDDEN has also been bought by Danish publisher, Turbine.

In May this year my very first historical novel and very first Middle Grade novel, The Emergency Zoo, was published by Alma Books on their brand new children's list. We had a great launch in Camden Waterstones and I was invited to speak at the Edinburgh Festival. I have had several other events around the book this year and my diary for 2017 is already bursting with festivals and author talks. The Historical Novel Society reviewed the book, "Lovely and moving book. Highly recommended."

In August my other writer group, The Edge, brought out our very first anthology of short stories, Stories from the Edge, Albury Books. My story, Next Stop, The Eiffel Tower, is set during the Paris attacks and reflects on student responses to the situation. "I guarantee that these stories will leave readers gasping for more. " Joy Court, Chair, CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medals.

My final publication of 2016 is one that perhaps I'm the most proud of : Yasmin's Journey, Ransom Books. This is a story about a fifteen year old Syrian girl forced to flee the war with her six year old brother. The story is for teenage girls with low reading ages and is 5000 words long. I was a Special Needs Teacher for 25 years, heading up departments in comprehensive schools and so I know the difficulties of struggling readers. It was very exciting for me to actually write a book which will challenge the maturity of these readers but also help them to develop their reading skills.

In between a new grandchild has arrived, inspiring a poem.

 Other poetry has been written and after 35 years as a member of Highgate Poets I was made an Honorary Lifetime Member, which makes me incredibly proud. I have also been asked to write song lyrics for a project in the Midlands that encourages choirs in primary schools. My song, Seven Billion Candles for Peace, will be performed in 2017.

Years come and go and sometimes we forget what a journey each year can be. This one has had many different journeys interwoven into it but as a writer it has really been a year of joy and publication, only outstripped by the new grandchild!

I know that there will be writers reading this blog who are in the trough right now and perhaps my words will feel at the very least unhelpful. All I can say is that I have been there and so I really do know how it feels to watch everyone else succeed and feel left behind and ignored. But just as things turned around for me, I hope and wish the same for anyone out there who is feeling in the doldrums. Writing, as all creative arts, is a precarious journey to embark on and I have certainly needed all the writer friends in the SAS and elsewhere who have generously continued to support me and have never let me give up.

Happy writing, happy reading and a very happy and rewarding journey in the coming New Year.

www.miriamhalahmy.com

Rock Climbing ; You're STUFFED!!

When I was younger I loved what we now call extreme sports : biking, motor-biking, rock climbing, skiing and generally taking physical risks. But my body has not been reliable for some years and so it is through my Y.A. novels that I revisit the adventures of my past in my imagination.

The third book in my Hayling cycle, STUFFED, will be published by Albury Books, Feb 2014. This is the outline :-

Jess is fifteen, Ryan is seventeen and they are falling in love. But each is keeping a terrible secret from the other.  On a weekend away rock climbing they move closer until a terrifying incident drives a new wedge between them. Can Jess save her family from Dad’s mistakes and will Ryan resolve his mess from the past? If not, then their loved is doomed to failure.

I wanted the third book in the cycle to focus on a teenage relationship, something I am quite interested in writing about. Ryan has an older friend, Max and it seemed quite natural to make him a rock-climber. As the character of Max developed I thought, why not send all the teens away on a climbing weekend and then make something memorable and life-changing happen?

Excellent! Just the kind of drama I love when writing a novel.

It's a very long time since I’ve been up a rock face and so I decided to consult the experts. I started with an indoor climbing wall where I met Mark ‘Zippy’ Pretty, one of the best climbing coaches and route-setters in the UK today. Zippy happily spent an hour going over possible scenarios and demonstrating moves for me on the climbing wall.

I realised how much I had missed climbing and the climbing community which is rather old fashioned, respectful and very supportive. So with a bit of persuasion I had a go. I did a simple climb up the wall and walked back down. I wasn’t prepared to repeat the experience – not with my joints! But it was a great reminder of how it feels to climb.

However, I’m not used to indoor climbing and much prefer being in the outdoors. So Zippy suggested that I go up to Derbyshire and talk to the climbers and instructors up there. I jumped at the idea. I used to climb on the gritstone edges such as Stanage Edge and I was excited at the prospect of revisiting the climbs of my student days. Going back to Derbyshire let me observe many different climbers, including young people and reminded me of the fear and the adrenalin of climbing vertically up a rock face, defying gravity and the enormous exhilaration of reaching the top, however easy the climb.

Once I started my research I realised that equipment has changed so much since my day. When I climbed as a student we simply tied a rope round our waists and went up; no helmets or harnesses. Now I realise how dangerous it was. At least we wore plimsolls. The generation before us went up in their leather lace up brogues!

I had a brilliant time in the Derbyshire air, taking photos and talking to climbers and instructors. It was some of the best research I’ve done in years. The climbing chapters in STUFFED really came alive for me and they almost wrote themselves when I came home

I’m researching freestyle sprint Olympic swimming for my current work in progress. Sport will always play an important role in my Y.A. novels.

Albury books will be  publishing in physical and e-books all three books in the Hayling cycle and I am beginning a series of events all through this year to promote the books, while I finish my current novel.

You can find out more about my books and events on my website : www.miriamhalahmy.com