An Interview with Children's Author, Sarah Driver, by Jess Butterworth

This month, I’m delighted to be interviewing Sarah Driver about the launch of her brilliant novel for 8-12 year olds, The Huntress: Sea, and what her first month has been like as a published children’s author.  

Hi Sarah. Your debut, The Huntress: Sea, was officially released on April 6^th but it was spotted in Waterstones all throughout March. Can you tell us more?

The book isn’t *technically* out until April 6th, but was released early, exclusively at Waterstones, due to being selected for March Children’s Book of the Month! This amazing opportunity made my publishing journey even more of a wild ride than ever. I’m blown away by Waterstones’ support, and I’m still pinching myself.

That’s wonderful! What were some highlights of being Book of the Month?  

Throughout March I visited eleven Waterstones shops (Deep breath – Haywards Heath, Lewes, Brighton, Worthing, Hastings, Eastbourne, Rye, Piccadilly, Islington, Gower Street and Charing Cross) signed stacks of books (hooray for justified growth of Sharpie collection!) and met lots of lovely booksellers. Here I am with fellow Egmontee Lisa Heathfield, during the first leg of our Sussex signing tour!

I had my first bookshop event in Portsmouth (appropriate, as it’s home to the Mary Rose, one of my favourite research destinations!) where I read chapter one of Sea to a fantastic group of young readers.

The booksellers dressed up (wearing, amongst other wonders, splotches of silver ‘glitter’ – aka MOONSPRITE DUST!) made gorgeous displays and there were even cupcakes with icing whales! 

I wish I’d had time to visit every single store during my Book of the Month slot, because LOOK at some of these gorgeous displays…

Waterstones Gloucester:

Ipswitch:

Brighton:

They’re beautiful! Can you tell us about your official book launch?

The book launch itself was last week, at the Book Nook in Hove. If you’ve never visited this gorgeous gem of a specialist kid’s indie bookshop, you really should. They have a beautifully curated collection of children’s books, a pirate ship play area and a cafe, and they’re only a short walk from the beach.

The launch was the best celebration with family and friends I could ever have imagined. The publicity team at Egmont did the most fantastic job of making it a wonderful evening (check out the book cover cupcakes!) as did my editor Ali with her magical speech.

We were joined by friends from as far as California in the west and Prague in the east. But perhaps the most honoured guest of all was the amazing nine-year-old reader who sent me my first ever fan letter!

Sounds fantastic! What are some of the other things about being an author you’re excited about?

The start of the Huntress school tour. I’m so excited to be getting out there and meeting more young readers.

Thanks, Sarah! 

To see more about Sarah, follow her on twitter @SarahDriver10 or visit her website sarahdriver.com 

By Jess Butterworth, author of Running on the Roof of the World, out June 1st.  

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