My top authors on YouTube & Dorothy Koomson guests on Booky pod
Plus - David Mitchell at Manchester Lit Festival, Europe Writing Challenge, Hay Festival's royal reading tie-up, Made in Manchester launch, Women's Prize shortlist book club & Spectator internships
My dear wordsmiths,
I imagine this will be a briefer affair this week as I’m on a plane to Dubai in 16 hours and obviously I’ve not packed yet ( if you’ve met me you’d know) though I’m relishing the idea of 7.5 hours of guilt-free reading and writing time in economy. Let’s hope I’m not sat next to a talking type.
One thing you may not know about me is that I love YouTube. I have often ruminated on starting my own channel (don’t worry it’s not a launch of that just yet!) but I do enjoy watching and following channels, particularly those around writers (shock) but also lifestyle and travel. Obviously You Tube is another great procrastination method and you know I love one of those - but it’s also seriously useful to learn about writing, authors, getting published and all the good stuff and you get great behind the scenes access. So I thought I’d share my top five writers on You Tube.
Will Dean forest author: I’ve been following Will’s channel since he launched out of interest as I bumped into him at an event many years back. It prompted me to start reading his outstanding ‘Tuva’ novels (start with Dark Pines) about a deaf journalist in rural Sweden who risks her life to solve crimes and is inspired by his own home - a wooden house in a boggy forest clearing he built himself. The channel, where he offers wise and lived experience advice to authors and captivating glimpses into forest family life complete with his giant pets and swoon-worthy Swedish forest scenes, is worth a ‘subscribe’.
Kayla Kempers: Author and content creator Kayla, originally from Ontario, is based in Vancouver in BC, Canada, and is another I watch as much for the glimpses of lifestyle and Canada as much as writing. A writer of poetry and sci fi, she is very honest and real as she works and writes, sharing her writing rituals, her ups and downs and her travels and her yoga with lots of nature thrown in plus tips for a sustainable lifestyle. She’s also on Patreon.
Louise Johnson: She described her channel as ‘literary lifestyle’ and shared all things bookish from writing tips to book recommendations. She’s Canadian again (I do love Canada) and is a former marketing whizz at Elizabeth Arden. Suitably she is best known for biography meets memoir ‘Behind the red door’ inspired by Elizabeth Arden herself. She is open and happy to share her advice and writing process, along with her life with all its ups and downs. She also runs the Word Weaver podcast.
Christy Anne Jones: Finally a Brit, Christy is a bright young writer in her 20s on a mission and sharing every step of the way via her eponymous channel. She shares her querying process and tries out writing routines of famous authors and her days from book shopping to writing in a cafe. She just got an agent so you can share her joy and relief. Well done Christy.
Meet Dorothy Koomson on Booky
This week’s guest on the Booky pod is London-born, Leeds-educated, Brighton-resident Dorothy Koomson whose 19th novel ‘Every smile you fake’ is out now. She wrote her first novel aged 13 but like most of us, went on to face her fair share of rejection on her journey to publication. As a result she has some genuinely wise and interesting guidance for writers and an insight into her personal story that’s not to be missed.
In case you missed the memo, Booky is a new podcast series produced and presented by yours truly and edited by the wonderful Kelly Crichton. It’s available across podcast providers but not yet directly here on Substack (I’ve tried so if anyone can tell me how that works with imported podcasts, not just audio files, let me know). Hope you like it!
News, events and opportunities
Books and authors:
EVENT: David Mitchell at Manchester Lit Festival: Author (not actor!) David Mitchell is appearing at Manchester Literature Festival on May 14 as part of his tour. It follows the re-publication ( by Sceptre) of his masterpiece, Cloud Atlas to celebrate 20 years since the first publication of this era defining novel. Cloud Atlas was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, James Tait Black Memorial Prize and Arthur C Clarke Award and sold over 2.5 million copies in the English language. David will be in the UK for media and events this Spring, including huge events at Southbank Centre and Hay Festival and an event with Marlon James at Charleston.
OPPORTUNITY: The Europe Challenge Writing Competition: is an opportunity for fiction and non-fiction writers on the theme of How a library changed my life . With a word count of maximum 3,000 words, the prize is 500 Euros, as well as a trip to Amsterdam for an event and book launch in September 2024. It deadlines May 20, 2024, at 12.00 (noon) CET. The Europe Challenge is an annual programme that brings together teams from libraries and communities across Europe to address social isolation, inequality, disinformation, climate crises and other local challenges
LAUNCH: Made in Manchester: Write Reject Repeat and Booky podcast alum Brian Groom’s new book Made in Manchester is due out on May 23 and described as ‘A rich and vivid history of Britain's second city through the people who have made it’. His first book Northerners was a UK bestseller. Made in Manchester, published by Harper North, is available to pre-order from bookshops and websites.
NEWS: Hay Festival: The Queen’s Reading Room will partner with the Hay Festival festival on Thursday 30 May. Established by Her Majesty The Queen as an Instagram book club in 2021, The Queen’s Reading Room is a literary charity on a mission to spread the joy of reading. The Queen’s Reading Room event is part of a packed programme of activities at Hay Festival Hay-on-Wye, with a dynamic line-up of 600-plus events, 23 May–2 June.
EVENT: Women’s Prizes shortlist book club: You can join the 12 authors shortlisted for the 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction and Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction, for a joyous celebration of women’s writing led by founder director of the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction Kate Mosse. Each evening will feature three of the shortlisted writers, from across the two prizes, introducing their books, with readings, lively discussion and candid author chat. You’ll have the opportunity to ask your questions and shape the conversation. Tickets available via the link.
Journalism:
NEWS Society of Editors: The Society of Editors has described reports that the Police Service of Northern Ireland routinely accessed the phone data of “troublemaker” journalists as “deeply alarming”. You can read full story via link.
OPPORTUNITY: Internships at The Spectator: Closing on May 31, The Spectator’s no name and CV-free internship scheme is back for 2024 - deadline is May 31. There are four schemes in Editorial, Politics and Broadcast. It says: “The Spectator runs the UK’s only double-blind internship scheme. We don’t ask for a CV, we don’t use your name. We don’t care where (or whether) you went to university, we anonymise your application. We give each applicant a city name, mark out of 100 and give offers to the best ones.” Details via link.
Thanks so much for reading. Please share the love and I love to hear from you! Have a great week N x