Hey all,
A few nice bits of news – my next WriteMentor course starts next week, and there’s still a place left. If you’re working on a YA novel, you can find out more here.
The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker has been shortlisted for the 2021 Crimefest YA award!
I spoke to the Big Kids Book Club podcast about The Deep-Sea Duke and did a ‘day in the life’ story series for the Coventry2021 Instagram account, which you can replay in their highlights. Over on my Patreon, I shared some patron-only posts on screenwriting tips, lockdown guilty pleasures and an essay on writing serialised fiction.
I’m doing an online panel in June for Cymera Festival with some of my Climate Fiction Writers League authors. In the latest issue of the newsletter, there’s a letter for climate-anxious children and a discussion of animal behaviour in writing. I also did a video interview about climate change and Green Rising for Laura Lam’s new youtube series Cyotopia here.
Green Rising now has a blurb! This is out Sept 2nd with Walker Books – hopefully we can do a cover reveal soon (it’s AWESOME).
Set in a near-future world on the brink of ecological catastrophe, Lauren James’ novel is a gripping, witty and romantic call to arms.
Gabrielle is a climate-change activist who shoots to fame when she becomes the first teenager to display a supernatural ability to grow plants from her skin. Hester is the millionaire daughter of an oil tycoon and the face of the family business. Theo comes from a long line of fishermen, but his parents are struggling to make ends meet.
On the face of it, the three have very little in common. Yet when Hester and Theo join Gabrielle and legions of other teenagers around the world in developing the strange new “Greenfingers” power, it becomes clear that to use their ability for good, they’ll need to learn to work together. But in a time of widespread corruption and greed, there are plenty of profit-hungry organizations who want to use the Greenfingers for their own ends. And not everyone would like to see the Earth saved…
As they navigate first love and family expectations, can the three teenagers pull off the ultimate heist and bring about a green rising?
I think that’s all my news! It’s been a ‘head down, keep working’ kind of winter. I’ve written a TV pilot and a screenplay, done the latest round of edits on Green Rising, started writing a new novel and written a proposal for a new project. It’s been a busy time – but I am so excited for this summer of getting out and about again!
lauren x
LAUREN JAMES 