Laura Jarratt's Blog

I've got feature articles stopping off in the following places - some soundtracks, Q/A with the characters, pieces on writing etc. Thanks to my hosts listed above!

Skin Deep has now been shortlisted for two awards. The first is in the Young Adult Romantic Novel category of the Romantic Novelists' Association's RoNAs 2013 and the second is the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize.

Obviously I'm ecstatic about both!!!

In other news, we're updating the website as By Any Other Name is released this April and I'll be doing a blog tour, so details of that will

One thing I have found is that you can never rush a character. And for me, my characters make my books so sometimes waiting on them can be frustrating. Without them I can't go anywhere.

I blame Seamus entirely for the delay in my writing career. It took him five years to turn up, in which time Twilight appeared and got successful and the YA urban fantasy market saturated, which is why Seamus is

In some ways, it's a bit like starting a new relationship. You have those pre-first date jitters. Will this be the one? Or will it be a disaster of epic proportions from which your confidence will never recover? You worry, you get ridiculously excited at the prospect of the date/actually getting to sit down and begin to write the thing, and you obsess over how awesome it could be. Because it

It's been a really hectic couple of months. Skin Deep is now out there in the shops getting some great feedback from readers and bloggers. It's great to have so many people getting behind the characters and loving them. What I'm most pleased about is how much the people who've written to me about the book, or stopped me to talk about it, or blogged about it, have got from Jenna and Ryan's journey

Yes, I'm announcing a blog tour on my own blog! Throughout March, you can catch me in the following locations promoting Skin Deep.


Drop by and find some great new blog sites about books.

I write a lot in coffee shops. I like the noise around me, the way I can look up in a break and see an expression on someone's face or the something in the way someone walks past outside that inspires me. And most of all, I like the caffeine, preferably with a long shot of skimmed milk and a little dash of hazelnut syrup.

But there was one coffee shop experience I had last summer that I don't

I'm delighted to report my agents had an offer for SKIN DEEP just before Christmas, which was a great Christmas present, and we've now agreed terms so the book will be out in Brazil. Thanks to my great foreign rights agent, Jane Willis, and her associates for making that happen.

On other news, I got home from work this week to find a missed parcel card in my post. Now I couldn't remember

Okay, so I'm playing catch-up a little with my blog posts here after a lot of domestic reshuffling, and finally...sound trumpets, please...completing my latest book before it went off to my editor for her first sight of it.

Every book is different to write and sometimes I feel a bit sad when they're done, as if I'm losing a friend, because we've spent a lot of time together. I was really glad to

I'm delighted to share that the German language rights for SKIN DEEP were sold to Dressler over the summer and that my agents have had an offer for the Thai language rights recently. The book is due out in the UK in under three months now and I'm starting to get excited but I have to say the thought of it being read by kids in Thailand really blows my mind. It's great to see your book in print,