I’m so very happy to share the news: Who Runs the World? has won the 2017 Tiptree Award.

It is such a huge honour that my novel was chosen as winner from such an incredible international longlist.

A huge honour. Also a shock . . .

Who Runs the World? (to be published as The XY by Sourcebooks in the US) was such a tricky book to write. I worried over every sentence. I worried about what the story was saying, and how it was saying it. Riddled with self-doubt and anxiety, I pressed on . . . not because I felt I had grand answers to big questions, but because I wanted to explore.

And when I had finished, I didn’t feel completely at ease with the story. The issue of gender is too complex to be wrangled into a neat beginning-middle-end. But I knew I had tried, and tried hard.

The James Tiptree, Jr Award is intended to encourage ‘the exploration and expansion of gender’. That is what I set out to do. To have this recognised by the jury is a wonderful and amazing thing to me. I am extremely grateful.

And . . . they’ve invited me to WisCon to receive the Award!

None of this would have happened without – well, a lot of things, and a lot of people. But I want to send special thanks to my agent, Louise Lamont at LBA Books, for pushing me to imagine this story, to my editor Rachel Petty at Macmillan for support and encouragement . . . and to the dynamic Cheryl Morgan, whose incredible ability to listen, think and engage meant a chance meeting gave my book the opportunity to be considered for this Award.

Bit perturbed I haven’t posted on the www. since July . . . here’s why and what’s been happening:

First up, I was done in – physically and emotionally. Physically, too many years at a desk caught up with me. (Hence ‘Festive Greetings from the Osteopath’s Clinic’ pic). Have had sorts of joint and spine problems, but I’m on it. Emotionally . . .

Who Runs the World? was the hardest thing I’ve ever written – both the writing of it, and then the working out how to talk about it . . . and that’s the tricky thing you don’t always see writers discuss.

For me, working out how to talk about a book is almost as hard as writing it. It involves taking many steps back from ideas and feelings you spent hours and weeks and months crawling towards, getting so close to them you and the story become fused. Separation feels strange – and hurts. It’s a slow extraction. (I still miss Ruby Morris!)

I have been mightily assisted in this process by a series of events: BristolCon Fringe, school visits in Cardiff (Ysgol Uwchradd Caerdydd) and Penarth (St Cyres), the ever-amazing YALC at the London Film & Comic Con, Ujima Radio, DeptCon in Dublin, Bristol Lit Fest, BBC Radio Bristol, BristolCon and an #AuthorsforGrenfell visit to the fabulous, creative Ysgol Brynrefail in Gwynedd. Special thanks to the booksellers: to Waterstones (esp Bristol Galleries) and Easons, and the indies: Griffin Books of Penarth, Palas Print of Caernarfon, and the very lovely and supportive Books on the Hill in Clevedon. (And to the super-dynamic Cheryl Morgan for making so much happen!)

Ah, you know me . . . I’d go on and on thanking people – most of all: readers. In a very troubled year for pretty much the whole world, we somehow manage to connect and feel and think. Thank you!

I’m learning to represent River and Mason and their story – now shortlisted for the Wirral Book Award, the Grampian Book Award and nominated for the 2018 CILIP Carnegie Medal.

And . . . I’m writing a new story! (Plot outline below . . . pages and pages of notes and it boils down to this . . . !)

It was brilliant. As usual.

(Even if I did have a hideous, snotty cold.) (Send sympathy/soup/more tissues.)

I did two events at the UK’s Young Adult Lit Con at the London Film & Comic Con, 28th-30th July:

1. Who runs the world? A panel of authors – Tania Byrne, Claire Hennessy and Holly Smale, chaired by Katherine Woodfine – discussing feminism in YA . . . which developed into a discussion about gender. ‘Stop trying to put people in boxes’ (Holly Smale).
2. The writing process. A conversation with my agent, Louise Lamont at LBA Books . . . which turned into a pep talk and advice session with the writers – as yet unpublished – who came along.

That’s the thing about YALC: it’s not about a schedule of events (tho’ these are pretty fab), it’s about people meeting each other. It’s spontaneous and fun – and full of the unexpected.

Thanks to all: to everyone who came along to the panel, to the readers whose books (and bags and posters and notebooks) I got to sign, and to the writers – it was a pleasure to meet you.

This made me laugh, though – accidental State of Grace (Rachael Lucas) and Who Runs the World? poster conversation spotted by Louise (my agent) on Macmillan’s My Kinda Book stand:

On Wednesday, 19th July, I did my first two Who Runs the World? school visits, speaking to 300 Year 9 students at St Cyres, Penarth, and Ysgol Uwchradd Caerdydd/Cardiff High School with support from Macmillan and indie bookseller, Griffin Books.

I had no idea what to expect . . . no idea how a story about gender, democracy and justice would go down with a diverse group of 14-year-olds.

They were amazing! They listened, they thought . . . they made EXCELLENT comments and they asked BRILLIANT questions, from whether women’s emotions would change, to whether a world run by women would really be that different . . .

Did I have answers? Not exactly . . . I made it clear at the start: I’m not a teacher, I’m a writer; a story is a way to think about things, to pose questions – but not to find neat ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers.

Challenging . . . and wonderful. Thanks to everyone who participated!

(Especially the shy people; I know how hard it can be to ask a question in public.)

Who Runs the World? was a tricky book to write. It involved a WHOLE LOT of thinking (and addressing some pretty difficult feelings too).

Here’s how I came to write this story – described in a blog post for Macmillan’s My Kinda Book.

‘My dearest wish is that readers imagine (and write!) (and live!) their own futures, free of gender expectations . . . because, really, Who Runs the World? We do.’

WE DO!

My heart goes out to the families affected by the Grenfell Tower fire . . . but that’s not enough, is it?

The publishing world has come together to offer support – in the form of an auction. You can read all about it here . . . and you can BID, BID, BID for some amazing items to raise money to help those who have lost everything in this terrible – and entirely avoidable – disaster.

I’m offering signed copies of my books . . . and a SCHOOL OR SKYPE VISIT.

BID, BID, BID!

Click right here:

To celebrate the publication of Who Runs the World? we had a bit of a party at Waterstones, The Galleries, Bristol on Thursday 15th June . . .

Thank you so much to everyone (especially the teens!) who came along to support – and to listen. It was the first time I’ve really spoken about the book in public and after the usual bout of nerves, I managed to get on with it, doing a little bit of reading and describing the tricky thinking journey this story forced me to take.

See below for lovely Bristol book blogger Jesse Owen’s account of the evening – and thanks again to Waterstones and My Kinda Book for organising!

The excellent Reading Zone asked some tricky questions . . . and I tried to answer them. (Link here.)

The thing I am discovering about Who Runs the World? is that the questions never stop coming; they didn’t, for me, when I was writing it, and I suspect they never will.

(So meantime am in meltdown trying to work out how to talk about WRTW; if you haven’t already had an invite, come to the launch at Waterstones, Galleries, Bristol on 15th June. Free – of course! – but you have to book. See you there!)

Who Runs the World? was published on June 1st!

This is my consignment of author’s copies . . . some of which will be making their way to the lovely people who inspired, advised on, and supported the writing of this story.

I’ve been getting a lot of compliments about the cover, so it feels important to say that the wallpaper design is by Sam Hadley (via Artist Partners), other graphics and layout by the fabulous Pan Macmillan Art Department. Text by Rachel Petty, my editor! And expertly printed in the UK by CPI.

It takes a lot of people to make a book.

Here it is: the final cover of the final version.

Yup, after a whole lot of tinkering – including a massive re-write of the last few chapters and a substantial refining (AKA serious hacking and tweaking) of the rest . . . ’tis done.

It was a daunting mind-melt of a task, to imagine how a ‘bio-born’ girl who had never met a ‘bio-born’ boy before would respond – let alone what bigger story their experiences would tell . . . and I’m going to be very interested indeed to hear what readers think . . .

Who Runs the World? is out June 1st 2017 in the UK. (Pre-order link? Here.)

Meantime? Website overhaul happening . . . and – despite having been so quiet for so long – after about 19 months of trying to figure out River’s tale, I think I might try to take a little break before her story is published. (I find it hard to read novels when I am writing – so I am desperate to do some reading.)