Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Big Stories in Big Tents - it's Edinburgh Book Festival Time...

It's raining cats and dogs so it must be almost time for the EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL!... that time of year when thousands of people gather in great big tents to listen to and debate with the authors of the world as the rain thunders atmospherically on the canvas. Okay, sometimes it's sunny...but luckily my trilogy about a flooded world is spookily perfect reading material when it's not!



I'm doing DARK, DANGEROUS & DYSTOPIAN debates with my fellow Demention blog authors Claire Merle and Teri Terry. Our schools event is sold out but come and meet us for the evening slot (Thursday August 21st at 6pm - BOOK HERE). We’d love you to join in. Here’s a taster of what we’re all about...and watch out for our AMAZING BOOK GIVEAWAY in my next post!



Here's what we'll be talking about... but what do YOU think?

Why are stories about the future so popular just now - in a time when the world often seems complicated and scary? Or is that the very reason why?... because they take risks, exploring all kinds of possible futures in challenging ways? But should there be boundaries in YA fiction? Should authors protect their readers? Just how far dare we go? And lastly, can a book change the future...if it changes the way people think about the world?



Follow me on TWITTER @JulieBertagna, FACEBOOK and on PINTEREST I've just begun mucking around with images for the Exodus trilogy and the exciting new book in progress.

You'll find lots more about us all on Demention, our websites, etc. But here's a taster...

THE EXODUS TRILOGY

A boy and girl, oceans apart, fates entwined, fight for a future in a flooded world. 


An SOS from islanders at the mercy of rising seas on the other side of the world sparked Exodus, Zenith and Aurora. I kept thinking, what if that happens to us? How would we cope in a climate-changed world? So I began an apocalyptic tale of young survivors on a storm-ravaged Earth.

I set my story 100 years in the future - then climate change kicked in for real, affecting millions. The floods, tornadoes and storms are unnervingly close to my imagined world. Published in over 20 countries, I love that they’ve made lots of shortlists and won awards (even Green awards in the UK & US) but the most brilliant thing for me is that young readers across the world write and tell me how the books have made them think about the future - though some teachers and librarians in the USA have blasted them as too dangerous... 

Watch this brilliant EXODUS TRAILER made by teenagers for a school competition in the USA!

And here are just some of the nice things people have said about the Exodus trilogy... 
'A book you will remember for the rest of your life' Guardian 
'Breathtaking' Bookseller 
'Awesome' Herald 
'So vivid...magnificent epic' Scotland on Sunday 
'the most exciting book I've read all year' Mail 
'Terrific storytelling power' lovereading 
'A book that is to be treasured' Times Ed 
'Julie Bertagna’s award-winning Exodus is a brilliantly imagined story of love and survival in a climate-changed world. Zenith and Aurora complete this highly-acclaimed, classic dystopian trilogy' Manchester Book Festival






Monday, July 8, 2013

GO FOR GOLD

Seems like a good day to repost this! GO FOR GOLD - why every writer needs a Mr Lendl in their corner. Not just for writers - it's for anyone who ever dared to dream. As Judy Murray, mother of our new Wimbledon Champion just said, "It just goes to show there's nothing wrong with dreaming, there's nothing wrong with believing, anything is possible."

Dream on. Keep believing. Build your dream, one step at a time.

(And grab a Mr Lendl if you can!)

http://dementionblog.blogspot.gr/2012/09/going-for-gold-why-every-writer-needs.html

Julie x