The Golden Egg Academy Launch

Scary Ladies!

A couple of years ago Imogen Cooper, senior editor with Chicken House, came to the university to talk to our MA students and it was one of those instances when you meet someone and you feel like you have known them for years. We become instant friends. The more we talked the more we realised we felt the same about books and writing (she even liked my own writing - big plus!). She is the most wonderful and inspirational person I know. Her passion and her ability to edit books is outstanding so you can imagine how thrilled I was when earlier this year she approached me to see if I would be interested in joining her in a new venture - The Golden Egg Academy. I didn't need to think twice, my answer was an immediate 'yes'.The chance to work with the likes of Imogen, Christine O'Brien (editor at Chicken House, OUP and Frances Lincoln) and Beverley Birch (editor at Hodder) was not something to be missed.

Yesterday was the hatching of The Golden Egg Academy down at Bath and it was a glorious afternoon surrounded by friends, authors, would be writers, agents and publishers. So much laughter and a glorious cake. The event was 'hatched' by the inimitable Barry Cunningham of Chicken House who called us all a panel of scary ladies - I have never been called that, it was quite an empowering moment! He then went on to speak about the importance of readers and having great books to inspire them. We all then spoke a bit about our thoughts regarding children's books. I mentioned how important children's literature is and what The Golden Academy can do for you; Imogen spoke about how you must know what your novel is about; Beverley followed her by talking about 'understanding your voice,' and then Christine finished off with discussing finding your inner child again. Following a brief respite for cake, actor and team member, Suzanne Cave, read out excerpts of work from Kay Varley, Christina Vinall and Claire Difazio, all of whom went on to discuss how they had been working with Imogen and the difference it had made to their work. All this was achieved with the help of Nicki Marshall and Zoe Taylor. (Huge thanks has to go to everyone for such an amazing day)

So much laughter!

The Golden Egg Academy is all about the holistic approach. It is about working with you as a writer and building relationships as well as working on your manuscript so it is the best it can possibly be. There will be editorial surgeries, workshops and one to ones available. We are all looking forward to working with you. Please do check out the website and see what a difference it could make for you.

In the meantime this is what all writers do: Sitting, Wishing, Waiting....