Happy Tuesday, Book Dragons!
Today is my stop on the Blog Tour for David Owen’s incredible debut middle grade, Alex Neptune: Dragon Thief! David’s books are some of my absolute favourites and Alex Neptune is no exception! I have two posts lined up today, first up is a guest post from David about his favourite things about being an author. This afternoon I’ll be posting my review.
Happy reading!
I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
My five favourite things about being an author
1. Some people actually read my books!
Most writers start out as hobbyists, writing for fun and perhaps sharing with close and friends and family. Some join writing groups and share their work there. But none of this prepares you for the first time a total stranger tells you they’ve read your book. This isn’t a friend who has to say nice things or your editor who will read the book in various different forms as they shepherd it along to completion. This is somebody who voluntarily picked up your book because it interested them. It’s a magic (and scary!) feeling and getting to experience it hundreds of times over is a special privilege. Unless they absolutely hated it.
2. Signing books
Some of those readers will actually want me to scribble my name into their copy of my book! This is the best way to feel like a ‘proper’ author and also gives plenty of opportunity to doodle terrible drawings into something they’ve paid money for. My go-to is a cat that looks like it’s been squashed by a boulder.
3. Being a part of the writing community
Writing books is often hard and the writing community understands that. Other writers will offer encouragement, motivation and chastisement as required to help you get your next book written. But they also won’t judge you for procrastinating online for hours at a time because they all do it too.
4. Getting to work with brilliant editors (and publicists and designers and…)
Nothing makes a novel better than working on it alongside professionals who share your passion for the book. Submitting a draft is always frightening, but also exciting when you know the feedback is going to help shape the story into what you know it can be. Publishing is packed with hard-working, talented people and having them all work on my books to help make them a success is always something to be celebrated.
5. Being allowed to do it again
A lot of writers worry that their next book will also be their last. Being allowed to write more, to once again seek help and support from other writers, have expert editors whip it into shape, see people reading it and signing finished copies, will never fail to make me feel incredibly lucky. I hope I get to keep doing it for a very long time to come.
About the Author:
Having worked as a freelance games journalist and taught on a BA Creative Writing course for three years, David Owen’s debut novel, Panther, was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal, and was followed by three further highly acclaimed YA novels. Alex Neptune is his first series for younger readers, born of his love for nail-biting heists, fantastical monsters and heartfelt friendships.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/davidowenauthor
Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidowenauthor
Book info:
Meet Alex Neptune, the boy with the power of the ocean in his hands – a brand-new hero for fans of Percy Jackson and Dragon Realm! For as long as Alex Neptune can remember, the ocean has been trying to kill him. So he’s not too happy when a bunch of sea creatures drag him to the abandoned aquarium on the hill, where an imprisoned water dragon needs his help. But how can he say no to a magical creature? Recruiting his tech-genius best friend Zoe, legend-lover Anil, a sharp-shooting octopus, three acrobatic otters and a thieving seagull, Alex plots a heist to break the dragon out. And suddenly discovers the power of the ocean at his fingertips…
Book Title: Alex Neptune: Dragon Thief
Author: David Owen
Publisher: Usborne
Release Date: 4th August 2022
Genre: MG
Fantastic Book Dragon 