Caroline Green, our very own Writer-in-Residence, spoke to all of Year 7 last Monday 12th November. Caroline talked about her inspiration as both a Young Adult writer and also compared writing for children with writing books for adults, which she now does as well. She said it is harder to write for children than it is for adults!
In her previous career as a journalist, Caroline went undercover to investigate a story and even interviewed one of the astronauts involved in the moon landings!
Caroline has written four Young Adult books including Dark Ride, Cracks, Fragments and Hold Your Breath (all available in the Library). It took many rejections before her first YA novel, Dark Ride, was accepted by a publisher and it won several awards once it was published. Her message to students was, “Don’t give up if you really want to be a writer – you have to keep going despite all the rejection letters!”
Her books for adults are, The Woman Next Door, In A Cottage In A Wood and Don’t you Cry, which is her latest novel. These are published under the name ‘Cass Green’ and have been Sunday Times bestsellers. Mrs Cobb has read all of Caroline’s thrillers and they do indeed keep you on the edge of your seat!
Caroline runs a Creative Writing Club after-school on Mondays and can be found in the Library every Monday lunchtime meeting with students. Caroline mentioned her theory of how stories help us to interpret the world around us, something which makes books and stories so important. Students asked Caroline some interesting questions including what was her favourite book which she had written. She said that she could not choose as it would be like choosing one of her children as a favourite over the others; an impossible task for any mother!
Finally, Caroline set up a competition to invent a gadget for the future. Students have been dropping entries into the Library competition box and she will announce the winner soon.
Caroline’s books have been flying off the shelves since her talk and the students reading them have been saying how excited they are.
