I was invited by the brilliant, best-selling novelist Dorothy Koomson to share my essential reads and writing tips on her website.  Click here to read all about it. While you're there, check out her new book: The Ice Cream Girls.  As thought-provoking, warm and insightful as her other books, this is sure to be a huge hit.  Here's what the blurb has to say: As teenagers Poppy Carlisle and Serena Gorringe were the only witnesses to a tragic event. Amid heated public debate, the two seemingly glamorous teens were dubbed ‘The Ice Cream Girls’ by the press and were dealt with by the courts. Years later, having led very different lives, Poppy is keen to set the record straight about what really happened, while married mother-of-two Serena wants no one in her present to find out about her past. But some secrets will not stay buried – and if theirs is revealed, everything will become a living hell all over again . . . Gripping, thought-provoking and heart-warming, The Ice Cream Girls will make you wonder if you can ever truly know the people you love

Here's my latest video - the Biker Goddess stock signing tour to promote Kumari. I spent a day whizzing round the major Central London book stores on the back of a Triumph Bonneville clad only in a sari, a pair of Raybans and a dodgy leather jacket. Move over Isadora Duncan...

Yes folks - here I am in a marvellous centre spread feature by journalist Kate Youde which you can read here. The five page special focuses on what it flatteringly describes as the 'best local writers.' Not sure how Hanif Kureishi feels about being left out but there you are. In case you missed it, there was another piece a couple of weeks ago about my forthcoming event at the shiny new Shepherd's Bush Library. You can read that one here.

Here's me talking about my writing life at the Thoroughly Modern Heroines event which took place at Waterstone's in Notting Hill - beside me are fellow authors Josa Young http://oneappletasted.com and Kate Morris http://katemorris.co.uk. Click on this entry to see the video and for more check out my Youtube channel AmandaLeesTube...

I've just taken part in the first ever Chiswick Book Festival, sitting on a panel chaired by the brilliant author and lecturer Celia Brayfield debating the perfect book group book.  Like many of you out there I ostensibly belong to a book group.  I say ostensibly because I hardly ever manage to make it along. This is not because of any lack of love of books but rather the result of an intense burst of writing that has seen me publish a trilogy and start two completely new projects in a short space of time.  Compared to the other members of the panel and the audience, however, I classify as a wimp.  In one small area of West London there are eleven known book groups and probably many more beavering away anonymously.  Judging by the discussion that ensued, they are well-read, positively keen to overlook hyped up bestsellers and hungry for excellent writing both classic and new. The debate bore out the old adage that you should never underestimate your audience.  Publishers sometimes make the mistake of thinking that dumbed down sells.  Maybe in Dan Brown's case but then he is an exception to every rule.  What was apparent is that people everywhere, from ...

From time to time I emerge blinking from behind my keyboard to meet up with readers and fellow writers.  If you can make it along, it would be lovely to see you there. Here are a few dates for your diaries: Sunday 27th September, 3pm,  I'll be at the first ever Chiswick Book Festival to talk about the perfect Book Club Book along with Celia Brayfield - sadly I won't be able to make the Saturday Children's events as (happily) my best friend is getting married (aaaaaah): http://chiswickbookfestival.org Wednesday 30th September, 7 - 9pm, Waterstones Notting Hill - I'll be talking about Thoroughly Modern Heroines alongside fellow authors Josa Young and Kate Morris: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/event.php?eid=101979982767&ref=mf Saturday 17th October, 2.30pm, Shepherds Bush Library - I'll be talking about the Kumari trilogy and giving some writing tips http://www.lbhf.gov.uk/Directory/Leisure_and_Culture/Libraries/Shepherds_Bush_library/14295_Libraries_Shepherds_Bush.asp

I was invited along to the grand civic opening of the new Shepherds Bus library slap bang beside the shiny Westfield shopping centre.  The location is no coincidence as Westfield coughed up a considerable amount of money towards the library as part of the redevelopment plan for the area.  As a staunch supporter of Alan Gibbons' Campaign for the Book I am delighted to see new libraries being built and this is a particularly magnificent example.  There are yards of shiny new shelves - so many that one librarian confessed they have had trouble filling them in time for the opening.  The space is open, airy and light with funky touches of acid greens (I'm beginning to sound like a design programme here) and, best of all, I'm doing an event there on Saturday October 17th, 2.30pm, based on my Kumari trilogy. The actual cutting of the ribbon was carried out by an adorable local schoolboy assisted by an avuncular Jeremy Paxman.  Those of you who like to yell at University Challenge the way I do will realise that avuncular is not an epithet normally applied to Mr Paxman.  He sweetly told this tiny child that he represented the future and he, Paxman, the ...

With that back to school feel in the air I decided it was time to take a look around at what my fellow YA authors were up to web-wise.  After all, you can always learn a few new tricks or, as most writers do, simply nick all the best ideas... And where better to start than with Mr. Alex Rider himself, Anthony Horowitz?  Actually, this part of his site is my favourite - a very cool section on all things Alex.  You can check it out at: http://anthonyhorowitz.com/alexrider/ Next up I paid a visit to the creator of Coraline, one of the best films I have seen all year.  Make that the past ten years.  As you would expect from the multitalented Neil Gaiman, this site is a visual feast full of quirks and surprises.  Do like I did and spend many a happy hour digging through all the amazing content on offer.  You can find it at: http://neilgaiman.com I know that the equally talented Eoin Colfer is keenly interested in all things technical and it shows at his whizzy site.  There's an excellent online game,  The Artemis Fowl Inner Circle, and plenty of useful information alongside an eye-popping design. http://eoincolfer.com Before you think I'm biased, there are a couple ...

I've got an idea.  It's been hammering at me for days, intruding on all sorts of mundane thoughts.  There I am, making up shopping lists in my head when BAM! it's popping up between the veggies and the washing powder.  Even more interesting, this is a revamp of an old idea or at least one I've been mulling over for some time as the basis for my new adult novel.  I've already come up with on heck of a premise and sketched it out on paper.  Now my brain is filling in the twists and turns that, like the layers of an onion, will wrap around the core of the story, ready to be peeled away by the reader. As the legendary Darley Anderson once said to me, all the best ideas need to stew like this.  It's that slow simmer in the mind before you so much as hit the keyboard that will turn a book from mundane to great.  If an idea isn't strong enough it won't survive the process.  If, like mine, it just won't let go then you know you have a winner on your hands.  You need to knock it about, question it, hit it from ...

Yes, it’s been a while. That’s the trouble with writing – you’re often too busy doing it to write about doing it. Anyway, I’m back with the second in my series of short homilies on writing for children and this time I’d like to explore subject matter. It’s obviously crucial to get this right – there’s no point writing about something that does not resonate with your intended readership. Where adult writers often fall down is in failing to identify the things that really interest children: not just the bigger themes that provoke universal hopes and fears in young people but the day to day minutiae that can matter just as much. Try asking a child to recount his or her day. Chances are that they will come up with a series of events that bear little comparison to an adult’s viewpoint. When I ask after my seven year old daughter’s day at school she usually claims to remember nothing, leaving me to wonder if there is some kind of Mafiosi style pact between children and teachers. When pressed, however, she will tell me about some game in which she became intensely involved or recall a fragment of a lesson which ...