Hi there! My name is
Jessica Brown
Plymouth, United_kingdom
Synopsis
“Evelda” is middle-grade fiction aimed at 8-12-year-olds.
When their mother is taken ill, William (a boy who is happiest when wearing a dress) and his younger sister Ivy (who is always hungry for cake) are sent to stay with their strict Aunt Muriel and spoilt cousin Clover.
On Clover’s birthday she receives a beautiful dress which she is ungrateful for, and when William is caught trying it on later in the day he knows he is in trouble and runs away to his uncle’s outhouse, where Ivy is also hiding. Together they discover a secret door to a beautiful land where no girls and women are allowed with the exception of Evelda, an irrational and cruel leader.
Ivy and William are given boys clothes to wear and are taken on as apprentices at a cake shop. They attend the royal banquet and circus performance, but when Evelda discovers a girl’s handkerchief, she is suspicious and sends out a search party. Fortunately, William and Ivy return to our world in the nick of time. They are full of stories of where they have been and no one seems to believe them. Then Clover disappears. Ivy and William return to Evelda’s world to find she has been captured and it is up to them to save her and bring her home.
Synopsis
SYNOPSIS
THE LIBRARY OF LIVING is about 16 year old BEN BAILEY, who dies suddenly when his bicycle collides with a taxi.
BEN finds himself in an old dusty LIBRARY that he soon realises he’s visited many times before. The books on the shelves contain details of people and animals that he can return to Earth as. Normally, BEN would have found the whole experience to be an exciting adventure, but the only thing on his mind right now is ANNA LAWSON, his childhood sweetheart.
BEN and ANNA met at playschool and have been friends ever since.
When BEN dies he worries about how ANNA will cope, and whilst in the LIBRARY he selects books that feature animals that might be able to return to ANNA’s garden and see her. He wants her to know that he is alright.
The LIBRARY is on a numbered asteroid within our solar system, and new spirits arrive daily. It is run by MRS VINE, a woman in her hundreds, who has stayed looking sixty. It is made up of corridors and reading rooms that house open fires. The main LIBRARY is a stretch of books, piled high, containing all species of man and creature. A spirit is given thirty days to make a choice and once they have chosen what to live as next, MRS VINE leads them to a long winding staircase in the LIBRARY’s centre and on descending it, the spirit’s form often changes and they are born again on Earth.
Whilst there, BEN meets three other spirits, these spirits share their stories with Ben and reveal how he was a part of their life on Earth before leaving the library one by one.
BEN misses ANNA and thinks about her a lot. Their story is told from the day they met and how they grew up together.
ANNA is at a friend’s house that evening and isn’t with BEN when he dies. She feels guilty because she believes that if she had been there, she could have prevented it.
During a heat wave, ANNA is revising for her GCSES in the garden, when she catches a glimpse of red. On closer inspection she realises that she is looking at a red squirrel, so small his tail is not yet bushy. Instead of having black beady eyes, the squirrel has turquoise eyes. ANNA believes that she has seen BEN and feels happy in knowing that he’s alright and that life doesn’t stop when someone dies.
About Me
I was born on 17th September 1986 in Devon to creative parents. My mum made bags from odd socks, and turned broken kettles into sculptures.
Dad was always inventing something: his ideas included board games, phone holsters and poop scoops!
As a toddler I would draw constantly, filling pages of paper. When I was three years old, I thought up a story, drew all the pictures and got dad to write the words so I guess that was my first book.
When I was nine, my family moved to the Isle of Wight an
Favorite Things
| Charity | British Heart Foudation | |
| Coffee | Mocha | |
| Book | Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella | |
| Superhero | Spiderman | |
| Movie | The Notebook | |
| Musical | The Sound of Music | |
| Ice Cream | Ben and Jerrys |
Q&A with Vincent
How would you increase literacy?Read daily to my children. Join a library and visit regularly to change books.
What are the ingredients for a blockbuster story to you?A twist in the story is always fun.
What are your top stories that entertain and/or inspire you?Sophie Kinsella and Cecelia Ahern books are fun to read, especially when I am settling the children and want to relax.
Do you have any advice to aspiring writers?Write you are relaxed, if you can't think of what to write about, go for a walk, it usually gets the imagination working.
Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?I always had a good imagination and loved to draw. When I was 4 I made a series of drawings and asked my parents to write a story to go with them. When I was 7/8 I had a notebook and used to collect stories from family and friends. Then at age 11 I filled 86 pages of an A4 notebook with a story about a girl living in Edwardian times. Since then I have always had a book on the go.