Inkwell Success Stories

Two Book Success For Laura Jane Cassidy

I attended my first Inkwell Writing Workshop in 2007, when I was 20 years old.  My Mum cut out the advertisement from the Irish Times because she knew I really wanted to be a writer. I thought the one-day course on writing commercial fiction sounded really interesting, and I booked a place straight away. I had started a novel but kept getting stuck after the first few chapters.

Inkwell literally changed my life.

I couldn’t believe that published authors were there, sharing their best tips with us. Sarah Webb gave an excellent talk at the workshop and showed us her notebooks in which she kept cuttings and photographs for inspiration. I’d never thought about incorporating the visual into writing before –like keeping magazine cuttings for character or scene ideas – but once I started to do that, my writing really took off. I went home feeling totally inspired, and spent the following summer finishing my novel, Angel Kiss.  In the meantime I also went to an Inkwell crime writing workshop where I held a real gun, got my fingerprints taken, and learned how Alex Barclay plans her novels.

When my book was completed I contacted Vanessa again and she gave me some superb tips for submitting to publishers. She also critiqued my first three chapters and gave me invaluable suggestions to improve them. In 2009 I found my agent,  Faith O’Grady at the Lisa Richards agency, and signed a book deal with Puffin for my first two novels – Angel Kiss and Eighteen Kisses.  Vanessa is a huge support to emerging writers, and knows everything there is to know about the publishing industry.  I would not be where I am today without her. She really is a literary angel.

Eighteen Kisses is due out on 3rd May 2012! For more on my writing, check out my blog http://www.laurajanecassidy.com/

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