Writing YA: John Boyne & Andy Mulligan
Firstly I'll confess that I have not read books by either of these authors. I can hear the gasps of shock now. As an excuse, historical fiction isn't really my thing, I have considered picking up The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas more than once but have never quite made it past the front cover. Over the few talks that I've been to it has been interesting to get the insight into what the path of each writer has been before becoming a published author. These two were no exception. Andy Mulligan worked in the theatre and was happily made redundant, he then went travelling and eventually became a teacher. Throughout this all he was writing and came across his agent through the school. John Boyne had done a writing degree and wanted to be around books while he wrote so he got a job in Waterstones [I'll forgive him!] where he got to encounter a lot of famous authors and other book professionals. Both authors have had similar experiences through their lives, that have seep...