Isabel Ashdown, fiction writer and MA Creative Writing student at the University of Chichester will be launching her debut novel on 28th September 2009.Glasshopper, published by Myriad Editions, is the story of a family breakdown in the 1980s as seen through the eyes of 13-year-old Jake. An extract won the Mail on Sunday Novel Competition and was described by judges John Mortimer and Fay Weldon as ‘magnificent’.
Isabel finished writing the novel in December 2008 and will celebrate the official launch of the book on 28th September at the Mitre Theatre, Bishop Otter Campus, University of Chichester at 5.30pm. She commented: “My friends, family and tutors have shown me great support and enthusiasm during the writing of the Glasshopper, for which I am sincerely grateful.”
So what tips can Isabel give to aspiring writers? She said: “Carry a notebook at all times, read widely and with a writer’s eye, join or form a workshop group and submit your work to competitions and publications.”
Isabel is now working on her second novel. “I’m most interested in discovering the characters, in understanding their dilemmas and choices, and in watching the subsequent repercussions of those choices unfold before me. Whilst my second novel will have a very different theme to that of Glasshopper, it will appeal to a similar readership.”
Come and listen to Isabel in conversation with University English Lecturer Dave Swann, as she reads extracts from the book, and signs copies of Glasshopper. Copies will be available to purchase on the day.
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