Northern Highlight - Sheila M Averbuch

 NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT

Photo credit: Rob McDougall

Sheila M Averbuch

1. Why did you become a writer/illustrator?
Books were my life when I was 11. I'm dying to give kids the same experience, a book they can't put down.

2. Tell us about where you live.
I live in a stone miner's cottage outside Edinburgh in a village called Pencaitland. Outside my window is a 17th century market cross and an old sundial that I'm pretty sure has a magic portal in its base somewhere.

3. Where do you work?
I work here in the cottage and said historic sundial is in my eyeline as I write this.

4. What for you is the 'spirit of the North/Scotland’?
Independence of mind.

5. Has this spirit influenced your work?
Somebody said (going beyond the usual "write what you know"), "write what scares you".  That's what I feel when I sit down, a sense that I'm not just writing middle grade thrillers, I'm writing books that explore topics that scare me, and I hope readers will feel the chills, too, in the best way.

6. Who for you are the great Northern/Scottish writers or illustrators?
I love The Gallows Pole by Benjamin Myers - full of independence of mind! Not a children's book, mind you. My favourite Northern children's writers are Elizabeth Wein (Code Name Verity) and more recently Struan Murray (Orphans of the Tide).

Author Struan Murray, illustrator Manuel Sumberac. Published by Puffin

7. If you could be transported to anywhere in the North/Scotland right now,
where would it be?
Moniack Mhor

8. What would you like to see from children's publishing in the North/Scotland?
More opportunities to mix with industry decision makers, including big book buyers as well as publishers and librarians.

9. What's your favourite children's book set in the North/Scotland?
Currently for me it's The Enigma Game, Elizabeth Wein's latest, a WWII codebreaking adventure set in Scotland.


Friend Me by Shelia M Averbuch will be published on 10th November and distributed in the UK by Scholastic UK. 

"Friend Me is a heart-racing escalation from toxic teen power play and the dangers of social media to a darkly searing near-future thriller. A stunning debut." Elizabeth Wein, New York Times bestselling author of Code Name Verity

Published by Scholastic Press US. Cover art created by Mike Heath/Magnus Creative. Cover design by Elizabeth B. Parisi and Yaffa Jaskoll

You can follow Sheila M Averbuch on Twitter and Instagram @SheilaMAverbuch and find out more at www.sheilamaverbuch.com 

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