Michelle Harrison wins Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize
A NOVICE author could be following in the footsteps of JK Rowling after scooping a top literary prize. Michelle Harrison was named winner of the Waterstone’s children’s book prize, thanks to her imaginative fairy story, the 13 Treasures.
The 29-year-old former barmaid wrote the first few chapters of her book, which is about a teenage girl who can see fairies, while at university in Stafford in 2002. Seven years on and several rejection letters later, her novel is now tipped to be one of the biggest debut books of the year.
Michelle picked up her prize, a £5,000 cheque, at a glitzy ceremony at Waterstone’s in Piccadilly, London. Now working as an editorial assistant for a publishing company, she is hoping the book will lead to fame and fortune. It will soon be available at Waterstone’s book stores across the country.
The fantasy book has been compared to the Spiderwick Chronicles and classic fairytales by the Brothers Grimm.
Michelle, who grew up in Grays until recently moving to Oxfordshire, is now working on a sequel to the 13 Treasures.
Posted: February 21st, 2009
Author: Lee
Categories: JK Rowling
Do you have something to add to this post? Please leave a comment
Book of the Month
Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill
Some doors are better left closed . . . In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it’s been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever.
Latest interviews
Interviews plus question and answer sessions with authors, narrators and publishers.
Must-reads
The following reviews are of books that begin the very best fantasy series available.
Competition: Win a signed copy of Graham Hancock's Entangled
Graham Hancock is the author of The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, Keeper of Genesis, Heaven's Mirror, Supernatural and other bestselling investigations of historical mysteries. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages and have sold over five million copies worldwide. Written with the same page-turning appeal that has made his non-fiction so popular, Entangled is his first work of fiction. We have five signed copies of Entangled to give away as prizes. Email us the answer to the following question and the lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive a copy of the book, signed by the author.
Special Feature: Fantasy Book Review talks to the Book View Cafe
Book View Cafe is a cooperative site created by a group of writers - including internationally renowned authors Katharine Kerr, Ursula Le Guin and Vonda N. McIntyre - who want to take advantage of the internet's possibilities for reaching a wider audience and to distribute their work directly to their readers. The Book View Cafe is a place where you can find free, original fiction plus the authors' best and out-of-print work for a fee. Fantasy Book Review spoke to Book View Cafe member, science fiction author and memoirist Chris Dolley in February 2010.
Special Feature: Understanding the author of Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll, the elusive author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, has been the subject of enduring fascination for the past hundred years. The destruction of many major documents about his personal life by his descendants has only magnified the mystery. Jenny Woolf's biography, published to coincide with the release of the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland film, lays waste to the myths and suspicions that have obscured Carroll's reputation by placing him firmly in the context of his own time.
