BECOMING A WRITER 3 – OCTOBER 2013 – ANNE CASSIDY



 We were thrilled to welcome the acclaimed Anne Cassidy as the third writer in our series ‘Becoming a writer.’ Anne is the author of over thirty books for teenagers, all in the crime genre.  Possibly her most famous book, ‘Looking for JJ’ was published ten years ago which was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, the Whitbread Book Award and winner of the Booktrust Teenage Prize in 2004.
Anne was born and grew up in Essex road, Islington, and although being a bit of a ‘bad girl’ as a child, she came to writing later in life. When she was asked to write a story as a piece of homework when studying English she realised that she had found her calling in life! Her first novel was inspired by a childhood prank and she described the moment when she held her first book in her hands as the best moment in her life – along with the birth of her son!
Anne used these words to describe her books and writing, ‘dark, murder, blackmail, abduction, mystery.’


Huda with her prize!

‘Not every book suits every person’ – Anne explained to the girls that if you can’t get on with a book, try a different one, there are so many great books out there to choose from.
Anne had brought along copies of the ‘Murder Notebooks’ – Dead Time, Killing Rachel, and Butterfly Grave – the latter book is due to be published on November 7th. The fourth and last in the series will be published next year. She talked about the series and how she has enjoyed writing a series of books as opposed to stand alone novels which she is accustomed to writing.

The hugely successful ‘Looking for JJ’ was published in 2004. Anne had never intended to write a sequel despite being asked for one whenever she spoke about her writing. However, she has now decided that the time is right and has written a sequel which is to be published in 2014 – I know all her fans are going to be delighted. We were extremely excited and privileged to witness the first reading from the sequel – ‘Finding Jennifer Jones’.
At the end of the session one lucky student had her name drawn from a hat and won copies of all three books in the ‘Murder Notebooks’ series. Huda Ali Aman from 8E was the lucky winner and was thrilled – especially as she is now the proud owner of the first ever signed copy of ‘Butterfly Grave’.