War of the Wind by Victoria Williamson

For this blog tour I have an exciting guest post from Victoria herself all about being an author. It sounds pretty wonderful, despite all the hard work! Her new book was just released yesterday so is now available to order in eBook and paperback. More details about the book later but first of all let's hear from Victoria!

I’ve wanted to be an author since I was at least five years old. My early attempts at books were mostly in picture form with a few (badly-spelled!) words underneath, but I kept practising over the years, and finally achieved my dream with my debut novel bring published in 2018. War of the Wind will be my fourth published novel, and over the last four years I’ve discovered that even though writing can be very hard work, there are lots of great things about being an author. Here are some of my favourites:

1. Authors get to research all sorts of interesting things.

So far I’ve had the opportunities to research refugee issues, what it might be like to have ADHD, Robert Burns and Scottish folklore, British Sign Language and Deaf culture, and how wind turbines work. For future novels in the pipeline, I’ve researched everything from the linen industry in the 1700s and the plague in Scotland in the 1600s, to food banks and genetic modification of crops in the present day. I’m very glad we have the internet now – it wasn’t around when I was attempting my first stories at five years old, and it makes research an awful lot easier!

2. Authors get to visit the places they write about.

As part of our research, it’s always useful for an author to actually go to see a real place if that’s where our story is set. I’ve had lots of fun visiting places around Glasgow from my childhood for my debut novel, and enjoyed visiting Alloway again to see the Brig o’ Doon and the old cottage where my novel about Robert Burns is set. For War of the Wind, I’ve been visiting wind farm to get a feel for just how spooky turbines can be on a stormy day, although as you can see from this picture, they look harmless enough when the sun is shining!

3. Authors get to use their own life experience in their stories.

Authors often base their characters on a combination of people they know, or have known in the past. Many of their locations come from real places they’re familiar with, and often some the experiences their characters have are experiences that the authors themselves had had. For example, I base the children with additional support needs in my books on a combination of some of the many children I’ve taught over my teaching career. Grandparents often feature in my stories, and they are also a combination of many of the happy memories I have of my own grandparents.

4. Get to go on school visits and meet lots of children.

One of my absolute favourite things about being an author is visiting schools to run author talks and creative writing classes, and to hear all about young people’s own imaginative story ideas and writing experience. It’s lovely to hear how enthusiastic they are about reading and writing, and know that there’s a good chance that I’ll meet some of the future stars of the literary world on these visits!

5. Authors get to meet lots of inspirational people and make friends with lots of other lovely authors.

Writers are a very friendly bunch, and they’re a great source of support for each other. Writing can be a bit of a lonely career – stuck on a computer all day for many months put a book together sentence by sentence – by it doesn’t have to be. There are lots of writing groups to get involved in, and lots of literary events to go to throughout the year. So if you’re interested in becoming an author yourself, then why not start by joining a writing club or going along to a literary event in your local area? You’re bound to meet lots of people who will give you lots of encouragement on your writing journey. Here’s one of my favourite moments so far – getting to meet author Malorie Blackman at the Empathy Day event in Waterstones Piccadilly on my 40th birthday!

Book Summary

On a remote Scottish island, fourteen-year-old Max’s life changes forever when he loses his hearing in a boating accident. Struggling to make sense of his new life and finding it hard to adapt in school, he begins to notice other - even stranger – changes taking place when a new wind farm appears off the island’s coast.

With the help of three school friends with additional support needs, Max discovers that a sinister scientist, Doctor Ashwood, is using wind turbines to experiment on the islanders. They must find a way to shut down the government’s secret test before it spins out of control…

Author Information

A lifelong storyteller and daydreamer, Victoria Williamson is a children's author and teacher who grew up in Kirkintilloch, north Glasgow, surrounded by hills on the edge of a forest estate where many of her early ghost stories and fantasy tales were born amid the magical trees and spooky old ruined buildings. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, Williamson set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching math’s and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria is a qualified primary school teacher with a degree in Mandarin Chinese from Yunnan University and a Master’s degree in Special Needs in Education. She is passionate about creating inclusive worlds in her novels where all children can see a reflection of themselves in a heroic role. Her previous novels, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, and The Boy with the Butterfly Mind (Floris Books) were based on her experiences of teaching children with diverse backgrounds and have been shortlisted for a number of awards.  Find her online at her website or on Twitter.