Literary Birthday – 24 April – Alexandra Bell

Happy Birthday, Alexandra Bell, born on 24 April 1986.

Alexandra Bell Quotes

1. I’ve always enjoyed writing stories, even when I was at school. I carried on writing through college and got my first agent and publisher when I was at university. Since then I’ve written all kinds of books for both adults and children, from horror and fantasy to magic realism. (Reading Zone)
2. The most challenging bit is when I’m writing the first draft and know that it’s not quite right because it can sometimes be tricky – and time-consuming! – figuring out what needs to be changed. Although it’s very satisfying to get there in the end. (Reading Zone)
3. I’ve always wanted to write a book set in a hotel because I think they’re such evocative places with all this history ,and there’s a sense of time warp about them. I’ve also wanted to write a time travel romance for years. It felt like a good fit to combine the two and to set much of it in the 1930s. (Writer’s Digest)
4. Read and write as much as possible to learn what type of story you want to tell. And also, develop a sense of resilience so that you can press on when the inevitable rejections and setbacks occur. (Writer’s Digest)
5. There were a couple of rejections in the early stages that were mainly to do with the fact that Lex (from the Lex Trent duology) is – let’s face it – such a selfish, badly behaved little sod. Personally I think young adults can cope with this, and I didn’t want to tone Lex’s character down or make him less bad because, for me, that is what makes the book fun! I’m a big fan of anti-heroes.. (The Books Smugglers)
6. Obviously, the great Terry Pratchett is one of my main influences. I’ve been reading his books for a long time – I think they probably helped me survive the extremely horrible five years I had at secondary school – because of the fact that they’re pure escapism, very funny and could always cheer me up. (The Books Smugglers)
7. I’ve been lucky enough to get published young partly because I started writing young! I finished my first novel when I was seventeen, and sent short stories and novels out for two years before I got my agent. So it wasn’t quite the walk in the park that maybe it seems. I certainly had my fair share of rejection letters! (The Books Smugglers)

Alexandra Bell is an English author of adult, young adult (YA), and middle-grade speculative fiction. As Alex Bell, her debut adult horror novel The Ninth Circle was nominated for the Locus Award for Best First Novel. Her second published novel Jasmyn was longlisted for a British Fantasy Award. She then wrote her first YA novels, the Lex Trent duology. She is the author of Frozen Charlotte, Charlotte Says and The Haunting in the Red Eye series. Bell also began writing under the name Alexandra Bell in 2021. So far, she has written The Winter Garden and The White Octopus Hotel. She has penned over 20 books for both adults and young people, including novels that were selected for the Zoella book club, Blue Peter book club, and Radio 2. Nowadays, she writes under the names Alex Bell for young readers and Alexandra Bell for adults. Follow her on Instagram.

Source for image: Little Tiger

by Amanda Patterson

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