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Eve Wersocki-Morris
Eve writes mystery adventures and has been praised for her ‘twisty and suspenseful stories’ (Sunday Times). We chat to The Wildstorm Curse author about her workshop at the Bath CHildren's literature Festival and gives advice to young writers...
We can’t wait to see you at this year’s Bath Children’s Literature Festival. Can you tell us a little about your new book.
The Wildstorm Curse is a mystery adventure set on a theatre camp – full of thrills, twists and turns! Kallie Tamm won’t let her dyslexia stop her dreams of becoming a playwright but when she arrives at Wildstorm Theatre Camp she discovers a curse on the local theatre… Kallie soon learns about the legend of a local witch and starts to wonder whether the events of the past are repeating themselves. Alongside her new friends, Kallie must uncover the mystery before it’s too late.
I loved creating the villain in this book – they’re mysterious and melodramatic – everything a good villain should be! In my workshop we’ll be creating some villains and I can’t wait to hear what people come up with!
The theatre camp in the book is in fact based on a real-life theatre camp in Gloucestershire, where I went as a child. And I am also dyslexic – and loved writing plays when I was younger. So, it’s all based on my real-life adventures – apart from the enchanted kids and the demons!
What do you enjoy most about festivals such as the Bath Children’s Literature Festival?
I love hearing children’s ideas and stories – I am always blown away by their imaginations. My workshop is all about writing suspenseful stories and the kids in previous sessions have come up with such spooky, atmospheric tales they’ve made my hair stand on end!
I also love the buzz of the city when the Bath Children’s Literature Festival is on. Apart from doing my own events, I really enjoy walking around and seeing the Children’s Festival bunting and the excited queues outside other venues.
What is your writing process?
I love films so my ideas often come to me as film trailers – with flashes of daring dos and dramatic one-liners! So I daydream this ‘book trailer’ for a while before sitting down to start writing. I do like to plot and plan quite a bit before I start a new book – my plots usually have a lot of twists and turns so it’s helpful to know where I’m going. Sometimes I’ll add in an extra twist if I’m getting bored while I’m writing. The first draft is always tricky so I’ll try and finish it as quickly as possible. I do prefer editing and going over what I’ve written and making it better.
Are you always thinking of new ideas and new characters?
Yes. I get ideas from everything – overheard conversations, news stories and silly things which happen to me. I write my ideas on post-it notes so my house is full of little scrapes of scribbles. I should probably think of a better system since I’ll sometimes find post-it notes saying things like “fire and strawberries!” and have no idea what it means!
How many books do you have on the go at one time?
It’s hard to count. It’s a funny thing, as soon as someone gives you a writing deadline you start thinking about all the other books you could be writing instead of the one you need to write! I’m probably daydreaming about three or four ideas at the same time.
What’s the best piece of advice you were given when it comes to writing?
You need to believe in your story. It can be scary sharing your writing but you need to have confidence in what you’ve created. Writing can be a long, tiring process so that confidence and excitement in a project will keep you going through the hard times.
"I also love the buzz of the city when the Bath Children’s Literature Festival is on. Apart from doing my own events, I really enjoy walking around and seeing the Children’s Festival bunting and the excited queues outside other venues."
Which authors do you currently enjoy reading?
There are so many fantastic children’s writers out there so it’s hard to choose. I’ve just finished the latest book by Jack Meggitt-Phillips’ The Beast and The Bethany: Child of the Beast (out 28th September) and it is horribly hilarious! I’m also a huge fan of Jamie Littler, Katie and Kevin Tsang and Katherine Woodfine – all spectacular writers.
I also love returning to the authors I read as a child – like the Alex Rider series, anything by Diana Wyne Jones and The Mediator series by Meg Cabot – it’s like comfort eating.
How can readers keep up-to-date with what you are up to.
You can follow me on Instagram on @eve_wersocki Twitter/X @MzEvieMo or on my website www.evewersockimorris.co.uk
Eve Wersocki Morris’s Making Monstrous Villains Workshop is on Saturday 7th October, 3:45pm