A Deadly Profession

I didn’t know Jamal Khashoggi. I never met him. But he was a journalist, one of the brothers and sisters of the media who have chosen to speak out for others. Which is why journalists have increasingly become targets.

Jamal Khashoggi didn’t describe himself as a dissident; he just wanted more freedom and fairness for his people in Saudi Arabia.

In an article published in the Washington Post last year, he wrote: "I have left my home, my family and my job, and I am raising my voice. To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot. I want you to know that Saudi Arabia has not always been as it is now. We Saudis deserve better."

Free media is a cornerstone of democracy. It is the voice which demands accountability. And as the Saudis are finding to their cost, those who would forcibly silence that voice can end up unleashing a global outrage more powerful than they ever bargained for.

It is why, when Aljazeera journalists were wrongly imprisoned in Egypt in 2013, the rest of the world’s media banded together to demand their release.

It is why, when Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya was gunned down in Moscow in 2006, the international outcry forced the case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights.

It is why, after repeatedly targeting journalists and members of the press as well as other unarmed people during protests in Gaza,  Israel is facing an independent UN Commission of Inquiry.

The campaign group Reporters Without Borders says since January 2018, 60 journalists have been killed. In 2017, it was 65. You can see more figures on their website here.

We may never know exactly what happened to Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2^nd. We may never see those who gave the order for his murder pay the price. And ultimately, nothing may change in Saudi Arabia because of his death. But one thing is clear.

In the fight to highlight injustice, in the battle to hold those in charge to account, Jamal Khashoggi is just the latest fallen soldier.

Reviews and Debuts

I've had a busy week. Earlier in September I was moderating a conference in New York during the annual UN General Assembly, in front of audiences containing Princesses, Ministers and First Ladies.

Then I was hosting several  TV current affairs discussion shows for TRT World with guests talking about issues as disparate as GDP and High Seas Protection.

This month I was the Master of Ceremonies for a charity ball which raised more than £140,000 for schools in Uganda and Kenya.

But you know what made me most nervous? A talk to a class full of 14 and 15-year olds about my book. Ridiculous, I know - but I find it much easier to grill a world leader than to try to sound cool to a bunch of teenagers. Thankfully, the girls of the lovely Queen Mary's in Yorkshire were kind enough to buy several copies of book, and have promised to review it.

Reviews are another nerve-wracking experience. So far I have been lucky enough to glean four and five stars from proper critics (i.e. not just my family!) - bloggers and writers who review books on a daily basis. Here's the latest one, from The Return Cart which you can find by clicking here.  

It's always a relief when your book is praised. It would be very hard to be told it isn't any good. It's like being told your child is unattractive. And bad reviews spell poor sales.

All of which makes it really hard for debut authors like me. It's incredibly difficult to get your work noticed among the millions available on Amazon. 

So in the spirit of solidarity, here are five debut YA urban fantasy novels which have done incredibly well and get the kind of reviews we newbies dream of! If you like new worlds, dark destinies and powerful teens, these are for you.

Happy reading.

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

In the opulent world of Orléans, beauty is power. And only through a Belle's abilities can perfection be achieved . . . though the results always fade.

Camellia Beauregard wants to be the favourite Belle - the one chosen by the queen to tend to the royal family. But behind the gilded palace walls live dark secrets, and Camellia soon learns that her powers may be far greater - and far deadlier - than she ever imagined. 

Everless by Sara Holland

In the land of Sempera, the rich control everything - even time. Ever since the age of alchemy and sorcery, hours, days and years have been extracted from blood and bound to iron coins. The rich live for centuries; the poor bleed themselves dry.

Jules and her father are behind on their rent and low on hours. To stop him from draining himself to clear their debts, Jules takes a job at Everless, the grand estate of the cruel Gerling family.

There, Jules encounters danger and temptation in the guise of the Gerling heir, Roan, who is soon to be married. But the web of secrets at Everless stretches beyond her desire, and the truths Jules must uncover will change her life for ever.

 The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson

Every winter, Wren Silke is chased through the forest in a warped version of a childhood game. The boys who haunt her are judges, powerful and frightening pursuers, who know nothing of her true identity. If they knew she was an augur, their sworn enemy, the game would turn deadly. 

But Wren is on the hunt, too. Sent undercover as an intern to the Harkness Foundation – enemy headquarters – her family's survival rests on finding a secret meant to stay hidden.




Ink, Iron and Glass by Gwendolyn Clare

A certain pen, a certain book, and a certain person can craft entirely new worlds through a branch of science called scriptology. Elsa comes from one such world that was written into creation, where her mother—a noted scriptologist—constantly alters and expands their reality.

But when her home is attacked and her mother kidnapped, Elsa is forced to cross into the real world and use her own scriptology gifts to find her. In an alternative Victorian Italy, Elsa finds a secret society of young scientists with a gift for mechanics, alchemy, or scriptology—and meets Leo, a gorgeous mechanist with a smart mouth and tragic past.

                                         

 The Diminished by Kaitlyn Sage Patterson

A rare few are singleborn in each generation, and therefore given the right to rule by the gods and goddesses. Bo Trousillion is one of these few, born into the royal line and destined to rule. 

When one twin dies, the other usually follows, unable to face the world without their other half. Those who survive are considered diminished, doomed to succumb to the violent grief that inevitably destroys everyone whose twin has died. Such is the fate of Vi Abernathy, whose twin sister died in infancy. 

As their sixteenth birthdays approach, Bo and Vi face very different futures—one a life of luxury as the heir to the throne, the other years of backbreaking work as a temple servant. But a long-held secret and the fate of the empire are destined to bring them together in a way they never could have imagined.