5 Minutes with Lucy

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5 Minutes with Lucy

You can probably tell a lot about me by viewing my first blog post. I like to think I give a little bit of myself away in every post I make, sharing my passion and excitement towards children’s literature.

I am the sole writer of this blog and set it up as a place to record and share with you some great books. The internet is a fantastic place to do this and anything beats the countless pieces of paper I had in my bag with numerous ISBN’s on them.

I currently have my fingers in many pies. I am a part-time publicist which I love and I also love to bake professionally and for fun. I’d love to venture further into this and every Christmas, I have big plans with gingerbread houses (A Christmas passion of mine).

Books are an integral part of our life both in learning, sustaining and remembering. I love books and through working as a bookseller I can see the importance of them. I recognise the importance for publishing to evolve as new developments are creating obstacles and opportunities but I also believe the power of the written word on a tangible piece of paper and if we can find a balance between the two, then there is great hope for the publishing industry.

To me, nothing beats having bookshelves stuffed with books so much so that the shelf is bowing under pressure. I have books in the bathroom, books piled high on the floor in all the rooms and to me there is nothing more beautiful. I love nostalgia, whimsy and escapism and if you can get the feeling of just one of these from a children’s book, you’ve got yourself a keeper. A book shouldn’t be just about bounded piece of paper that you read from front to back. It should be an investment- something you look forward to as a publication date looms, something you relish whilst reading until before you know it, it’s finished. Most importantly, a book should stay with you and you should want to go back to it.

I truly hope you like this blog because now more than ever we should recognise the importance of the book community from the reader to the author.

And one more thing, I am a cookbook collector (some may say hoarder). As of September 2012 I have 190 cookbooks. And rising. Not a patch on Nigella’s 4000 though.

10 Comments »

10 Responses

on March 25, 2010 at 2:07 pm | Reply Kerri

I am also a book junkie! Can’t get enough of them. My husband has built me HUGE 6 1/2 foot tal by 5 feet while book cases…they are just stuffed! Great blog!
on April 14, 2010 at 5:41 pm | Reply Danee

Greetings,
Just found this site thanks to Twitter (and Eric Rickstad). As a mother of an amazingly intelligent two year who loves to read as much as her mommy, I think I’ll stay and look around awhile!

Best regards,

Danee
- on April 25, 2010 at 9:21 pm | Reply 5minutespeace
  
  Thanks for stopping by Danee and for your positive comments, I really appreciate it
on September 23, 2010 at 4:01 pm | Reply ReadersHeaven

Hi, nice to meet you !
on October 6, 2010 at 1:33 pm | Reply anne-marie

Hi there Lucy, I was recommended to contact you by Sally at Usborne. They recently published my first book PHOEBE FINDS HER VOICE and said you might be kind enough to review it for your site. It’s about a group of children who attend a drama club and as one recent review put it, “A brilliant book for anyone who has dreamed about being a star (especially those who have sang into a hairbrush in the bedroom!)

Please let me know if you are interested in looking at it and I will send it to you straight away….thanks so much
Anne-Marie
on March 14, 2011 at 10:58 pm | Reply Jenny

Hi Lucy – we’ve already chatted briefly about Brighton cake shops on Twitter – I’m BakeMeHQ. However that’s more a work thing – I’m an acquisitions editor and one of the lists I have is cake decorating. My personal account is SewCraftyFox. Love your thoughts on books – that’s exactly why I pursued a job in publishing! Good luck with your career – publishing is a very exciting place to be right now! Jen x
- on March 15, 2011 at 7:43 pm | Reply 5minutespeace
  
  Hi Jenny, thanks so much for getting in touch. Your job sounds fabulous. Cookbooks and publishing? A dream combination. Looking forward to tweeting(?) with you more
on May 11, 2011 at 12:51 am | Reply joshnstanton

Stumbled into your blog and enjoying it. I’m in the same boat, wanting to break into publishing. Good luck to the both of us, eh?
on September 6, 2011 at 2:51 pm | Reply Helen Moss

Hi Lucy,
I just found your blog because a friend saw that you’d reviewed my book, The Mystery of the Whistling Caves. Thank you so much for writing such a lovely review and for recommending the book to readers who’ve enjoyed Enid Blyton. There are now six out in the series and I’m busy writing another four. They are so much fun to write! I love your site and share your enthusiasm for cookbooks – I’ve not counted mine but they are falling off the end of the dresser and threatening to take over the entire kitchen. In fact, I’m going to be writing a guest blog post about food in children’s literature (picnics, feasts etc) for The Bookbag in September – will send you the link. Thanks again for the review; it is much appreciated.
on October 5, 2011 at 3:32 pm | Reply Irene Silvino (@irenesilvino)

I liked when you wrote “a book should stay with you and you should want to go back to it” it is very true for me too. Bookshelves I think are like IDs. You can learn so many things from them regarding the people that house them.