S J Baker

Almost lost for words. It's the time of year when we say goodbye to Year 11 students - and one of them turned up at my door this morning with this cake! I confess that tears were shed. #teacherjoys #yadystopia #authorjoys #neemtreepress

This from a teacher who's reading 'Calm' with her class, discussing the novel's premise (all passion suppressed by a drug in the water). Writing dystopias these days feels very relevant: what happens when we suppress all compassion, all empathy? Go Student 2!
#neemtreepress #yadystopias #authorlife

Calm - @sjbakerauthor.bsky.social's dystopian YA thriller - is back in stock!

'A gripping examination of our human need to feel' - Kirkus starred review

Available in paperback from Macmillan (MDL) or your usual supplier (PB 9781911107934)

#Calm #YAbook #YAfiction #dystopianYA

YouTube video by Ella Fitzgerald - Topic Blue Skies

Very random, but I find myself singing the first line of a certain song every time I log on to this app... Though I can't match the inimitable Ella!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAa4...

'Loveliest of trees, the cherry now/Is hung with blooms on every bough...' Springtime in the East Riding of Yorkshire, and it's gorgeous! #springtime #poetry #naturalworld #blueskypoetry

Just read 'Small Bomb at Dimperley' and absolutely loved it. It was a Christmas present and it definitely goes on the 'will read this again' pile - it's humane, humorous, engaging, beautifully observed, convincing and moving. Highly recommended - I'll be hunting down more of her books!

Celebrating the US and Rest of the World launch of 'Calm' today! #neemtreepress #boundlesspublishing #booksky #blueskybooks #authormilestones #yadystopia #readingmatters

'Calm' is published in the US and Rest of the World tomorrow: "A gripping examination of our human need to feel" (Kirkus Review).

#Booksky #authorlife #yadystopia #Blueskybooks #author #booklaunch

'Calm' has its US and RoW launch on 22/04.
"Whilst aware of the danger of naïve idealism, I wanted to assert that – though evil exists and seems to flourish – people can retain compassion and humanity; they can make selfless choices; they can fight for what is right and good and true." (Author blog)

A real thrill to see this today - as a debut author, it still amazes me that my book is out there! #ya #dystopia #booksky #authorlife

You have no idea how exciting it was to see this! Thank you - I do hope you enjoy it.

'Calm' has made it to the local Oxfam bookshop! Somewhat bizarrely, it's labelled as 'History' - I know the world has a dystopian feel just now, but I don't think 'Calm' has become reality yet... #authormilestone #blueskybooks #yafiction #oxfambookshops #oxfam #yadystopia #booksky

On Friday I stood in the school where I had been a student in the 1970s and talked with current students about my novel. I wonder what the teenage me, secretly nurturing an ambition to write, would have thought?
#booksky #yafiction #schoollibraries #authorvisits #yadystopia #authorlife

Delighted to have been asked to write a blog for New2theScene, a website that supports new authors! www.new2thescene.co.uk/blog/s-j-bak...

We teach this each year to our GCSE students. For some reason, it has been on my mind in recent days.

As a book-loving child growing up in Kent, a trip to London was a rare treat - and if I was lucky, we went to Foyles Bookshop - the biggest bookshop I'd ever seen. I could never have dreamt that half a century later, my son would find my own book on sale there. My heart is full!

@ceciliabennett.bsky.social Thank you so much!

Delighted and somewhat reeling to learn that 'Calm' has been awarded a coveted Kirkus Star prior to its release in the US: #unbound #neemtreepress #yafiction #dystopia #kirkusstar #kirkusreviews

Signing copies today in @waterstones.bsky.social in Hull - thank you for being so welcoming! #yafiction #yadystopia #authorlife #readingmatters

One of my students today: "I've just read your book, Miss. It's sick." (I think that's a compliment).

One of the challenges I've really enjoyed in writing 'Calm' and now working on its sequel is to try and conjure an abandoned countryside, left to itself for 15 years. Yesterday I was hunting synonyms for 'brambles' (there aren't many!).

Very chuffed to have made it on to the table display in @waterstones.bsky.social in Hull. #unbounders #neemtreepress #childrensbooksnorth

I published my first novel this September - a YA dystopia - in my mid-60s. It's never too late... Very much enjoying the journey!

So many interesting questions from 180 Y9 students at King's School, Peterborough, today. We talked reading, writing, dystopias, titles... and pet rabbits, for some reason. A huge privilege to talk books with young people. #unbounders #neemtreepress #authorvisits #schoolvisits #yafiction #dystopias

Spot the earring - excited to be setting off for an author visit to my old school in Peterborough! @unbounders.bsky.social @neemtreepress.bsky.social

When you discover you've been reviewed in a parish magazine... thank you, Scarborough!

My first post on Bluesky - hoping to meet many other writers, booklovers, storytellers...
#Unbounders #YAfiction #blueskybooks #dystopias #goodconversation #choosebookshops #Calm