The Annual Event is a month long celebration of all things UKYA, highlighting books by British and Irish authors (resident and national) and asking their views on topic affecting the community. All views are the author’s own.
About the Authors:
Kat Ellis (she/her) is an award-winning author of YA thrillers and horror, including Harrow Lake, Burden Falls, and The Devouring Light (coming this September). When not writing, she can usually be found searching for story inspiration in old cemeteries and ruins near her home in North Wales, or watching scary movies with her husband.
Bryony Pearce is a multi-award-winning novelist and short story writer. She has written a mixture of thrillers, paranormal adventures, science fiction and horror, for Mid-grade, Young Adult and Adult readers. In addition to writing her own novels, Bryony teaches creative writing at City University (London) and works as a consultant and mentor, in order to help aspiring authors achieve their dreams.
She lives in Gloucestershire and has two teenagers. Consequently she spends a lot of time at the side of sports fields, listening to concerts and being creative in car-parks.
As an individual fuelled on caffeine, high BMP tunes and nervous energy, Poppy T. Perry (she/her) is a magnet to anything fast-paced and playful. She collects chaos like a magpie collects shiny things. This creates a fun chaotic energy that is a key element in her Young Adult storytelling.
Poppy has come out as queer more times than she cares to remember but found she kept being shoved back into the closet. The resulting desire to break down heteronormative worldviews and help others find the confidence to live their best life is at the heart of her work.
About their books:
Title: THE DEVOURING LIGHT
Author: Kat Ellis
Pitch: When Haden and her music rivals are stranded on their way to a rock festival, she thinks missing the gig is the worst thing that could happen. She’s wrong.
Marooned in treacherous swampland, the group stumbles upon an eerie, decaying house. It seems like a safe haven, but the house isn’t just abandoned—it’s been waiting for them. And they’re about to find out why.
Find on Goodreads. Find on Bookshop.org (affiliate link).
Title: APHRODITE
Author: Bryony Pearce
Pitch: Born naked from the waves, Aphrodite knows nothing of who or what she is, but quickly discovers that she has incredible power and a beauty that sends men mad. Searching for the place she belongs she finds, first Ares, god of war, then Olympus.
But Olympus turns out to be a snake-pit filled with bored and jealous deities and love is never simple. Threatened, and desperate to limit Aphrodite’s powers, Zeus ordains her ‘goddess of love and beauty’ while his spiteful progeny seek ways to control her. As a trap closes in, Aphrodite learns that it may be a curse to be seen as nothing but beautiful, but it is also her strongest weapon.
Find on Goodreads. Find on Bookshop.org (affiliate link).
Title: DEAD REAL
Author: Poppy T. Perry
Pitch: Think Heartstopper meets Shaun of the Dead. Nora Inkwell is ready to tell her best friend Ruby that she’s in love with her. Sure, there are a few obstacles—college school gossip, internalised biphobia, Ruby’s romantic detours… oh, and a zombie apocalypse. With the undead at her heels, Nora has to fight monsters, dodge drama, and maybe—just maybe—survive long enough to confess her undying love.
Find on Goodreads. Find on Bookshop.org (affiliate link).
In your opinion, how has social media helped foster the UKYA community?
Kat Ellis: Social media is a key tool in bringing book lovers together, no matter where in the UK – or the world – they are. It helps connect readers and authors who might not find in-person events accessible, and allows fans to find like-minded people in their fandom.
Bryony Pearce: Connection is so important for book lovers and authors. Social media enables us to find our ‘tribe’, talk about books we love and topics close to our heart. There can be a dark side to social media, but the corners where we talk about books remain a haven. Social media helps us to discover new titles and foster our friendships.
Poppy T. Perry: The UKYA community are great at sharing things they love. Social media gives those booklovers a platform, a chance to build community and somewhere they can shout out for books they’ve fallen in love with. I choose most of my next reads through recommendations I see on Instagram!
In which ways do you think we can responsibly use social media to introduce YA titles to teenagers? How can we go beyond social media to reach them, given conversations in several countries around re-thinking current legislation on such platforms for minors?
Bryony Pearce: I feel that social media does need to work in tandem with offline communication. Book shops, book clubs, libraries, radio and print media still have their part to play, as not all young readers are on social media, nor should they be. Accounts legitimised by print media, librarians and other book sellers should be promoted so that gatekeepers, guardians and the young people themselves can feel safe in the online space.
Poppy T. Perry: I have such a love/hate relationship with social media. I completely agree that screen time should be cut for the majority of people, not just young people. I think events like YALC are pure magic for bringing people together outside of the digital world to share that common passion. It would be great to see more of this. Perhaps looking at doing some smaller, regional YA book events or book clubs at libraries that young people could attend, with Young Adult creators visiting their local group, so people get to know their local authors.
How do you think the YA market is going to change thanks to emerging technologies like AI?
Kat Ellis: I’m hoping it won’t change much! Readers and publishers are canny enough to see beyond the novelty of AI, and value books written and covers designed by real, living creators.
Bryony Pearce: I hope that it will be able to protect its space from AI, which can only lack creative spark and will be used to churn out derivative rubbish for mass market appeal. I fully expect to see this awful ‘writing’ starting to appear, and hope that readers will show their opinion of it by supporting real authors and ignoring those who think that short cuts can cut us out of our own writing community.
Poppy T. Perry: I am hoping AI will eat itself. We can dream. People are awesome and I’m hoping they will ultimately reject AI created content for human made.
What steps would you like publishing needs to take in response to the rise of AI?
Kat Ellis: Introduce policies to protect authors’ livelihoods and the quality of the books they produce.
Bryony Pearce: I believe that we will soon see some kind of branding: ‘written by a human’ on ‘real’ books which will ensure that readers know what to avoid. We also need to protect our copyright – seven of my books so far have been stolen by META to train its AI. I would like to see a mass lawsuit.
Poppy T. Perry: Be extra vigilant for AI created content coming in. Be super honest about what AI they might be using, if any.
Thank you all! For more interviews, check here and don’t forget to check instagram (here) for book recommendations from these authors and more!
#UKYASpotlight 
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