THE ELITES by NATASHA NGAN (that’s me!)

See how ridiculously happy I look in that last photo? It’s because just over a month ago, my dream came true – my debut novel was published. Published by the most fantastic children’s book publisher in the business, Hot Key Books (founded by the wonderful Sarah Odedina – she was Harry Potter’s publisher at Bloomsbury), championed by my gorgeous and fierce literary agent Nicola Barr, who saved my novel from the slushpile a year ago, and now stocked in shops all over the world. It really has all been a dream come true. Since getting a book deal last year, I’ve been working on two more books in addition to The Elites, one of which is to be published next year by Hot Key as part of my book deal, and every single day when I sit down at my laptop to write, I remind myself how wonderfully lucky I am to be living my dream. I really enjoy blogging and working as a social media consultant, but writing stories – it’s what I love. And I hope it’s something I can continue doing for the rest of my life. I’ve got so many ideas for new books, so as long as I’m ok health and money-wise, I should be writing for many, many years yet!

The Elites is a futuristic young adult sci-fi/fantasy novel set in a city where no one ever enters, and no one leaves. The story follows Silver, one of the privileged Elites – the guard of the city’s leaders – as she does the unthinkable and leaves the city, discovering in turn the secrets it keeps hidden both inside and outside its walls. The Elites is an adventure story with dashings of sci-fi, fantasy, romance, racial issues and social commentary thrown into the mix. As it is a young adult novel, the book is primarily aimed at teens, but I definitely hope it finds a wider reading audience. People of all ages have read and enjoyed it so far, so please don’t let the fact that it’s a YA novel put you off!

If you’d like to, you can find out more about The Elites (and read the first few chapters) here on my publisher’s website, and it’s in all your usual places online, such as Amazon, Waterstones and The Book Depository. You can of course get it in bookshops too! A big thank you again to all of you who’ve been tweeting and messaging me to say you’ve got a copy or two – it means the absolute world to me. A blog would be nothing without the support of its readers, and the same goes for an author. Thank you, thank you, thank you. When I first started writing The Elites, I never let myself believe it would one day be more than just a story on my laptop, a story in my heart. Now people are reading it – enjoying it even! – and all I can hope for is that my little story will find its way into their hearts, too. x

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