THE COSTA BOOK AWARD SHORTLIST!!!

OH ME OH MY!!!!!

'What's Up With Jody Barton?' has been shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards!!!! 

I cannot BEGIN to tell you how excited I am.  I am as chuffed as chips.  I am as pleased as punch.  I am on top of the world, high above the houses and over the moon. 

I write stories about ordinary people who live ordinary lives in ordinary places and do ordinary things.  I learned this trick from my hero, Sue Townsend.  She taught me that real life is plenty quirky enough when you look at it really closely.

...And now, my ordinary / extraordinary Jody Barton has been acknowledged by the judges of one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the UK.

I am BEYOND CHUFFED. 

I am also extremely grateful to everyone who has read that book and kept the twist a secret :-)

Anyway, to celebrate, I am going to run a quick mystery competition.  This will also give me the opportunity to encourage you to visit my newly revamped website.

www.hayleylong.com

All you have to do is visit the site, go to the contact page and use the contact form to send me an email which says: Hey Hayley, I'd love to receive a surprise package of nice things through the post - of course I would.

Do this before THE END OF NOVEMBER and you might be the lucky person who'll get a lovely load of goodies in time for Christmas (if you live in the UK - if you live somewhere else, it'll take a bit longer).  Anyway, there you are then.

xxx

P.S Don't forget to check out girlsheartbooks.com.  I'm now blogging with these lovely people on this great site.