First, they addressed nearly 200 girls at the highly rated Tiffin Girls’ school in Kingston upon Thames in southern England and they also  spoke to a young audience of A level Literature and Language students and a handful of GCSE English learners at Strode’s College.

Their first Young Adult novel is a story of love, loss and resilience. It features a teenage diary with comic moments and characters.

Sarah got the original idea when she was teaching at Strode’s Further Education college.

The events on which the story is based took place in the Surrey town of Egham and the child at the centre of the book, Ben, was inspired by an original unlucky boy who was evacuated there in WW2.

Laura and Sarah took the original events and turned them into fiction and their first novel followed. Their debut on the literary scene has had praise from the Queen and been published in America.

Girls at Tiffin read the book in advance and were able to ask pertinent questions.

Then the writers went to Egham to talk to  A level Literature and Language students and a handful of GCSE English learners at Strode’s college.

Again, the literary pair received good questions

The Strode’s audience were told about the plaque which is a remembrance of the death of 3 children, including the original unlucky boy, in Egham High street.

The red poppies laid there last November were still looking fresh and this time the staff from the local supermarket had signed the card to go with the flowers.

There’s more information about the story at http://www.slroman.com.

Now on sale in the US : https://www.amazon.com/One-Year-Night-2nd/dp/194715981X. Also, at https://redchairpress.com/node/657 and Barnes and Noble in North America.