2022 has been a pretty exciting year. Not only have The Inflatables come out in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands, but they also are making a splash at Scholastic Book Fairs. After a summer holiday of talking to the inflatables in swimming pools I came back to see Donut, Flamingo and the crew bobbing about across America, UK, Australia and New Zealand at book fairs. And it’s THE COOLEST! Hope you’ve enjoyed the book fairs and picked up some awesome books along the way.

They even made a trailer. It’s THE BEST!

Hello! It’s been a while since I updated this but nothing much has happened right? (Oh yes, just a global pandemic and life as we know it changing).

Obviously lots of things, good and bad, have been going on, but one totally new thing that happened for me was that I did my first ever TV appearance. Argh! Obviously it was terrifying, but Rhys and the CBBC Book Club crew made me feel really welcome, and it was great getting to talk about Sister Switch, seagulls, and how writing a book is a bit like making chocolate cake. So if you want to watch, you can catch it on iPlayer or on YouTube.

Hello! I haven’t updated in a little while, but things have been afoot. I’ve been busy working away on a new book, all set at my favourite time of year – CHRISTMAS.

Oh yes. It’s called All I Want For Christmas, it’s out on October 1st, and there are more details about it here…

Hope you like it! 🙂

DID SOMEONE SAY BOOK THEMED MOCKTAILS AND A BEACH PHOTOBOOTH?

I think they did. And it’s all happening on the 22nd June at the very first Summer of YA Love at Waterstones Piccadilly.

Plus there will be early copies of books that aren’t out (including my new one, Take A Chance on Me) and two of my absolute favourite authors, Simon James Green and Laura Clare Wood.

So if you want to come down and be part of the #SummerofYAlove here are all the details…

Get ready for the summertime party of the year hosted by Scholastic!

Join us for a celebration of summer romance with Beth Garrod, Simon James Green and Laura Wood.

Waterstones Piccadilly will be transformed into a sunshine haven with beach-themed games, fun activities and a hilarious panel conversation with three YA superstars chaired by journalist Sarah Shaffi.

Beth Garrod is the author of the Super Awkward series, and her new book Take a Chance on Me is the perfect rom-com to read on your summer holiday. By turns relatably awkward and achingly romantic, Beth is one of the best authors writing about British teenage girls.

Simon James Green is back with a brand new LGBT rom-com Alex in Wonderland. Set at a seaside amusement arcade, Alex in Wonderland is packed full of Simon’s distinctive brand of mayhem and hilarity.

Laura Wood’s Under a Dancing Star is a dreamy summer romance set to make you swoon.  If you fell for 2018 YA sensation A Sky Painted Gold, you are bound to fall head over heels for this love story set in 1930s Tuscany.

Purchase one of these books and receive a beach ready goody bag including summer treats.

Exclusive: Copies of Take a Chance on Me and Under a Dancing Star will be available before official publication in July.

Two amazing things happened. The hardback Russian translation of Truly Madly Awkward arrived. It\’s now known as Реально мегастранная (which means Really Mega Strange, which I think is almost a better title). Anddddd, I realised I\’d never posted the original cover of Super Awkward in Russian – Суперстранная. I love them both!

They are published by Eksmo in Russia and I love them. I don\’t yet know if Access All Awkward till be published there, so if you\’re a Russian reader and need to know what happens next, drop me a line!

I was lucky enough to be invited to this year\’s YALC. It\’s so cool to have been there as a reader and now be on panels. But absolutely best of all is all the amazing people I meet. Huge shout out to everyone who waited patiently in my signing queue.

And a massive thank you to Chloe Coles, Chloe Seager and Annalie Grainger who were all both fascinating and funny on the Inside The Industry panel I hosted.

I should really get better at talking about these things before they happen, so I will make a better effort to let you know where I\’m going to be across the country. I will be signing a stack of books in Foyles, Charing Cross soon though…..

News! I have news! A third book about Bella is coming out in July. July 5th I think. It’s called Access All Awkward and is about Bella and her friends going to their first music festival. It features all the best things in life; her bessie mates, Adam, summer, bands… and having to work as a litter picker whilst wearing bin bags.

Here’s a bit more about it. I’m in love with the summery festivally cover. Thanks Jamie! (he designed all of the Awkward covers). If you want to get it you can order on Hive, Foyles, Waterstones, Amazon and all the other good bookie places, including Asda.

And if you have questions hit me up on Instagram (@beth__garrod) or there’s a contact form on the site.

Anyway, Access All Awkward… here’s what it’s all about;

Bella Fisher is stuck in EXAM HELL – with only the promise of a weekend at a cool festival with her mates as a reward afterwards. OK, so she can\’t actually afford a ticket and will have to work as a litter picker and toilet scrubber, but it\’s still going to be epic: the best bands, her best friends and best-boy-in-the-world Adam, with not a parent or teacher in sight. But when she arrives to find annoying older sister Jo has been sent by Mum to keep an eye on her, things go from bad to worse. BFF Rachel is hanging out with some mean girls, awful ex-boyfriend Luke pitches up with his model girlfriend and her pristine Hunter wellies, and the drummer in her favourite band is exposed as a sexist pig. All the face glitter and flower crowns in the world can\’t save the day… can they?

Mmmm, does this title read as \’lives\’ (as in, it is alive!) or \’lives\’ (as in lives of people)? It\’s meant to be the former. Because Truly Madly Awkward is now out to buy, woooooooo. Yup, I just posted an Amazon link, but there is an amazing website called Hive you should also check out. They help support local bookshops too. And of course, it\’s out in all the normal places too; Waterstones, Foyles, WHSmiths, that kind of thing. 

And, big news. I\’m currently working on book three. Whatever will Bella get up to next (answer; no idea as I haven\’t written it yet).

This August #Cringefest headed off on tour. I was lucky enough to join some of my favourite authors (and I\’m not just saying that, as they probably won\’t even read this) as we talked all things awkward, at various Waterstones around the country. 

First stop was Waterstones Piccadilly with myself, Simon James Green (Noah Can\’t Even), Stephanie Strohm (It\’s Not Me It\’s You) and special guest star, Chloe Seager (Editing Emma). Then, Simon, Steph and I headed off for a whistlestop tour of Birmingham and Manchester.

It turns out that the writers of books that really make me laugh, are also people that really make me laugh IRL, and I had a great couple of days. Who knew Stephanie was a Eukele champ, or Simon was a child activist on the front page of his local paper (sort of). I giggled my way through the recording of The Tales of Two Booksellers podcast (@TwoBooksellers) – thanks so much for having us!

But… what happens on tour, stays on tour. Other than to say a massive thank you to the amazing hosts (Stephen Haskins (@MyBookishLife), Michelle Toy (@ChelleyToy), Beth (@BookLoverx) and the awesome bloggers we met and chatted to.

Next time I\’ve got an event coming up, I\’ll try and remember to post about it before…

Süper news. I finally met the Turkish edition of Super Awkward – Süper Bahtsiz. I love the cover – and love the idea of Bella and Pot Noodles happening somewhere in Turkey.