Blog tour and Guest Post: Renegade (Silver Blackthorn #2) by Kerry Blackthorn

Im pleased to say that my blog has been lucky enough to participate in the Renegade Blog Tour. To top it all off, I get to have Kerry Wilkinson himself, writing a post and telling us about his childhood inspirations and experiences about how his love for english developed. We all have someone or something which inspires us to either write or in my case, an unhealthy obsession with books. So, without too much fuss from me reads below what Kerry has to say and after that scroll down for a chance to win a copy of Renegade, the second book in the Silver Blackthorn series.

However, before we jump in, let's remind ourselves what Renegade is all about.

Title: Renegade
Series: Silver Blackthorn
Author: Kerry Wilkinson
Publisher: PanMacmillan, UK
My ratings: 4 out of 5 stars
Released: 7th May, 2015 
Silver Blackthorn is a fugitive from the law.
Silver Blackthorn has committed treason.
She is dangerous. Do NOT approach her.
A large reward is on offer. Report any sightings to your nearest Kingsman.
Long live the King.

Silver Blackthorn is on the run. She fled Windsor Castle with eleven other teenagers, taking with her something far more valuable than even she realises: knowledge.

With the entire country searching for the missing Offerings, Silver must keep them all from the vicious clutches of King Victor and the Minister Prime. Until now, no one has escaped the king and lived to tell the tale.

Or have they?

With expectations weighing heavily on the girl with the silver streak in her hair, will she ever find her way home?

When I was 16-years-old, I was predicted a grade E for my GCSE English exam.

I was, of course, outraged - largely because I wasn't completely sure if news of such a catastrophic forecast would somehow make its way back to my mum.

My English teacher was a canny bloke named Mr Moger. I do know his first name but it still doesn't sound quite right using it while talking about a teacher. He knew that deep down, beyond all my messing around, attempts to get a laugh from classmates and general immaturity, I had a vague idea of how to string a sentence together. He predicted that E not particularly because he thought I'd get such a mark, more because he knew it'd really annoy me.

And it did.

Unable to see through such a complex, dastardly scheme, I thought, 'I'll show you, mate'. And I did all right - I got a B. Not quite off-to-Cambridge grades but definitely better than an E.

The point of that story is that, eighteen years on (ugh), things have gone in such a circle for me that now I get to go into schools and tell teenagers that story. There are always a couple of nervous glances from teachers but the students get my point - that underneath the fronts we put up, people like teachers and parents still know what we're capable of.

Writing the Silver Blackthorn trilogy, first Reckoning in 2014, now Renegade in 2015 and - cheap plug - Resurgence in 2016 - has opened doors for me that being a crime writer never has.

Sure, being at a crime festival might get you questions like, 'Where do you get your ideas from?' - but you don't get young kids straining high, arm in the air, legs crossed tight, ready to ask, 'Please, Sir, can I go for a wee?'

I love going into schools and talking to young people about my books and, beyond that, I suppose, life in general. Students seem to naturally expect an author to have been amazing at school, someone desperate to be a writer all their lives. When I tell them I was average in class and fell into writing almost by accident, it's always enlightening to see the lightbulb go off as they clock that not everything has to be planned out from such a young age.

I've enjoyed some great support from the young adult blogging and review community in terms of getting the Silver books known about. Despite that, I suppose the biggest challenge for any author is to get his or her books into the hands of the readers for whom they've been written.

When I was a kid, there was no chain bookstore in my little Somerset town. There was the library and there was a shop named The Hunting Raven, in which I spent ludicrous amounts of pocket money. I strongly suspect it was my teacher's suspicion of what I actually did with my free time that led to him double bluffing me with that grade prediction.

Isn't that inspirational? One of my english teacher was also responsible for instigating my love for words and I'll be eternally grateful for her efforts. If you are intrigued by the Silver Blackthorn series, click here and here for my reviews for Reckoning and Renegade. Even better, for a chance to win a copy of Renegade, the second book in this series, enter via the Rafflecoptor below. This giveaway is UK only and I'll be posting this book myself.

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