Today, I have the chance to talk with one of the editor of the Crimelines Anthology,

Livi Michael

[©2014 L. Michael]

You’ve edited the Timelines Anthology, did you find this one easier to do after this experience?

I think we had a clearer idea of how to do it, and what we wanted.

What is it you find challenging and exciting when editing a book?

Working with so many writers with so many different styles and watching the stories take shape and improve is both challenging and exciting at the same time.

The theme of this anthology is Crime. Is the book addressed to an older audience than the first anthology, Timelines?

Like the first one it caters to a range of readers and reader ages, but this one is probably more securely aimed at the secondary school market.

What are the difficulty and the joy of working with various authors?

The joy is that there are so many surprising takes on the same theme. The hardest part is having to turn certain people down, even though they are basically good writers, because their particular story may never be ready in time. However we both feel that it is essential if the anthology is to progress, that MA writers will not automatically be included i.e. it will be as selective as any professional publication

The launch of the book will take place at the Manchester children’s books festival, can you tell us a bit about that?

The Crimelines launch will take place at the John Rylands library, Sunday May 6th. It is a great setting and we hope that everyone will read. We are working on other reading venues as well.

Thank you Livi for this interview.