Andrew Hawcroft
My name is Andrew Hawcroft, I'm 39 and an English writer of stage plays, teen fiction, screenplays, pantomimes and songs living in Galway, Ireland. I am also a singer, with some demos on Youtube.
After losing my literary agent, Ms Becky Bagnell of the Lindsay Literary Agency, some time ago (she represented my debut Young Adult fiction novel, "I FLY" in 2009; reviews on my blog) and being forced to go it alone in the overcrowded teen fiction market, I recently decided to take the plunge and convert all my 13 YA novels to e-books.
I would describe my YA style as 'gritty, reality-based fantasy.' No Paranormal Romance. One of my novels, THE MAN IN THE PAINTING, (reviews on my blog) may even fall outside the YA scope, as it features no teen protagonist, but I felt it had a YA tone.
The YA market has never been harder to stand out in, nor, in many ways, more poorly served by the widespread desperate publishing attitude of trend-publishing, aka The Sylvia Day Effect. It is very hard to go it alone, and I have not yet given up on the dream of being a full-time printed writer, the dream I have been pursuing since receiving my first rejection letter from a publisher (still have it in plastic) aged 13.
Details of all my writing, along with reviews, can be found on my blog at http://andrewhawcroft.blogspot.ie/ ,as well as my Facebook page, ANDREW HAWCROFT TEEN FICTION at https://www.facebook.com/AndrewHawcroftWriting
In 2011, my stage adaptation of four M.R. James ghost stories, AN UNSETTLING EVENING, had a run at the Palace Theatre, Southend, under Bruce James Productions. It was to tour more fully the following year, but sadly, BJP, running multiple productions at the time, including BUGLE BOY, went under last year, I have been unable to find a new producer as yet.
Other stage work includes my dark, minimalist stage play, based upon THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, time-updated to post World War 1.My pantomimes have been performed in New Zealand, Scotland, England and Ireland.
(A pet project that will never see the light of day is my DOCTOR WHO stage play, DOCTOR WHO: A LIGHT IN THE DARK, but that will remain fan fiction for Whovians only.)
My love of singing and songwriting means a few of my original songs are on Youtube, such as EMILY, THE KIND OF GUY I AM, HOME and WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE? Some singing-only demos include Andrea Bocelli's CANTO DELLA TERRA, Josh Groban's TO WHERE YOU ARE and Cliff Richard's MISS YOU NIGHTS.
However, I have a full 16 track songwriting demo, which I call SINGLE MAN'S DIARY, based on the title track.