on this page
where to follow me
my blogs
guest blogs
online journalism
last updated April 2013
I have a long-established web presence. I had my first website in 1997 when most writers didn't even have Word.
Here's where to find — or avoid — me online.
You can follow me in several ways online.
On Facebook, I have an author page.
On Twitter, I'm @annerooney but I'm very rarely there as I don't like it
I use LinkedIn a little. I don't use Instagram much, but you can follow if you like.
Then there are blogs...
The Shipwrecked Rhino
This very sporadic blog is a cornucopia or scrapbook of bizarre and exciting true stories. Written in a style that's equally accessible to young and older readers, I hope it will show that truth is just as fascinating and enjoyable as fiction.
Stroppy author
My old blog, Stroppy Author's Guide to Publishing, was started in May 2008). It's packed with advice for published (and unpublished) writers, but I no longer update it.
Book Vivisection
This is a very occasional blog that takes children's books apart in a brutally rigorous critique. It will build up slowly. Take a look if you don't mind blood and gore. Well, ink and gore.
Awfully Big Blog Adventure
This group blog is shared by 31 children's authors. Between us, we write for all ages, and cover all sorts of books.
Sometimes I write blog posts for other people's blogs - guest posts. Here are a few of my favourites:
Filling the cracks with gold — on The History Girls. About the differences and similarities of research for historical fiction and non-fiction.
Maps tell a story — on the Federation of Children's Book Groups. For Non-fiction November (2015), this is about how maps are really not just about finding your way around.
Interview with the Society of Authors — on the Society of Authors website, on my appointment as chair of the Educational Writers' Group.
V is for Vampire: Bloodsucking dead uns — on Scribble City Central. It's about vampires, just in case you couldn't guess from the title.
Mythic Friday Interview: Anne Rooney — on Scribble City Central again, part of a super series in which writers discuss their favourite mythical beasts. And no, it's not about vampires!
Writing the Undead — on The History Girls. Another post about vampires, but this time about hijacking real historical figures and vampirising them without their permission.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight — on normblog, a very serious and well-regarded blog. This was part of a long-running series called 'Writer's Choice' which gives famous writers (and me) space to talk about their favourite book and why they like it.
Vampires made easy: Writing for the reluctant teen reader — on Bart's Bookshelf. It is a bit about vampires again, but it's really about writing for teenagers who are not confident readers - one of my favourite types of reader to write for!
Ooops - unexpected outcome in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
I don't do much in the way of journalism these days. But here are a few pieces online (that aren't behind a paywall - can't link to my own work in The Times!)
Banned: the hidden censorship of childrens books - in The New Statesman. This is about what we can't write about, not because British people don't their children to read about these topics, but because people in other countries don't like it.
Pissing in the wind - in The New Statesman again. This time it's about Ian McEwan's use of science in his novels. Just to prove I can still do proper literary scholarship if I want to.
My Story: Anne Rooney - on the British Library's website, for their series of Readers' stories. Someone from the British Librariy saw the normblog piece, which mentions working in the Manuscripts Room of BL, and asked me to write this version.
Other online and computer-based activities - making book trailers and websites, for instance - are covered on:
>> not all books.