Mollie Cinnamon Is Not a Cupcake (17 page)

by Mollie Cinnamon

1.
The Wizard of Oz
is the best movie ever. “Lions
and tigers, and bears (oh my!)” and so much more. Don’t miss it!

2.
Spirited Away
is an amazing animated movie from Japan. I could watch it over and over again.

3.
Grease
has brilliant songs and a fantastic story. Yes, I have a bit of a thing for musicals!

4.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
is about the cutest alien ever. It’s also the cutest friendship movie you’ll ever watch.

5.
Beetlejuice
is the best comedy-ghost movie in the world.

I also love
Ghostbusters
,
Annie
and
The Princess Bride
. Old movies rule!

by Alanna D’Arcy

Ingredients

For the cupcakes (makes 12):

2 eggs

110g self-raising flour

110g butter

110g caster sugar

2 tsp baking powder

For the icing:

220g icing sugar

110g butter

Blue food colouring

Instructions

1. Ask a parent or guardian to preheat the oven to 180°C.

2. Place 12 paper cupcake cases on a tray.

3. Mix the sugar, flour and baking powder together. Then add the butter and eggs.

4. Stir all of the ingredients together until the mixture is pale and fluffy.

5. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases.

6. Ask a parent or guardian to put the tray of cases into the oven.

7. Bake the cakes for around 15 minutes or until they are golden brown. Ask a parent or guardian to help with this.

8. Once cooked, allow the cakes to cool.

9. To make the icing, whisk the butter and sugar together.

10. Add a couple of drops of blue food colouring to the butter-sugar mix.

11. Ask a parent or guardian to help you cut a circle out of the top of each cake. Fill this hole with icing.

12. Place the cut-out cake pieces on top of the icing to look like wings.

(author of The Songbird Cafe Girls)

1. Little Bird is such a lovely place. Was it inspired by a real island?

Yes, it was inspired by two islands off West Cork, Ireland: Cape Clear and Sherkin Island. I wanted to create somewhere very beautiful and quite magical, like those real islands. But I also wanted to give Little Bird, rapids, its own dolphin (called Click) and its own special atmosphere.

2. This book is about finding a place in the world that feels like home. Where is your favourite place?

A tiny village in West Cork called Castletownshend. The scenery is stunning and it’s right on the sea. I love swimming and kayaking and sailing, so it suits me perfectly. I do a lot of my writing there.

3. Who was your best friend at school?

I had two best friends the whole way through school, and they are still my best friends now. I met them through sailing. They are called Nicky and Tanya, and they are funny and beautiful and super smart! (They made me say that, but it’s true!)

4. Mollie’s favourite film is
The Wizard of Oz
. What’s yours?

Like Mollie, I’m a big movie fan. In fact, we share a lot of favourites, including
The Wizard of Oz
and
Spirited Away
. I also love
Field of Dreams
. I watch it every year because it reminds me to have big dreams and to follow my heart.

5. Flora loves her job as a TV presenter. If you weren’t an author, what would you be?

A children’s bookseller. My dream is to run my own children’s bookshop one day. Watch this space!

6. Which character from
Mollie Cinnamon Is Not a Cupcake
are you most like?

That’s a hard question. I guess, if I had to pick one, I’d say Nan. She’s a lot older than I am, but like me, she makes mistakes and attempts to fix them as best she can. She also fights for what she believes in and tries to look after the people she loves.

7. We have loved reading about Mollie, Landy, Sunny and Alanna. Can we expect more stories about them?

Yes, there are two more books to come,
Sunny Days and Mooncakes
– which is about Mollie’s friend, Sunny – and the third book, which is about Rory, a girl who befriends Click the dolphin.

Books by Sarah Webb

The Songbird Cafe Girls

1.
Mollie Cinnamon Is Not a Cupcake

2.
Sunny Days and Mooncakes

3.
Aurora’s Dolphin

For older readers:

Ask Amy Green

1.
Boy Trouble

2.
Summer Secrets

3.
Bridesmaid Blitz

4.
Love and Other Drama-Ramas

5.
Dancing Daze

6.
Wedding Belles

A book is very much like a small island. It cannot survive without people to care for it and love it. I’m very lucky to have an editor who truly cares about my writing, the wonderful Annalie. (She even provided the delicious Songbird Cupcake recipe!) She was ably helped by Emily, and Maria, who worked terribly hard on the cover, and Jack, who created the map.

Thanks must also go to the rest of the stellar team at Walker Books, especially the majestic Conor, my man on the ground in Ireland, plus Paul, Gill, Jo, Victoria and Heidi. Thanks also to Philippa and Peta, my wonderful agents.

To my family, as always − for putting up with me. Living with a writer is no joke and no woman is an island! And to Helen, for taking such good care of Amy and Jago while I write. And to my writer friends, for listening to all my plot woes, especially Martina, Clare, Judi and Marita.

To the booksellers, far and wide, who have supported my books for many years, especially the gang at Dubray Books, David O’C at Eason, Louisa and Kim at Raven, Bob and gang at Gutter, Mary Brigid at Hodges Figgis, and all at Bridge Street Books.

To the hard-working ladies at Children’s Books Ireland, the lads and lasses at the Irish Writers’ Centre, and Marian, Bert and Alice at the Mountains to Sea Book Festival, who I have the great pleasure of working with.

Clodagh Walsh, winner of my Young Editor Competition, gave me some super-smart feedback on this book. The future of literature is in good hands.

And finally I’d like to thank you for picking up Mollie’s story. Books only truly come alive when they are read.

I love hearing from readers. Do drop me a line –
[email protected]
.

Yours in books,

Sarah XXX

Sarah Webb
worked as a children’s bookseller for many years before becoming a full-time writer. Writing is her dream job because it means she can travel, read books and magazines, watch movies, and interrogate friends and family, all in the name of “research”. She adores stationery, especially stickers, and is a huge reader – she reads at least one book a week. As well as The Songbird Cafe Girls series, Sarah has written six Ask Amy Green books, eleven adult novels and many books for younger children. She visits a school every Friday during term time and loves meeting young readers and writers. She has been shortlisted for the Queen of Teen Award (twice!) and the Irish Book Awards.

Find out more about Sarah at
www.SarahWebb.ie
or on Twitter (
@sarahwebbishere
) and
facebook.com/sarahwebbwriter
.

Don’t miss the next book about the Songbird Cafe Girls