Polly Ho-Yen
Author Tutor at The Novelry.
The Exciting Children's Author. Polly Ho-Yen.
Nominated for Multiple Awards including The Carnegie Medal.
Polly's first novel, Boy in the Tower, was published in 2014 by Random House Children's Publishers, and nominated for the Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. Her second novel Where Monsters Lie was published in 2016 and her third novel, Fly Me Home, was published in 2017. Both of these novels were also nominated for the Carnegie Medal. Her new novel, her adult debut, Dark Lullaby, explores a dystopian future.
Writing For Children? Polly's the Tutor for You.
Polly Ho-Yen was born in Northampton and brought up in Buckinghamshire. She studied English at Birmingham University before working in publishing for several years. Polly used to be a primary school teacher in London and while she was teaching there she used to get up very early in the morning to write stories. The first of those stories is Boy In The Tower. She lives in Bristol with her husband and daughter. In her adult debut, Dark Lullaby, she turns her focus to parenthood, exploring a dystopian future in which women have to undergo invasive fertility treatment and aggressive state monitoring of their parenting. "Following the story of one woman’s fight to keep her daughter safe, Ho-Yen fuses together speculative SF with thriller elements in a compulsive and page-turning read," said Titan Books. If you're writing Children's, Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Fantasy or Dystopian fiction, you'll find Polly a fabulous, inventive and encouraging tutor.
Boy In The Tower
(Middle-Grade Children's Fiction.)
Ade loves living at the top of a tower block. From his window, he feels like he can see the whole world stretching out beneath him. His mum doesn’t really like looking outside – but it’s going outside that she hates. She’s happier sleeping all day inside their tower, where it’s safe. But one day, other tower blocks on the estate start falling down around them and strange, menacing plants begin to appear. Now their tower isn’t safe anymore. Ade and his mum are trapped and there’s no way out . . .
Fly Me Home
(Middle-Grade Children's Fiction.)
Feeling lost and alone in a strange new city, Leelu wishes she could fly away back home – her real home where her dad is, thousands of miles away. London is cold and grey and the neighbours are noisy and there’s concrete everywhere. But Leelu is not alone; someone is leaving her gifts outside her house – wonders which give her curious magical powers.
Powers which might help her find her way home . . .
Where Monsters Lie
(Middle-Grade Children's Fiction.)
The children of Mivtown have grown up hearing the legend of the monsters of the loch. But it’s only a story – a warning to stay away from the water. Then strange things start happening in the village. Effie’s rabbit Buster escapes from a locked hutch, her mum disappears without trace and slugs start to infest her home.
Along with her best friend Finn, Effie begins to hunt for clues to solve the mysteries of Mivtown. Could this all be connected to the legend? Is it really just a story or is there something lurking in those deep, dark waters?
Dark Lullaby
(Dystopian Science Fiction.)
Kit is an ‘out’, she doesn’t want children. Infertility is universal and she has witnessed the agonies of her friends and sister going through the painful and dangerous fertility treatment, Induction, and then struggling to keep their babies, and cannot face going through it herself. But then she meets Thomas, and gradually the idea of a baby becomes more and more important. She and Thomas go through Induction and have a baby girl, Mimi. At first everything goes well but then the small mistakes, ISPs (Insufficient Standard of Parenting), build up and suddenly Kit is face to face with the idea of losing Mimi, and she is forced to ask herself how far she will go to keep her family together.
The Book in a Year ®.
The Best Year of Your Writing Life.
Welcome to the no-fear novel. From a confident start to a happy ending. Your tutor will oversee your progress to ensure you stay on track. We submit your work, when it's ready, to leading literary agents. The best route to becoming a published author.
Choose Polly Ho-Yen as your mentor for your year of writing with us. Start today.
The “Life-changing” Course with Five Star Reviews.
Most serious writers take courses or apprenticeships with published authors.
Stephen King learnt from John Gould. Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro, Anne Enright, Gillian Flynn and Tracy Chevalier all took classes. Learn from an acclaimed author. Write with confidence.
Read our Blog.
Great advice from novelists every Sunday. Sign up below to get it to your inbox and browse the back issues at our blog.
Get the Sunday Blog.
Sign up to receive our weekly blog with advice for writers to your inbox.