Ways to Live Forever
Sam loves facts. He wants to know about UFOs and horror movies and airships and ghosts and scientists, and how it feels to kiss a girl.
And because he has leukaemia he wants to know the facts about dying. Sam needs answers to the questions nobody will answer.
My name is Sam. I am eleven years old. I collect stories and fantastic facts. By the time you read this, I will probably be dead.
True Facts About Ways to Live Forever
1.
I really did run up down escalators when I was writing this book. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for ages and I thought, if Sam can do it, so can I. I did it in the same place Sam does – at the Cornmill Centre in Darlington.
2.
The chapter Visits is based on something my mother did after I was diagnosed with diabetes as a child. It was supposed to be a funny scene – but it didn’t turn out that way when I wrote it.
3.
I deleted over 20,000 words while writing this book (the finished novel is around 32,000 words long). Some of the scenes I deleted include a list of famous last words, a description of how a dead body decomposes and a scene where Sam and Felix try and break their world record by dropping water bombs on Sam’s dad.
4.
There are a few real names and places in this book. Auntie Nicola, Auntie Sarah and Auntie Carolyn are named after friends of mine, as is Raoul, the airship pilot. Stanley Rhode (the airship captain) gets his name from Stanley Road, the street I lived on at university. My friends and I always meant to put Stanley Rhode into one of our essays but never did, so I put him in the book instead. High Strawberry – on Sam’s list of favourite things – is also a real place. We used to stay there when I was a child.
5.
The first words I wrote when I began this book were:
List No. 1 – Five Important Facts About Me
1. My name is David Oliver Robinson.
2. I am eleven years, two months and seven days old.
3. I have one sister. Her name is Katherine Anne Robinson and she is nine years old.
4. I have acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
5. By the time you read this, I will already be dead.
Reviews of Ways to Live Forever
“impressed by Sally Nicholls’ sensitive handling of terminal illness in Ways to Live Forever”
“Sympathetic, touching, and surprisingly funny…”
“Sally Nicholls has precisely captured the contents of an 11-year-old boy’s head in all its humorous, list-making splendour.”
August 20, 2010 @ 9:17 am
hey!!!!!
sally u r osum!!!!1
ur book wz fantastic…..i luvd it…
waitin 4 ur next book dear…
good luck!!!!
August 9, 2010 @ 4:30 pm
hey sally ,
how can u rite such a gr8 book ?
ur the best author in the whole wide world !!!!
i have read “ways to live forever” for
100s of times!
never stop writing .
BEST OF LUCK !!
DEYASINI.INDIA
August 9, 2010 @ 4:27 pm
hey sally ,
how can u rite such a gr8 book ?
ur the best author in the whole wide world !!!!
i have read “ways to live forever” for
100s of times!
nevar stop writing .
BEST OF LUCK !!
DEYASINI.INDIA
July 15, 2010 @ 1:37 am
Great Writer. Horrible to realize that Sam did not even exist.
July 12, 2010 @ 5:12 pm
luv ure book ways 2 live forever it was brilliant
July 12, 2010 @ 9:58 am
Hello!
I love Ways To Love Forever!
It has been my favourite book for a long time. My grandparents gave it to me as a birthday present and I thought, ‘What’s this? Sally Nichols, never heard of her before, this may be a good book!’ and I read it a month or two later and I really, really loved it. I’m going to ask them to get me your other book as soon as possible. I can’t believe you’re that good as a writer. If we compare you as an author to Karen Gillan, who is the best actor EVER, (in my opinion) then you are only, less than a quarter of a mile behind her. (Which on the scale I’m using is absolutely amazing!)
Anna
July 8, 2010 @ 6:43 pm
Hi Sally!
Just wanna say one thing…..I cried lyk hell after reading this book. Rock on! I m waiting 4 more buks 4m u.
July 2, 2010 @ 3:15 pm
This is the best book i have ever read ,even know i’m 11.
July 1, 2010 @ 11:14 am
Hi!
Ways to live forever is really great! I like it so much and I read it again and again. The story is very touching and mind-blowing. One day, I´ll be “oncologe for childdren(like D. Bill) or author(like Sally Nicholls;))
June 15, 2010 @ 3:49 pm
This book forever! I loved it (thank you school) and I loved your workshop, too.