Meet
Arne Van Der Linden
Youth author
Arne Van der Linden (born 1996) is the author of the diptych Project [Lotmate].. In 2017, he obtained a French-Dutch teacher's degree, after which he decided not to go straight into the classroom, but to pursue another course in language and literature. During those studies, the plan to write a children's book quietly began to take shape. Although he had been toying with the idea for some time, fear of failure, lack of inspiration and procrastination had always kept him from effectively putting something on paper. So until late 2017, when, after a long preparation, he hesitantly gave shape to Alan Gray and straightened out the main character from his notepad.
Just over two years later, Arne sent the finished manuscript to several publishers. Hamley Books, among others, responded positively, but also pointed out to him a major stumbling block: the size of the story. The high word count of Project [Lotmate]. far exceeded the length of an average young adult novel. Therefore, in consultation with the publisher, it was decided to turn it into a duology, the first part of which (The Project) will be released in April 2021 and the second will hit shelves in October of the same year.
Meanwhile, Arne has also completed his education and is active as a French-Dutch teacher. Besides teaching, writing and reading, he likes to listen to music, enjoys city trips and is often glued to the screen watching a soccer game.
