Elworth Hall Primary School

Hello to everyone at Elworth Hall Primary School.  I can't wait to meet you all next Monday and to hear about the great books that you've been reading.

I've been busy working on some new books during the week but on Sunday, Vicky and I went to Swallow Falls - some beautiful waterfalls in Wales, not far from where we live.

This week I'll be busy working on some more new stories... they are actually very old Chinese stories that I'm rewriting for young readers. One of them has lots of dragons in in it, and another is about an elephant. 

See you soon...

The Global Heroes Are Here

 As well as working on lots of little books during the past year, I've been busy working on a new series called Global Heroes. You can find out more about them HERE on my website. The first two in the series have just been published - and I think you'll agree, they look GREAT! The illustrations have been done by the excellent Alex Patterson and he's done a great job bringing the characters and settings to life. 

The heroes are a group of children - each with specialist skills - that go on missions around the world to help tackle environmental disasters and problems. The first book, Bushfire Rescue, is set in Australia where a wild bushfire has swept across the countryside. The Global Heroes mission is to help rescue wild animals that have been affected by the fire - but they also have to keep their wits about them as a group of villains, known only as Evilooters, have been seen in the area. What are the Evilooters up to and have they got anything to do with the fire? 

In book 2, Waves of Waste, the heroes are sent to Brazil to find out why mountains of plastic waste are being washed up on the beaches. As well as action filled adventure stories, the books are full of fascinating facts and will be great for children who have an interest in science and the environment - especially in connection with current global issues like Global Warming, and Animals in Danger. Two more books in the series will be coming out in November. 

Each book is a story on its own and they can be read in any order.

What we did in the Summer Holidays

Today is the first day of the new school year for lots of people - good luck to everyone starting in a new class or in a new school - teachers and pupils (it can be an exciting, scary, and challenging time for both). 

As an author that visits lots of schools, this time of the year always feels like the start of a New Year for me too. It's always hard to believe how quickly the summer holidays fly by. I've been very busy writing, and Vicky has been busy working in the library, but we've still managed to squeeze in a few fun things along the way. I've got lots of book news to tell you about, but I thought I'd tell you a little bit about what else we've been getting up to - Polly too (here she is drinking rainwater from the top of our garden storage box).

As a writer, I work from home most of the time... this can be great as it means you don't have to travel to work each day. The bad thing is that home can end up feeling a bit like being at work - so it's great to get away from time to time.

Over the summer we've done quite a bit of walking - visiting new places and some of our favourite places, Mwnt, a small cove on the Ceredigion coast (the sunny beach at the top of the page). It's definitely one of our favourite places and a great place to see dolphins, seals and other wildlife. 

As well as being a break from work, and good exercise, going out walking helps to fuel your imagination. It's much easier to create settings and interesting places if you have actually been away from your screens to see and feel things in real life.   

As well as walking, we've done quite a bit of kayaking too - it's lots of fun and gives you a whole new way of looking at things. On Saturday we were sat bobbing about on the sea, watching dolphins jumping and playing close by. Sadly, we didn't manage to get any photographs of them, but we will try to get some next time. Sometimes you can spend your time trying to get a photograph and end up missing what is actually happening. 

Most of the places we've visited over the summer have been here in Wales - but we did venture over the boarder to spend a couple of days in Howarth in Yorkshire - stopping off for a walk near Hebden Bridge on the way. 

That's all for now... I'll be back soon to tell you about some new books that are due to be published on Friday. It's very exciting.