Mather Street Primary

A huge HELLO to everyone at Mather Street Primary School in Failsworth, Manchester. I'm really looking forward to meeting you all tomorrow.

As far as I know, this will be my last school visit of 2023 but 2024 is already looking like it's going to be busy - both with writing and visiting schools. 

I've got a few new writing projects coming up, including a few exciting, adventure books involving dinosaurs. I can't tell you any more about them at the moment but I can't wait to get started. I'll tell you more as soon as I can.  

Hello Ysgol Cefn Meiriadog

I'm busy writing today but here's a quick hello to everyone at Ysgol Cefn Meiriadog in Groesffordd Marli... I'm looking forward to meeting everyone in the morning.

Local Schools, Tigers and Caverns

 As well as writing, this week I'm delighted to be visiting a couple of local schools - Venerable Edward Morgan School in Shotton, and Ysgol Wepre School in Connah's Quay. I've been lucky enough to visit both schools in the past and it is always a pleasure meeting everyone there... I can't wait to see you all soon.

  

Last week was our wedding anniversary and to celebrate we had a few days away from home and a few days visiting local places. 

The tiger and her cubs lazing on the rock were at Chester Zoo. The stalagmites and stalactites were at Poole's Cavern in Derbyshire.

Nothing beats getting out from behind your desk to help fuel the imagination. 

Discovering Dinosaurs

Discovering Dinosaurs, my latest non-fiction book will be published tomorrow and I can't wait to see the finished copies. Keep a look out for it in your school or library.

Dinosaurs are really famous. We see them in movies. We read about them in books and magazines. There are even dinosaur action figures and cuddly toys. This is pretty impressive, especially when you think that the last land-living dinosaurs died out 66 million years ago! 

This book will take you on a visit to the dinosaur museum, where you'll discover: - the ways that dinosaurs are classified and what their names mean - how people identify dinosaurs from their fossils - the mistakes people have made about dinosaurs - what happened to the dinosaurs and whether they still exist today.... 

Discovering Dinosaurs is part of the Reading Planet Cosmos range of books from Hodder Education. Cosmos provides a vibrant collection of fiction and non-fiction books that will widen children's reading horizons. Reading Planet books have been carefully levelled to support children in becoming fluent and confident readers. Each book features useful notes and questions to support reading at home and develop comprehension skills. Reading age: 8-9 years.

A Huge Hello to two Small Schools

This week I'm delighted to be visiting two small schools, that are quite close to home - Ysgol Esgob Church In Wales VA Primary School in Caerwys, and Lixwm Church in Wales VA Primary School in Lixwm. A huge hello to everyone there - I can't wait to meet you all on Wednesday. I've got lots to show and lots of stories and rhymes to share.  

I thought I'd start right now by showing you the covers of two of my latest books - Running From Rex, and Valley Adventure... two books about a group of dinosaur friends and the adventures they have together. These books aren't published until October next year, so they really are new. 

A.I.M. High Writing Day at Whichurch C.E. Junior Academy

 I'm looking forward to visiting Whitchurch C.E. Junior Academy tomorrow where I'll be working with some of their young writers, and some from Tushingham with Grindley C of E Primary, Moreton Say C of E Primary, Shocklach Oviatt C of E Primary, and Hodnet Primary School... 

I can't wait to meet everyone and see what stories are created. It's always a fun and interesting day. Huge thanks to Authors Abroad for organising it all.

Gayton Primary School

 

Hello to everyone at Gayton Primary School, Wirral, I can't wait to meet you all next Friday when I come to spend the day with you in school.

During the day I will be sharing lots of stories, talking about writing and being a writer, showing how a book is made, telling you how I get ideas, and, of course, answering all of your questions. You can ask me anything at all about me or being a writer. 

I'll also be interested to hear about what sort of things you enjoy reading.

See you all soon 

A.I.M. High Writing Day - Holden Clough Primary School

Here's a huge HELLO to everyone that will be attending the A.I.M. High Writing Day at Holden Clough Primary School, Ashton-under-Lyne on Thursday - organised by the wonderful people at Authors Abroad . That's Medlock Valley Community School, Our Lady of Mount Carmel RC Primary School, Parochial C of E Primary and Nursery School, Millbrook Primary School, and, of course, Holden Clough Primary School.

Bring, your pens, pencils, and imaginations... it's going to be a fun, creative day. I'm looking forward to meeting and working with everyone. 

Talking to Readers

It's always a real pleasure getting to meet and talk to young readers and to hear what they think of the books they have read. Yesterday I was fortunate to have the chance to speak to Fiction Express readers from around the world in Spain, Mexico, India, Uruguay, Honduras, and Great Britain. 

A huge HELLO to everyone that joined the chat - It was great to have the chance to answer all of your questions and to hear what you had to say about The Sculptor... I was delighted find that you had all enjoyed reading the book. 

It was also fantastic to be able to share the chat session with the wonderful Janelle McCurdy and hear her talk about her Fiction Express book, End Game. Janelle is an author and a gamer, and it was especially interesting to hear how being a gamer has influenced her writing.  

If you like exciting fantasy adventures then you will love her book - Mia and the Lightcasters . I highly recommend it and can guarantee that once you pick it up, you won't want to put it down.

Dinosaur Stories

I've been very busy this year working on lots of different books. One set of books I've been working on features a group of dinosaur friends. The first two are published in August next year, followed by two more in September and another two in October. 

The books aren't completely finished yet but these two covers have appeared on Amazon and other websites, so I can share them with you now. I think you'll agree, they are looking great... 

The artwork for the books is being done by an excellent illustrator/artist called Hannah Wood - and she is doing a brilliant job of bringing the characters to life. I've seen the finished pages of a couple of the books and they look fantastic. You can find out more about Hannah, and see lots of her artwork by visiting her website HERE. 

I'll show and tell you more about these books as soon as I can.  

Discovering Dinosaurs

It's always exciting to see books finally come together with the artwork and covers. Here's the cover of a book that I was working on last year and into the early part of this year.

Discovering Dinosaurs is a non-fiction books about... well, discovering dinosaurs. Rather than just looking at different types of dinosaur it looks at how and what we know about dinosaurs aswell as how they are discovered. 

There is, of course, lots of information about different kinds of dinosaurs but the book starts by answering questions like "What is a dinosaur?" (and what isn't a dinosaur?). "What are fossils?" (how they are made, where they can be found, as well as what they can tell us). Other topics include dinosaur names, types of dinosaur and how to identify them, what poeple have got wrong about dinosaurs, and what happened to dinosaurs?

I have always been interested in dinosaurs so I knew a little bit about them before I started - but I was amazed by what I didn't know. I had to do a lot of research to write this book and I really hope that people enjoy reading it.

Discovering Dinosaurs will be published on 27th October in the Rising Stars Reading Planet series. 

Minera VA Primary School

 I'm busy writing at the moment but here's a quick message to say a huge HELLO to everyone at Minera VA Primary School in Minera, Wrexham... I can't wait to meet everyone on Thursday.

A Busy Week with Schools and Awards

 Next week is going to be a busy one where I'll be travelling round quite a bit. I'll need to squeeze in some time for writing too. 

On Monday I'm visiting Ysgol Yr Hafod in Johnstown to start off their book week. A HUGE HELLO to you all - I'm looking forward to meeting everyone.

Another HUGE HELLO to everyone that will be spending the day with me at Walverden Primary School for the A.I.M. High Writing Day that has been organised by Authors Abroad. As well as seeing my friends from Walverden Primary School I'm looking forward to meeting and working with eager writers from Bradley Primary School, Holy Saviour RC Primary School, Barrowford Primary School, Reedley Primary School, and Trawden Forest Primary School... it's going to be a fun day. 

As well as visiting a couple of schools, I'm excited to be travelling down to London to attend the Fiction Express Awards Night where I'll be receiving a couple of awards... More about that later...

Snow Days - A Walk In the Woods

We had lots of snow last week and my visit to Mivera VA Primary School had to be called off at the last minute as a result. We'll be arranging another day for me to come along very soon though. 

Snow always looks pretty... 

... but it does make getting around a little trickier. Lots of schools were closed as a result - and so were the libraries, so Vicky had a snow day too. After doing a bit of writing we put our boots on and went for a walk in the woods near where we live. 

Wepre Park is always a nice place for a walk, but in the snow it seems even nicer - it's quieter too. 

After walking between the snowcovered trees, over the stream and up a little hill, we arrived at Ewloe Castle - often referred to as the castle in the woods. 

The castle was built in 1257 by Llywelyn, Prince of Gwynedd - who later became Prince of Wales. 

As you can see, it was never a very big castle, and there's not a lot of it left - just parts of the walls, part of the main building and part of the the tower that you can see on the right of the picture above - but it's still worth seeing.

And you get a great view over the surrounding trees from the top.

This week I'm busy writing about dinosaurs, and working on ideas for an exciting new project that involves dragons - but that's all I can say about it for now as it's TOP SECRET.

World Book Day

 Every day should be a World Book Day, but sadly it officially confined to just one day of the year. The good thing is that schools quite rightly celebrate books and the love of reading on more than one day of the year. I had three wonderful days last week celebrating books with everyone at The Oaks Primary School in Ellesmere Port, Walverden Primary School in Nelson, and Brinscall St John's C of E Methodist School in Brinscall, Chorley. It was great meeting everyone, sharing stories and seeing all of the fantastic costumes being worn by children and staff. I hope to see you all again soon.

This week I'll be visiting Black Lane County Primary School, Pentre Broughton, and Minera VA Primary School. Here's a huge HELLO to you all...

I can't wait to meet everyone, share lots of stories ad answer lots of questions about writing and being a writing. It's going to be fun. 

While I'm not in school I've got lots of writing to do... I'd better get on with it now.   

The Oaks Community Primary School

This week it's World Book Week - World Book Day itself on Thursday... It's great to be getting back out and visiting some schools and I'm delighted to be flying off to visit The Oaks Community Primary School in Ellesmere Port tomorrow. Okay... I won't actually be flying as there's nowhere to land, so I'll come in the car. 

I can't wait to meet everyone... See you all soon.

Caernarfon Castle

As an author I work from home, and I enjoy doing so. But it's great to get out of the house when I can. 

It's good to get some excersise and it's good to see and experience things that can prove useful when writing a story. 

On Friday, Vicky and I drove a little way along the coast to visit Caernarfon Castle. The castle is over 800 years old, constructed under the orders of King Edward I of England (also known as Edward Longshanks) 1272 - 1307. 

It's a hugely impressive castle and I would highly recommend visiting when you can.  There's lots of turrets and towers to explore - so that means there are a lot of steps too. Make sure you wear some comfortable, sensible shoes... you don't want to slip. 

As you can see, the spiral steps are quite narrow - and some of them are much narrower than these. By the end of the day our legs were aching, but it was well worth climbing to the top of all the towers. The views were excellent. I'm just glad that I didn't have to climb the towers wearing armour and carrying a sword.

A couple of the castle towers are home to the museum of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, which makes for another interesting part of the visit. Here you learn all about Wales's oldest infantry regiment and the part they have played over the years.   

Recently, I've been busy writing a mixture of non-fiction, and fiction books. I've written a small non-fiction book about the Forbidden City in China, and a book called 'Discovering Dinosaurs'. The dinosaur book will be published in Britain in October this year. Right now I'm working on some little fiction books about dinosaurs. They are lots of fun and I will tell you more about them when I can.  

Next week I'll be getting out of the house again to help celebrate World Book Day. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone at The Oaks Primary School in Ellesmere Port, Walverden Primary School in Nelson, and Brinscall St John's C of E Methodist Primary School, in Chorley. After a couple of years without the usual World Book Day celebrations it's great to be getting back out on the road. It's also nice that the schools aren't too far away... Some years I spend the whole week travelling the length and breadth of the country and staying away from home. 

Christmas Stories from Lawley Primary School

Before Christmas I spent a wonderful day with pupils at Lawley Primary School in Telford. It was great meeting so many eager readers, and keen and enthusiastic writers (and amazing illustrators too).  I just wanted to say a huge hello and thank you to everyone in Year 4 for sharing their wonderful stories with me. 

After reading my Fiction Express book - The Thought Snatcher - Year 4 have been busy writing their own stories featuring the young genius, Ellie, and her 'not-so-genius' younger brother. I love the way some of you gave her brother a different name - making the stories your own. I also love the way you have given the stories a nice Christmas theme. That's always a fun thing to do when writing at Christmas. I thought readers of my diary would be interested in reading some of the stories - and seeing some of your amazing artwork. 

Click HERE to read Lola's "Christmas Saving Day" (that's where the first brilliant picture on this page comes from.

(If viewing the stories on your phone, they may save in your downloads folder instead of opening)

The second picture (above) comes from "The Christmas Enter Ring" by Ruby. A great idea for an invention Ruby. Click HERE to give it a read.

Click HERE to read "The Bad Guy" by Poppy. I was scared too when the men in black suits appeared. Well done Poppy!

Aishah has made a great start to her story... I can't wait to find out what happens next. Will James Rixton get caught? Click HERE to have a read.

I love Olivia's idea for a new invention in this story. I think I should think of a new story and invention for Olivia too. Click HERE to read "A Crazy Christmas."

Annabel has given her story and even bigger Christmas feel to it by involving a trip to the North Pole to help a certain famous person. Now... I wonder who that could be. Read her story by clicking HERE.

I really enjoyed reading Sienna's story which has lots of nice little touches - like having some characters wearing matching Christmas clothes. My wife, Vicky, was trying to get us matching pyjamas for Christmas this year. Read Sienna's Christmas tale HERE.

Lewis has combined great artwork with his own ideas to made a very exciting story involving a prison escape... You can read "The Christmas Disaster" HERE.

Thank you once again for sharing you wonderful stories with me. It was a real pleasure meeting you all last year... I hope you keep on having lots of fun with your writing.

Bye for now...

Global Heroes - Author Visits to School

I’m always looking for ways to make my school visits more fun, exciting, and informative, and I think that my new Global Heroes books will be a great way of doing this.

The Global Heroes  are a group of children, recruited from around the world by mysterious billionaire, Mason Ash. 

Mo is the newest member of the group. He comes from Britain and has a great knowledge of animals and living things that make him an important part of the team. 

Ling, from China, is an environmental expert. She saw the damage people were doing to the world and was determined to change it. 

Keira is African American and is a gadget whizz... when she's not trying out a new gadget, she's busy repairing an old one. Her expertese proves vital for the Global Heroes missions.

Ronan with his love of maths and physics comes from Ireland. His logical approach to solving problems comes in very useful. 

Fernanda’s from Brazil, where one parent is a vet and the other a doctor. She’s picked up medical knowledge from both of them and is eager to put it to good use. 

Working together from The Beehive, their top secret island headquarters, they use their special skills help protect the future of the Earth and everything that lives on it. 

The first four Global Heroes books came out at the end of last year and, with fantastic covers and inside artwork by the wonderful Alex Paterson, I think they look great. Each book is a stand alone story that mixes fact with fiction to creat a story full of action, adventure and scientific information. 

In Bushfire Rescue, the team are sent to Australia where bush fires have been raging out of control. There, they will discover some of the causes of these wild fires, help rescue stranded animals. 

They also discover that there are a band of villains known as the Evilooters who will stop at nothing to get money... even if it means damaging the planet to do so.

Mo has always wanted to see polar bears in the wild so he's very excited to be chosen to take part in a mission to the frozen Arctic. Their mission there is to find out why polar bears are at risk and what might be some of the causes behind it. 

You can also join the Global Heroes in Rising River Escape - on their mission to Madagascar where flash floods have left pets and animals stranded - and Waves of Waste where waves of plastic rubbish are being washed up onto the beaches of Brazil. Who is behind all of these disasters?