A Balancing Act

World Book Day is quickly approaching and I'm going to be busy visiting schools and libraries around Great Britain so hello to everyone that I am going to be seeing over the next few weeks - and a special hello to everyone at St Margaret's Preparatory School in Calne - I'm really looking forward to meeting you all tomorrow.

This is always a fun and busy time of the year, but it can be a bit tricky too as I have to try and balance my time between visiting schools and libraries and also still find time for writing.

I've been busy writings story ideas for some little books that will hopefully be read by people in Year 4... Some times it's difficult coming up with ideas that fit what I'm supposed to be doing but over the last few weeks I've had lots of ideas so hopefully my editors will like some of them... ideas that don't get used can always be used for something else later - so nothing is ever really wasted. 

Here is the cover of a little book called The Big Match which will be published in July this year... It's quite a short story for young readers - just a little over 600 words. It's Jamal's birthday and he has a difficult decision to make... does he go and have a football party with his friends at the park or does he go with his Dad to watch the big game between City and United? It's up to Jamal to make up his mind but he feels that whichever one he chooses, he will be letting someone down. What you do? The illustrations in this book are being done by John Lund. So far I have only seen the cover but I can't wait to see more... I think John is doing a great job.

I've also been planning out and writing the first chapter for a little book called The Curious Case of Dr Salamander - or at least I think that's what it will be called... these things change form time to time. I will be writing the book properly in April so I've still got time to change things as I go along. Readers of the book will also be voting on some of the things that are going to happen in the book too which makes it interesting (and difficult at times) - I will tell you more about it nearer the time though. 

Cave Boy And The Egg

A quick entry in my diary here to let you see the cover of Cave Boy And The Egg which has been beautifully illustrated by Bill Bolton. I'd not seen Bill's work before but as soon as I saw his rough cover illustration I could tell he was the one to illustrate this little book about Cave Boy and his dad as they go off in search of something to eat for their tea. It's always interesting to see how different illustrators interpret the story - each one fresh and different and bringing something new to the finished book.

Granny At The Park - Reading Champions

I've been busy working on some very short stories with Franklin Watts recently to encourage and help very young children with their independent reading. The first of these is Granny At The Park, illustrated by Jan Smith. I've only seen the rough inside artwork so far but have just spotted the colour cover on Amazon so thought I'd share it here with you. It's fun and a bit challenging working on very short stories (there's only six words on each page) and they need really lively artwork to bring them to life. I think that Jan Smith has done a wonderful job of showing Granny having fun at the park as she causes more and more embarrassment for her Grandson. 

If you want to find out more about the illustrator, Jan Smith you can visit her website here.

Right now I'm busy working on more ideas...