Here's a BIG HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone reading my diary... We've had a lovely Christmas and hope you have too.
I haven't made any New Year resolutions (have you?) but I am planning to be far more organised with my writing work. I've got quite a few things on the go at the moment, including a longer novel for older readers - Year 4 and above I think. So far I think it will be at least 17,000 words in length - so a lot longer than anything I've written before. I've written a few chapters of the book but the rest is on hold at the moment as I'm busy working on a little series of non-fiction books. I've written the first two in the series - one about Christopher Columbus and one about Neil Armstrong... I will tell you more about those and show you some picture as soon as I can. Right now the pictures are still being drawn so I haven't even seen them myself. Today I'm busy writing book 3 which is all about Queen Elizabeth I.
Today sees the publication of my very latest book - Smelly Socks and Terrible Tangles. HURRAH! I haven't seen the finished book yet but I'm hoping the postman will be delivering a couple of copies to me very soon.
Next week I will be visiting Minera Primary School in Wrexham - my first visit of the New Year and I can't wait... See you all soon...
According to Amazon.co.uk my little book - Smelly Socks and Terrible Tangles (part of Oxford University Press's Treetops Series for schools) will be published on the 9th January 2014. A good start to the New Year I think..
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The book contains two funny stories - The Sock Eater, and Nellie's Nest.
The Sock Eater is all about a strange little creature that Yan finds living beneath his bed, and Nellie's Nest is about a stubborn young girl that refuses to brush her hair - even though it's as tangled and messy as a bird's nest. The illustrations have been done by the wonderful Dutch illustrator Marijke van Veldhoven - you can read a little interview with Marijke by clicking HERE.
I've not seen a finished copy of the book but can't wait to get one through the post...
Over the past few weeks I've been into a few schools where children and teachers have asked how much influence I have on the illustrations for my books... the simple answer is 'not a lot'. This isn't always a bad thing though...
I'm not great at drawing so certainly wouldn't attempt to illustrate my own books but that means that I get to work with lots of really good illustrators. Generally, I try not to picture characters in too much detail in my mind - I think it's good to see what the illustrators come up with. (This probably isn't the case with all books of course as sometimes you do want things to look a certain way - especially if it's important to the story).
I love seeing stories brought to life by the illustrations and it's always interesting to see illustrations in progress like the ones below.
Have you ever wondered what happens to your socks after you take them off? You always end up with odd ones don't you... well, this strange little creature that Yan has just found beneath his bed is a Sock Eater. I didn't know what a Sock Eater looked like before - but now I do.
The two pictures above (and the one below) are for two little stories that I wrote earlier this year for Oxford University Press - Nelly's Nest and The Sock Eater. The stories are going to be published together in a book for OUP's Treetops series called Smelly Socks and Terrible Tangles.
The artwork is being done by a Dutch illustrator called Marijke van Veldhoven (click HERE to go and take a look at her website). It has been great to see the first sketches that she has done for the book, and wonderful that she has allowed me to show them to you here. Later on I will feature a little interview with the illustrator and I will also include some colouring sheets on my website that you can download.
