Preparing for Christmas

Even though we're still busy working it really feels like Christmas is getting closer now. On Sunday we put up our Christmas Tree and decorated the house. It's starting to feel nice and cosy and Christmassy. We've even managed to do most of our Christmas shopping, which makes a change - we're normally running around on the last minute.


We love our Christmas tree with it's mixture of special decorations that we've picked up here and there. This little house was bought from Harrods last year when we visited London for the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park...

And we just couldn't resist getting this little Owl - one of Boofle's friends. We still need to make a start on writing our Christmas cards and between now and Christmas I want to get the first draft of the next book in my History Heroes completed - it needs to go to my editor at the beginning of the New Year - and I don't want to be working on it over Christmas if I can help it.

The books are going well so far and I'm really pleased with the way the first two - Christopher Columbus, and Neil Armstrong - are coming along.  

That's all for now... I will write more soon and let you know what we're up too...

Smelly Socks and Terrible Tangles

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...

Our Wedding Anniversary

On the 27th October 2013, Vicky and I were married (you can see some wedding pictures by visiting the Our Wedding section of my website), and it's just amazing how quickly the last year has flown by... it seems like only yesterday that we were walking hand in hand down the aisle.

To celebrate our Anniversary we spent a night in the same hotel that we visited for our Honeymoon - The Wild Pheasant in Llangollen. The Dee Valley Suit in the hotel is perfect - and what makes it even better is that there's a hot tub out on the balcony - protected from the weather by a roof so you can just sit and relax even if its rains or snows...

The day after our evening away I went to visit Elizabeth Woodville Primary School in Leicestershire - I had a great time at the school but couldn't wait to get back home as we were going to spend a few days together in a Log Cabin/Lodge not far from Alton.

It's nice to get away so we just spent our time relaxing and forgetting about work and everything else. You can't just sit in a hot tub day after day though so we also went to visit the Blue John Caverns in the Peak District. Blue John is the semi-precious stone coloured stone that you can see in the rock above. It's used to make decorative jewellery, vases and other ornaments.

The guide for our tour of the Caverns was a man that obviously spends a lot of time down there - probably on his own with very little light and no one to speak to. It was an interesting day out and I'd recommend it to anyone. 

Since then I've been busy visiting schools and working hard on my writing. As well as working on my longer book I am also busy working on a series of non-fiction books called History Heroes. I'll tell you more about those tomorrow.

On the way home from lodge we called in at Snugbury's Ice Cream Shop for some of their delicious Ice-Cream and also to take a look at the Straw Sculpture... Last year they had made a huge sculpture of a cyclist for the Olympic Games - this year a huge golden Dalek stands in the field threatening to EXTERMINATE passers by... It looks impressive during the daytime but even more impressive when you drive past at night and see it illuminated in the dark field.

Lunar Eclipse

Tonight there will be a Lunar Eclipse... This happens when the Earth comes directly between the Sun and our Moon. This should block out the sun's light entirely, making the moon complexly dark,  but because of the Earth's atmosphere, the sun's rays are refracted (bent) causing them to hit the dark part of the moon and making it appear red. If you were on the moon it would look like the sun was rising or setting behind the earth.

Unlike a solar Eclipse that you can only view through special glasses, a Lunar Eclipse can be safely viewed with the naked eye from anywhere on the night side of the Earth. The Lunar eclipse lasts much longer than the Solar Eclipse so there's a good chance you will get see it. Unless it's cloudy of course.

I've been busy working on a new book which I'll be sending to my Publisher next week. Hopefully I'll be able to tell you about it soon - but until everything's been given the thumbs up I have to keep quite. 

Liverpool Central Library

I'm doing a lot of travelling around at the moment (as well as writing of course) as schools and libraries everywhere are celebrating Book Week. Yesterday I was lucky enough to spend the day at the wonderful Central Library in Liverpool (recently refurbished).

The library is a huge and impressive building from the outside but since its refurbishment it has become even more impressive inside...

Throughout the day I met children from St Cleopas Primary School and from St Francis de Sales Primary School... it was an absolute pleasure meeting everyone that came along - we had a great time.



The sessions were all held in the huge Children's Library, or Discovery Room... a very airy and bright room with lots of space.



I had a little wander round Liverpool Centre at lunchtime but spent most of my free time just having a wander around the library itself... The Reading Room with its rows of books on different levels and spiral stairs is very impressive and atmospheric.

 

After the visit I set of for Peterborough as today I'm visiting Gunthorpe Primary School - so here's a Big Hello to everyone there. See you soon. Which reminds me... I'd better get going.

Interview with Marijke van Velhoven

Earlier this year I was asked to write a couple of funny stories for Oxford University Press for their Oxford Reading Tree - Treetops Chucklers, series. It was lots of fun writing the stories and it's been great seeing them being brought to life by the wonderful Dutch illustrator Marijke van Veldhoven, that the publisher chose to illustrate them.

When I visit schools and talk about the illustrations, children and adults are often surprised to hear that I don't choose the illustrator and I don't tell the illustrator what to do... In fact, most of the time, authors and illustrators don't actually talk very much about the book that is being created between them. Children ask me lots of questions about the illustrators but I can't always answer them... luckily, Marijke was happy to help with this and here she answers a lot of the questions that children have been asking me...

What is the best thing about being an illustrator?

The very best thing about being an illustrator is; doing what I love as a living. I have been drawing everything and on everything since I was little (it drove teachers crazy) and it was wonderful to make it to an art school. For the first time I could do art full time! After that I worked hard to make a living with my illustrations and I've been doing that ever since. It's great to create something for others to enjoy. And I like making jokes in pictures too (I do that with stand-up cartooning too, making funny cartoons during a meeting or training session).

How long would it take you to do all of the pictures for a book (like the Sock Eater and Nelly’s Nest) ?

All the pictures in a book! It can different for each book. But for 'The Sock Eater and Nelly's Nest' it took me 4 weeks for the sketches and 6 weeks for the colour art work. On a big picture book I would work for months!

Is it hard thinking of how people or creatures will look?
 

Sometimes it is hard to get them just right. With a little cheek, or very strict or just very lovable. And sometimes I get it right immediately. I have a special sketching strategy to design the characters.

 

Do you have to do lots of rough sketches of characters before you are happy with them?

Yes I do, most of the time. The characters always need fixing before they are right. And of course they need to look good from every angle.

What is the hardest thing to draw?

For me, the hardest things to draw are cars.

What are your favourite things to draw?

I love to draw people and animals.

 

What do you not like to draw?

 

Cars (no surprise there)

Do you use computers to help with your drawing?

The drawing is done by hand. Colouring I do by hand and with photoshop (or combined).

What do you like to draw and colour with? (Paint, pastels, pencils, chalk...)

Sketching with a good old pencil. I use pen and ink a lot. For colouring I use gouache and some water colours. 

Were you really good at drawing when you were at school?

Yes, I had some talent and I practiced a LOT.

Apart from yourself, who is your favourite illustrator?

I love several illustrators: The Tjong Khing, Annemarie van Haeringen, Quentin Blake, David Roberts, Peter van Straaten, Maaike Hartjes and many more.

How many books have you illustrated?

I've illustrated about 25 books.

And finally the answers to those questions that everyone gets asked...

 

Favourite food: a good lasagne.

Favourite animal: cat.

Favourite colour: green.

A big thank you to everyone that gave me questions to ask Marijke - and a special thank you to Marijke herself for taking the time to answer them... As soon as I see finished pictures (and the finished book itself, I will let you see it here.) You can see more of Marijke's work by visiting her website... the writing is in Dutch of course so you might have some difficulty reading the text but there are lots of pictures and video clips to look at...

Book Week

Another quick diary entry here just to say a big hello to everyone at Ysgol Bro Gwydir and Ysgol Capel Garmon in Llanrwst, Ysgol Betws y Coed, Ysgol Cerrigydudion and Ysgol Llangwm... I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone this week in the libraries... see you soon.

More big hellos for next week to everyone at Crackley Bank Primary School in Chesterton, St Margaret's CE Primary School, Gunthorpe Primary School in Peterborough and Holly Mount Primary in Bury... Also looking forward to visiting the new Central Library in Liverpool for sessions there next week... phew!!! a busy time.

Hoping to fit in quite a bit of writing too...

Keep your eyes open for tomorrow's diary entry as it will feature an interview with the wonderful illustrator Marijke van Veldhoven - who has been busy illustrating a little book that will be published early next year by Oxford University Press called Smelly Socks and Terrible Tangles...