West Walton Community Primary School

Tonight I'm hitting the road and heading across to the south east coast ready to visit West Walton Community Primary School near Wisbech. I visited the school a couple of years ago and I'm really looking forward to going again.

The drive to school takes about four hours... so there's a lot of traveling involved. Perhaps I should buy a helicopter instead of a car???

Here's a BIG HELLO to everyone at West Walton CP School... see you soon.

King Edward and Queen Mary

Here's a big hello to everyone at King Edward and Queen Mary School, Lytham St Annes. I'm very much looking forward to seeing you all in March during World Book week.

Walverden Primary School

Here's a big HELLO to everyone at Walverden Primary School in Nelson... my first school visit of 2011.

I'll see you soon...

Happy New Year

2010 was a very messy year for me with one thing and another. There was a mixture of good and bad throughout the year and for probably the first time in my life I am glad that a year has come to an end and I am really looking forward to the coming year... it promises to be a good one.

On New Years Eve we picked Rachel up and drove her to Llandudno where she was going to be visiting her Uni friend, Chris. Chris kindly took this photograph of us on the beach at Llandudno. This is the first picture of Vicky and I together - with Connor and Rachel too of course.

I hope you all have a great 2011 and that it brings you and your loved ones lots of happiness. I'm getting on with some writing now but keep coming back to visit my diary for news of what I'm doing.

Deepdale Infants

This week I'm visiting Deepdale Infant School to work with year two - and hopefully squeeze in a whole school assembly session at the start of the day so here's a Big Hello to everyone there... I will see you on Thursday.

The following week I'm visiting Unity College in Blackpool to talk to everyone in year 7.

The rest of this week is going to be taken up with writing, looking after Polly, and but of decorating, a bit of Christmas shopping and a trip to Manchester airport to pick up Vicky and Connor after their trip to Euro Disney.

News of what I'm working on at the moment will be coming up soon.... watch this space.

Christmas is Coming

Yes... there's no avoiding it... Christmas is definitely getting closer. The shops are full of decorations, Christmas gifts, Christmas songs and lots of ho-ho-ho... and it's still November. Last week Vicky, Connor and I went to see the Coca Cola truck in the Asda car park - and very Christmassy it was too.

On Saturday night Vicky and I went into Chester to have a look round the Christmas Market... Mulled Wine, Roast Chestnuts, A big Wheel... Lovely. There was even an ice rink but I didn't have my skates with me...

Last night I went with Deanna to an open evening at Preston College so we could have a look at their Drama and Performing Arts department. Deanna is very keen on stage management, sound and lighting, but it's not easy finding a course for that. Thankfully, the people at Preston college were very helpful and we came away feeling quite positive about it all. We're still not sure which college or sixth form Deanna will go to next year but at least there are a few options open for her. A very exciting time...

Between now and Christmas I have one school visit - more about that later. In the meantime I'm busy writing, writing, writing. And not just my Christmas list either...

Living Books

On Saturday I spend the day as a Living Book at Fleetwood library in Lancashire. Over the last few years I have visited loads of libraries in England, Wales and Scotland and have talked to thousands of people - sharing stories and talking about books and writing... but being a living book was a little different.

Instead of talking to a large group of people, I spoke to just one or two people at a time - so the sessions were very personal. I was a little unsure about how the sessions would go but I needn't have worried... they were great and I had a really good time.

There were a few Living Books available in the Library on Saturday... the idea being that each Living Book (or person) was someone that had an interesting or unusual job, hobby, knowledge or personal experience that they could share with others. Members of the public then came along and made a reservation so they could spend a little time with the book of their choice. I was kept busy throughout the course of the day and spent time with people of all ages... including keen young readers that were interested in books and reading, older people that were interested on writing books for children and even a primary school teacher that had called into the library to return one of my books that she had been reading to her class.

It was an absolute pleasure meeting everyone at the library - thank you all for coming along... thank you too to the wonderful librarians.... especially Ruth and Ian for looking after me.

Living Books (or The Human Library) is a national initiative and you can find out more about it here.