Book Week

This week is going to be busy, busy, busy... Thursday is World Book Day and I am driving up and down the country visit g schools and libraries to share stories and talk about writing and being a writer.

Today I'm in Farnborough Road Junior School in sunny Southport...  it's going to be a fun week. I just hope I don't get stuck in any snow. 

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. 

Gifted And Talented Writing Workshops

A quick note here to say a huge HELLO to everyone that's coming along to Walverden Primary School tomorrow to take part in the writing workshops... that's pupils from Walverden Primary, St Paul's C of E Primary, Holy Saviour RC Primary School, Barrowfield School and St John's C of E Primary.

I'm looking forward to meeting and working with you all tomorrow.

A GIANT HELLO...

To everyone at St Austin's RC Primary School in St Helens - I'm looking forward to meeting you all on Tuesday...

And a GIANT sized HELLO to everyone at King's Park Infants and Grove House Infant and Nursery School in Dereham, Norfolk who are going to be busy writing stories around Maximus and the Beanstalk. 

I had fun writing Maximus and the Beanstalk - especially thinking about what Maximus would enjoy eating... Sprouts and Fishy Sauce... YUK! 

I hope that you have a lot of fun creating things to go into your stories and that you really enjoy writing them.

I wonder what will happen in your stories? I can't wait to read them all. If you would like to ask me anything or if you would just like to say hello, you can leave a message here or you can send me an email.

Galaxy Mega Spinners

I'm really excited to be working on a new book for Fiction Express called Galaxy Mega Spinners... This is something completely new for me because instead of working on the book myself I'm going to be working with lots of other people. 

As the book progresses over the next few weeks, readers will have the chance to vote on what happens next. If you're reading the book in school, I'd love to hear from you.

It's going to be a fun and exciting adventure. Who knows where it will end...

Why is everyone so obsessed with Galaxy Mega Spinners?

Are they just a fun toy or is something strange going on ? Kizzy Brown thinks there is - but what on Earth will she discover?

The first chapter goes live today...

Five Years Ago Today...

Happy Anniversary to my beautiful wife, Vicky...

It's hard to believe how quickly the last five years have flown by...

These two songs, played on our wedding day, are still special to us...

T.M.D. XXX

Research for the BIG book

The big book I'm working on at the moment mixes fiction with non-fiction. All fiction contains some elements of truth but using historical people, places and events in my story has meant that I have had to do far more research than I've ever done before.

The story focuses on the life of a certain pirate captain - a notorious man that captured lots of ships (I will go into more detail about him at another time). Although I've seen pirate ships on the television and have read about them in books, it was still hard to imagine what it would be like to actually stand of the deck of one of these tall ships?


How big were they? Books tell you the measurements of the ships but it's still hard to actually visualise it yourself. A trip to Bristol helped sort that out...

What does it feel like to look down from the rigging at the very top?

An important member of a ships crew was the doctor. I wondered what sort of equipment a doctor would have had on those days. If you imagine rows of shiny medical instruments laid out then you'd be wrong. A trip to the maritime museum helped with that - and lots of other things too.

As you can see from this doctor's bag, the main tool is a saw. Ouch!
Some of the things I have needed to find out weren't as exciting as ships or as interesting as a bag of doctor's tools... I wanted to know what the inside on an old farmhouse would look like. A very short scene in my story is set inside a house. I've also researched hats and clothes... If you want your character to sound believable you need to know a lot about them. What did they wear? What did they eat? How did they light the rooms in their houses? Lamps, candles or something else.

Dice play an important part of my story too - so I had to find out about those. I will tell you more later... on with the book.