Hello...

Hello to the students at Monaita School in Grenada. I'm really looking forward to meeting you all tomorrow morning - and to the students at El Romeral School and Sierrablanca School in Malaga - I'll see you soon. 

I can't to hear what you thought of The Flip Side.  

The Flip Side

Today sees the publication of the first chapter of my latest Fiction Express book - The Flip Side - and I'm very excited about it. The first chapter will be live on the website at 11 this morning. The story is about a world that's parallel to our own and what happens when someone crosses from one to the other. The book is being read by readers all over the world - a HUGE HELLO to you if you are one of them. I will see you in the forum soon.3e

Writing a book for Fiction Express is different to writing other books as the readers get involved as the story progresses - offering ideas and suggestions. I can't wait to hear when everyone thinks of the story and eagerly await their thoughts about what might happen. Stories can take unusual twists and turns before they reach their final conclusion.  

Komodo Dragons

Last week I was busy researching and writing about Komodo dragons. Writing a mixture of fiction and non-fiction books makes my job even more interesting. As well as being interesting, the research for non-fiction books can also give me ideas and information that I can use in my fiction.

One of the tricky things about doing research is know when to stop. It's never enough to simply do your research in one place - you really do have to read several books and magazine articles, and watch more than one documentary. You also have to do your best to make sure that the information that you find is the most up to date that there is... it is amazing what 'facts' change as we discover more out our planet and the things that live here. 

In the wild, Komodo dragons only live on five small Indonesian islands. It would have been nice to go and visit the island of Komodo to see the dragons for myself - but that wasn't likely to happen. Lucky, there are Komodo dragons at Chester Zoo where we are members, so I was able to get a close look at the dragons for myself.

I've just finished working on my little book about these very large lizards (the largest alive in the world today) and have sent it off to my editor. I hope she likes it. I will let you know how it goes.

Over the weekend Vicky and I went walking in the woods, visited a secret cave where a notorious highwayman once lived and more... I'll tell you about that tomorrow. 

The Flip Side (for Fiction Express)

In September I will be writing my latest book for Fiction Express. Writing a book for them is always an exciting and challenging thing to do. Unlike other books that I write, Fiction Express readers from around the world get involved in the creative process as the story progresses over five chapters. 

The first chapter is written and ready to go live, but other than that, I only have the roughest of ideas as to what will happen in the rest of the book. Each chapter ends with a question for the reader - in this case, Chapter One ends by asking the reader what the main character has just seen. I have given them three options to choose from. The option that gets the most votes gives me the start of the next chapter. Each option is significantly different and will completely change what happens next. I know that it would be possible for me to give three options that effectively result in the same thing, but I prefer to make it more interesting (and slightly more difficult for myself) by keeping it more open. 

Another thing that makes writing these books different is the fact that I am able to communicate with readers on an interactive forum. I can post questions for them to answer and they can ask me questions, give me their opinion on what they have read, and also offer suggestions for things to include in the following chapters. It's great being able to include reader's ideas and suggestions in the story - and always interesting to hear what they think.

You can find out more about Fiction Express by visiting their website HERE 

There's a few weeks to go but I'm already looking forward to it.

Neil Armstrong

On this day in 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the moon. You can find out more about Neil Armstrong, and how he became an astronaut in my History Heroes book.

Did you know … he could fly an aeroplane before he could drive a car?

You can find this book in your local library or 

Buy From Amazon

Working and Walking

At the moment I'm busy working on the first of a new series of books - I'd love to tell you all about it but right now it's TOP SECRET so I can;t say anything about it.  i can say that the books are full of action and adventure and some really cool characters. Hopefully i will be able to tell you more very soon. 

It's been strange not being able to go and visit schools and libraries for the past year - hopefully that will all change when schools open again in September.

In the mean time, Vicky and I have been going out for little walks each weekend... We've been along the coast and up an few hills. There's lots of beautiful places to see and visit here in Wales, so we've been making the most of it and getting out and about when whenever we can. 

Here are pictures from our last walk which was up the Snowdon Watkin Path. The path took us uphill by the side of the stream with bridges and lots of waterfalls. This stone bridge was quite narrow ....

... and the water beneath was surprising deep.

 The water was crystal clear and very cold.. Vicky and I couldn't resist going in for a little swim in this pool (it's a good job we took our swimming costumes and towels..  It was very deep and my feet didn't touch the bottom. Did I say how cold it was?? Really cold... but lots of fun. 

That's all for now but come back soon and I will have more news about what I'm doing and where we've been. 

Moss Park Infant School - Manchester

 

 A huge HELLO to everyone at Moss Park Infant School in Manchester. I hope that you all have a fantastic time today celebrating your World Book Day.

I had a great time meeting everyone and sharing stories last year - I'm only sorry that I couldn't come again today. Hopefully I will be visiting school again later in the year though so I look forward to seeing you all then. I've got lots of new stories to share.

Bye for now and have a great day!!!

Happy Reading...