Rhyl Library Visit

 

I've just finished writing the fourth book in my Global Heroes Series which, at the moment, is called Rising River Escape. The story is set in Madagascar and the young heroes are sent in to rescue animals that have been left stranded by rising water levels following a tropical cyclone. I can't really say any more about the book right now but I can tell you that it's full of action and adventure - and the artwork is being done by the wonderful Alex Patterson. It's great to see how the series of books are coming together and I can't wait to share them with everyone soon.

Right now I'm working on a bigger, mystery adventure book that is full of creepy goings on.

Tomorrow I will be visiting Rhyl Library where I'll be talking to keen readers from Ysgol Emmanuel and Christ The Word Catholic School. I can't wait to meet everyone.

Hello Burghill Community Academy

I've had a busy couple of weeks writing - working on some retellings of old folk tales from around the world (Native American and Icelandic). I've also been working on the 4th Global Heroes book which is set in Madagascar (more about that soon). 

Tomorrow I'm getting out from behind my desk to spend the day with everyone at Burghill Community Academy in Burghill, Hereford. I'll have to be up early in the morning to make sure I get there on time - so it'll be early to bed tonight. 

See you all soon...

 

Denbighshire Libraries and Writing

Over the past few months I've been busy working on some new books. They won't be published until later this year but I thought that you might like to have a sneaky look at the covers.

The first one to be published this year is this little non-fiction book about Lizards. I love the picture of the Komodo Dragon on the cover which has been done by Bruno Robert - an illustrator that lives and works in Normandy, France. 

I have also done a retelling of the popular fairy tale, 'The Elves and the Shoemaker', which will be published later this year - but I am most excited about a series of books called Global Heroes. The covers, and the artwork inside, has been done by a brilliant British illustrator called Alex Patterson. Alex has illustrated lots of great books including Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree books. I'm delighted that he's illustrating The Global Heroes - they aren't finished yet as I'm still writing them and Alex is still illustrating them, - but here's a couple of the covers.   

These books will be coming out later in the year but I will tell you more about them soon.

After a couple of years of not being able to visit schools and libraries like normal, it's exciting to be returning to libraries in Denbighshire this month. 

Here's a HUGE HELLO to everyone in years 3 and 4 from Ysgol Bryn Collen and Ysgol Gwernant - see you soon at Llangollen Library. Everyone in years 4 and 6 from Christ the Word School in Rhyl - visiting Rhyl Library. Everyone at Ysgol Caer Drewyn and Ysgol Carrog - visiting Corwen Library ... and finally everyone who will be coming along to Rhuddlan Library. I'm looking forward to meeting everyone.   

Our Lady and St Anselm's

Next week I will be visiting Our Lady and St Anselm's RC Primary School in Whitworth, Rochdale - and I can't wait. 

A huge HELLO to you all - I'm really excited about coming to meet everyone. 

I've never been to your school before but just before Christmas we went for a walk very close to your school. 

Perhaps you will recognise where it was from the pictures that I've included here. 

I love visiting schools to share stories, talk about what I do and to meet lots of keen and eager readers and writers. 

Over the last couple of years I have done a few virtual visits - talking to readers in Spain, Greece, Scotland, England, Brazil and a few other countries in South America. It was great doing that but nothing beats actually visiting a school in person. I just hope I can remember what I do...

See you all very soon.

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.