It’s nearly publication day for The Wildwood Arrow! When I wrote this book I thought a lot about the natural world and the power it has over us. People sometimes say we’re not as connected to nature as we used to be. I think that’s partly true. Today we put on electric lights when it gets … Continue reading
Hello, lovely GHBers! Well, the end-of-month competitions have just gone up, and we’ve got a little extra special something this time! Not only are there lots of delicious books for you to win, but YOU could win an advance copy (that’s an early version) of my new book LOOKING AT THE STARS! It won’t be … Continue reading
I don’t know about you but there’s one thing about autumn that totally freaks me. I love the blazing colours of the trees, leaves crackling underfoot, frosty mornings with spiderwebs draped like fine lace across the hedges… and that’s the thing. SPIDERS! Monster ones that race out of secret spidey-hidey-holes in my house and scare … Continue reading
Someone recently asked me if I could go back and give my younger self one piece of advice what it would be. I thought really hard about this and decided that it would be that I didn’t have to be perfect. I didn’t have to get everything right, succeed at everything I tried to do, … Continue reading
It was my parents-in-law’s Golden wedding anniversary this weekend. To celebrate, they invited friends and family to a wonderful weekend in Wales, where we all stayed in a hotel which we had to ourselves. There was something special and magical about the whole occasion. The sun came out. The views across the valley were revealed … Continue reading
If you’re an adult and you love writing children’s books (Laura Harrison, I’m looking at you!) you HAVE to know about this amazing FREE online writing workshop this Saturday! From the webpage: The first workshop Writing for Children and Young Adults will run on Saturday, September 28th 10am-4.30pm (London time) with picture book authors & illustrators Marie-Louise … Continue reading
The fantastic author Nicola Morgan is giving away two free copies of her books THE HIGHWAYMAN’S FOOTSTEPS and THE HIGHWAYMAN’S CURSE to a school if you leave a comment on her blog. These are books suitable for ages 11 upwards so if you’re at secondary school and you’d like to be able to tell your … Continue reading
I’m off to South Korea this weekend (yes, I know – wow!) and have been asked to prepare some speeches in advance for translation. One title I was given to speak to was ‘How to write for children’. As I started to answer the question, I found it turning into a how not to write … Continue reading
…about children’s publishing (but were afraid to ask) On Saturday I was lucky enough to be asked to talk at a brand new conference – Nosy Crow’s ‘Everything you ever wanted to know about children’s publishing but were afraid to ask’. Nosy Crow publish my books, so I was very happy to support them. Early … Continue reading
Since my first book for age 10+ (Ask Amy Green: Boy Trouble) I’ve been working with young editors. My first young editors were Emma and Kate. They read an early manuscript of Boy Trouble and gave me some valuable feedback. They are both now in first year at college and Kate is studying English and … Continue reading
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