May is a very popular month for new books to be published. I’ve been invited to a number of launch parties and will be holding a launch event myself for my new book Help I’m a Genius. This is the second book in the series published by Troika Books and illustrated by Aaron Blecha. It … Continue reading
Like many children’s authors I spent most of last week visiting schools for World Book Day. Authors are always asked where they get their ideas from but this week one student asked me where they could get ideas for starting their own stories, so I thought I would give GHB readers some story starters including a … Continue reading
One of the brilliant things about being an author is seeing the cover of your book for the first time. Did you know that authors don’t have much say in the cover for their book? Sometimes the publisher will ask for author approval, but normally it is too late to change the design so the author … Continue reading
I am playing around with an idea for a new book at the moment and I am struggling to come up with names for my characters. Would you be able to help? I can’t tell you much about the story because a story idea has to stay top secret until it is written, but I … Continue reading
A rather short post from me today because I am recovering from an operation and am supposed to be in bed. I am being looked after by Doctor Louie. I’m a very impatient patient. Although I am having to rest all the time, my brain is crystal clear so I am already bored. I haven’t … Continue reading
Writing a book is very complex. There are so many things to thinks about. Characters, plot, dialogue, tension. The list goes on and on. Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about setting. Setting is where the action of the book takes place. I like to research settings and locations to make sure I get the … Continue reading
I lost a friend recently. Her name was Sue. She died of cancer. Sue was a writer like me and she lived close by so we often met in a local cafe to talk about our writing. Sometimes we talked about the books we were reading or how our mutual friends were getting on with … Continue reading
It’s September which means back to school. New class, new teachers and maybe a new school. Are you excited or terrified at going back to school this term? I went to boarding school aged 11 until I was 16 and I dreaded the long journey from Sussex to Hertfordshire. Two trains and a tube ride … Continue reading
Jo Franklin remembers an important book from her childhood. Continue reading
Papers Pens Poets Jo Franklin’s passion for stationery Continue reading
GirlsHeartBooks 