Where do you get your ideas? When asked this question, I often tell kids in schools that I get my ideas from other books. Not in a direct copycat way. Often in a fairly indirect and circuitous root. Witness the fact that one of the inspirations for Chloe’s Secret Princess Club is…Jennings They don’t look … Continue reading
Earlier today I was in the middle of some cooking, and I happened to switch on the radio. It was some kind of drama. After a few moments, I recognised it as a dramatisation of Watership Down – one of the best adventure stories I have ever read. And certainly the best ever featuring rabbits! … Continue reading
Who hasn’t wanted to be part of a secret club? Passwords! Secret meeting places! Notebooks! Adventures! When I was a child, I remember lapping up the adventures of Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven, who used to regularly go out and foil master criminals, in between having meetings in their garden shed. In my new book Chloe’s Secret Princess … Continue reading
This week Chloe and I have been on tour! And we’ve done it from the comfort of home. It’s a blog tour. This means that rather than visiting bookshops and libraries, talking about Chloe and the Secret Princess Club in person, I’ve been dropping in on various blogs – sometimes for an interview, sometimes for a … Continue reading
It really shouldn’t be so unnerving. I’ve seen roughs. I’ve seen a photo on my computer. But it’s just not the same thing as when you actually hold your book in your hands for the first time! A big, padded envelope was sitting in the porch and I just knew my Chloe copies were inside! … Continue reading
St Francis CE Primary School made my their Author of the Year, and after reading my books, they sent me some excellent questions about them, and about being a writer. I made a little video answering their questions, and I thought I would also post it here. ———————————————————————– Emma Barnes writes funny, contemporary … Continue reading
This is GirlsHeartBooks, but we are allowed to talk about boy characters, right? Most of the lead characters in my books have been girls – I guess because I’m a girl myself. But the funny thing is that the character that is most like me is probably Sam, the hero of my book Sam and … Continue reading
If I’m looking a bit pained, not to mention puzzled, it’s because I’m staring into my computer trying to do some of the questions that 10 and 11 year olds were doing for their SATS test papers this year. If you didn’t do SATS yourself, you might want to take a look . See how you … Continue reading
No, I’m not at my desk working. I’ve escaped! To give you a clue where, have a look at this book cover. Or this one: Or this one: Or how about this one: I think you might have worked it out by now! But I’ll add another just for luck: Yes, I’m in Venice, enjoying … Continue reading
Hooray! Here I am at Yeadon Westfield Primary School for their World Book Day 2016, helping to open their wonderful, brand new school library. It was quite an adventure, as snow hit Yorkshire that morning. I drove to the school through what felt like a blizzard (peering smugly at the cold, wet dog walkers on the … Continue reading
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