The other day I received a goose in the post. Fortunately he was just three inches high and made of wool. You see, in a couple of my books there’s a homicidal goose called Saracen, who has a way of leaving chaos and property damage in his wake. So one of my lovely readers knitted … Continue reading
Writers often get asked how they motivate themselves. How they force themselves to write. And of course we wrinkle our brows and talk sensibly about routines, and deadlines, and brainstorming documents, and self-discipline… The truth is, there’s a magical elixir that gets me through the the day (and sometimes night) of writing. It’s comforting on … Continue reading
A few days ago, I went to one of the oldest churches in London, and found it full of stories… It’s called All-Hallows-By-The-Tower, which is a bit of a mouthful, but has a good, eerie sound. The church has had a lot of narrow escapes over the years – it’s been blown up by gunpowder, … Continue reading
Do you know what every Victorian gothic murder mystery needs? Dinosaurs. Somehow I came to this conclusion when I was planning my book, The Lie Tree. My 14-year-old heroine Faith is the daughter of the Reverend Erasmus Sunderly, a famed natural scientist. She has a thirst for knowledge and a passion for all things scientific, … Continue reading
Two weeks ago, I travelled to the Netherlands for the first time, to attend Dutch Comic Con! I spent a lot of time running around the convention admiring all the amazing costumes… …but I also found time to escape into the city of Utrecht and explore. It’s a very old and rather beautiful city, with … Continue reading
I don’t know about you, but I had a great World Book Week. I ran a two-hour writing masterclass, went to an award ceremony, and visited two fantastic, friendly schools – Ashford School in Kent and Townley Grammar in Bexleyheath. While I was in Townley Grammar’s school library, I noticed some brightly coloured, hand-painted boxes … Continue reading
Have you ever come across a character in a book or TV show who suddenly made everything seem possible? When I was young, back in the 1980s (yes, I know that was a horribly long time ago) a lot of the women I saw in films and on TV were a bit… well… rubbish. That … Continue reading
2014 is now in the dustbin. We have a brand new year, and have only just clawed off its wrappings. There hasn’t been time for it to get scuffed or grimy yet. Everything seems new, and full of possibility. It’s exciting and a little scary. Starting a new book or story can be a little … Continue reading
My younger sister is devilishly cunning, and has come up with a way to keep my three-year-old nephew happy during long country walks. She has explained to him that sometimes teddy bears have picnics on footpaths, and that if you’re very lucky you can find chocolate coins that the teddies left behind… I think my … Continue reading
Have you heard of book art? You take a book, then you cut up the pages, and glue the paper into new shapes… No, I didn’t like that idea much either when I first heard of it. Why cut up a book, of all things? I don’t even like folding the corners of books’ pages. … Continue reading
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