Whenever I hear politicians promising to spend more money on education my heart sinks, because there’s no benefit in spending more money if what you’re spending it on is more regulation and testing. The obsession with league tables, targets and standards has narrowed the curriculum to subjects that are testable, and pushed some of the most important things … Continue reading
I was sitting on a beach in Shetland last week, feeling happy. I’ve always loved islands – I used to live in Shetland once upon a time and I’ve camped on most of the other Scottish islands over the years, most recently Orkney, Coll, Tiree, Colonsay, Islay and Jura. Much closer to home, I’ve been to the … Continue reading
Last week, I received a lovely thing in the post from someone who came on my ‘Writing the Sweet soul of Spring’ workshop – a postcard with a drawing of a tree in blossom and a poem. Around the same time, several people mentioned me in blog posts about a workshop and talk I gave at … Continue reading
I’ve written quite a bit about bullying. It’s an important subject because a) it’s so common, b) it can be really damaging and c) it offends my sense of fairness. I mean, if you’re not trying to pick a fight, why should you have to put up with someone else attacking you? When I did my … Continue reading
When I was writing How to be a Brilliant Writer I asked my friends in the Scattered Authors’ Society if they would like to contribute some quotes in answer to the question, ‘What’s so great about writing?’ About 30 authors sent me their thoughts, and a staggering 20 percent of those said the same thing. … Continue reading
My new book, The Binding, comes out next week, and it’s been a walk on the wild side for me. I’d written about serious subjects before, but always in a funny way, and that was how I planned to write The Binding. In fact I started it with a joke (What’s the difference between a teacher and a train? … Continue reading
After nearly a year and a half away, I’m back on the team at girlsheartbooks – hooray! The last post I wrote before I left, Life’s Full of Surprises, was about how I’d suddenly found myself writing serious books after always having written funny ones. The two books I mentioned in it are both being published soon; … Continue reading
When I was making my website last year, it occurred to me that nearly all my books are light-hearted and funny. Even my non-fiction is packed with jokes. So I was a bit taken aback to find myself writing much darker stories these last few months. They didn’t start dark – I set out with … Continue reading
I’ve read stacks of books about writing because it’s always been my passion, but my all-time favourite wasn’t actually written as a book – it’s a collection of radio talks for young people, given by the wonderful poet, Ted Hughes. Although it’s called ‘Poetry in the Making’ it isn’t just about poetry – it’s about the whole writing process, … Continue reading
My very first post here on girlheartbooks was called ‘Let’s talk about dreams’ because I love dreaming and it’s a very important part of my writing process. I also teach other people how to harness the power of their dreams. A lot of people who come to my workshops say they don’t think they dream very … Continue reading
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