Oxfordshire Book Awards ceremony 2022
November 11, 2022
All the news from the Oxfordshire Book Awards ceremony held at Magdalen College School on 11th Nov and hosted by yours truly! … More Oxfordshire Book Awards ceremony 2022
A Day In The Life…
October 18, 2022
Yesterday was unusually varied, so here’s a little peek into what being a full-time author can involve… … More A Day In The Life…
Exciting news! New pony book series!
September 27, 2022
I have been DYING to tell everyone about this! Back in April, I was contacted by an editor at Puffin asking if I’d be interesting in working with equestrian influencer and YouTuber Esme (@ThisEsme). Being middle-aged and not remotely horsey, I asked the expert in my house, my ten-year-old daughter, if she’d heard of Esme. … More Exciting news! New pony book series!
Covid, dogs and 2022 plans
March 12, 2022
Someone pointed out somewhat petulantly the other day that I hadn’t updated my blog for a year. I was astonished that anyone even noticed 😉 but it did remind me that frankly it is a bit embarrassing that a writer couldn’t even write her own blog posts. So. Well, last year was for me as … More Covid, dogs and 2022 plans
A Musical Story for Empathy Day
June 2, 2021
For EmpathyDay on 10th June this year, the amazing team at EmpathyLab have put together a Family Toolkit of fantastic empathy-based activities you can do with your whole family. One of the activities is called ‘Musical Shorts’: you read a short story (brand new free stories on the EmpathyLab website!) and then choose a piece … More A Musical Story for Empathy Day
Who Am I?
April 11, 2021
I can’t be the only one wondering who I am after the year we’ve had. My job basically disappeared overnight: schools closed to visitors, publishers slowed right down, and my writing time was instead taken up with homeschooling my kids. Things are readjusting themselves again and there are signs that things will pick up, but … More Who Am I?
Having a Lovely Day
May 23, 2020
I look back at my last post in early March and laugh ironically. I was all ready to get going on new projects, buzzing with writing ideas, get back on track…and then lockdown happened. Since then, my kids have been at home with me and like everyone else I’ve had to find new ways to … More Having a Lovely Day
Hello, I’m back!
March 6, 2020
I haven’t written my blog for ages, and there’s a big reason for that: I’ve been considering giving up writing. From the outside, I’m an extremely successful children’s author: I’ve published over 40 books; I’ve won awards; children across the country (and in other countries!) read and study my books in lessons and produce amazing … More Hello, I’m back!
North! West! South(ish)! and vote please
November 25, 2019
I bin around again! From 12th-15th November I was up in beautiful Newcastle, scurrying from school to school as part of the Northern Children’s Book Festival. Then last week I visited the wonderful Discovery Academy, a special school in Nuneaton, before driving on to Shrewsbury to speak at their Bookfest conference: Unlocking the Power of … More North! West! South(ish)! and vote please
Romanian Lemons
November 2, 2019
One of the unexpected delights of being a published author is seeing your book translated into other languages. I confess, when I started out as a writer, I was really only concerned with getting the book published in English; it never occurred to me to think of it leaving the UK! A Library of Lemons … More Romanian Lemons
Jo Cotterill 