I write books for young people, including LOOKING AT THE STARS, A LIBRARY OF LEMONS, and the ELECTRIGIRL series.
Over the past week I’ve attended two events voluntarily: the Kids’ Lit Quiz regional heat in my area, and the Young Muslim Writers Awards, held in Senate House, London. As an author, I get asked to do lots of things, but I mostly love to give my time (when I can) to events like these … More It’s all about the kids
I’ve been terribly slack…but then, you see, I haven’t actually been writing! I KNOW. Shock, horror, etc. Thing is, I got a bit tired out, and my creative drive dwindled, and there’s no point forcing yourself to do something that doesn’t come smoothly if you just need a bit of a rest. So instead, I … More Autumn update!
I’ve recently read three new books that I really enjoyed. The Boy Who Grew Dragons, by Andy Shepherd with illustrations by Sara Ogilvie, is a LOT of fun. Dragon fruit are of course a real thing, and the name simply BEGS to be used in a story like this. The fruit on Tomas’s grandfather’s tree … More Reviews – dragons, death and keeping secrets
It’s autumn! What happened?! I had a lovely summer, not writing a book! That feels really strange and alarming to write, but it has been SO nice having proper time off this summer. Last year I was struggling to start Jelly, and the year before I was doing a complete rewrite of Electrigirl and the … More Summer round-up!
Isn’t this gorgeous? It’s by Charlotte Taylor, who came second in the Shrewsbury Bookfest 2018 art competition. It’s a picture of Darby, my main character in A Storm of Strawberries (which was shortlisted for the award) as she goes out looking for her sister in the middle of the night… I love the bright red … More Strawberry fan art!
Wait. That should be “Welcome to the world, Jelly!” but actually, it works this way round too 🙂 I’m so, so thrilled that JELLY is finally out there, in the world, getting to readers. I honestly think it’s one of my best books so far, and I hope so much that readers agree with me. … More Welcome to the Jelly World…!
I’ve been Doing Lots over the past few months. And the trouble with Doing Lots is that sometimes you get Very Tired. I am currently very tired – to the extent that a daily nap has had to become part of my routine – I know!! Me, the whirlwind of activity and…zzz. Recently *adopts fake … More Creek and Sofa – when you have to REST
It’s been a busy couple of weeks and I’m only now finding a chance to write about it! On Tues 17th April, I flew out to Frankfurt in Germany… (This narrative will be highly illustrated by photos) I was staying in Bad Vilbel, outside Frankfurt, for two nights while I visited the Europäische Schule RheinMain. … More Great fun in Germany
It was a nice day yesterday! And to celebrate, I took these photos in my garden (on my iPhone 5) and fiddled with them in the app Snapseed…
Last week was another exciting one (this one is due to be VERY BORING, phew!) and the excitement kicked off on Tuesday when I attended a concert at my patron of reading school, Didcot Girls’, because the Y8 choir was performing my brand new song Happy Face, written specially for my new book Jelly. The … More I attend a special concert, and am streamed live across Cambridgeshire!
