I ran a writing workshop on Tuesday – all day, with the same group of kids, aged 7-12. It was fun and exhausting and unexpected and frustrating and all the things that you get when you are trying to teach something or reach something in people. My stand-out moment of the day came when we … More Why children are more fun than grown-ups
This morning I woke to some (to me) unwelcome news: that the UK had voted itself out of the EU. This afternoon, I drove to Coventry to pick up my Inspiration Award for Looking at the Stars (in the Hooked On Books category for ages 9-12). It was a lovely event, with lots of amazing … More To the children of Coventry – thank you, and sorry
It’s been such an exciting few days; I hardly know where to start! Last Friday, I wrote a guest post on the wonderful blog Serendipity Reviews. It’s a Letter To My Ten-Year-Old Self, and you can read it here. Lots of people tweeted me to say how much they enjoyed the post – and THEN, … More Wychwood, Winning and Wondrous Things!
Hello there! Welcome to my blog, if you’ve come from the truly awesome massive #tommyvcancer blog tour! Today I’m reviewing Tommy’s ebook 13 Steps to Beating Writer’s Block: Free your creativity today! I picked this because, as a writer, reading about other people’s writing problems is immensely comforting, and also because you never know when … More Tommy V Cancer blog tour: Review of 13 Steps to Beating Writer’s Block!
Some of you already know about my writer friend Tommy Donbavand, who was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer in March and has been undergoing some really severe treatment ever since. He’s doing really well – hurrah for Tommy! – and to support him through his recovery and return to health, some of his friends … More Tommy V Cancer blog tour!
Last Friday was my launch party for A LIBRARY OF LEMONS and it was SO much fun! I shared the event with my author pal John Dougherty (who published his book Stinkbomb & Ketchup-Face and the Great Big Story Nickers on the same day as my Lemons) at the brilliant Blackwells in Oxford, and we … More Launching Lemons with added Stinkbombs and Ketchup!
What a fantastic weekend I’ve just had! The fifth annual Chipping Norton Literary Festival (otherwise known as Chiplitfest) has just finished, and it was SO MUCH FUN! Lovely author pal John Dougherty and I were heavily involved in programming and running the children’s events, including performing in our own events, so it’s been a dash … More Four Days of Festival Brilliance with Chiplitfest!
Argh! It’s tomorrow! I’ve been involved in programming the Chipping Norton Literary Festival and it has been so many months in the planning that I can’t believe it’s finally here! If you’re in the vicinity of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, PLEASE do pop in over the weekend; there’s SO MUCH brilliant stuff going on and so … More Come to Chipping Norton this weekend and see loads of brilliant stuff!
I’m really excited this year to be doing several literary festivals, talking about Electrigirl, and also performing with my musical author pals in our band First Draft (which was formed last year for the Wychwood Festival, thanks to organiser Barbara Pendrigh, who badgered us into it!) I’m planning my events and desperately trying to memorise … More Coming to a festival near you!
Ever since I became a children’s author, I’ve been aware of World Book Day. Especially aware that children dress up as characters from books. Other people’s books. But NOT THIS YEAR! This year, for the first time EVER, kids have been dressing up as one of MY characters – and it is AWESOME! Here are … More Real Kids Dress Up As Electrigirl
Jo Cotterill 