It’s been buuuuusy. Again! Despite my decision to take on less work this term. Not quite sure where the days are going. Since my last blog post, I’ve done events at: three schools in Chipping Norton area for the fantastic Chiplitfest Oxford Literary Festival with fellow author Cath Howe for EmpathyLab Stratford Literary Festival Bloxham … More I am a rock god
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!
A few weeks back, I ran a songwriting workshop at Didcot Girls’ School which was a huge success. The school decided to hold a competition for the finished songs, and to my utter delight, the winner (not decided by me but by the school’s Patron of Writing, Elaine Baker) was Erin Brady, with a really … More Young student wins competition with song based on my book!
Yesterday I visited my lovely Patron of Reading school, Didcot Girls’ in Oxfordshire. Normally I do writing workshops and talks there, like everywhere else, but this time I was there to do something different. In June, my new book JELLY comes out, and for reasons that I’ll explain when I can announce it all properly, … More My First Creative Music Workshop!
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!
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!
OK, so this is the reason I made a giant fake ice cream cone last week. I’m in a band. Bear with me. Last year I did an author event at the Wychwood Festival and LOVED it. This year, I practically begged Barbara, the organiser of the literature bit, to invite me again. OK, that’s … More Could This Be The First Ever Author Band?
This is a difficult blog post to write. It’s not about writing – although it kind of is. It’s about a friend who died. And about bad luck. And making the most of what you have. And love. Two and a half weeks ago (is it that long already?!) a friend of mine died unexpectedly. I … More When A Light Goes Out
I used to write a lot of music. I have half a shelf of manuscript books and loose sheets, all covered with my scrawls. I wrote songs for school, arranged music of all kinds for orchestra, flute band and choirs. I wrote an entire score for my school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream when … More I’ve written a song
Jo Cotterill 