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Young Writers of the Future at Didcot Girls’ School
Yesterday I spent the morning at Didcot Girls’ School and had a WHALE of a time. First, I did my talk to the whole of Y7 in the hall, and then I did a lot of signing and chatting in the library at...
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Winning piece LIBERATION by Megan Y7
OK, so this is the winning piece from my workshop yesterday at Didcot Girls’ School. And picking it was REALLY hard. I had three I could hardly choose between. But I chose this one because I do like a...
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Fun Family weekend at Chiplitfest 2015
My six-year-old and I binged on author events at the weekend. OK, so I had my own agenda – I was already friends with all three of the authors we went to see – but having your own child to take along...
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How to make a Giant Fake Ice Cream Cone
Today I finished making a giant fake ice cream cone*, and several people have asked me how I did it, so here you go! Apologies that some photos are a bit dark. I started by drawing diagrams of what I...
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Elspeth Hart and the School for Show-Offs – review
There’s a perceived impression in publishing circles that boys are more interested than girls in snot and toilet jokes. In my personal experience, however, ALL children, regardless of gender, find...
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Could This Be The First Ever Author Band?
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...
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The Royal Wedding Crashers – review
What a cute book. The Royal Wedding Crashers by Clementine Beauvais is lots of fun, as Holly, Anna and Prince Pepino attempt to save a royal wedding from total disaster. Desperate to earn enough money...
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Stop Those Monsters! – review
I’ve been looking forward to Stop Those Monsters! since reading Steve Cole’s Aliens Stink! last year and enjoying it far more than I was expecting to. Stop Those Monsters! is another...
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ELECTRIGIRL cover reveal!
Here it is!! I am SO excited and thrilled to be able to reveal the cover for ELECTRIGIRL, out next Feb with OUP. Cathy Brett has done a fantastic drawing of Holly, our super-powered heroine, and JUST...
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Another day of inspiration at the Story Museum
I blogged last year about our trip to the Story Museum in Oxford and how much I loved visiting. Today I went back with Jemima (nearly 7) to check out their latest exhibitions. And they’ve done it...
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Catching up…running on the spot again!
Oh, you know how it is. You mean to blog, and Stuff Happens, and then suddenly you’ve got to Do Other Stuff, and then before you know it another week has gone by and you still haven’t blogged… I know....
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Writing reviews at Burford School
I went back to my favourite school today :-) (well, I have to say that because I’m their patron of reading, but actually, they ARE my favourites, so there!) and did a creative writing workshop on How...
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Introducing Electrigirl!
Yesterday Cathy Brett and I met up in Oxford for the OUP sales conference. Authors don’t usually get to go to these; it’s where all the books due to be published in the next however-many-months are...
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Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face and the Bees of Stupidity – review
I can’t believe I haven’t reviewed one of these books on my site before. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent all my time telling people I meet to buy them! The Stinkbomb and Ketchup-Face series has caused...
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Introvert At A Party
Last night I went to a party. A big publishing party, hosted by Penguin Random House. At some point, I asked my editor how many people they were expecting. ‘Five hundred,’ she said. Here’s the thing....
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Only We Know – review
I was keen to read ONLY WE KNOW by Simon Packham because a) he used to blog for Girls Heart Books and I never got around to reading anything of his (and I really do try to read stuff by bloggers who...
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Lots of Stuff: Charney retreat, UKLA awards and YALC!
AAARGH school holidays have started and my time is DISAPPEARING and loads of brilliant Stuff has been happening, and there is NO TIME to blog about any of it!! And I have DEADLINES! So, here’s my quick...
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Video interviews from YALC: in which I prat about and pull a lot of faces
As promised, here are the two videos taken by Michelle from Fluttering Butterflies. In the first, I am interviewed about my favourite recent book and my greatest fear – and in the second, I videobomb...
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Still Falling – review
Sometimes you come across an author who writes such fantastic stuff that you really wonder why on earth they’re not on all the awards lists ever, or being interviewed by the Guardian, or appearing on...
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In Another Life – review
I am being thoroughly spoilt by books at the moment. I love a good contemporary YA, with issues galore and preferably some kind of impending doom that’s resolved in some way at the end. That possibly...
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