Happy Halloween!!!

I hope you are all having - or have already had - a fun filled Halloween this year. Our two youngest daughters (Laura and Deanna) had a few of their friends round for a Halloween Party tonight... the house was decorated with giant spiders, skeletons, bats, cobwebs and glowing pumpkins - and we had a big bowl of sweets near the front door ready to hand out to all the Trick or Treaters that came knocking.

I had a great time yesterday with everyone at The Oaks Primary School in Bolton and have a stack of artwork from year one to scan and put on the site as soon as I can.

Goodnight all :-)

The Oaks Primary School

Tomorrow I'm off to Bolton to visit

The Oaks Primary School

- so here's a Big Hello to everyone there...

I'll see you in the morning.

Scotland

I've not had chance to update my website or write anything in my diary for a little while.... so here goes.

Last weekend we drove up to Aberdeen to see my brother in law and his family, and to have a little look round Aberdeen.

We left home at about 11.00, stopped off in Durham at Lorraine's mum's house and then carried on up the motorway into Scotland. We finally arrived in Aberdeen at about half past nine at night.

On Sunday morning we had a look round the shops in Aberdeen (called the granite city, as just about everything is made of granite - so it's very grey) - met up with my brother-in-law and his family and then had a walk up to the lighthouse and along the coast.

On Monday morning we called in at Crathes Castle which was very nice...

The Castle, built in the 1500's, and the gardens were excellent and we spent a good couple of hours wandering round before calling in at the cafe and giftshop for coffee/hot chocolate and some cake.

On the road home we crossed the Forth Road Bridge and then headed west, stopped off for some tea near Glasgow and then carried on down to Blackpool.

Robo-Runners - The Ghost Sea

This week I managed to get quite a bit of writing done and catch up with all of my emails and paperwork... which is great.

I put the finishing touches to Robo-Runners Book Five, which is called The Ghost Sea, and sent it of to my wonderful editor, Rachel, to see what she thinks.

There were quite a few surprises for me when writing his books. Some things happened that I wasn't expecting. That might sound quite strange to you - especially if you think that all writers know what is going to happen in their stories. So writers do know everything that's going to happen as they plan their books in great details - but I don't. I do a little bit of planning, or note making, but most of the time I just like to see what's going to happen. Sometimes it works well and sometimes it doesn't... but at least it's always interesting and I hope that if I find it interesting to write then people are going to find it interesting to read too.

On with book six now (which I think is going to be called Aqua - though I'm not quite sure) and a little story about The Wooden Horse of Troy.

Happy reading and bye for now...

Johnny Lonely

We've just got home after spending the weekend up in Durham at Lorraine's Mum's house. We drove up on Friday night after I'd finished work and stopped at a great little Fish and Chip shop in Kirkby Stephen or some tea/supper on the way.

I took my laptop with me and did a little bit of writing on Saturday morning (Still haven't quite finnished Robo-Runners book five) and then went into the city of Durham for a look round the shops. I've just finnished reading the Stephen King book (scary stuff) so popped into Waterstones to look for something else to read. I wanted something a bit different but unfortuantely they didn't have any of the books I was looking for. But fortunately there was an author author called Pete Tanton in the shop signing copies of his book Johnny Lonely.

This is not a children's book but it sounded like just the thing I was looking for. Pete was in Durham after opening the Durham Literature Festival - something I will definately have to go along to next year. We were in a bit of a rush in so didn't have long to chat with Pete (he must have thought I was mad) but he kindly signed my copy of his book and I can't wait to start reading...

On Saturday night we met up in Darlington at a Tappas Bar with some of Lorraine's family for a birthday meal with her neice Sarah. In case your wondering, the food was a mixed slection of Greek and Spanish dishes... instead of having one big dish there are lots of little dishes to pick and choose from... Yum.

Hello...

... to everyone at St Wilfrid's C.E. Primary School in Ribchester where I spent a wonderful day yesterday.
St Wilfrid's is a beautiful little school right next to the River Ribble.

We shared stories and chatted about stories, books and writing all day long. There were some great ideas from lots of people and lots of really keen writers. It wouldn't surprise me if quite a few of you become writers and write some really geat books - so keep up thegood work.

And here's another big thank you to everyone that's emailed me over the last few weeks to say how much they've enjoyed the school visits or have enjoyed reading my books that they've found in shops and libraries.

I'm always happy to hear from people and answer any questions they might have so keep your emails coming. If I don't answer straight away it's pobably because I'm away from home or am really really busy... so don't worry. I will email back as soon as I can.

That's all for today. I'm off to get a shower while my tea is cooking (Jacket Potato with cheese - YUM!)

Good night and happy reading...

St Wilfrid's CE Primary School

This week I've only got one school visit so I should have some time to finish off book five in my Robo-runners series. I think it's going to be called the Ghost Sea but I'm still not sure.

I received an email from my wonderful editor - Rachel - at the end of last week containing the finished cover artwork for book two in the Robo-runners series, Tunnel Racers. It looks brilliant and as soon as I get time I will pop that onto my website.

I also received a big package through the post containing rough proofs of all Mark Oliver's artwork for the inside of book one... and it looks fantastic. When you write a book you never know what the artwork is going to be like... you just have to wait and see. What I've seen so far makes me think these books are going to look very good... I can't wait to see it all together with the text.

In the morning I'm off to visit St Wilfrid's CE Primary School in Ribchester... so here's a BIG HELLO to everyone there. I'll see you soon.

Off to bed now as I'm very tired.
Oops... must put the cats out first.
Goodnight.

Last Week

Last week was a very busy week and I've only just managed to find the time to sit at my computer and write in my diary. On Tuesday I got up at half past five in the morning and drove over the moors towards Leeds to visit West End Primary School in Horsforth. The traffic was so busy that I didn't arrive until 9.15 so I went straight into the hall to meet averyone and share a story before seeing all the other classes in school.

Everyone was really enthusiastic, joining in with the stories, asking questions and all in all it was a good day.

After leaving school I hopped back into the car and drove down to Lincolnshire ready to visit Morton Trentside Primary School. I stayed the night at a wonderful bed and breakfast in Misterton, near Gainsborough, had a refreshing shower then fell asleep watching an episode of Frasier.

In the morning, after a big breakfast, I drove to school ready for the day's sessions. It was great meeting everyone in school - talking about books, writing, and sharing lots of stories. It was great discovering that everyone had been looking at my website before the visit so everyone knew who I was. At the end of the day I joined in the school book fair and signed a few books for people - which was nice.

Occasionally when I visit a school there are other authors or performers there. This week I met two... Whilst at Morton Trentside it was a pleasure meeting David Watterson and his excellent puppets. Everyone, including myself, had a wonderful time watching David perform and tell stories. You can find out more about David by visiting his website (Just click on his name above).

After leaving school I drove back home to Blackpool and had an early night ready for another school visit on Thursday. Getting up early again I drove through the rain to Seaton in Cumbria and spent the day at an excellent little primary school where we shared stories and created characters together... I hope you've had fun putting your characters in stories of their own. Here's a big Hello to everyone at Seaton Infant School.Whilst at the school I got to meet an excellent poet and storyteller called John Hughes. John had travelled up from Liverpool the night before and we worked in different classes throughout the day and finished off by doing a session together in the hall. It's always good hearing other people's performances - John's poems about his funny family went down a treat.

Writing Conference

On Friday night I drove down to Walthamstowe in London, ready for a mini Conference on Creative Writing in Schools to be held on the Saturday. The 250 mile journey took me about four and a half hours and I arrived in London tired and ready for bed. Usually I stay in a hotel or bed and breakfast but I was lucky to be able to stay with a fellow writer - the lovely Nikki Cornwell and her husband... so here's a big thank you to them for putting me up for the night.

The conference on Saturday was great. Its always interesting to hear what other authors do when they go into schools and also interesting to hear what teachers hope for from an author visit. Lots of other authors there too including Ann Cassidy, Yvonne Coppard, John Dougherty, Julie Sykes, Alison Boyle and lots more...

After the conference I drove back home - getting there at about 10:00 - just in time for bed.
Didn't do a lot on Sunday as I was still tired from the last couple of days. Just spent the time at home with the family.

Book Week

Lots of schools are having book weeks this week so tomorrow I'll be getting up early to go out on the road to visit West End Primary School in Horsforth, Leeds.

After that I'm driving down to Lincolnshire to visit Morton Trentside Primary School in Morton, Gainsborough on Wednesday.

On Thursday I'm visiting Seaton Infant School in Cumbria....

Here's a big hello to all of you. I hope you all have a great book week - I'll see you soon.