Hello all! Hope you’ve had a brilliant time seeing out 2022 and welcoming in the New Year (depending on the calendar you follow of course). I wish I could say I’m starting 2023 feeling fresh and ready to go, but sadly, due to various factors, January has felt less like a walk in the park and more like trying to wade through a spillage at a glue factory. Nevertheless! Once I’ve dragged myself across the room and out the other side, I have high hopes for this year. With a number of creative projects planned and a strong need to free myself up and experiment, it’ll be great to get to a place where I can be productive again. So anyway, what’s been happening? Let me show you. Onwards!
Mountainfell reviews:
Books for Keeps wrote a wonderful 5-star review of Mountainfell which made my heart soar like a cloud dragon. The wonderful comments from friends and strangers alike have really been keeping me afloat this winter too. Thank you – and please do consider leaving a review on the usual sites if you feel so inclined, to help others decide whether they’d like to give the book a try :)
School visits:
I’ve been enjoying visiting some schools in and around Bristol lately – and in particular I’ve loved hearing the brilliant ideas the children come up with when set a task. Towards the end of my visit I like to get their help to invent a magical creature who lives in their school, and answer the question: why haven’t we seen it? Some of my favourite suggestions have included, ‘It’s so big that we live inside one of its cells’, ‘It shape shifts: maybe it’s that table!’ and ‘It hides in the staffroom and eats doughnuts.’ If you’d like me to visit your school (I travel outside of Bristol too) please get in touch.
Planning and plotting:
That’s right: I’m planning and plotting (and generally up to no good). Now all I need to do is get started on the actual writing…
Great reads:
My kid’s been loving all things medical lately, and has recently devoured – and loved – Kay’s Marvellous Medicine by Adam Kay. Given the choice of what to read next, he decided on… The Ghouls of Howlfair by Nick Tomlinson. Again. This’ll be the second time he’s read it, which must be a good sign! As for me? I’ve been listening to the audiobook of Do You Dream of Terra Two by Temi Oh and I’m really enjoying the idea of a group of young, slightly underprepared people in close quarters with one another bringing all their personal baggage with them to space. Intriguing!
And finally, cat likes box:
Apparently, cat likes box. And bag. And TV. (And apparently I love having cats again).
So what’s new with you? Are you having a good/not-so-good/insert-other start to the year? And, crucially, what have you been reading? Thanks for reading, and see you for the mini-blog in Feb!