The World Book Week 2023 mini-blog

Hello and welcome to the February mini-blog.

I’ve just come from a school visit in which the children of Southville Primary invented their very own magical creature with me: a maths-loving, pea-eating lizard called Gary Scrumpfry. I had a brilliant time exploring the writing process with them, and talking about what inspired many of the creatures in Mountainfell, too. In other news:

Book Pen Pals

This month I sent off some letters to my brilliant Book Pen Pals. For those who don’t know, Book Pen Pals is a really lovely scheme that connects schools with authors and illustrators, who then correspond throughout the year via postcards and letters. I absolutely love talking to my book pen pals, answering their questions, giving them writing tips and recommending books they might like. If you’re a school, author or an illustrator, why not check them out, or give them a follow on Twitter. (If you’d like to get a one-off postcard direct from me, I can do that too – do just get in touch.)

World Book Week – easy costume ideas!

As an author, it’s flattering to see children who feel inspired enough by reading your books to dress as your characters. I’ve already seen an excellent Leif costume and had requests for dressing-up ideas, so this year I thought I’d put some very easy costume suggestions for Mountainfell characters online:

Erskin – she wears simple trousers and a jumper, and because her pet cat, Scrat, likes to climb up and sit on her shoulders, the more holes (because of cat claws) the better. For an added extra, if you can find a piece of fluffy material that might make a good cat’s tail, why not have it dangling out of one side of a bag or satchel, so it looks like you’ve got Scrat with you, too…

Leif – again, simple trousers and a jumper or top will do, but remember that Leif has pockets full of odds and ends, and really, really loves plants… so perhaps you could have a friendly vine over one shoulder, or dangling out of the side of a bag, to keep him company.

If you do decide to dress up as Erskin or Leif, or as characters from any other of my books, I always love to see the pictures!

What I’m reading

At the moment I’m really privileged to be reading an early copy of Winter’s Keep by Tamsin Mori – book 3 in the Weather Weaver adventures and out on the 2nd March. With cloud sidekicks and sea witches, it’s a feat of fun and imagination. Keep your eyes peeled for it in March! Illustrated by David Dean (cover) and Hannah Blackman-Kurz (interior), published by Uclan Publishing.

I hope the rest of this month is a breeze, leaving you feeling as chilled out as Stevie clearly is today. Until next time!

First mini-blog of the year: 2023

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!

The last mini-blog post of the year: 2022

I always forget what a weird day the 31st December feels like. Usually grey and rainy, with a sense of waiting for something intangible (though realistically that thing is midnight, I guess, and the new year). But the sense of waiting always makes me feel unsettled, like I’m forgetting something important. The ‘did I lock the door?’ feeling when you’re halfway into town.

Anyway, a lot of people like to look back at their year, the things they’ve enjoyed and the things they’ve achieved. I love to read these reflections but I’m not very good at writing my own, because my brain smooshes stuff together, then goes blank, and then I start losing all sense of time (was that this year or 3 years ago? What IS time?!). And then we’re lost.

But suffice to say that in amongst what’s been a challenging year for me, particularly the latter half, I’ve enjoyed so many brilliant things – from books to music to film and TV and more. I usually talk about these things throughout the year, either on this very blog, or on Twitter and Instagram, so it’s worth following those if you’d like to hear me randomly pipe up about how much I love Andor, rave about Piranesi or the Murderbot series, or talk about an unforgettable line from the film 1917.

Book blurbin’

What I will say is that I’ve been honoured to read and review some absolutely brilliant books this year, including The Mooncatcher’s Rescue by Karen Lamb, The Late Crew by Rab Ferguson, A Billion Balloons of Questions by Amy B Moreno (such a beautiful picture book!) and something very exciting yet to come from the fantastic Ross Montgomery. They are all great and you should read them. For more books I’ve read and loved, check out my Goodreads, which I try to keep (fairly) up to date(ish).

Mountainfell-in’

Of course Mountainfell came out in November this year and I’ve been thrilled to see the fruits of my labour plopping into the bookshops. It’s brilliant to see people read and enjoy it (if you want to make an author ecstatically happy by the way, including this author, writing a glowing review of a book you’ve enjoyed this year is a surefire way to do that – just saying).

The reception to Mountainfell has been truly heartening and I’m grateful to everyone for their enthusiasm, their wonderful reviews and quotes. Particularly Nick Tomlinson who wrote to me to say, I’m sure Mountainfell will be amazing, and not just because it sounds like a pagan metal band. And I think that’s my favourite quote of any book ever.

Guest Blog Postin’

I’ve written a number of guest blog posts which you can find links to in my November mini-blog. I’ve also written a couple more since then which I’m particularly proud of – this one on Why I Love Writing “Complicated” Characters for the Federation of Children’s Book Groups, FCBG (ever wondered who the first fictional villain I ever felt sorry for was? Well wonder no longer!) and this one on Why I Love Writing (and Reading) About Magic for Peters.

Cat pics

Finally, we have welcomed two new members into our household this year. Meet Stevie (pic 1, left) and Snorlax (pic 2, right), our 5-month old rescue kittens. Snorlax has massive paws and we predict he’s going to be a big cat when he’s older. Similar to the Pokemon, he likes food and fuss, and then to flump onto his side and snooze. Stevie (think Stevie Nicks!) is a little kitty in a big scary world right now, but if her brother does something she’ll cautiously give it a try too. Though stealthy and wild, we seem to be slowly winning her over.

It is amazing to have cats again, even though I now spend most of my time scooping poo and being a human springboard when they get the zoomies. I predict more cat pics and updates in 2023 (though no poo, I promise).

A huge thank you to everyone this year, for everything, and sending you all my love and wishes for the new year. May your reflections be deep and may you find everything you’re looking for, including and especially the answer to whether or not you locked that door.

November – the month of Mountainfell!

November has been both a busy and exciting one for me, as my third book Mountainfell was released this month! I’m hugely grateful to everyone who made this possible, and to everyone who’s supported me, read, reviewed or bought the book, or shared it with others in libraries, bookshops, schools and more. As a thank you I still have a number of signed book plates to give away. Get in touch if you’d like me to send you one!

In other news:

Book launch

I was privileged to have a book launch at the wonderful Storysmith. After the lockdowns that surrounded Glassheart’s release it felt brilliant to come together with friends and family to celebrate. And, as someone who gets nervous giving speeches sometimes, I was pleased that I managed to not be sick. Bonus!

Blog tour

I packed the old van and went off on blog tour this month. Here’s some links to all the stops I made:

Inventing magical creatures Part One – Digging Deep on My Shelves Are Full @erinlynhamilton

Nature, red in tooth and claw on My Book Corner @MyBookCorner

Weird is Wonderful on Scope for Imagination @KateHeap1

Strange mountain encounters on Check ‘em Out Books @TJGriffiths

Inventing magical creatures Part Two - Diving into Dreams on Library Girl and Book Boy @booksuperhero2

And a bonus Q&A on Big Bearded Bookseller @IndieBookshopUK

School visits

I headed down to Tring to visit some fantastic schools with Our Bookshop and meet lots of eager readers and budding writers. I had a great time answering everyone’s brilliant questions and signing books!

Book signings

Right now there are signed copies of Mountainfell waiting to be had in Mr B’s in Bath, and soon to be Stanfords in Bristol. Watch this space for more!

Finally… listen out for me on BBC Radio Bristol!

And some exciting news to end with… I’ll be on BBC Radio Bristol on Sunday 4th December talking books, and also chatting about some of the news stories of the week that have caught my eye. I’ll be on from around 12.15pm so be sure to listen out if you’re free, or catch up later on BBC Sounds.

October roundup – just one week until Mountainfell!

Hello, and welcome to my October ‘mini’ round-up. It’s been a busy month, not least because my latest middle grade book, Mountainfell, is due to hit bookshops in only one week! It feels incredibly surreal that, after all the many months of drafting, it will finally be out there in the world and on the shelves. In other news:

My author copies arrived!

It’s always a special moment to get a big box full of your own books, not least because of the panic it induces when you think you’ve accidentally ordered something big, heavy and expensive, then to discover what it really is (and feel the relief at having not accidentally ordered something big, heavy and expensive). It’s truly a joy.

Storytale festival

I had a brilliant time at the weekend hosting a ‘Dream Up Your Own Fantastical Creature’ event as part of Storytale Festival. We had some brilliant chats about animals both real and imaginary, what inspired some of those in Mountainfell, and also a very special technique for inventing your own. (If you’d like me to come along and do a similar workshop or event at your school or bookshop you can contact me here).

Sponsored Write

I’m pleased to say that the Green Ink Sponsored Write raised £1,867 for Macmillan Cancer Support. I was really happy to be asked to take part in it again this year. If you sponsored us, thank you so much, and happy reading! Perhaps see you for it again next time.

Books I’m reading

I’ve just started Kieran Larwood’s brilliant The Legend of Podkin One Ear and I’m really enjoying it. I also have a very spooky (and very adult!) book called Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez to read this Halloween. I saw her give a talk (in an actual crypt!) for my local bookshop, Storysmith, and learning all about her and the book was fascinating. I can’t wait to scare myself silly with this one.

And finally…

Some lovely reviews have been rolling in for Mountainfell, which is so heartening and encouraging for me. Among these fantastically generous reviews are this one and this one. Booksellers, book bloggers, teachers, librarians and everyone who champions books – thank you! You make the world go round.

That’s it from me. See you again for another instalment of the mini-blog in November.

September roundup: festival events, sponsored writes, and animal sidekicks

Hello friends. It looks as though my September mini-blog is very long this month, however, don’t be fooled. I am simply using a bigger font. Hope you enjoy all my news, writer life tidbits and cat pics. Onwards!

Storytale Festival

I’m so excited to be taking part in Storytale Festival again this year. Come and find me in Storysmith, Bristol on 23rd October 2022 for a free event where I’ll be helping you to dream up your own fantastical creatures like those in my book, Mountainfell. hope to see you there!

Meet the Sponsored Writers

I’m taking part in this year’s Sponsored Write in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support again this year in October, as I’ve mentioned, and would love it if you could support us with a few quid. In return for your generosity you’ll get our collection of short stories delivered to your inbox 48 hours later. Perfect! What’s more, you can now read Q&As with all of us Sponsored Writers who’re taking part this year, and learn the individual reasons why each of us are doing it, right here.

Mountainfell’s animal sidekick

I love animal sidekicks in stories. As far as I’m concerned, there’s nothing that an animal sidekick can’t massively improve (films, books, life… the list goes on). So of course I couldn’t wait to put one into Mountainfell.

Scrat is Erskin’s pet cat, but with a difference. Firstly, he’s a secret, because people in Erskin’s village of Lofotby do NOT keep pets. Secondly, he’s a bit… strange. He’s very big. His teeth are very long. And he has silver markings that seem to change (although surely that’s just a trick of the light…). Sometimes Erskin could swear he knows exactly what she’s thinking, too.

When I was writing about Scrat I took more than a little inspiration from a beloved pet I used to have. She was a rescue cat who we called Kitty Boobins, and she looked like this.

She was the quirkiest, most demanding cat who ever lived, and when she decided she was going to sit on your chest and purr in your face when you really ought to have been getting out of bed, there really was nothing else for it but to lie there. An electrician who was fixing our fuse box called her ‘the loudest cat I have heard in my life’. And she once shouted so much at a friend who’d been looking after her for the weekend, that she made him ill (don’t worry, he was fine after a rest).

A lot of my love for my legendary Kitty Boobins went into writing Scrat, and I hope you’ll love his funny little personality as much as I do – and as much as I loved Kitty Boobins.

Finally, I wanted to share this brilliant clip of a crab swimming that I found on the internet the other day. If ever you wondered where the ideas came from for Mountainfell’s weird and wonderful magical creatures, look no further than nature itself:

I didn't know they could do that . pic.twitter.com/WPyP3S15hh

— The Depths Below (@DepthsBeIow) September 18, 2022

A crab runs across the sea bed, then begins to swim using little flippers on its back.

What REALLY goes in to writing a book - plus news and reviews

Hi everyone.

I hope you’re all well and that, if you’re in the UK, you’ve managed to stay cool in the extreme heat. Welcome to a rollercoaster mini-blog of first reviews, Sponsored Writes, and the cold hard realities of writing a book. Onwards!

Mountainfell’s first review

First up it was fantastic to see the brilliant Stephanie Burgis (author of The Raven Heir, The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart and many more) post such lovely things about Mountainfell on Twitter and give it its very first review. Hooray! It can be scary sending a new book out into the world, so early recommendations like this are to be treasured.

Green Ink Sponsored Write 2022 kicks off soon

Every year I take part in the Green Ink Sponsored Write, where published authors come together with Green Ink’s amazing writing students to raise money for MacMillan Cancer Support. How? By each of us spending one chosen day in October writing a short story, which will become part of an anthology sent exclusively to our Just Giving supporters 48 hours later. If you’d like to be one of those supporters, you can donate your chosen amount here. Thank you!

The reality of writing a book

Finally, ever wondered what really goes in to writing a book? Well, I’m here to tell you the WHOLE truth. In list form. (As it’s a mini- and not a maxi- blog). Get ready, here goes:

• You have an idea and it’s EPIC

• Idea grows. You plan and plan until planning gets too boring and YOU’RE IN

• Wow. This is the best thing you’ve ever written!

• Time to reflect. Oh, God. This is the worst thing you’ve ever written

• This is the worst thing written, ever

• Time to rewrite

• Actually, this isn’t too shabby… you can relax

• Editor has questions. Time to rewrite

• The rewriting continues

• Get a pressing deadline. Everyone gets covid

• The book is, finally, finished. You press send and instantly fall asleep

• Nope, it isn’t finished. Wake up. Editor has questions. Time to rewrite

• Eye starts to twitch every time book is mentioned

• The rewriting does not end

• Existential crisis

• You are stuck in a time loop where all you do is edit

• You are done with this book. DONE

• You are never going to put yourself through this, ever again

• Where am I? What is time? Who is “book”?

• Finally book is written, rewritten, edited, polished. You read it with dread… and are pleasantly surprised to find that you don’t hate it

• Actually, you quite like it

• You might even be a little proud…

• Are you?

• Yes, you think so. All that work might have been worth it after all.

• Press send and cross fingers. Time to sleep and play Hollow Knight

• You promise yourself it’ll be a long time before you attempt to write anything else. A long, long time.

• A seriously long time. You need a break from writing. A proper one.

• Except, wait! You’ve just had an idea, and it’s EPIC…

Well, there you have it - and although every book is different, there always seems to be a decent dose of all or most of the above, at least for me. Do you relate to this if you’re a writer? Or does anything surprise you if you aren’t one?

Mountainfell available to pre order

If you’d like to read the product of all that work and polishing, you can pre order my new book, Mountainfell, now :-)

Introducing the world of Mountainfell

July has been an exciting month, in which I got to reveal the cover (and name!) of my brand new, upcoming book: Mountainfell. And here it is again - below - illustrated by the phenomenal Sandra Dieckmann. I feel so lucky to have the things I’ve imagined brought to life by such an immense and striking talent. Thank you, Sandra. The book comes out in November, but you can pre order it here.

Right here on the old mini-blog, I’m also thrilled to be able to share with you a special insight into the mysterious world of Mountainfell. Read on…

The cover of Mountainfell, illustrated by Sandra Dieckmann

Welcome to the world…

Imagine you live in a small village with rough seas on one side, that’s cut off from the mainland on the other by a treacherous, towering mountain. Horrors are said to live there. Strange, wild creatures, evil trees, witches… and most deadly of all, the gigantic, fearsome cloud dragon. This is Mountainfell. And what’s worse, as the daughter of the Mountain Keeper, Erskin finds herself living at the very foot of it, in constant fear of its hex magic and as the subject of scorn and rumour among the superstitious villagers. She wishes she could escape from it - then life would be so much easier. But fate, it seems, has other plans…

A peek at the back cover:

A few people you should know:

Erskin - as the Mountain Keeper’s daughter, life’s already tough - but daydreaming helps Erskin to cope.

Birgit - constantly embarrassed by Erskin’s weirdness, Birgit is Erskin’s elder sister, but the two are nothing alike.

Scrat - okay, Scrat isn’t exactly a person, more a… cat. But he’s also Erskin’s friend, and with silver markings that seem to change and a feral disposition, he’s pretty unusual too…

More on the horizon:

I’m looking forward to sharing more with you before November. But until then, remember you can pre order Mountainfell if you want to (it really helps if you do!) - and feel free to ask me any questions. You may find I answer them in the next edition of the mini-blog…

For now, however, I leave you with the dedication, because it says a lot about why I wrote this book and what it means to me. And, I hope, what it could mean to readers, too. Looking forward to telling you more, soon.

You say May, I say June... book news and recent reads

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the belated May round-up that I’m counting as June’s too… Yup, I missed a month in the monthly mini-blog! I’m already late, so without further ado, onwards:

Latest book progress

Last month I sent my editor the latest draft of my next book, while wiping the sweat from my brow. Afterwards I celebrated by doing a few of my favourite things. I admit that the first of these was sleeping. After that there was some cake. What about you - do you treat yourself when you’ve finished a big project? How do you like to celebrate? Now the sleeping and cake eating is done, I’m playing around with a few fun ideas and secret side projects and having a great time while I wait for news on this one.

Shakespeare Week winning entries

I wrote a poem for Shakespeare Week to help inspire children across the country who were coming up with their own creative responses to ‘Still my beating mind’. Now the winning entries have been chosen and you can see them in the online exhibition. I loved reading/listening to/admiring them and was thrilled to see that my poem had helped inspire a few! A massive well done to every single person who took part.

Recent recommended reads

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown - this book (that says it’s for 7-10 year olds) is such a pure and beautiful tale. You’ll love Roz the Robot - who wouldn’t love a wild robot with such a pure heart?

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke - I’m listening to this one as an audiobook and it’s superb in this format: Chiwetel Ejiofor is an incredible narrator. Reference to the stone statue of a fawn and a lamp post have already put me in mind of Narnia and taken me to the magical ‘betwixt’ world of who I am now and my childhood memories/imaginings, while the story describes the strange place that Piranesi inhabits.

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey - I became obsessed with the sci fi series The Expanse recently, to find that the TV series only takes the story so far… so now I have to read all the books to find out what happens, starting with this one! (P.S. Camina Drummer can be my bosmang forever).

BONUS BOOKS: The Ghouls of Howlfair and Molly Thompson and the Crypt of the Blue Moon by Nick Tomlinson - my husband and I love these brilliant books, so we’ve started reading them to our kid at bedtime and he’s been loving them too. There’s nothing quite like a fun, spooky tale with the lights dimmed…

What have you been reading? I’d love to know! Take care and see you again in July for another edition of the mini-blog.

Advance copy of Nevertell

Nevertell is my debut novel. Which means I am completely new to this process, and every stage of the journey towards publication is more or less a surprise. Which also means I had nooooooo idea I would be getting a copy of Nevertell through the post in advance of its release date in November. But in spite of my ignorance, that’s exactly what happened today.

I’ll be honest. I had a moment when I pulled it out of the envelope when I thought, am I going to cry? But then I had to remove it from my kid before he turned it into a telescope, so that soon passed. It is beautiful though. The title is coppery and shiny. SHINY, I tell you.

Needless to say I’m completely stoked, and can’t wait to see this out in the world. I hope you love it as much as I do.