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!
