Screaming at the sky

Tomorrow there’s a partial solar eclipse happening over Great Britain! It’s been about sixteen years since I witnessed the last one, but I remember it clearly. (You can see one of the grainy photos I took of it, above.) The oddest thing was the birds falling silent as the sky darkened, as if they were …

The evolving story

Stories can be slippery devils! Sometimes an early spark of an idea can shift, turn and evolve in ways you never expect. That’s how it was with my latest project, currently titled The Death of Goldilocks. It came to me during the winter of 09/10 when we had some very severe temperatures and heavy snowfall. …

The Amazing Story Steps!

Isn’t this the best thing ever? This is one of the many ideas of the genius staff at The District of CE Primary school in Newton-le-Willows where I’m Patron of Reading. They’ve jazzed up a small flight of steps with the spines of some of their favourite books, and I’m delighted to be included in …

Pupils for MacMillan Academy with writer Niel Bushnell and animator Mark Jobe

A year of author events

As the year draws to a close I’m about to complete my last school event of 2014. I’ve done lots of talks, workshops and signings this year so I thought I’d share some highlights with you. MacMillan Academy, Middlesbrough. I spent a week at the MacMillan Academy helping the pupils develop and write a script for …