• Doomscroll painting by Niel Bushnell

Category: Events/News


  • Adventure at Buckingham Palace

    Last week I was lucky enough to go to a garden party at Buckingham Palace. The actual Buckingham Palace. In London. Where the Queen lives. I know! It all started last year when I volunteered to to join the committee of the Society of Authors sub group, Authors North. Since then I’ve helped out with…

  • Waterstones Middlesbrough talk

    Do you live near Middlesbrough in the UK? I’m doing a free event in Waterstones Middlesbrough later this month with fellow author Stephen Aryan. Stephen is the author of the Age of Darkness trilogy. Battlemage, the first book in the series was published in September 2015 by Orbit books in the USA and UK. Book 2,…

  • Sorrowline featured in Guardian Top 10 list

    I was thrilled to read that my first novel, Sorrowline, was mentioned in Rhian Ivory’s top 10 books set in the past and the present article for the Guardian. Here’s what Rhian said: I love and am quite jealous of the unique idea at the heart of this book: you can travel through Sorrowlines, the channels…

  • Creative Factory workshop

    I often use Story Cubes at schools and workshops to get ideas started. They’re a really useful and fun tool, and they prove that even the most reluctant storyteller can come up with ideas. I recently did a workshop for the Creative Factory in Stockton-on-Tees. Creative Factory is a group of young people who meet weekly…

  • The Amazing Story Steps – Part II

    Regular visitors to my blog might recall my post last year about the Amazing Story Steps at the District CE Primary School in Newton-le-Willows. I’m Patron of Reading there and I’m honoured to be included on their steps. It’s such a simple, clever way to promote reading and I couldn’t wait to see it for myself…