My 2016 – Don’t blame the Year

2016 has been an odd year. In spite of its cavalier attitude to celebrity lifespans and its blatant disregard for commonsense voting, opinion poles and the general prospects for the future of humanity, my 2016 has been a bit, well… meh! It’s not been a bad year, I’ve had some really good times, a fantastic …

Patron of Reading 2016

I’m thrilled to let you know I’ve been appointed as the Patron of Reading for North Durham Academy in Stanley, County Durham.   What is a Patron of Reading? A Patron of Reading (PoR) is a school’s special, designated children’s author with whom the school forms a personal attachment. The patron might be a writer …

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 …