Did your child come home with a recommended reading list for the summer holidays? Mine did and it's always met with a rather large sigh, already too much for her to cope with just by looking at it. For some children, reading is a challenge and because of that, they...
After getting my hands on a few copies of my debut novel from the publisher, as well as setting the stage with props and prompts from the book, the day of the launch party finally rolled around. Pink fizz and conversation flowed, amidst sampling of my homemade gluten...
There is much excitement in my household at the moment as we prepare for this weekend's book launch. Harnessing my creative side, and that of my children (the girls in particular), we've been busy creating props and displays for the party. Called 'The Mystery of the...
Like many children growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, our childhood was all about the outdoors I often talk to my children about the street where I grew up. It was a 1960’s-built cul-de-sac, not untypical of that era, lined on each side with matching semi-detached...
Baby X is a clever debut by Rebecca Ann Smith that asks so many questions about the ethics of modern science as it delves into the world of IVF. Dr Alex Mansfield, a pioneer in the world of reproductive research, known as IVG, has gestated a fetus in an artificial...
I have exciting news from Nikki Young Writes and I've been bursting to share it. My first book is going to be published soon! Many of you who follow this blog will know I spent a lot of last year working on my young adult manuscript. I finished a second draft and...
I love meeting other authors. For me, it's very inspiring and gives me hope that I will one day be in a similar position. It's incredibly hard work though and takes a lot of dedication, as my guest today will tell you. Karen Inglis is a children’s author living in...
I’ve been quiet on the blogging front recently. Sometimes, I feel as though I could quite easily spend all my time blogging and never get anything else done. I have to pull myself away from it every now in then so I can concentrate on other projects. That means I’ve...
Juggling work and the school holidays has thrown me and I haven't kept up to my usual Friday Fiction post. Apologies for that. What I did want to get around to writing about though, was an article I read in the Times about getting children to read. This article struck...
We met children's book illustrator and author, Katherine McEwan at my writing group last week. What a lovely lady she is and such beautiful work too. People might think it's easy to write picture books when in fact the opposite is true. The word count is limited and...
Writing inspiration can come from many sources, whether it's through music, images, or newspaper articles. It can also come from the most unlikely of sources and when my son came home with this painting he had created at school, I immediately fell in love with this...
I’ve been a closet writer for the last few years and it wasn’t until I did NaNoWriMo last November, that I actually plucked up the courage to socialise with other writers. I surprised myself by making such a bold step and I haven’t looked back since. Now I’ve gone...
World Cup fever hits outer space! I'm delighted to have guest author, Karen Inglis provide an extract from her book, Eeek! The Runaway Alien this week. We're big fans of Karen's books in our house. I hope you enjoy this too. Now I knew Eeek was a runaway alien, many...
I normally only do one book review per month; a summary of the books that I've read. But this book I recently discovered is so inspiring I felt it required a post all of its own. My seven year old daughter has been talking a lot about filling up her bucket and those...
I'm currently reading Lego Star Wars, The Visual Dictionary, with my five year old son. It's his bedtime reading choice, after having read to me first. I am learning about things like, in which sets you would find Annakin's Podracer, how different mini figures have...
I read. A lot. And I read a wide variety of books. So when I came across this monthly link up by Mutteringmummy, I was keen to join in. Here is my summary of the books I have read this month: Hysteria, by Megan Miranda This author was recommended to me by Louise...
My eldest daughter has recently turned into a bit of a book worm. What’s surprising about this is she has struggled so much with her reading that it hasn’t interested her much up to now. She has always loved stories though, but enjoyed being read to more than learning...