Girl Reading © Sonia Leong

I’ve just bought a copy of this great print of a girl reading from Sonia Leong, the illustrator who does the covers for my Girls FC series. Isn’t it great? Look at those huge green manga- eyes shining so brightly from reading top quality fiction!

I’m always on the lookout for cards depicting books and people reading books but they are few and far between. Those I have found tend to be of genteel Victorian or Edwardian ladies in repose, using the book as a prop. I don’t think I’ve seen one of a contemporary boy or a girl. It’s the same finding cards of girls playing football.

There’s obviously a gap in the market. Maybe I ought to set up my own card company. Dragon’s Den, here I come…

To check out other prints Sonia has for sale, go to the shop page on her website (see my links page). At £3 each they’re not going to break the bank!

Hope you’ve all got something fun lined up for the weekend. I’m off down to Middlesex to watch Huddersfield Town playing Brentford. It’s going to be a tough match - we’re at that crucial stage in the season where every point counts if we are going to stay in the play-off position.  After that I’ll be working on book 9 of Girls FC and reading Wheels of War by Sally Prue.

Have a brilliant weekend. Sunshine all the way…

book signings, visits… it’s all kicking-off!

Dearest Blog Readers,

Just to let you know that there is a new ‘Events’ page on my website. It isn’t up on my homepage but can be accessed on the toolbar once you start exploring - look to the right of the ‘links’ button and Clubbing Together girls.

The events page will include new titles as well as letting you know where I’ll be performing and running workshops.

You’ll see I’ve got a pretty busy Spring/Summer coming up including trips to County Down in Northern Ireland and Kiev in Ukraine. June is stacked with Reads United performances with Tom Palmer because of the World Cup.

I’ve also got book 7 of the Girls FC series out in May. ‘So What if I Hog the Ball?’ is the tiny terrier Jenny-Jane’s story.

So What if I Hog The Ball? Out May 3rd

ALSO COMING SOON: Girls FC download of the team by illustrator Sonia Leong. You can use it as wallpaper background for your computer screen… just in time for the Women’s FA Cup Final on May 3rd. Arsenal v Everton at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground.

Jenny-Jane

Meet Jenny-Jane Bayliss, coming to a bookshop near you.  She’s the seventh character in my Girls FC series and one of my favourites. On the team she’s the one who gets stuck in.  Fearless and determined, nothing fazes her; once she has the ball, she’s off down that wing like a hare from a trap and if she loses it, well, she doesn’t rest until she gets it back again.  Basically,  if Roy Keane had been ever been a ten-year old girl, this is what he’d have been like.

I think Sonia Leong, the illustrator, has captured JJ beautifully.  The scowling girl holding that ball tight and very, very unhappy at the new pink away shirt. PINK. Of all the colours in the world…

As a writer, it is my job to show what a character is like through dialogue and action. At the beginning of each Girls FC book there’s an interview with each player similar to interviews found in match day programmes. I love making these up. i have to get inside each of my characters’ heads and think ‘What would their favourite breakfast be?’ etc. Each answer reflects the character. Here are JJs ‘answers’  giving clues to the reader what they can expect once they read her story.

Name: Jenny Jane Bayliss

Age: Nearly 10

Birthday: October - you don’t need to know when in October

School:  Been to a few. Which one do you want?

Supports: ENGLAND and Millwall FC - they’re like my family. Nobody likes us and we don’t care.

Best football moment: When we win (dumb question)

What do you do in your spare time?  Mind my own business

Favourite band: Aerosmith

Favourite film: Transformers

Favourite book: Foul Play by Tom Palmer

Favourite TV programme: Wayne Rooney’s Street Striker

On reflection I think she’s a bit harder than Roy Keane! 

So What if I Am a Ball Hog? is out in May.