s it the end of the year already? Blimey - that went fast! Still, I have been busy. Looking back through my engagements diary, I visited over forty schools in England and Wales, performed at three festivals, ran a one-day workshop for adults and gave talks ranging from 'how books can help children in hospital' to 'what to do when you have a writer in school.' I covered over 2,000 miles in my little Skoda. The furthest north I went was Newcastle upon Tyne and the furthest south was Farnham.
Coming back from Farnham had to be worst journey. I don't know what it is about Surrey and me but we don't gel, travel wise. My day at the school - Farnham Lane End - had been great. I was full of the joys of spring when I set off at about three o'clock for what should have been a four-hour journey. It was all going splendidly; even the M25 was trouble-free, until about a hundred miles from home when I joined a fifteen-mile traffic jam on the A1.
Apparently, a body had been found by a flyover on the dual-carriageway and everyone was being diverted via Stamford. I never made the diversion. Having spent over an hour idling in first gear, the car decided it would be a good laugh if it packed up for the night. A kind gentleman of about seventy helped me push my Skoda into the lay-by and I reassured him I had my mobile and I'd be fine.
The problem was the lay-by. It belonged to RAF Wittering. Any other time this might not have been a problem but I happened to break down on the day England and America had gone to sort out Iraq. I'm telling you there's nothing guaranteed to make you jump higher than having an armed soldier bang on your window in the pitch black to see what you are doing. Actually he was very understanding, once he could see I wasn't a terrorist, and kindly let me use the loo at his checkpoint while I waited for the breakdown services. Got home at one a.m. on the back of a tow-truck. Elegant.
Even scarier than that event was being on stage at the Everyman Theatre during the Cheltenham Festival. For some reason it hadn't clicked that it would be a real theatre. At the Edinburgh Festival, a theatre is a big tent with those seats that fold out, so I was expecting something along those lines. Nope. The Everyman is the real McCoy, with plush velvet seats and cherubs on the ceiling. I had to do a sound check and use a microphone and wait in the wings and everything. After the initial shock, I loved every second. I'm not saying I was Dawn French or even Cat Deeley but let's just say, for an ex-primary school teacher in her late forties, I rocked!!
What else did I do this year apart from see my team, Huddersfield Town, relegated to the third division? I had the first four books in the after school club series published and almost finished the fifth. (If my editor, Katharine, is reading this, I did finish the fifth, I just didn't see much point posting it what with the Christmas rush and the threat of more postal strikes. Thought it best to hang fire until the New Year… say end of January-ish…?)
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I'm really enjoying writing these books. The idea of setting them in an after school club gives me endless scope for new ideas. The best bit is, if I run out of inspiration, all I have to do is pop in to an after school club and see what's happening. Invariably, I get the heebie-jeebies because there will be some X-Files moment occurring. For instance, in book five, it's Christmas and Sammie is having great fun making gingerbread tree decorations with Alex and Lloyd. What were the kids doing at Collingham After School Club when I visited a couple of weeks ago? Exactly. Spooky or what?
So that was this year, what's happening next? Well, on the writing front I have three more books in the after school club series to complete. In addition, the re-issue of my teenage book 'Getting Rid of Karenna' comes out in January, complete with new lilac cover. (£4.99 - cheap as chips)
I have already got several bookings and events lined up. In February, I'll be visiting Wakefield, where the after school clubs are set and where I went to college, so I'll be back on familiar territory. March is hectic. Among other things, I'll be spending World Book Day at Sutton-on-Trent Primary School, which is great because I used to teach there and I know everyone is friendly!
Incidentally, 'Starring Sammie' has been chosen as a World Book Day recommended read, which is a big boost. I'm hoping you'll also see the cover of 'Starring Sammie' on posters in a library or bookshop near you. It's in the top right hand corner of something called Scattered Authors Society Authors' Choice 2004 - great books for young readers. 'Starring Sammie' is set alongside other great reads such as Penny Dolan's 'The Ghost of Able Mabel'. If you do see the poster, there's a competition to enter. All you have to do is e-mail in your favourite title of the books on the poster and you could win a signed copy. The e-mail address is:
Later in March, I'll be jumping into the Skoda again for a three day visit to schools in Blandford Forum, Dorset, organised through the Federation of Children's Book Groups. On the 23rd or 24th I'm at the Oxford Literary Festival.
Still, before all that it's Christmas! Have a good one.
Warmest wishes,
