My Blog

October was launch month for Danny and the Dream Dog. It was an absolutely fantastic month with lots of library events, bookshop signings and a fabulous joint launch with Clare Helen Welsh at Gower Street Waterstones and later at the Dog and Duck in Soho. Now it's onwards and upwards into November! You can find [...]

On Tuesday 9th October we welcomed Candy Gourlay to Reading for our 19th Picture Book Club meeting. Candy is an active SCBWI member and really generous with her time in helping aspiring writers and illustrators to understand the sometimes seemingly impenetrable world of children's publishing. We were very excited to hear about her very own [...]

When I talk to adult groups such as the WI and U3A I always love hearing about the stories people loved as children. For a lot of the WI ladies that I speak to, the books they remember with clarity and warmth were illustrated books of fairy tales and Beatrix Potter. But I was a [...]

Picture Book Club had a month off in July (to visit Newfoundland!) and then returned this month with an 'on tour' visit to Exeter. Our previous Exeter guest, Clare Helen Welsh, had recommended Tom McLaughlin so negotiations were duly opened last year and we were delighted to welcome Tom on Thursday 9th August to Waterstones [...]

June's Picture Book Club saw us back in Oxford once again with James and Lucy Catchpole. Last year, James gave feedback on pitches. This year he very kindly offered to give feedback on whole picture book texts. Obviously, we said yes please! As a writer, when you press the send button it is a bit [...]