Talking about Tall Story - a video message for The Filipino Group on Goodreads

The Filipino Group is a vibrant book group on Goodreads who talk books not only online but in regular face to face meet ups. How inspiring is that? TFG member Biena Magbitang alerted me to the fact that they're set to discuss Tall Story on Monday. Biena wrote:

We meet every month personally to discuss a book (and chat and be clingy). For August, the members voted on a poll with the theme Filipino Novels in English and Tall Story won that poll (by a landslide, if I may add!)

Here's a little hello, and a little bit of background about Tall Story. I subtitled the Filipino bits for non-Pinoy speakers!

Asia for the World? Whose World? Reflections on the AFCC 2013

The AFCC (Asian Festival of Children's Content) was held in Singapore on 25 to 30 May 2013

At the moment, I'm reading The Language Inside by Holly Thompson, handed to me at the last minute in Singapore as I was about to get on a plane with an already overweight bag.

It's a splendid read. Congrats to Delacorte Press for daring to publish a novel told entirely in verse  and not just that, a story which is more about what is inside than outside.

The Language Inside is about a girl who has grown up in Japan, thinks Japanese, speaks Japanese, but is of American origin. And it asks the question so many young people want to know: where do I belong? Is what I am on the outside who I am on the inside?

Holly Thompson
@hatbooks

Holly herself has lived in Japan for eighteen years, bringing up a family there, though she is originally from the United States.

Perhaps the novel resonates with me so much because I am close to a point in my life where I would have lived in England for the same number of years as I've lived in my native Philippines.

Where do I belong?

Attending the AFCC, it struck me that this was the question uppermost in the minds of the delegates who came from all over Asia - from up in Mongolia to way down south in Australia.

Here's the blurb on the AFCC website:

Asian Content for the World's Children
Picture by Malaysian illustrator Emila Yusof

The focus this year was on Malaysia - and I was struck by how many of the countries attending shared the same story - bookshops are stocked with the latest bestsellers from the West, while local titles languish in forgotten corners.

And even when cash-strapped publishers innovate - witness the low-cost, self-made pop-up books created by Filipino writer illustrator Jomike Tejido in my video - the consuming public continues to favour the product flow from the West.

Filipino writer illustrator Jomike Tejido - innovating instead of making do

If children had the choice, would they pick up a homegrown book or the latest Wimpy Kid? Someone asked at a rather exciting discussion about the Asianness of content (the panel featured author/reviewer Daphne Lee, Paper Tigers critic Marjorie Coughlan, and author Anushka Ravishankar (India's Dr Seuss according to an old article).

The exciting panel: Daphne, Anushka, Marjorie with moderator Lisa Yun.
Photo: Holly Thompson

'It's our responsibility as adults to go out there and put it into the hands of the children,' Marjorie said.
And yet Asian books 'are having to fight very hard to reach an audience'.

'Choice is important,' Daphne said. 'I grew up with no choice. There were no Asian books.' Later, writing in  Malaysia's Star Online, Daphne described publishing in parts of Asia as 'still learning the ropes'.

It seems that Asian content is something we discuss at every AFCC. It should be something that we all take for granted, but I suppose the industry is still too young for us to feel confident about what we put into our books. Can you imagine a panel at the Edinburgh Festival discussing the wisdom of publishing books with European themes? Suck it up, people, Daphne Lee, Star Online

At one point, we found ourselves wondering if Asian resistance to confrontation might be getting in the way of craft!

This year, I was one of the judges of the Sing Tel Asian Picture Book Award - seeking an 'outstanding picture book with a distinctly Asian theme'. 'Distinctly Asian' was inevitably interpreted by entries as folk tales, festivals and chopsticks.

Winner of the illustration category was Bolorma Baasansuren from Mongolia.
I just LOVED her work. This is a page from a picture book she had illustrated called A Wise Mother and a Bad Fox (A Mongolian Story) published in Japanese by Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers in Tokyo

Interestingly, the AFCC was also launching this book:

BEYOND Folktales, Legends and Myths, the title says - it calls itself a rediscovery of children's literature in Asia. Edited by Myra Garces and the delicious Tuting Hernandez, it attempts to describe the coat of many colours that is Asian literature.

Launching Beyond Folktales with Myra (who's pretty tasty herself) and Tuting (right)

I wrote the end chapter, the story of my own journey to publication and how I had to overcome my own disbelief.

How could I become an author, I used to ask myself, I have never seen myself in the characters and narratives that I have discovered between the pages of a book.

How could I ever become an author – I didn’t look like one, with my black hair, chinita eyes, brown skin, flat nose. How could I presume to write novels – Filipinos didn’t write novels.  From Seizing the Sword, A Writer's Journey in Beyond Folktales, Legends and Myths

It took me a long time to give myself permission to write - and I wonder if there are many out there (and not just in Asia) unable to give themselves permission to write their stories because they do not find themselves in the books they read.

At that rumbustious panel on Asianness, after discussing quality and market and what our children want, it was Anushka who declared the bottom line for all the writers present:

You just have to write the story you want to tell.

Which might seem a simple thing - except so many of us are not in the habit of thinking we are good enough.

The final paragraphs of my chapter (which is the final chapter of Beyond Folktales) begs to disagree with the classic Filipino poem The Jewels of the Pauper by Horacio de la Costa about the need for a Shakespeare or Cervantes to be born among us.

We are good enough.

Here's a SoundCloud I made of The Jewels of the Pauper for Poetry Month.

Dear Character, I love you but I'm going to kill you

Arthur Rackham's illustration of The Three Bears

Have you ever wondered if there was a fourth bear in The Three Bears? And did Little Red Riding Hood have a sister in a blue dress? And what about Peter Pan's best buddy? For every great character, there exists a cast of alternative heroes who never made it to the final book. Authors have to be tough on their stories and sadly, not every character make the cut.

Over on the DFB StoryBlog, I write a letter of apology to the characters who never made it in my fiction. Read To My Character from a Disloyal Author

Books, books, books! It must be my birthday!

Dear Candy Gourlay, What is the lesson of Tall Story?

Hey everybody, I made this for you!

A Discussion Guide for Tall Story by Candy Gourlay

I love Tall Story. What should I read?

If you can't see the slideshare, view it here

A video for the children of Brazil on World Book Day

A video for the children of Brazil that I made with picture book man Ed Vere and the children of Nightingale School for Pop Up Projects!

Happy World Book Day!

Sunshine and three very special schools in Hackney for Booklinks

I stopped for coffee next to the Hackney Empire theatre 

Today I visited three schools in Hackney as part of the Booklinks programme created by Pop Up Projects - Morningside, Millfields and Clapton Girls' Academy. I've just been reading my friend Jane McLoughlin's report about her Booklinks Day and I have to agree that it's a very special and satisfying programme -

Town Hall Tales - Shoreditch Town Hall and planning novels in 45 minutes.

Bookselling table and festival crew.

Town Hall Tales - Visiting Virginia Primary and Sebright School

The children had all drawn pictures of the book!
I am scheduled to visit them again to see their work
on Tall Story and I CAN'T WAIT!

There are no beginnings with no endings.

Photographer Ian Beesley's favourite shot marks a time when his beloved boss of old was coming to the end of his career, just as Ian himself was beginning a new one in photography.

My Former Life as a Pregnant Cartoonist: Using Comics to Tell Stories

Info ... what?

Over on my other blog Notes from the Slushpile, we've started a new series called the Geek List - geeky tools that can make the job of being an all-writing, all-marketing author much easier.

My first piece is about using Powerpoint to easily create infographics. I got so caught up in it that when I remembered that it was my turn to blog over at my publisher's  StoryBlog (yes ANOTHER blog) I made a comic using Powerpoint!

Tall Story , the Audio Book!

I have been so busy writing my next novel that I've neglected to do a big HURRAH for the amazing Listening Library audiobook of Tall Story, which was released in February this year. Yup, bad author, me! I should have blogged earlier but I really wanted to do something exciting. Well, I've finally done it! Here's my trailer for Tall Story ... the Audio Book!

Jim Kay of A Monster Calls: Trying Not To Draw

I posted this caption story on my Facebook page then I thought ... why not blog it as well?

I was totally blown away by A Monster Calls - not just Patrick Ness's brilliant take of the late Siobhan Dowd's story idea but by the astounding illustrations of Jim Kay.

My MP Jeremy Corbyn has signed the Early Day Motion for School Libraries - Has Yours?

Schools Need Libraries from Candy Gourlay

Tall Story Reviews

Jenny Woolf, Ham & High:

The School Librarian

BLOGS

Book Witch, Meat Cleaver Time: "My best book of the year has to be Tall Story by Candy Gourlay. It just has to" Read

Book Witch Review: "This seriously humorous book is incredibly sweet. The way Candy has woven what happens into an intriguing story is most impressive ... Tall Story is the kind of book which even as early as in January you can say will be one of the best in 2010." Read

Library Mice: "What I particularly liked about this book, beyond the talented writing, is Candy's ability to mix many different themes; it covers witchcraft and curses, mythical stories of giants protecting the land from earthquakes, gigantism (a very real condition), as well very contemporary themes of poverty, immigration and integration, sibling relationships, and cultural identity and differences ... Candy Gourlay is great new and original voice in children's literature and I very much look forward to seeing what she has in store for us next."" Read

Mel Rogerson, Chicklish "... hats off to Candy Gourlay. Tall Story is a cracking debut, and I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys multi-layered, heartwarming stories with a touch of magic. A potential classic." Read

KM Lockwood "You can’t really fail with a book that opens 'Rush hour. So many armpits, so little deodorant' can you?" Read

Writing from the Tub. "It’s one of those books that is so sweet it makes me want to frolic through a field with a puppy or something, in a good way. When I finished the book I sat back for a few minutes and savoured what I had read, feeling all warm and fuzzy and that definitely cannot be a bad thing." Read

My Favourite Books. "...deliciously wonderful and uplifting and it made me laugh and cry at the same time. I definitely think that David Fickling Books have a winner on their hands and I hope that Tall Story makes a big splash because it genuinely does deserve it. Small in size, but big in impact, Tall Story won't leave a dry eye in the house. It's so many things but mostly it's powerful storytelling at its best." Read

Portrait of a Woman "...this is a very touching and down-to-earth story about a family, about making choices and having to live with the consequences. You will laugh out loud at some of the moments and cry your heart out in others. And as everyone in the book falls for Bernardo, you will fall for this unique and original story !" Read

Jim Calliote's Blog "The biggest thing about "Tall Story" is not eight-foot Bernard, but the magical way Candy Gourlay brings two very different people and cultures together, and makes us believe it was meant to be." Read

PHILIPPINES

Rey Ramos. "The book is categorised as a children's story, but honestly, there are underlying messages that the author would like to convey, not only for those kids who love to play basketball, who believe in myths/tales, but also for adults (like me) being captivated with Filipino hero characters (like Bernardo Carpio, Darna, Ang Panday, and many others) and supertitious beliefs. And most importantly, the story rekindles the human spirit, hope, faith and courage ..." Read

Ruel S. de Vera, Philippine Daily Inquirer. Gourlay’s Tall Story is a lovable, accessible tale of two siblings, basketball and realizing the difference between the things that we want the most and the things that really matter. Read

Andrea Pasion Flores picks the Ten Best Pinoy Books of 2010, Spot.ph. The heartbreak of leaving family members behind to work abroad and enduring years of separation may be an all too familiar scenario for Pinoys. While it might be considered too heavy for young readers, this is the art of Candy Gourlay. The author tells the story of basketball fan Andi, a young English girl whose 8- foot-tall Filipino stepbrother Bernardo was separated from her and their mom for 16 years while waiting for his papers to come through. Then one day, it finally happens--Andi and her stepbrother both find themselves in London. Things don't turn out as expected, and two siblings discover that sometimes, the unforeseen may be conquered with the power of shared wishes. Read

Angelo Ancheta, Cerebral Cap: Reading a young adult novel like TALL STORY, a retelling of a legend I heard as a kid and situating the characters in the modern times of high-tech communication, of cell phones, email, personal digital assistants, and the like tells me no tale is ever tall. Something or anything TALL is relative, and that any obstacle or challenge that seems bad at first may not be at all.

Tina Matanguihan, Philippine Online Chronicles:
Tall Story is a poignant, heartwarming story of clashing cultures, of family and sibling love, with just the right amount of magic, tears and laughter. This is one story that everyone, whether British, Filipino or otherwise, would not regret having read.

Carmela G. Lapena, GMA News TV: "In the end, it isn't just that "Tall Story" is well-written that makes it a good read. From the opening lines "Rush hour. So many armpits. So little deodorant," the reader is hopelessly captivated, and before you can say "I couldn't put it down," the 300 pages have been turned." Read

Chachic's Book Nook:
"A lot of us can relate to Bernardo’s story and how hard it is to live away from those you love. I think it’s great that a Filipino author with a young adult book has been published internationally because I’d love for you guys to read this book. It has a wonderful blend of contemporary fiction and Filipino mythology, resulting in a cohesive story that has a lot of heart." Read

Jzhun Agev, Dark Chest of Wonders Blog: "Candy Gourlay’s voice is a refreshing breath of air, writing in an accessible, kid-friendly, charming style peppered with comic wit." Read

ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD

Liz Morris of Inis Magazine (Ireland) writes: this book addresses many issues and gives readers a perspective on the feelings of inadequacy and strangeness experienced by those trying to master a new language while learning to adjust to new and complex family situations in unfamiliar suirroundings. The author skilfully and humorously draws the reader into the worlds and experiences of the half-siblings - and passes on a wealth of information about the world that unifies them. Click on the image to read the full review



Claire Larson, ReadPlus (Australia) : "Candy Gourlay has made an incredibly complex structure flow like runny honey off a spoon. If this is her first novel I can't wait to see her next ...Look out for this in the 2010 awards. With an original plot, superb structure, impressive characterisation and equal boy girl appeal, I think we are sure to hear more of Tall Story." Read

Mary Arrigan, Irish Examiner (Ireland):
Issues of separation, being different and family values are treated with humour and insight. Read the mention

A School Run that Makes You Think

'Do not disturb. I am reading'' ... Door hangers for you

I've got some school visits coming up in the next month or so and I had the brilliant idea of printing door hangers instead of book marks to give away.

Alas when I scouted printing prices, it turned out that I would have to take out another mortgage to have them printed.

But then I thought, why not just supply the design ... and the readers can make the door hangers themselves!

Thinking of Malala Yousafzai on the International Day of the Girl

Swipe to view slideshow if you're on a smartphone.

Today is the International Day of the Girl.

Relearning the colour of me: a poem for National Poetry Day

It was National Poetry Day the other day and seeing all the other blogs exploding into rhyme reminded me that I had a few old poems stashed away. Now I would never, never call myself a poet - it's not what I do. But there have been some big epiphany moments in my life when words just rose out from a place I didn't know existed in my brain. Or maybe it was my heart. Please read my poem below and if you still have the energy, you can read the story behind it in the afterword.

A Library is much more than the sum of its parts

I've had libraries on my mind these past few days. Went to the School Librarian of the Year Award Ceremonies on Monday - I made a Slideshare about it:

Big congrats, Adam Lancaster! (swipe to view slideshow if you're on a smartphone)
SLA School Librarian of the Year 2012 from Candy Gourlay

Stuff for Writers

Just a heads up to any writers passing through of stuff I recently wrote on the group blog for writers Notes from the Slushpile:

Writing is a decision - no excuses!

No cake, no self control ... scientific proof that cake enhances will power (at least that's how I understood it)

Marketing Platforms: If everyone's now got a platform, how are you supposed to stand out?

This Season of Gold - Our Olympic Summer doesn't have to come to an end

'Goodbye to Britain's golden summer,' wrote columnist Jonathan Freedland at the close of London 2012. It was indeed golden, and not just because of the bumper crop of British gold medals that
appeared to take the public by surprise in a sports-mad country that rarely seems to come top of the charts.

Sunday night marked the end of a season of wonder that seemed to surprise the hosts as much as the guests, a period where we looked in the mirror and were met by an unexpected reflection – one we rather liked. Read London 2012: Goodbye to Britain's golden summer by Jonathan Freedland

Storyblogging time again - how I started writing a vampire novel but lost my way in the rain

Over on the Storyblog, DFB authors and illustrators are blogging on the subject of second books.

The subject of course is most significant to me as my second novel is coming out next year. Shine has been almost three years in the making, and I think it's okay to reveal that, frankly, it's NOT the book I set out to write.

Read my Storyblog piece on how my second novel was a tale of the unexpected ...

Photos from today's IBBY World Congress

This is just a hurried photo run-down of an outstanding day. With thanks to the hardworking organizers of the IBBY World Congress 2012 for inviting me to speak. IBBY stands for International Board of Books for Young People - it's an international network committed to bringing books and children together. The congress' theme for 2012 is Translations and Migrations. 

Now I know what that creature in Shaun Tan's Arrivals book is - according to Shaun it's a tadpole with legs! I always thought it was a mini walking beluga whale.  Sarah McIntyre (who was given the job of introducing Shaun at his keynote today) made a tribute arrival card featuring Shaun's tadpole:

Harvested from Sarah's Tumblr Instagrams - view her IBBY photos here

My Story Cloud: the Boy Who Lived on a Pancake

I've been away, travelling, and so I missed Monday's unveiling of my own story (illustrated by the amazing amazing Deborah Allwright of Night Pirates fame) on the wonderful Story Cloud website. Tsk tsk!

This is my story and I am not an onion

NEWS! Tall Story recently won the National Children's Book Award in the Philippines! Big congrats to my illustrator Yasmin Ong and publisher Ramon Sunico and thank you to the Philippine Board on Books for Young People and the National Book Development Board. Here's the beautiful trophy - can't wait to visit the Philippines and see it for myself! Meanwhile, here is a piece I've been dying to write since I curated one of the pavilions at the Pop Up Festival. 

It was an act of faith when I invited Lahing Kayumanggi  to perform during my bit of the Pop Up Festival. I'd never seen them perform before, though I'd heard from other Pinoys in London that they were amazing.

Pop Up's website declares that its aim is to"inspire children, families and communities through books and stories".  And I thought - what better way to tell the Filipino story than through dance!

Love Letters

I seem to be writing love letters this weekend ... well, not just writing. First off, here's some video love for the Theresian School of Cavite who are having a book fair today! 


(If you haven't ever heard me speak Filipino English, here's your chance!)

WE READ - my DIY documentary of what children are reading and why

Magnificent Authors and a Fun Fiesta at the Pop Up Festival!

Twas the night before the Pop Up Festival of Stories and my friend Juliet Clare Bell, author of the wonderful Don't Panic, Annika, looked like this:

Clare was staying the night because she was performing the next day as one of the featured authors in my Fiesta themed programme. She offered to help me with whatever I needed to do to get set for the festival but she had no idea how much we had to do!

Holly the Hedgehog and Other Amazing Stories

One of the amazing things about being an author is you run into amazing people.

I met sound recordist Jon Owen when I recorded the sound for my story for the Story Cloud initiative. Jon is a musician who also works in education - he does stuff like running music programmes for autistic kids.

Teetering on My High Wire

Just read teen author Keren David's post about her daughter's glitzy school ball for leavers. The headmaster gave some advice to the young ones that resonated in my old head:

Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it. Go read Keren's post

You see, I'm slightly overwhelmed by this coming weekend.

Congrats to Patrick Ness - a double win!

I was thrilled to discover this morning that Patrick Ness had won the Carnegie AND the Greenaway (with illustrator Jim Kay) for their stunning book A Monster Calls.

Thinking about Diaspora at the Jewish Museum

An interactive display at the Jewish Museum 

I met my first Jewish person during the political turmoil of the 1980s when the Philippines was suddenly inundated by scores of foreign correspondents.

I wouldn't have known that my American friend, Steve, was Jewish if it hadn't been for him constantly  referring to his shoes as 'jews' and joking that his mother was checking up on whether he was 'going to temple' in Manila.

Singapore Fling - My Video of the Asian Festival of Children's Content

Here's a video I made with the scraps I found in my camera. Apologies for the poor focusing - I got a new camera lens for my birthday and haven't learned how to use it properly yet!

Singapore Fling - what I learned at the Asian Festival of Children's Content

I've just come back from Singapore where I attended the Asian Festival of Children's Content! Yup. That's the author's life. So hard.

With prolific Filipino author-illustrators Russell Molina and Jomike Tejido
Photo: Russell Molina

Banana Peel on My Mind: How to Give Success the Slip

So many banana peels, so little time. 

This week, I'm guest blogging on Elizabeth Stevens Omlor's Banana Peelin blog - Elizabeth's worthy mission is to name and classify every single banana peel on the road to getting published (sounds like procrastination to me, but hey).

Anyway ... the road to publication is LITTERED with banana peels. For every book published, four score and seven commissioning editors lie snoring, bored to oblivion by their slushpile. Let not their sacrifice be in vain.

Read my ten tips on how to give success the slip 

I'm on Dear Teen Me!

Candy at 15 with
baby brother Armand,  just two.

I'm so excited because I'm the featured author on Dear Teen Me. It's a blog featuring authors writing to their teenage selves with all the wealth of possibility that suggests. What would you say to your spotty young self? Do you have the wisdom to face up to all those insecurities, fears, hurts that you kept bottled up in those formative years? Or maybe you just want to say it's gonna be okay.

Help! I've crossed to the other side of my century!

Interrogation time!

Sarah McIntyre responded to the Q&A in cartoons! Wish I had the idea first!

Over on the StoryBlog, we're all responding to a Q&A! You can read my grumpy answers here.

What I Learned from Writing My Second Novel

I can't believe it! After two and a half years of gnashing my teeth, SHINE is finished! Neil Gaiman, quoting Gene Wolfe, says: "You never learn to write a novel. You only learn to write the novel you're on."

So what did I learn on the road to finishing SHINE? I've posted half a dozen nuggets of wisdom extracted in the most excruciating manner possible from Shine's roller coaster writing journey. Read it and share my teeth-gnashing over at Notes from the Slushpile.

Then,  I shall be eternally grateful if thus alerted to my suffering, you could please, maybe, kindly,  leave a comment on the post, perhaps a kind word of encouragement, a hint of sympathy, and then, erm, well, you know,  pre-order Shine.

You Read? You Write? You Tube! ... Come Star in My Video!

I've made quite a few fun videos now with the cooperative children who live in my neighbourhood, but the kids - rather inconveniently - keep growing up.

And now they are no longer as willing to star in my DIY efforts without contracts, expenses, seven figure advances and personal assistants. So when the opportunity came up to make a video with children at the Guardian Open Weekend, I leapt at it!

Shhh ... I'm writing ...

... yup, I'm keeping my head down for a bit because I'm busy writing the final chapters of my forthcoming novel SHINE (I hope they've removed the synopsis on Amazon because boy oh boy, how the story has changed since it went up).

But ... 

For some reason, life isn't just standing by waiting for me to finish writing my book.

How I almost drowned and other delightful seaside tales

This is a photo of me on a South Korean beach just before I almost drowned 25 years ago. Over on the DFB Blog, I've been asked to blog on a seaside theme so I thought I'd tell this delightful story.

Do come over and read Almost Drowning and Other Delightful Seaside Tales on the DFB Storyblog. Do leave me a comment (I'm needy like that).

Salford Children's Book Award

Last week, I was one of the shortlisted authors who attended the wonderful prize giving ceremony for the Salford Children's Book Award 2011.

It was my first time in Northern parts as an author, so I asked the organizers if I could swing a school visit or two. They obliged and as a result I had a fun session with children from St Peter's CE School and Clifton Primary School  in Swinton Library.

The Book is Dead? Not at THIS School!

An excerpt from the Reader's Cup - taken with my mobile phone!

2012, Here We Come!

Here's wishing you all much happiness this coming New Year, whatever 2012 may bring ...

Spreading the love this season

Season's Greetings, oh lovely friends and readers!!!

Kids Lit Quiz - Meeting the Best Readers in North London!

Quizmaster Wayne Mills travels the world conducting these quizzes

Wow! Yesterday, I chugged up to the North London Heat of the Kids Lit Quiz with a carful of authors - Keren David (When I Was Joe), Fiona Dunbar (Kitty Slade Mysteries) and Sita Brahmachari (Artichoke Hearts).

Great Expectations With SCBWI British Isles

You win a prize, you get to cut the cake! Photo: Sue Eves

I've just come home from a most moving weekend. It was the annual conference of SCBWI British Isles* - an organization of writers and illustrators that has had a huge impact on my creative life.

This year Tall Story won the inaugural Crystal Kite Prize for Europe, the only peer-given prize for children's books.  I was awarded the trophy at the conference and asked to deliver a speech. 

I was also surprised to be given this year's Outstanding Contribution Award. It was particularly poignant for me because last year the prize was won by my friend Margaret Carey, whom we lost to cancer last summer. 

Receiving the two awards was like getting a huge hug from an organization that has been family to me since I joined in 2002. 

I am not supposed to be doing anything online at the moment, as my book deadline looms, but I just wanted to share my Crystal Kite acceptance speech. I wrote it with a lump in my throat.

Here is the shortlist, and below, my speech.

Learning about learning to read: Phonics, Real Books, Reading Schemes, The Electric Company

Reading is good. But how should reading be taught?
Photo: Pratham Books 

I'm an author (just). Surely I know something about reading ...

But last week I found out that it took more than a love for writing and reading to teach children how to read.

Mum of Warcraft: my autobiographical story on Tesco Magazine Kids' Book Club

Yes, dear reader, Mum of Warcraft is based on my absolutely true story as a part-time computer game fanatic. Check out my Mum of Warcraft story on the Tesco Magazine Kids' Book Club (with apologies to Zhang Ziyi from whom I borrowed this magnificent pose)

So I just found out that my story is up on the Tesco Kids' Book Club.

Finding The Unmistakeable I Am

Screen Grab from ABC News obit

I was saddened this morning to hear that Steve Jobs had died.

I immediately wanted to write a quick blog post with the title 'Why we should all be more like Steve Jobs'.

Outside looking in ... or inside looking out?

I've been deep in my cave these last few weeks, writing furiously -  our recent holiday has given me fresh energy and for the first time in ages, I'm enjoying the laying down of a story.

It's been a slog, this book. Unlike Tall Story which was one of those books that wrote itself, this one has taken a long time to reveal itself to me.

What I did on my summer staycation

Well it's back to school for us here in the UK - and I'm sure school children all over the country are gearing up to write the traditional school essay - What I Did On My Summer Holiday (or vacation as they say in other parts).

Summer tales

It's the summer holidays but I seem to be doing a lot of guest blogging! Come along and see what I'm wittering on about on other people's blogs!

My publisher David Fickling Books has decided to recruit their authors to post on their StoryBlog and I foolishly volunteered to go first! DFB, having just launched I Don't Believe It Archie! by Andrew Norris, asked us to write about something embarrassing.