Writing update

I am currently working on some writing for WH Smith covering EYFS to Key Stage 3 which I will tell you more about in due course.

My fiction writing is also getting some much needed attention this week, inspired by a programme I watched yesterday- which I'll keep under wraps for the time being. The programme was very moving and gave me a bit of a push to forge on with some of the work I've had on the go for a while. That, and the fact I'm at home this week (due to unforeseen circumstances) mean that my novel Harlem Honey will receive some extra  TLC. Look out for the next update.

SCBWI

After a week in the Cotswolds who couldn't help but feel revived? The UK has some beautiful areas which really are worthy of exploration.

Perhaps one day I will describe my travels in some form of written record.

Until then let me tell you about the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators otherwise known as SCBWI which if you are serious about writing for children is well worth joining. The society organises professional and social events which help you to both network and develop as a writer. The organisation originates in the US but has a UK contingent and regional groups. Amongst other things they organise the annual children's writers' conference in Winchester.

News and Writing

Today I am battling with the common cold or a strange strain of February flu which has caused me to feel just a little under the weather. Still, it has forced me to take a break and to be lazy- something that I find quite difficult. I am forever finding things that need to be done. However just for a few days, I haven't done very much at all, and this has given me some time to write! Well, write this blog at least.

I am still writing two books I started ages ago and the journey is slow, but this coming week I hope to charge ahead with renewed vigour.

My few days at home resting have also meant that I have had to watch and listen to the news which can be depressing. In my pursuit of happiness (not to be confused with the film title spelt differently) I came across this: Happy News website, which as the website's name suggests is full of news which is not miserable, not depressing, not endlessly sad, but actually happy and positive. It is an American site as you will soon realise but here is a British news site with a positive but slightly different approach.

A long term

An update is long over due so here I am at long last. It has been a long and busy term with work both here and overseas in a wide range of schools.

Early in the term, I completed  an English departmental review for a secondary school in London alongside my usual line of work, before heading out to the Gulf to complete some work for Cambridge Education in a whole host of schools, ranging from kindergartens up to secondary schools. This was for about two months, during which time I managed to go to Dubai where, amongst other things, I went up Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. Having been up the CN Tower in Canada, it was good to be able to compare experiences. I also visited the Dubai Mall, where I saw the longest single piece of acrylic (as featured in the Guiness Book of Records) which, if you've not been and seen, houses an enormous underwater zoo full of sea life which you can literally see as you shop in the mall.

Alongside all of this, I've carried out some work for Hodder on their WH Smith brand English books which have been given an overhaul and are currently being relaunched. Most are due to be published the other side of the new year, so look out for them!

Overall, it's been a good term with its fair dose of expected and unexpected challenges along the way. I don't wish to sound like an aging sage but it's always fascinating to work with different people, young and old, not least because you gain useful insights into human behaviour and indeed psychology. I don't think I'd go quite as far as to say ( as some might and indeed have) that the more people I meet, the more I like my dog - for a start I don't have a dog, but it's certainly the case that the more people I meet the more it reaffirms for me what's important.  

This Christmas break, I'll indulge in a bit of welcome creativity, and hope that I don't take quite as long as I have this time to post an update again.

Firsts

This term is proving to be a term of firsts. I experienced my first ride on a helicopter earlier this month when I packed a bag and headed South West.  It was my first visit to Penzance where I was staying at this gorgeous hotel before flying to the Isles of Scilly to deliver training at a through school.

Landsend was also a first - I visited for the first time and went to the 'last house in England' while in Cornwall. 

From there I headed up North to Grantham- again a first, where I did some more work in a school and stayed in a hotel that claims to be the oldest inn in England.

I received my royalties recently and although it wasn't a first, the figure was. It's great to have some positive firsts once in a while.

Writing galore

I'm currently working on some material for WH Smith's own brand books which are undergoing a revamp with some additional titles being added to the collection. I'm about a quarter the way through what I currently have, but am sure there will be more to come.

As far as ye old fiction goes, I've also been working on some, although I need to dedicate some extra time to this... I'm reserving part of the bank holiday weekend for this.

With a busy term ahead I need to set aside time now for some much needed creative writing. Whether anything will come of it, only time will tell!

Gorgeous sun and writing

Well the sun is out and that certainly makes for a change! About time too.

I'm currently working on some redrafting of the Challenge English series which is at this moment in time being re-enlivened. I will also be doing some additional work for Hodder before settling down to some fiction writing over the summer. A week ago that word- summer had become meaningless but - now that the sun is out, it is starting to look like a summer!


With that in mind I am about to don my sunglasses and hit the road!