An Author in the Classroom

What you do need in order to work with primary age children is an open mind, a curious nature and be able to pass on your love of writing, and stories to children. You need kindness and an understanding that all children bring a different quality

Seeding a Story on a Blank Page

I am about to start a new book and the blank page is daunting. There is a long way to go from a thought or an idea, maybe a theme or a character, to finished novel. I use a three-step process to build a novel from story seeds

Falling in Love with the Adventures of Mole

I have spent almost every day, so far this year developing A Month of Writing Adventure for children. It is a combination of a teaching guide and creative notebook which I am sure will excite even the most reluctant writer.

Writing Scenes

How being a filmmaker influences my novel writing. Whether we read or watch or even listen to our stories, they all start with words on a page.

Morning Pages and My Creative Process

Morning Pages is part of a process and not a product: I write without fear because no one will ever read it, except myself, sometime in the future when I might rummage around my hard drive for the nuggets of gold. It is a place where stories emerge, plot twists are resolved and ideas explored.

The Truth in Fiction

Memory, truth and lies has become an important theme again in my work, since I developed my workshop programme – Write Your Life. I write pieces of my life in every novel I create. I write FROM my life – from under the skin of my experiences.

Develop a Writing Habit

It is a truth universally acknowledged
that 100% of books which don’t get written, don’t get published. The Writer procrastinates. It is normal. We all do it. Even walking the dog in the rain seems more appealing than facing a blank page …