Behind the Shelves With Paxman

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I was invited along to the grand civic opening of the new Shepherds Bus library slap bang beside the shiny Westfield shopping centre.  The location is no coincidence as Westfield coughed up a considerable amount of money towards the library as part of the...

Great YA Author Sites

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With that back to school feel in the air I decided it was time to take a look around at what my fellow YA authors were up to web-wise.  After all, you can always learn a few new tricks or, as most writers do, simply nick all the best ideas… And where better to...

I’ve Got An Idea!

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I’ve got an idea.  It’s been hammering at me for days, intruding on all sorts of mundane thoughts.  There I am, making up shopping lists in my head when BAM! it’s popping up between the veggies and the washing powder.  Even more interesting, this is...

Do It Like Dahl

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Yes, it’s been a while. That’s the trouble with writing – you’re often too busy doing it to write about doing it. Anyway, I’m back with the second in my series of short homilies on writing for children and this time I’d like to explore subject matter. It’s obviously...

How Stephanie Meyer Wrote Twilight

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For the third in my series on authors talking about how they get their ideas I’ve chosen the current doyenne of teen books, Stephanie Meyer. The story of how she got the idea for Twilight in a dream is well known but what I found interesting are the steps she...

Writing for Children

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Alongside my series of posts on how authors get ideas I’ve decided to write up my own, slightly anarchic take on writing for children. This series of tips and thoughts on the subject will be entirely random. It’s intended for both wannabe and more...