THE FAMILY DOG

Our family dogs were of the long-suffering breed; they were much loved rescue dogs that would invariably appear in a book. Here’s Marcus Agrippa – Gripper for short -who took the leading role in one of my childhood books.

And here’s Digby - half sheepdog half wolf hound -who is the Dear Old Dog in my next book, Zoë’s Boat.

FOX



There was one day this week that was so dark and wet, I had to work all day with a daylight bulb on, in order to see my page properly. The rain lifted in the evening and I was able to get out of Cambridge to the higher ground above Wimpole. There were still storm clouds about, a tone or so darker than the undulating fields which were all mauve - planted with vetch - presumably as set-aside. Six beehives sheltered up against the edge of the woods, facing the sweet-scented mauve fields and in the middle of one field stood an mobile hen barn with gentle roosting sounds coming from it.
   Mauve, more muted than purple, is a safe, quiet colour, peaceful to the eye - so the sudden cry of a fox in the woods came as a shock - a harsh deadly sound hurled at the barn, isolated in the middle of the mauve landscape.
My father described  that sound as 'a scream of blood' in his poem 'Fox'

MEETING A DEADLINE

As I attempt to meet a summer deadline for the illustrations of Zoe's Boat, I find it best not to look too far ahead but work by the day in bite-size bits. Otherwise the end feels too far out of sight and I'll never get beyond unwrapping the boat.

UNSEAWORTHY BOAT

This boat in Thaxted church  inspired the boat in the story I'm working on at the moment; a boat so unseaworthy that only great belief and faith could keep it afloat.  Perhaps that's why it's there in Thaxted church; I can see no other reason.
Meanwhile, as I work on the boat in my story, more seaworthy boats pass on the river at the end of my garden and I catch a glimpse of those onboard sipping wine as they sail on by through August.

ELSWORTH SCHOOL WRITING COMPETITION

Here are the four prize winners of the first Elsworth School Writing Competition; they were taken to Patisserie Valerie for tea last Wednesday. Booksellers at Heffers judged the entries and I handed out the prizes at school the day before.  I was very impressed by the standard of writing coming out of this small village school. The link between good writing and the love of reading was evident, especially in the style of William Wisson-Burton's story Turning the Page. William was the overall winner and his name was engraved on a cup  - hopefully the first of many names to be engraved. Elsworth School will be looking for another children's author to hand out the prizes next year. 

WINNIE THE POOH AND THE RLF

Last week I went to Birmingham for a Royal Literary Fund Fellowship meeting for returning fellows. This is the scheme that places writers in universities for two days a week to help students with their essay writing. I did it back in 2005-7 at Kent University and, in September,will do it again at Essex University alongside crime writer, Martyn Waites.
   The day in Birmingham wasn't arduous - there was a short brief from Steve Cook, the Fellowship Officer, a leisurely meal followed by petits fours and coffee, lots of chat with other writers who'd come from all over the country and a goodie bag (above) containing two mugs and a lot of pens to take away.
    A sprinkling of children's writers were present - as there should be - because it's Winnie the Pooh who is funding this scheme: that 'bear of very little brain' but a very big honey pot of riches thanks to Walt Disney .

KIDSBOOKS

I've just returned from Vancouver.

While there, I visited an independent children's bookshop, Kidsbooks and met the bookseller, Phyllis Simon. What struck me first about her shop was its size and then after a long browse its huge range of books.    

    "Business thrives," Phyllis told me, " because parents in Vancouver are very concerned about their children's literacy and they support the bookshop".

     Phyllis, who has a library background, is an Anglophile and is enthusiastic about our children's literary tradition. She wanted to talk about Philippa Pearce and Minnow on the Say, Lucy Boston and the Green Knowe stories, Anne Fine and Helen Oxenbury. However, there was a note of disappointment when she described the range of books she saw in a large London bookshop when she was recently in the UK. Whereas the best of the UK's children's books get into bookshops in Canada and the US she didn't see it happening so much the other way round and, as a result, thought the UK was missing a lot of good books originating in North America.