News / Diary

This combined 'news and diary' page will be updated with brief reports of any interesting events and other noteworthy dates that may crop up as time goes on!  For more immediate or detailed news and information, please visit my blog or follow me on Twitter!

2009

21st January
I attended a 'Getting Started in Voice Overs' workshop at Shining Management in London.  Run by Jennifer Taylor and Lewis Rae, it was an excellent introduction to the world of voice over work, cramming in plenty of information and inside tips, while still leaving more than enough time for questions afterwards!


11th February
The second Barnes Literary Society (BLS) event of the year was entitled  'Setting the Desert on Fire'.  James Barr's talk, tracing the origins of the current conflict in the Middle East, was fascinating stuff.


5th March
Along with fellow author Preston Rutt, I visited Kew Montessori school to take part in their celebration of World Book Day.


16th March
I had a fantastic day at the Virgo Fidelis Preparatory School, where they were holding their own School Book Day.  The staff and pupils were very welcoming and it was great to meet award-winning illustrator Garry Parsons and have the opportunity to sit in on one of his workshops with the older children.  I have posted a more detailed account of the visit here on my blog. 


3rd - 5th April
I spent the weekend at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival and, once again, had a fantastic time!  The highlights included an extremely entertaining debate between children's writers Helena Pielichaty and Penny Dolan - Penny arguing in favour of fantasy in children's books, whilst Helena championed reality - a wonderful talk by former Children's Laureate, Michael Morpurgo, and a moving presentation by ex-Royal Marine, Pen Farthing, who, with the help of his wife Lisa, not only managed to rescue a large number of mistreated dogs while serving in Afghanistan, but has also now set up the charity Nowzad Dogs to continue the good work.  You can read more about Pen's experiences (and help the dogs by doing so) in his brilliant book, One Dog at a Time: Saving the Strays of Helmand.


9th April
I was lucky enough to catch the touring production of Brief Encounter at Richmond Theatre today and really enjoyed it!  Kneehigh productions are always engaging, innovative and well-acted and this was no exception.


20th - 22nd April
The London Book Fair took place over these three days and, for the first time ever, I decided to attend.  I had heard that book fairs could be depressing places for authors but this year there seemed to be more events aimed at us than before, so I thought it might be worth dropping in.  And, happily, I was right - eight seminars and one interview yielded around 50 A5 pages of notes and the firm resolution to return next year!


27th April
I very much enjoyed the Ten Years of the Children's Laureate discussion platform at the National Theatre this evening.  The stellar line-up of past and present Laureates - Quentin Blake, Anne Fine, Michael Morpurgo, Jacqueline Wilson and Michael Rosen - chatted about their individual experiences of holding the post and answered a number of questions about their writing. 


28th April
The Society of Authors (SOA) held their Spring Gathering this evening - a nice opportunity to compare notes with other writers or, for the more courageous among us, attempt a spot of networking with the invited publishers, agents, booksellers and assorted other industry folk!


14th May
Philippa Milnes-Smith (the Chair of the Association of Authors' Agents) and Stephanie Thwaites discussed the current state of the publishing trade from an agent's perspective at the SOA's Children's Writers and Illustrators Group's evening talk.  They also made some very interesting suggestions with regard to online publicity and what authors can do to help themselves.


9th June
Anthony Browne was announced as the new Children's Laureate today!


18th June
As a belated birthday treat this year I was lucky enough to see the quite spectacular Peter Pan, staged in Kensington Gardens itself.  It was almost magical enough to make up for growing another year older! ;-)


19th July
I saw Sir Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Simon Callow and Ronald Pickup in Waiting For Godot at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket today.  I can imagine that the play might drag a little in the hands of less talented actors but these four titans were able to get the very best out of Beckett's script!  Highly recommended.


10th September
The SCBWI's Agents' Party - the first major SCBWI event that I've been to.  It was both extremely interesting and great fun - I even met someone who had already read and enjoyed Uncle Alonzo's Beard!


9th and 11th November
Shadow Road staged The Road to Remembrance at the Old Sorting Office in Barnes to raise money for the charity Combat Stress.  An original show that I devised and directed, it featured a selection of poetry, prose, music and drama from both World Wars and starred a number of excellent actors and a wonderful choir from Imperial College School of Medicine, conducted by Tom Smith and accompanied by talented Royal College of Music student Alvaro Corral Matute.  A good time was had by all and a healthy chunk of cash raised for charity - what more could I ask for?  Many thanks to all who attended! :-) 


23rd November
I squeezed into the last night of previews for the new adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Nation at the National Theatre.  Their big winter productions (His Dark Materials, Coram Boy, War Horse etc) are always spectacular and Nation was no different!  It was not quite as moving as the others have been, nor was the music as memorable but it was still a remarkable production and I would have been very sad to have missed it.