When I wrote my second novel, The Girl and the Sunbird, I would sit at a desk in my upstairs bedroom with sunbirds flitting to and fro from the foliage outside (yes, really, hence the title’s inspiration), type away at my story, and cry. And this wasn’t because of the sometimes grim subject matter of […]
Public libraries have been a lifeline for me for many, many years. This poem had been brewing in my head for some time, and I finally made the space and time to sit down and write it. By a lovely sleight of serendipity, it also happens to be #LibrariesWeek. For more information on this, click […]
Maya Melesi is a thirteen year old girl living in Nairobi, Kenya. At one stage she was part of my after school creative writing club, Magic Pencil, and I was struck by her boundless enthusiasm, creativity and facility with words. Maya is dyslexic, and while this was never a problem with her creative writing, I invited her […]
‘Someone reading a book is a sign of order in the world.’ Mary Ruefle Over the past six months as I have been travelling round India, I have been reading and reading and reading. Not that this is any different from normal, but what has been different is being exposed to numerous book swaps across India in […]
I am always so happy to meet another writer. Whether it’s a seven year old child who is tentatively but excitedly experimenting with the power of storytelling, an older person wanting to get their stories down for posterity or somebody who plays around with the occasional poem, meeting another writer who recognises the potency of […]
It is hard to know how to describe Lucy Paget, so wide-ranging are her skills. Perhaps polymath would be the best word for her: Writer, Osteopath, Business Owner, Yoga teacher, Nutritional Herbalist, Chef…the list goes on. Lucy has helped thousands of people the world over to reclaim their physical and mental wellbeing, to embrace life […]
After this year’s shock announcement that no Nobel prize for Literature will be awarded in 2018 due to a sexual harassment scandal (when, oh when will these scandals cease? I suppose when the perpetrators are all exposed, and that could take some time…), I thought I’d say a few words about a Nobel prizewinner for […]
Rudyard Kipling. We all know that he wrote The Jungle Book, one of the most famous pieces of children’s literary works from the Victorian era, spawning of number of big screen adaptations and a plethora of jungle-based adventure stories. We also know he spent time in India, but what else? I, for one, know very […]
As you probably know, I’m travelling round India right now with my husband and three kids (familygappers.com)and lots of people have been asking me, will your next novel be set in India and based on your experiences? The short answer is no, because I’ve got something brewing right now for the next novel which I’m […]
Its been 1.5 years since I wrote my last blog about reading aloud to children, even older children. My kids are now 11,9 & 7 and I thought I’d give an update on what we’re doing now. Well, I’m still reading to my three most nights and the simple reason for that is because they […]