NE Teen Book Award

SO delighted that My Second Life has been nominated for the North East Teenage Book Award 2014, and in such completely amazing company.

You can see all the books on the shortlist and find out more about the authors here…

Edinburgh was a ball! Such a beautiful city, such a thriving festival and the sun shone the whole time. Really – it did! Highlights were talking Escaping Darkness with the lovely Alexia Casale, and my school visits. A huge thank you to the lovely librarians at Perth & Kinross in particular on my Festival Outreach day. Two brilliant schools at Crieff and Aberfeldy, and I felt very lucky to see the heather out on the Sma’ Glen when we drove between the two. Stunning. And a special mention for the pupils at Queensferry High School who were especially welcoming, and who interviewed me (my first interview – and theirs too it turned out) for the Teen Titles magazine. I’m looking forward to seeing the interview in the December issue. It was sad to leave and see the tents coming down…

It’s been brilliant coming back from Edinburgh and doing some events closer to home.

I had an inspiring morning at Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls in Ealing at the beginning of the month. I ran a Workshop on Creating a Character with some of the Year 9 students, and their ideas and enthusiasm bowled me over.

I was in Ickenham this week to be part of the celebration for all the young volunteers in Hillingdon who volunteered in their local library over the Summer as part of the Mythical Maze Summer Reading Challenge. It was a fantastic evening and I felt really privileged to be part of it all. There were two volunteers in particular who had put in 150 hours each this Summer in their library. Wow. I was humbled and impressed by their dedication and commitment to such an important scheme. A massive congratulations to them all.

Chaired by Alexia Casale, myself and Jon Robinson discussed Reading, Writing and all things YA as one part of the evening.

With huge thanks to Freddie Maud (11) who designed this fantastic poster for MY SECOND LIFE as part of his Home Learning over the Summer Holidays. I think it’s brilliant, and am really touched he chose my book for his project. Thank you, Freddie.