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Are you writing and/or illustrating for children? Join Writers & Artists online for a weekend of live masterclasses, panel discussions, and exclusive pre-recorded video resources with authors, illustrators, and industry professionals.
 
Now in its fourth year, W&A’s Children’s Writers & Illustrators Festival takes place across 21st and 22nd March 2026 and boasts a stellar line-up of authors, illustrators and industry professionals ready to offer practical guidance, candid discussion, and invaluable insight into the creative and publishing processes.
 
Speakers include Dean Atta, A.F. Harrold, Jennifer Killick, Manjeet Mann, Ashley Thorpe, plus many more, while ALL ticketholders are also invited to attend ‘The Power of the Pitch’, a 90-minute panel discussion between a literary agent, commissioning editor and bookseller.
 
This is designed to be an accessible, informative and fun weekend that celebrates writing and illustrating for children and young people. Attendees can expect interactive sessions that cover aspects of the creative process, provide tips on how to write and illustrate for different target ages, and plenty of insight into the publishing process. Lots of time has also been built into the line-up for attendee participation in the form of writing exercises, discussion, and the chance to ask questions.
 
A range of ticket-types are available, and the full programme can be found on the Weekend Pass page: https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/events-and-courses/childrens-writers-illustrators-festival-2026-weekend-pass
 

Day arrived six days ago. It is incredible to think this is the same boy - he has travelled so far to reach me.

He was well looked after throughout his long journey, but understandably when he arrived he had a lot of pent up energy. It took a few of us to wrestle him into his rugs. It was a filthy wet day, but Day didn't care, he was so happy to be free and charged up the hill in the field showing off his fast trot. It was wonderful to watch him go. 

We kept Day in a separate field to Molly and Turko for the first night, but it was obvious how desperate he was to be with them. Horses need to be with their own kind, this is how they seek reassurance and so we opened the gate and allowed nature to take its course.

We had made many predictions of how the three of them would interact with one another, but what we hadn't expected was how much it would affect Turko. He is usually by far the most chilled, easy going and sociable horse on the block, so to see him act like a protective stallion was fascinating. This was supposed to be the pony we were retiring and here he was spinning and kicking out and charging Day with teeth bared. Wild! Day acted perfectly, completely submissive and accepting that he was bottom of the pack. Once Turko had clearly established his leadership and accepted Day as not being a threat, everything calmed down.

This morning we had a visit from Tim, our wonderful farrier. He took off Day's front two shoes that had travelled with him. They will be gifted to Tom Hill Sculptures to be made into something beautiful and ever-lasting. 

There is absolutely no rush with this wonderful horse. We are taking everything day by day and not putting any pressure on each other. We will be working towards riding out, but it is a process that will take some time. I will let you know how we get on.

Day is already proving himself to be exactly the right choice for me. I am really enjoying getting to know this special soul and my heart could not be fuller. 

This is Day (Damien), my horse who I've now officially adopted from RMJ Horse Rescue. 

Day has not yet left his current home, the rescue centre in Siggiewi, Malta but he, and another ten retired race trotters will all be boarding Truck Pirate on Tuesday to make the long journey of over 3,000 km to his new home with me in Hertfordshire. It will take between 5-9 days.

He is going to be confused, tired, cold and possibly scared. He will not know that he's arrived at his forever home and he will never have to make such a long journey ever again. He will not know me and he will not know Molly and Turko. He will be leaving everything he has known behind. My job as his new owner, is to make Day as comfortable, and welcome as possible to help him settle and relax.

Day's race name was Demon de la Besvre. He is a Standardbred, bred and trained to trot in harness racing, first in France, then later in Malta. His last race was in June this year and he is now retired and has been rehabilitated by the RMJ to hack, this means to be ridden out of the arena. This is what I do, it is called Happy Hacking; gentle riding in the countryside, much like you might walk a dog, but on horseback. In America they call it trail riding. 

This is a very different life to what Day has known. I hope he will welcome it, but I have no idea how he will react and how long it will take us to become friends. 

Right now I'm getting everything ready for Day's arrival in a weeks time; buying everything he will need, like feed bowls, rugs, hay and feed; registering him with the vets and the farrier and organising insurance. I'm organising and thinking about the logistics of his care.

As the amazing experience of adopting Day is unfolding I am documenting it, with the hope of producing a book. I'm self-funding this with money that was left to me by my mum. She was not a horse rider, but she wholeheartedly believed in realising your dreams and I know she would've supported using her legacy in this way. 

I know the tone of this blog post is measured and controlled. The reality is I'm so excited that I'm struggling to sleep because this is real. Day is real. And this is my childhood dream finally coming true. 

Since making the decision I have told everyone in my world who I know is connected to horses that I am looking to buy my own. This included strangers, such as the nice, hay-covered woman in the carpark of Horseworld. She had her car boot open waiting for her sacks of grass pellets to be delivered. "You horsey?" I asked her. She laughed pointing to the saddles and bridles in her car, "did you guess from my portable tack room?" We chatted and swapped numbers after she promised to look out for a happy hacker for me.

I designed a tear-off-tab poster that I put up on the notice board in Horseworld. I joined a ridiculous number of facebook groups. I wrote an ad that went to all the polo-pony contacts in the area who might be wanting to retire one of their horses from competition. I contacted the met-police, having heard that they were closing their mounted police division in certain London boroughs.

From all of this I've had a few potentials but nothing right either for me, or for the home I would be bringing them to. Since then I've learned that there is potentially a hay shortage this winter due to such a dry summer. This means feeding a third horse could be problematic. The search may have to be suspended.

​But wait...because now I have seen this handsome boy.

Damien (please don't be alarmed by the name - if anything it makes me want him more) is perfect for me, he's a retired standardbred trotter, only twelve, fantastic in traffic, totally chill and look, here he is being ridden by a thirteen year-old! But there is an issue and not just the hay shortage. Damien is in Malta.

See, what I haven't told you, is that during my frantic online horse-hunting, I found out about RMJ's Horse Rescue. I joined a group called Project Back To Green, where I read about all these amazing horses being successfully re-homed. I didn't understand because all the re-homing centres I had contacted such as Redwings and Equine Rehoming and Blue Cross only had companion horses available (nothing that I could ride). Then I realised that RMJ's was based in Malta and the rescue horses were shipped into the UK. Suddenly it was no longer a calling and I wanted out; it would be a huge risk to adopt a horse unseen. However, I was told, by one of the volunteers for RMJ based in Wales, that there was a possibility of adopting from the UK. Sometimes the shipped horses didn't work out with their adopters; circumstances changed and they were no longer able to keep their rescue horse. These horses are much rarer, but I wasn't in a hurry and it felt safer, I could do a vet check on the horse, maybe even try it out (ride it) before agreeing to adoption. But then I saw Damien!

Damien is up for adoption now and they can't hold him for me because they need to make room in Malta for the next group of horses looking for their forever homes. The more I've investigated the charity and the more stories I hear from people, just like me, who have done this, taken the risk, the more I want to do it. These horses need good homes. They have worked so hard in their careers, being shipped all over Europe to compete, they deserve to go to loving homes, with grass and live outside. One last epic journey, to find me and then stay and be happy.

On Monday I'm off to visit someone I have met online through RMJ's who has loved the process so much she has done it three times. I'm taking Sarah, my fantastic friend, who owns Molly and Turko and the land where I will be keeping my horse. I'm hoping that Sarah will feel as reassured and excited about the Malta adoption as I do and will agree to doing it sooner, so that we can welcome Damien into our lives as early as late November. 

It won't come as a surprise to learn that I'm writing about this lifelong dream. There will be snippets, just like this one, along the way, but the aim is for a book (what else?)
​
The next exciting instalment will coming soon once I've lived it - Wish me luck! 
​

Yes, that is all I'm going to say about my amazing day.

This is the gorgeous Turko - the horse on which Loki, the star of project pony is based. Even though I have been riding Turko for around ten years, he is not actually mine. He is owned by my amazing friend, Sarah and is kept on her land, along with her other horse (and his best friend), Molly. 

Turko is, very sadly, becoming too old to safely carry my weight. This means I'm going to have to stop riding him. He'll be mostly retired and as you can see from his sleepy expression, I think he's pretty happy with this decision ;) 

However, I'm less keen on retiring - I definitely want to keep riding, so I've made the very exciting decision of looking for a horse of my very own.

EXCITING!

This is a HUGE THING. I did own my own pony for a very short time when I was fifteen, but she very sadly died and since then I've never, until now, been in a position to be able to try again. This is truly a lifetime dream.

You are all welcome to come along on this adventure too. I'll be sharing my story here and on my socials so watch out for news.

Ponies. Ponies. Ponies!

Don't miss out on the £50 discount for schools who access my early bird offer. Remember this runs out at the end of the month. Contact me by the end of September to get your date booked in.

You can find out full details about my visits by going to my Visits/Events page where, at the bottom, there is a link to a downloadable PDF. 

Hope to hear from you soon!

On the 15 October fellow Children's Author Gabrielle Shewohorak and I will be in discussion as part of The Times and Sunday Times Cheltenham Literary Festival line-up. The event runs from 11.45-12.45 and takes place at the Hub on the main site. 

This event is only open to schools which is why it is not publicly listed. I am really looking forward to it and have booked to see a couple of other events whilst I am there.