Meet these brilliant kids who are part of YCC in Stevenage. They have been sharing their stories with me to help with my next writing project. I was completely blown away by each and every one of them. 

It is incredible what some kids are facing every day. So tough and yet they are full of life, love and positivity. It felt an honour to meet them and get to know them better. I'm very grateful to YCC who themselves have just had some amazing news...read on to see what Asda have written to them to say:

Isn't that wonderful news? Please vote to support this fantastic organisation which allows these children to escape from their caring responsibilities for a few hours giving them the chance to be kids again. 

This picture shows me talking to Armani and Lennie who are two of the small group of young carers who have agreed to help create my next book, Who Cares? I can't begin to tell you how powerful their stories are. Their understanding of the adult world shows a level of maturity and comprehension that is more sophisticated than many adults I have met. I'm totally in awe of what they are dealing with and yet they are the nicest, kindest people who could ever talk to. 

Watch out on my blog for news to how this project develops. I want to honour these kids to the best of my ability. 

It's the second time I've applied for the National Lottery Grant through the Arts Council to write my next book, entitled Who Cares? which will feature a young carer as the protagonist.

My funding was rejected last time, but I've decided that the project is so worthwhile that even if I'm rejected a second time I'm going ahead with the book.

I'll be writing in collaboration with young carer organisations, family, friends, professionals but most importantly the young carers themselves.

I had my first visit to Young Carers Crew last week, talking to the children and young people about my books and the Who Cares? project to see if they'd like to get involved. 

It's finally happened...my dog, Stan is featuring in a cameo role in the TLC film entitled 'Why I Write'.

The film is to be premiered on Thursday 15 July 7pm and you can buy a ticket and find out about the event here: 
Tickets & Info for Why I Write Film

All proceeds go to aspiring writers through TLC initiatives so you're supporting a worthy cause.

The Literacy Consultancy (TLC) is an organisation that offers editorial support and advice to many different writers and various stages of their careers. I saw their call out for short (up to 30 seconds) videos answering the question 'Why I Write.' I asked Stan for advice and filmed his response - ours was one of the many entries that they received that was selected. 

We'll of course be attending the premiere of the film and we'll both be scrubbed up nicely (as if it were the Oscars).

We hope you'll join us!

Regular readers of my blog will know that for over a year I've been working on a teen/young adult love story set during a lambing season on a fictional sheep farm just outside of Norwich in March 1991.

My agent, Veronique, has read it along with her colleague at David Higham Associates. Veronique and I have just had a long chat which has resulted in the book sadly being 'shelved' for the time being. 

This means that until the market for teen/young adult book changes the story will not be put out to publishers.

Basically it seems that nobody will want to buy my lambing love story  at the moment. ​

You might think that this news would be hugely disappointing, after all I've spent months redrafting the book. I've followed editorial and fellow writers advice, rewriting it to make it pack a punch, but I feel okay about the decision.

I'm hugely proud of the book. I think it's different; funny and sweet, with interesting characters and a fantastic setting. It's full of warm nostalgia and bouncy lambs - what's not to love? Why won't publishers want it?

The longer I'm in this world, the more I come to understand that writing is a long game and market forces are strong. Nothing happens quickly and just because the book is not right for now, doesn't mean it isn't right at all.

With everything I write I learn more about the craft and with this one, I had the magical experience of lambing with my daughter during lockdown as 'research'. I'll never forget it. 

In addition to these two beauties, I have also just finished reading the first three in the Wizards of Once series by Cressida Cowell. 

As well as children's fiction, I read non-fiction (for both adults and children) and adult fiction too. Usually I have two or sometimes three books on the go at any one time, although when I'm editing my own work I often take a break from reading as I find it can influence what I am trying to write. 

As I'm on a a writing break at the moment I'm reading a lot! As mentioned in previous blog posts, I don't review books on my website, but you can find reviews for the stories I have enjoyed on GoodReads.

What are you reading at the moment?

I'm delighted to be the guest author at the next Book-Able Space Middle Grade Book Club which is part of a Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) initiative to encourage and promote reading of diverse books for children aged 8-12.