Meet Your Local Author Event

Saturday saw the second  successful Meet Your Local Author Event in aid of Cambridgeshire Libraries, organised by Anita Lehmann a fellow SCBWI member and author. For those of you who regularly read my blog, you may remember that Anita and I shared World Book Day this year.

The event is popular with families and as the library is right in the centre of Cambridge it's busy, lively and lots of fun.
The children complete quizzes to win raffle tickets, and can take part in both illustration and writing workshops as well as a Q&A author panel. 
The event is FREE and open to children of all ages.

At the raffle draw at the end of the day, everyone hoped to pick up some excellent prizes, including this book bundle of Andy Shepherd's The Boy Who Grew Dragons trilogy or tickets to visit the amazing Talliston House.
There were lots of popular authors there, including Sophie Green and Alice Hemming who have been so successful with their books.

It was Helen Moss and I that delivered the Out of This World Adventure Story Building Workshop which was based around the Summer Reading Challenge topic of SPACE.
Using a Snakes and Ladders template the group created the amazing story of Embers Marshmallow's Quest to Find Planet Battenberg!
All the authors and illustrators were amazing - donating their time for free, gifting books and prizes to the raffle, reading books at story-time, doing craft activities, helping the children create a huge space related mural, delivering workshops, selling raffle tickets and books, looking after reception and dressing up in magnificent costumes.
Special thanks to Anita for organising, but also to all the other SCBWI members that I've not already mentioned: Debra Edwards, Richard Mayers, MJ Mallon, Giulietta Spudich, Alina Surnaite, Jenny Duke, Janet Bingham, Jeff Crosby, James Riding, Richard Barr and Kelley Donner.

It's on days like Saturday when I remember what a privilege it is to be a Children's Author and a member/volunteer of such a unique and fantastic organisation that is SCBWI. Totally exhausting and yet magnificent!