May has been spent writing every day as part of the amazing Write Magic Bootcamp. A group of fifty writers all commit to setting and reaching a daily word count target for May. This is my second Bootcamp and I find being accountable to other authors and joining in the daily tasks a lot of fun. It is also really productive. So much so as a result I have now completed the first draft of my next book which I am writing with and for my fantastic daughter Sasha.

Writing every day is not my usual format and I did find that the biggest challenge. I'm a 'fits and spurts' writer, which means I write for quite long periods of time or not at all. I am usually, however, doing something or other to do with writing, whether that's school visits, or research, or writing articles, or reading, there are all kinds of other parts to the job than just getting words down.  

The next stage, now that Sasha has read and commented on the draft, is to make all her suggested changes. I'm then, hoping to work with a couple of local school kids to make sure I'm being accurate and then it will go out to close writing friends for feedback. This means the book will probably be on its fourth draft before I feel it is ready to share with my agent. It will happen though! 

I've also been going to a lot of book launches and celebration events recently. It is so wonderful to champion other authors, particularly if they are friends who have shared this up and down journey with me. 

More book news soon, but please do get in touch if you're in or near Reading as I will be there for a few days in July and would love to meet you!

Still buzzing from the amazing festival last weekend. We had an incredible line-up: Serena Patel, teaching us about writing funny, Alex Wharton, the Welsh Children's Laureate sharing the joy and fun of poetry, Holly Bourne giving wisdom around the sensitivity and truth needed when writing for teenagers, Alysoun Owen sharing incredibly insight into Children's Publishing, after 30 years in the business, Hannah Gold talking about her journey, how she writes and the importance of self-belief, Rikin Parekh telling his illustrator story, Sandra A Agard bringing the love of storytelling into the festival, Andrew Wright teaching us how to be #neuroninjas, Charlotte Colwill and Julia Churchill advising on pitching and everything to do with the role of an agent. To finish we had the raffle where three amazing prizes were given out live. It was incredible and I will try to share photos if I can, but in the meantime save the date for next year: 22 & 23 March 2025. All info about W&A and their events, including the festival, can be found on their website: https://www.writersandartists.co.uk/

I had an amazing set of visits this year and I want to thank all the staff and children for welcoming me so warmly.

The most memorable moment at Someries was when a quiet girl who was sat next to me during the lunchtime 'meet the author' session in the library (one of the busiest libraries I've seen in school BTW) confided in me that she didn't have any friends. A confident boy nearby overheard and came over, beaming saying he would be her friend and they shook hands on it. 

​On Wednesday I had my second visit and first time to a school in Hatfield. I loved Brookmans Park Primary, especially as they asked me to do a special assembly to KS1. I very rarely work with the younger children so it was a treat to get them to vote on the picture book they wanted me to share. 

On World Book Day itself, which always falls on the first Thursday in March, I was back in Luton (hurrah) to visit Maidenhall Primary School. Totally fell in love with this school which despite its size, had the warmest most relaxing feel to it. There was a big whole school assembly, then year group, select workshops throughout the day. It was really well organised with plenty of time for banana snacking. 

My final visit was to Chestnuts Primary School in Milton Keynes. This was my time visiting a school in MK and I really enjoyed it. The kids were hilarious and the staff were very helpful and accommodating.

There were lots of Call Me Lion workshops and I loved the book signing at the end when I got to meet parents/carers too. I was shown (or nearly shown - didn't really want to see) a fresh tooth fallen out that day and I met a French family, then eldest of whom translated something in Timide comme un lion (the French edition of Call Me Lion) that I'd been puzzling about.

I loved all the drawings of characters and the buzz of the school was very exciting with lots of children keen to learn.

So that's it for another year, but don't forget school visits don't just have to be for world book day. Do get in contact if you'd like me to visit your school. I'd love to come! 

It's off to a flying start. Two schools visited, two more to go. Will update very soon with pictures and stories. In the meantime check out my Insta handle for more @camillacauthor. Thank you!

How magical to be part of something so fantastic and afterwards to receive this message through my website too, which I hope sums it all up:
"My son is at Jessop Primary, London SE24. Tonight, armed with a copy of your book and after a session with you, he was keen to read aloud to us and talk to us about how moving he thought your story was. He was alive with the sort of excitement one only gets from a good book. Thank you very much for the spreading the love of reading and writing!" M Style February 2023
I'll leave you with some more photos (courtesy of Tricia at Portrayed Photography) but if you would like to find out more about the festival, including how to sign up for my FREE workshop on 15 February, then please use this link: 
​https://www.steppingintostories.org/

Of course I took no photos, so I am hoping that the wonderful Assistant Head Teacher, Ms S Islam, will forward some to be that I can show off, but yesterday I day a fantastic visit to Wigmore Primary School in Luton.

It is always extra special to visit Luton schools as that is where Call Me Lion is set, but this school is particular was magical. The key to a successful author visit is having everyone excited and enthusiastic about it and this really ticked that box.

I hope to be able to write more and share pictures soon, but for now a big shout out and thank you to all the wonderful parents, carers, staff and of course children at Wigmore Primary for making me feel so welcome. I do hope you're enjoying reading my books and that I see you again soon.

Regular readers of my blog will know that a couple of years ago I was working with a fantastic organisation in Stevenage called the Young Carers Crew (YCC).

The charity works with young carers, offering days out, fun activities and general get togethers as a chance to escape and hang out with one another.

I was working on a book with a young carer as the central character and went to meet some of the young people to hear their stories. It was totally inspiring.

Unfortunately that book never made it BUT I did write a story called Alex in the Middle for Fiction Express where I used a lot of what I had learned from YCC. Although not a published book, Fiction Express were fantastic and agreed to print several copies for me to give as Christmas presents.

Last night I made a surprise visit to the YCC's Christmas Get Together in Stevenage to read from Alex in the Middle and present the books.

​ It was magical!

When I do school visits I'm always dispelling the myth that children's authors are wealthy. The vast majority of us do all kinds of other things to boost our income. One of the amazing things I get to do is work freelance for the Writers & Artists events team. Most writers and illustrators will know all about the W&A Yearbook - the handbook for creatives no matter what stage of their journey they're at - but not everyone is aware that there are a whole series of other services and events on offer. One of these was an exclusive mini-conference held in the Bloomsbury Offices, called Finding the Heart of Your Story. I got to be the host. It was AMAZING!

As I was busy being impressed by our authors - Emma Norry and Robert Tregoning - eating Bloomsbury cupcakes, chatting to everyone and learning all I can from Alex Antscherl (Senior Commissioning Editor in Children's Fiction at Bloomsbury), I took zero photos.

​However, a did pinch a few, featured here, and I'm also throwing in some beautiful London Christmas ones for you to enjoy for good measure.

I strongly suggest that you find out all the amazing things that Writers & Artists are doing and watch this space for details of the upcoming festival in March 2024 which I will be going ON and ON about because it is so incredible!

Find out about the W&A Festival 2024 here: www.writersandartists.co.uk/events-and-courses/childrens-writers-illustrators-festival-2024-weekend-pass