It’s been a while since I had time to post properly here on the blog! Writing the first draft of Taylor & Rose Book 4 is keeping me very busy at the moment, but I wanted to drop in to share a quick autumn update with a few new things that you can now watch or listen to online.
First up, I was delighted to talk to Lucas Maxwell of Glenthorne Library for the brilliant Booklings Chat podcast . We had a lovely conversation about Villains in Venice and more:
Next, I was very pleased to have the chance to interview fellow mystery writers Sharna Jackson, Robin Stevens and Serena Patel for the Make Your Own Mysteries event which was part of the brilliant Reading is Magicfestival. You can catch up with the video here.
Finally, I chatted to Sarah Tyson of Books up North for her new podcast Books for your Library. We talked about A Dancer’s Dream, Christmas reading, and lots more. Have a listen here:
That’s all for now but I’ll be back again soon to celebrate the publication of A Dancer’s Dream... until then, happy reading!
Peril in Paris has already been out in the world for a whole month, and I’m only now getting round to writing about it! That’s because it’s been a super-busy few weeks – not only have I recently moved house, I’ve also been enjoying lots of fun celebrations to welcome the first book in the Taylor & Rose Secret Agents series.
Several exciting things happened in the run up to publication. First of all, with the help of Arcus Studios, publisher Egmont created this incredible animated trailer for the book using Karl’s illustrations, which perfectly evokes what the book is all about. (Make sure you’ve got your sound on – the music is a treat!)
As soon as the book hit shops at the beginning of August, I went out and about on a little tour of London to sign lots of copies, including visits to Waterstones branches at Finchley Road, Islington Green, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly and Kings Road. I also made this ‘shelfie’ video for Waterstones in which I recommend some of my favourite children’s books which, like Peril in Paris, have female friendships firmly at their heart.
To celebrate the new book, I met up with my brilliant agent and editor for some delicious French treats at Maison Bertaux – magnifique!
Next, in what may have been one of my most unapologetically ‘extra’ book launch celebrations to date, I headed off to Paris for a celebratory day-trip with my friends Katie, Nina and Claire. We had a truly superbe day enjoying the Paris shops, strolling past the sights, and taking a boat trip along the Seine – as well as eating some tasty French food and taking about a million photos. What a treat – thanks guys, I honestly can’t think of a better way to welcome Peril in Paris into the world!
Next up was a trip to the Edinburgh International Book Festival, one of my very favourite book festivals and always a highlight of the year! I teamed up with Robin for an event as part of the festival Schools Programme, and then with Natasha Farrant for an event about thrilling adventures, also featuring her book The Children of Castle Rock. I got to read from Peril in Paris for the very first time; signed lots of books for the readers who came along; and Natasha and I even had a dog join us on stage – I think that’s definitely a first!
Another exciting happening at this year’s EIBF was getting to meet the brilliant Chelsea Clinton (see above). Chelsea was in Edinburgh to talk about her new children’s book She Persisted Around the World, and was kind enough to join us for a special recording of Down the Rabbit Hole, where she spoke to me and to her fellow guest Katherine Webber about her book, as well as her favourite children’s books. Have a listen here.
Finally, another amazing thing that happened was this – a Peril in Paris themed milkshake! I’m thrilled that SBlended have created the brilliantly-named ‘Moo La La’, inspired by the book – look out for them in their shops. They’re running a competition too, find out more here. (I certainly never could have imagined that one of my books would inspire its very own milkshake – and I can’t wait to try one!)
There have been lots of lovely responses to Peril in Paris already: if you’ve read it, do let me know what you think of Sophie and Lil’s latest adventure. If you haven’t read it yet, you can of course get a copy from Waterstones, The Hive or Amazon. It’s also currently available as part of a promotion in both Waterstones and WH Smith Travel stores, so do look out for it there!
And if you fancy finding out a bit more about the book then check out my Peril in Paris Pinterest board, and stay tuned for some more posts about the historical background, coming up shortly!
Since The Midnight Peacock was published in October, I’ve had a busy autumn of events to celebrate the brand new book. I’ve been everywhere from the Cheltenham Literature Festival to the Newham Word Festival; the South Ken Kids Lit Festival to the Books-on-Tyne Family Day; the Kingston Children’s Literature Festival to the Museum of London – and even further afield, to Denmark and the UAE! Here are a few highlights from my autumn adventures:
Getting ready for our Get Creative panel event at Cheltenham Lit Fest – with Chris Edge, Lizzy Stewart and our host Jonathan Stroud.
In sunny Sharjah for the Sharjah Book Fair! I was so excited to join a line-up of authors from around the world for a panel event at the book fair and have the chance to visit Sharjah, which was an amazing experience. There was even time to enjoy some reading on this glorious beach.
Trying on some Edwardian hats during the Midnight Peacock schools tour!
Hanging out with the Aarhus 39 in Aarhus, Denmark for the International Children’s Literature Hay Festival (read more about the trip here)
More from the Midnight Peacock schools tour – just look at this brilliant artwork inspired by The Sinclair’s Mysteries at QES in Kirkby Lonsdale!
Fabulous festive library displays at Queen Katherine School.
After a magical journey north through a snow-storm, we met lovely Ruby the school dog at Sacred Heart Primary School in Newcastle ❤️
Meeting Sinclair’s superfans, and browsing the beautiful Lit & Phil library in Newcastle at the Books-on-Tyne family day!
Getting into the Christmas mood at the Museum of London. At this special Midnight Peacock inspired event in December, we made our own Edwardian-inspired Christmas decorations, dressed up in Edwardian hats and even posed for 1900s-style sepia photographs!
Children who attended also had the chance to write their own mystery story inspired by the museum collections – and they were brilliant! What a wonderful and creative conclusion to the year.
To celebrate the European Capital of Culture Aarhus 2017, Hay Festival organised an International Children’s Literature Hay Festival, held at the city’s DOKK1 Library. I was so delighted to be there as one of the Aarhus 39 – a selection of the best children’s and YA writers from all over Europe, aged 40 and under – see photo above. We’d been asked to contribute original stories to two special anthologies edited by Daniel Hahn, and were also invited to take part in the festival itself alongside amazing authors and illustrators like Chris Riddell, Cressida Cowell, Oliver Jeffers and Eoin Colfer.
The Quest anthology in its Danish edition
Festival pass
The amazing DOKK1 Library, Aarhus
Inside the library, transformed for the Hay Aarhus Festival
Aarhus is a wonderful city, and I had a fantastic few days exploring, getting to know the rest of the Aarhus 39, and admiring the amazing DOKK1 Library. Highlights included taking part in a panel event alongside fellow Aarhus 39 authors Maria Turtschaninoff and Ævar Þór Benediktsson, and seeing my story illustrated live by Søren Jessen. Here’s a little video of me talking at the festival:
One of the funny thing about being a writer is that after a lot of time sitting by yourself working on a book, once it finally makes its way out into the world, it’s time to do the exact opposite. That means putting on clothes that aren’t pyjamas or very old tracksuit bottoms, and doing challenging things like leaving the house and speaking to other people. Specifically it means heading out on the road for lots of events, meeting readers at schools, in bookshops and at festivals – and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing over the last month or so, since The Painted Dragon hit bookshelves in February…
It all began with a special mystery-themed half-term event at Waterstones Piccadilly. Officer Stephen welcomed us all and announced that Lord Waterstones’s valuable painting had been mysteriously stolen from the store – and there were a number of sinister suspects who could be responsible for the theft. Luckily some young detectives were on the case, and got to work finding clues around the shop, cracking codes and assessing the evidence to discover ‘whodunnit’! I was there to help with the mystery-solving – as well as reading from The Painted Dragon and signing some books, of course.
Officer Stephen and detectives
Next up was an author event at the LSE Literary Festival. I was so pleased to meet such a crowd of readers (the room was packed) who had the chance to put their own detective skills to the test, as well as to dress up in my array of Edwardian hats.
On World Book Day, we headed to Waterstones Kensington for our first ever Down the Rabbit Hole Live event! We were joined by three amazing children’s authors – Abi Elphinstone, Cathryn Constable and Piers Torday – to discuss writing and the power of the imagination. We even had a go at crowd-sourcing a story with the help of the children in the audience. You can listen to some of the audio from the event on the DTRH website here (and check out some news on another forthcoming DTRH Live coming up at the Hay Festival in May).
At Waterstones Kensington
Next it was time to visit some schools! I kicked things off with a visit to South Hampstead Junior School, to help them celebrate World Book Day – and then it was time to hit the road for the official Painted Dragon schools tour.
At King Edward VI Handsworth School – photo by Annie Everall
Lovely Annie Everall from Authors Aloud had organised the tour, which began in Birmingham with a visit to King Edward VI Handsworth school. From then we went on to Wolverhampton Grammar School and Sibford School, followed by a book-signing at Blackwell’s Oxford – plus a wonderful tour of the rare books collection. I especially enjoyed peeping in at the ‘Gaffer’s Room’ .
More tour photos by Annie Everall
Next were Eltham School, Prendergast Ladywell School, Bute House and Beaconsfield High School. It was a crazy, jam-packed week but it’s always fun to visit schools and meet lots of pupils, teachers and school librarians – Annie and I had a great time.
Back in London, I teamed up with Mystery Girl extraordinaire Robin Stevens for a special event at the Daunt Books Festival – complete with cupcakes! I loved chatting to Robin about her fabulous Murder Most Unladylike series and meeting many mystery fans after the event.
Robin and I in wonderful Daunt Books
Robin and I were back together very soon afterwards for the Mountains to Sea Festival in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin. This time we were joined by a gang of brilliant children’s authors – Jo Cotterill, Dave Rudden and Jonathan Stroud – for two really fun panel events chaired by Little Island Press’s Grainne Clear. I love doing panel events: it’s always so fascinating to hear other writers talk about their books, what inspires them, and how they write. Highlights of these events included debating what superpowers we’d each choose, and seeing how many pens we could put in Dave’s beard (spoiler: it was loads). Off-stage, we had fun hanging out with festival programmer Sarah Webb and the other visiting authors who were in town at the same time, including Eoin Colfer and Chris Riddell. I especially loved exploring Dun Laoghaire and its fabulous library.
A few highlights from Mountains to Sea
Before heading home, I whizzed over to Salford for a visit to The Lowry for the Salford Children’s Book Awards! I was so delighted to be shortlisted for the 2017 prize, and to have the chance to meet and chat to lots of Sinclair’s Mysteries fans from Salford schools at the event.
Now that Painted Dragon is well and truly launched, it’s back to my writing desk (and tracksuit bottoms) for a little while – well, until the next round of events, anyway!
