LATEST NEWS... AND WHAT'S COMING NEXT?
Thrilling news - MONDAYS ARE MURDER has been shortlisted for the Red House Children's Book Award, the Leeds Books Award, the Bolton Children's Book Award and the Phoenix Book Award!
After writing APACHE and THE GOLDSMITH'S DAUGHTER – serious historical novels for young adults - I felt I needed some light relief. So I turned to crime! My murder mysteries - Agatha Christie for kids - feature the adventures of Poppy Fields and her best friend Graham.
The first two titles in the series MONDAYS ARE MURDER and DEAD FUNNY - were launched at an event with fellow author John Fardell at last year's Guardian Hay festival.
With suggestions from the audience we devised a Hay Literary Mystery. Starting with the grisly murder of a very well known author the plot got more and more convoluted. Some of the cherubic-looking-children's ideas were far more eye-poppingly gruesome than anything either John or I would have dared to write. It was probably the funniest event I've ever done. A big thank you to everyone involved - especially the people who suggested the tree and the sharpened broomstick handle (you know who you are).
There's a short interview with John and me at the end of this podcast:
www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2009/may/28/hay-festival-childrens-writers
Since then I've been running Murder Mystery sessions in schools and at festivals. The body count in the last few months has been huge!
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DYING TO BE FAMOUS and THE HEAD IS DEAD are out now and two more titles (THE SCENT OF BLOOD and CERTAIN DEATH) will be published in May 2010. POISON PEN comes out in November.
You can download a Poppy Fields crime busting detective pack on the Walker website:
www.walker.co.uk/poppyfields.aspx
NEW IN 2010
As well as the 3 new Poppy Fields titles MARY'S PENNY will be published by Walker in June 2010. Beautifully illustrated by Richard Holland it tells the story of one farmer, his three children and an ingenious competition that will determine who should inherit the farm. Who will be able to fill the house with something that costs a mere penny? Does straw do the trick? Are feathers sufficient? Or will it take something a little more creative?
In January GERONIMO was published by Barrington Stoke. It grew out of visiting schools and chatting to teenagers. Since APACHE was published I've toured the country giving talks and I've discovered that many people don't know anything about the history of America. Some have no idea that the USA was settled by white European immigrants. Some think that an Apache is a helicopter or a computer programme. So when Barrington Stoke asked me if I'd be interested in writing some non-fiction I leapt at the chance.
* APACHE was shortlisted for the 2008 Carnegie Medal (and was voted the Shadowing Groups' favourite), the Calderdale Book of the Year Award, the Highland Books Award, the Salford Young Adult Book Award and the 2008 Booktrust Teenage Prize.
Re-titled I AM APACHE for the US market it won the Borders Original Voices Award in the young adult category and the Western Writers of America 2009 Spur Award in the Best Western Juvenile Fiction category.
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* THE GOLDSMITH'S DAUGHTER was nominated for the 2008 Guardian Children's fiction prize, longlisted for the 2009 Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the 2008 Berkshire Book Award.
After writing APACHE and THE GOLDSMITH'S DAUGHTER – serious historical novels for young adults - I felt I needed some light relief. So I turned to crime! My murder mysteries - Agatha Christie for kids - feature the adventures of Poppy Fields and her best friend Graham.
The first two titles in the series MONDAYS ARE MURDER and DEAD FUNNY - were launched at an event with fellow author John Fardell at last year's Guardian Hay festival.
With suggestions from the audience we devised a Hay Literary Mystery. Starting with the grisly murder of a very well known author the plot got more and more convoluted. Some of the cherubic-looking-children's ideas were far more eye-poppingly gruesome than anything either John or I would have dared to write. It was probably the funniest event I've ever done. A big thank you to everyone involved - especially the people who suggested the tree and the sharpened broomstick handle (you know who you are).
There's a short interview with John and me at the end of this podcast:
www.guardian.co.uk/books/audio/2009/may/28/hay-festival-childrens-writers
Since then I've been running Murder Mystery sessions in schools and at festivals. The body count in the last few months has been huge!
DYING TO BE FAMOUS and THE HEAD IS DEAD are out now and two more titles (THE SCENT OF BLOOD and CERTAIN DEATH) will be published in May 2010. POISON PEN comes out in November.
You can download a Poppy Fields crime busting detective pack on the Walker website:
www.walker.co.uk/poppyfields.aspx
NEW IN 2010
As well as the 3 new Poppy Fields titles MARY'S PENNY will be published by Walker in June 2010. Beautifully illustrated by Richard Holland it tells the story of one farmer, his three children and an ingenious competition that will determine who should inherit the farm. Who will be able to fill the house with something that costs a mere penny? Does straw do the trick? Are feathers sufficient? Or will it take something a little more creative?
In January GERONIMO was published by Barrington Stoke. It grew out of visiting schools and chatting to teenagers. Since APACHE was published I've toured the country giving talks and I've discovered that many people don't know anything about the history of America. Some have no idea that the USA was settled by white European immigrants. Some think that an Apache is a helicopter or a computer programme. So when Barrington Stoke asked me if I'd be interested in writing some non-fiction I leapt at the chance.
* APACHE was shortlisted for the 2008 Carnegie Medal (and was voted the Shadowing Groups' favourite), the Calderdale Book of the Year Award, the Highland Books Award, the Salford Young Adult Book Award and the 2008 Booktrust Teenage Prize.
Re-titled I AM APACHE for the US market it won the Borders Original Voices Award in the young adult category and the Western Writers of America 2009 Spur Award in the Best Western Juvenile Fiction category.
* THE GOLDSMITH'S DAUGHTER was nominated for the 2008 Guardian Children's fiction prize, longlisted for the 2009 Carnegie Medal and shortlisted for the 2008 Berkshire Book Award.