January 2026

It’s January, and it’s raining…

So… here we are in a new year, well 22 days into a new year if we’re counting. But can we really count days that never seem to get properly light? I think bears have the right idea; we did the gathering of food and stuff ready for Christmas, so now we should be hibernating and living off the stuff we gathered (or just sleeping).

So how is the book coming along?

I think the characters may have gone into hibernation after being neglected over Christmas, certainly the paint brushes had forgotten how to paint! But during these dark days of January the paint has started to flow again, the cogs of the imagination are turning slowly and the characters are coming back out to play…

 

  

So hot we went into Fahrenheit

It's July and we're in the middle of a heatwave! In fact it's so hot that the weather report went into fahrenheit last night - have you noticed how that happens? We pootle along in celsius until it gets really hot, and then we're suddenly in the mid 80s - that's a bit of a leap from mid 20s...!

The perfect day for a spot of painting - illustrations that is, not the house... it's far too hot for that! 

Is Stonegate ready for a flock of knitted sheep I wonder...?

OK things are getting out of hand now - where did that black sheep come from...? There're no black sheep in the story but I thought why not... he'll be among the flock on Saturday, lets hope he doesn't cause any trouble...

is Stonegate ready for a flock of knitted sheep I wonder...?

Fighting distractions

I'm fighting distractions this morning, and apparently I've already lost, as I've just noticed it's past noon and I haven't started the main mission of the day, which is to create a quiet / busy book. The delivery of two new books is not helping either - they're sat on the table, just within reach, tempting me to start reading, but once I get lost in a book I won't get anything else done - am I addicted to new books I wonder...? I suppose as addictions go, it's not a bad one to have...

Author rambling on about getting lost in a book...

So what's the secret to getting lost in a book...?

It's all about finding a book that interests you. Go into a bookshop, either a traditional bookshop, or an online bookshop, have a rummage around, find a book and get stuck in. Don't let anyone tell you what you should be reading, or even what is a good book and what isn't, everyone has different tastes in all things, and that includes books.

Don't even let people tell you not to judge a book by its cover - if you see a cover you like, then pick the book up and read the blurb, if the cover design has been made to represent the contents, and why would anyone design a book cover that didn't, then its a good indication that you'll like the contents. But if that book isn't for you, then try another one... not every book you read will be the sort of book that you can truly lose yourself in, and I mean to the extent where you no longer hear what's going on in the room around you, where people can call you and get no response, but it's worth reading a lot of books in order to find that book... 

So now you know the secret to getting lost in a book, then why not pass it on...  

Tell your friends, tell your family, and most of all pass it on to your children - babies love books, and the sooner they can be read to and get hold of books the better, and don't worry if babies wear out their early books - better worn out than never read at all... A mended book is a loved book! 

 

Going cold turkey on buying new books online...

So - after pondering about books being tactile, and it being a better experience to go into an actual bookshop than ordering online, I thought I would go and buy a book from a bookshop. But I always seem to plan more for my week than I can ever get through, and constantly line up things that I'm going to do on that mythical day when I have more time... So now I'm re-reading some books off my bookshelves, which is all very well, but I already know what happens in those books.

Which brings me to the conclusion that, yes it is nice to visit a bookshop and pick up books, and if you're lucky, go and have a coffee in their coffee shop - but if time is short, isn't it one of modern life's little luxuries that we can go online and choose a book, and have it delivered into our home...? 

The secret to selling books...?

So what is the secret to selling books...?

The point of a secret is that it's kept quiet, so of course that very fact makes people want to know the secret.

So the secret to selling books is probably to reveal a secret, but doesn't every books reveal a secret...? That secret may be in a factual book imparting knowledge, or it may be a story, letting us into a secret world that we would never have imagined for ourselves, where someone has opened up their imagination , captured it in print and set it free into the world for others to enjoy.

So I put it to you that there is no hard and fast secret to selling books, and books that advertise that they show you how to write a bestseller, or sell millions of copies of your books will probably just waste valuable reading time that could have been spent reading a book for entertainment, that might well have left you inspired and in the right frame of mind to set your imagination free and come up with a new and inspired way to write and sell your book..

Everyone has a book inside them...?

They say that everyone has a book inside them, but not everyone has the passion to cultivate that book and release it into printed form...

Ideas and inspiration spring up at the most unexpected times, but not every flash of inspiration has enough momentum to become a book. That's why I don't write down everything that pops into my head - if it's meant to be it's going to stick around anyway - some characters simply won't go away, so they're not going to be forgotten just because I didn't make a note of them the first time they popped up...

Some characters will have so much to say for themselves that they become a series of books - yes I have such a character, Iver NO-Idea sprang up as if from nowhere when I was reading an article about how to write - now I'm not sure that anyone can tell you how to write. You can be taught the rules of grammar and the structure of a story, but the fun really starts when you start playing with the rules, and just let your imagination run riot...

Doodle Mayhem was born out of the idea that you shouldn't let a character take control and do their own thing - whoever thought up that rule certainly hadn't met Iver No-Idea, born out of a simple doodle drawn by Eric in class, when he couldn't think of what to write... the character really took off when he started to talk to Eric, and he literally got his voice...

Buy now

 First in the Doodle series

Eric would rather doodle than write a story, but when the words start to disappear off the page in front of him, and his doodle starts talking to him, he thinks he must be dreaming.

Eric's doodle has come to life, and he's getting bored; he jumps into Miranda's story, where he gets attacked by a rubber, then he's blown off his feet when Natasha sneezes. Miss Roper is getting angrier by the second. How will Eric ever finish his story, when his doodle just wants to have fun, and create havoc?

Step into a world where drawings come alive, meet Eric's doodles Iver No-Idea and his dog HB as they cause their own brand of trouble.

46 page paperback

Black & white line drawings

ISBN 978-0-9560232-4-7

Computer on, mind open, come on inspiration, I'm ready

Right... it's Monday morning - computer on, mind open, come on inspiration I'm ready...

Well the sun hasn't moved around to the right angle to give me my magical starry ceiling yet, the wind is blowing up a storm, but not lashing rain on my window (yet...), so I'm not feeling as if I'm on the high seas today, so maybe what's needed is to turn off the computer and have a rummage around in my imagination, get the paints out and see what I can pour onto some paper...

hmm I predict a mess...

Hang on a minute... does it rain in cyberspace?

So, my cyberspaceship is starting to feel like a ship on the high seas, with a thunderstorm raging outside, and rain pouring down like waves breaking over the portholes... a damp cat has just rushed in ahead of the worst of the storm,and others are lying low around the place.

Hang on a minute... does it rain in cyberspace? Well it does in this bit of cyberspace...maybe anything can happen in cyberspace... only limited by the imagination...

So what's happening in my little bookshop with big ideas? Well since it relocated from the end of some back alley where no one could find it, and into cyberspace where anything is possible an amazing thing has started to happen - cyberspace visitor numbers have rocketed overnight.

People are visiting and rummaging around - I think some of them are just after the sheep - the free pattern to knit a sheep seems to be popular, maybe I missed my calling, and need to write more knitting patterns...

Is the internet a giant game of hide and seek?

Congratulations you found me! 

The internet is starting to feel like a giant game of hide and seek, and I seem to be an expert at hiding...

I sell most of my books at book signings, where people are delighted to meet a real live author, as if I'm some rare and endangered species.

Please visit my bookshop, have a rummage around and read the blurbs.

There's my new book for adults - where I share probably more than I should about how I got outnumbered by cats - is it normal to hiss back at your cat...? She was certainly surprised!

But most of my books are for kids - from picture books to share, to the Doodle series to either read aloud or leave new readers to discover alone.

Jump into a book and find a new friend. Talk about it with an old friend... read yourself into places you never thought you'd go...

Hidden treasure...

OK I know I've said it before, but I have a little bookshop... and like any bookshop it has treasure within, in the form of books. So the mission is ongoing to draw people into my bookshop.

I've tried links and keywords, sharing, posting and tweeting, and what have I learnt...?

I've learnt that people will follow a link to my blog, but rarely to my website, I'm beginning to think that my bookshop is hidden by some sort of invisibility shield...  or someone bigger is stood in front of it, so no one can see it. Well this little bookshop is breaking out, going on the rampage... and going to get noticed.

There's a competition running - everyone loves something free right? It started on page 4, but maybe I should bring it out into the open, put it on the homepage - in the window...!

I can't be the only one struggling to get a little online shop noticed - if you have one too, leave a comment and we can share ideas...

To gazebo or not to gazebo...?

This summer I find myself drawn to some of the outdoor events, rather than indoor craft fairs, but my dilemma is I don't have a gazebo.

So do I buy a gazebo, even though it will probably get me into all sorts of trouble... I have, in the past struggled with one of those little beach shelters - the type that you can change in, if you are very flexible and don't need to stand up to get dressed. Or maybe I should take the little beach shelter and snuggle my books into that, while I stand outside and stand my ground against the elements...

Is there such a thing as a virtual gazebo...? I think that might suit me better, an online gazebo instead of an online bookshop...

Ramblings of an author trying to crack the clicking code

Is it just me, or does everyone come up against these constant learning curves...?

So what is the latest one? Well to get people into my bookshop - it's a little bookshop with big ideas, I think I've mentioned that before but hey, you might have missed it... 

So where are all the customers? They seem to be flocking past on the world wide web, on an endless treadmill of shoppers, all heading for the main shopping outlets.

But I believe there is a growing trend of people who are tired of the endless pushing of goods we probably don't need, and if we search something on the web, then that product turns up on every facet of what we're doing. 

A prime example would be when I recently bought a safety gate at a mainstream online outlet - well the search engines, or whatever causes these things to pop up didn't know what to do with this uncharacteristic purchase, and started sending me adverts for baby products and dog products - I have neither a baby or a dog, so they had failed to second guess what I needed a safety gate for... and I'm quite happy to leave it that way, I don't like to feel spied on, and certainly don't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing the answer to that little mystery...

So... how to play the search engines at their own game...? Gathering clicks in the right place - clicks are the new footfall. OK, now I have a theory - and a bigger mystery than ever... arhh

So help me crack the code - click on my Little Bookshop with big ideas and help me buck the trend... or leave comments below.

Finding inspiration on twitter...? who'd have thought it...

Finding inspiration...

Well here's a first, I've been on social media and found something inspirational, and now I need to write before anything else can burst my bubble.

So what was the secret, well for a start off I was on twitter, and so much of it is people or companies just after a follow or trying to sell their product, but today I put in a search for new kids books, and a wonderful article came up about Terry Pratchett. He's got a new book coming out soon, and gave an interview to the Guardian giving some insights into his life and books that he's read. I even learnt a new word: segue, and if you're new to this word too, look it up in a dictionary - trust me you're more likely to remember it than if I tell you...

So maybe I've been using twitter all wrong, there's some weird a wonderful things on there, but also stuff I really don't need to see - ah well maybe I'll figure it out eventually. or am I just over thinking it...?

So what books have I been reading lately?

Well I've just finished The House on the Strand by Daphne Du Maurie, which I read after seeing the dramatisation of two of her books on the telly, and I was curious... I found it pretty dark, and probably wouldn't read another of her books, but I'm glad I tried it. Now I've started reading Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding. I've always loved the Bridget Jones films, and now I'm working my way through the books... I do love to read an eclectic mix.

Little Bookshop with big ideas...

The mission: to reach out across the internet to book lovers everywhere and share my love of books.

The conundrum: my bookshop is tucked away in a virtual back alley - the sort of shop that people seek out, if only they know it's there in the first place...

  

There's no coffee shop: but with a bit of imagination you can put the kettle on and make the drink of your choice, curl up in your favourite chair and read the blurbs...

So have a rummage, read the blurbs and find a new friend.

...choose a book, shop in the online shop and I'll tuck the book of your choice into comfy envelope and post it out to you.

A little bookshop with big ideas

I have an online bookshop... it's tucked away down a back alley where no one can find it.

So what is the mission...?

Well to open up that back alley of course, or at the very least, to put spot lights around the entrance and make everyone who passes want to know what's down there...

So here's the plan...

I'm running a special promotion:

When? This Friday 18th July 2014

Why? because I can - I love being my own boss.

What? I'm calling it 'Make me an offer Friday'

What the...? On Friday There'll be one book up for grabs, and I invite everyone to make an offer on that book, and the best offer gets the book.

The details...? The details will be on this page in the coming days, so watch this space...

Terms and conditions - lets keep it simple. There will be one book only, up for grabs on this offer. The highest offer gets the book, by the end of Friday 18th July 2014 Uk time, and my decision is final.

Random ramblings of an author with a bookshop...

I have an online bookshop... it's tucked away down a back alley where no one can find it.

So what is the mission...?

Well to open up that back alley of course, or at the very least, to put spot lights around the entrance and make everyone who passes want to know what's down there...

I have an idea, it's been growing in my mind as I went about my day - so while I may not have looked busy today: playing with my cats, going for a swim and mooching around a stable yard, and holding half a bucket of water for a horse to drink - cos it didn't all fit in her main bucket, and she just couldn't see it go to waste... but under that calm exterior, cogs were turning, and I have a new idea you're going to love...   

...it's crazy, and it's coming soon... 

The Great Yorkshire Show, gentle giants, storms and all things woolly...

 It's a busy time in Yorkshire, with the Great Yorkshire Show in full swing. I was there on Tuesday, sat on the grass banks waiting for the heavy horses to come into the main arena, as heavy clouds gathered overhead... The storm clouds went wild, sending everyone rushing for cover and purchasing anything waterproof - my daughter and I totally carried off the kiddies rain ponchos in fetching doggy print.

Luckily the heavy horses were calmer than the weather, they're such gentle giants.

The shopping was good too, so much more fun than chain store shopping, from kitchen knives and an olive wood chopping board, to some beautiful artwork they had it all covered.

So my hands were pretty full of shopping by the time I made my way to the sheep pens, trying to find some sheep who looked like my characters from But I'm Not Sleepy. There were some funky looking sheep, and I think the ones most like mine were tucked away in the sheep shearing pen, but I did find these:

I wonder what this sheep is trying to say...?
"A up Pearl, sit up, we're having our photo taken..."

Knitted sheep, adding a woolly dimension to story time... 

“We’re not trouble makers are we Pearl?”

“No Hilda, certainly not.”

“It’s just that we’ve been rounded up so many times our heads are spinning.”

“Yes spinning.”

“Spinning into wool?” asked Lucy.

“No… spinning into a flock of dizzy sheep,” said Downboy.

(from But I'm Not Sleepy)

Random ramblings of an author with a bookshop...

I have an online bookshop... it's tucked away down a back alley where no one can find it.

So what is the mission...?

Well to open up that back alley of course, or at the very least, to put spot lights around the entrance and make everyone who passes want to know what's down there...

Tomorrow Tour De France goes past the end of my road, so maybe I should nip out and redirect all the signs and send the race through my bookshop... no...? not such a good idea...? well maybe not - back to the drawing board as they say. 

So now I need a drawing board to go back to...