Autumn was invented for reading, and if it wasn't, it should have been...

Autumn was invented for reading! (or if it wasn't it should have been...)

 

Now, what can I tempt you with?

Well why not start with Basil and the Flappy Thing - a work of fiction, but based on my own cats. Anyone with a cat flap will know that once you have a cat flap there's never a dull moment, and all that after taking the time to get your cat to use the flap in the first place, when they'd rather just have you wait on them hand a foot...

 

There's the Doodle series:

Find out what happens when Eric's doodle comes alive and starts picking letters up off the page, and throwing them at Eric to get his attention...

Perfect to read aloud, or for early readers to lose themselves in as they discover the joy of reading to themselves. 

There are picture books to share with the little ones, and spark a love of books.

And not forgetting one for the adults - Outnumbered by Cats. A true story, where I possibly shared a bit more than I should have - it's quite normal to hiss back at your cat right? ...given the right circumstances...

Get Lost in a Book this autumn

#LostinaBook 

Bunny busy Book

It's nearly Easter - which inspired a bunny themed busy book...

 Soft bunny on cover.Ribbons to feel.

Button flowers and pocket holding a carrot for the bunny...

 

 a soft tree...

 ...and back view of bunny with his little white tail.

Only one available in my website bookshop.

#LostinaBook

Lost in a Book 

Book signing in York

It's my first book signing of the year tomorrow  at Clifton Library in York 10.30 - 12 noon. Now I just need the wind to drop so that I can take my books out to the car without being blown away...

Downboy the Sheepdog from Lost in a Book

Downboy the sheepdog - now I'll get those unruly sheep rounded up...

 

 

#LostinaBook #knittedsheep #Sheepdog

I find I work best if I manage not to open the laptop, as it contains so many distractions...

The painting is going well, the paints have settled down,and although some are still reluctant to open, they can be persuaded...

I find I work best if I manage not to open the laptop, as it contains so many distractions - but do I really need a bumper pack of buttons, or a bundle of ribbon? Well... probably not, but I would quite like some... think of the Easter busy books I could make with those pastel shades, not to mention the bunny buttons - What's that - I'm just procrastinating? Not at all! I'm letting my imagination flow - run riot even... I'm a writer, it's allowed (expected even...)

#LostinaBook

#amwriting 

Ever wondered what 32 sheep's legs on a knitting needle look like...?

How do I get myself into these situations...?

I always seem to be rushing to finish something with barely enough time...

 

Ever wondered what 32 sheep's legs on a knitting needle look like...? Well, no, not many people have, and as it turned out this was only 28 legs - so one sheep would have still been legless without a bit more knitting... arhhh

 

But all is well - all the sheep have legs and will be heading out to fairs this week 

And what about that Christmas garment I hear you asking... come on work with me here. Well it's a Christmas poncho, and hopefully I'll add a few more festive bits to it as the season goes on - if I have a minute...

 

#Lostinabook #sheep #Christmas

First Christmas fair of the season

Christmas seems to be taking over in the shops and on tv and radio already, and on Friday I'm at my first Christmas fair of the season... time to dig out the Christmas hat and round up the sheep.

Skelton School York Christmas fair Friday 13th Nov. 6 - 9pm 

#LostinaBook

#Christmasfair 

Sheep... zzzz

I'm trying to be a bit better prepared this year to avert a sheep crisis... 

I have a little flock ready for the start of the Christmas fairs, they're already overflowing into the boxes of books, and there's more to come. 

I hope stocktaking doesn't send me to sleep - counting all those sheep... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Not how I imagined spending my time as a writer...

OK I'm still fighting technology, and I'm not sure who's winning... bits of equipment that are meant to talk to each other are refusing to do so.
Oh well, I'm about to go on a sheep mission anyway - I have a bag full of sheep parts that need assembling before the weekend, which is not how I imagined spending my time as a writer, but we all have to diversify, and sheep have proved to be an excellent crowd puller at book signings, not to mention an excellent outlet for procrastination when a certain book is stubbornly refusing to get over its final hurdles...

Fighting technology one day at a time...

It seems that making  a busy book is easier than getting photos onto the laptop. 

I've managed to get this one here via instagram... it seems my phone is quite happy to talk to instagram, but it's not talking to my laptop, who know why... maybe I need to shut them in a room together and hope they can sort out their differences...  

 

Luckily my sewing machine has been behaving better than my phone and laptop, so this little festive collection is now neatly bound into a Christmas busy book, ready to go to a fair at York's Guildhall on Saturday.

#LostinaBook

#Busybook 

................................

Sheep are more unruly than books...

The sheep?

These are my little woolly ambassadors...  

They are the characters from But I'm Not Sleepy, which is my bestseller, but they are in danger of taking on a life of their own. In the lead up to a book signing I'm far more likely to be in the middle of a sheep crisis than having trouble with the books - sheep are more unruly than books...!

What I need next is a sheepdog to round them up... just like Downboy the sheepdog in the story.

 

 

Building a book... construction has begun.

Scanning of artwork has begun ready to format into a book. 

When I'm at book signings I often look at my book display and think back to these early stages when I had artwork strewn around the kitchen table - happy times.

Writing back to front... or just lost in a book?

Normally when I write, I write a story first, and then illustrate it - but not this time...! 

It's not the first time I've sat down to write one story and ended up writing something completely different, but that usually happens at the writing stage, this time it happened in a sketchbook.

At the beginning of the year I sat down to illustrate a story that I'd already written and polished, but as I started on the illustrations I just couldn't seem to get them how I wanted, and that's when I started drawing giraffes...

Now it's not the first time I have drawn giraffes, but I hadn't had a story in mind, or book planned. This was an invasion of giraffes from somewhere in my imagination, and suddenly the illustrations were flowing and the story was taking shape. I now have several outlines for this story, and several working titles, but mostly I have a lot of pictures which almost tell their own story, so I'm thinking that this book doesn't need too many words...

This is still a work in progress, and you could say that I'm very happily lost in a book!

#LostinaBook 

Sheep crisis... :)

August at Lost in a Book

Sheep crisis:

Does anyone else outside of agriculture manage to have a sheep crisis...? I doubt it... 

My little flock of 6 sheep all went out to new homes on Saturday when I took them to a craft fair at the Guildhall in York, leaving me sheepless for my morning at Clifton Library tomorrow - knitting needles... where are you...? I really should get organised enough to start knitting sheep at craft fairs...

 

#LostinaBook #Sheep

Tomorrow never comes... really?

People who say that tomorrow never comes must be asleep before midnight and miss seeing it sneaking up, regular as clockwork... these are probably the same people who, when tomorrow does come, are awake and ready for it... or maybe they just lack a good book to read... 

#LostinaBook 

Why is it that I find a storm more motivating than sunshine for writing...?

The sun is shining at last - have decided that digging the garden is quite good exercise, ok so the main motivation is to dig out the weeds that threaten to smother the strawberry plants... just thinking about dishes of strawberries and cream that will follow - hmmm

Why is it that I find a storm more motivating than sunshine for writing...?

There's something about a storm raging outside that seems to inspire all sorts of images, mostly of rough seas - I can imagine myself sailing away on the high seas, my house turning into some sort of houseboat - not sure what the people in the other half of the semi would think. Which begs the question: would I drag them along in their house, or rip away from it, risking leaks where the two separated... ?

There's thunder storms threatened for tomorrow - loading up with provisions and ready to set sail...

Confessions of a picture book writer

What is it about picture books that is so appealing?

Everyone likes pictures right?

I get people of all ages who are drawn to my picture books, many lament that their children have grown out of picture books and they no longer have anyone to buy them for...

So buy one for yourself...! I do, well, you know, from time to time. I used to call it market research - just to see what's out there. But in truth I am drawn to picture books, there it is I admit it: they're fun and colourful and their characters make me laugh - if they go so far as to make me laugh out loud in a bookshop then the odds are I'll buy that book.

My picture books - judge them by their covers, and if one grabs you - go and check it out in my online bookshop. 

 

   

Cats in boxes

Outnumbered by Cats: the book that emerged from kitten diaries with chewed edges, written as kittens climbed over me, when trying to work on the computer was not really an option...

 

Boxes seem to be a big feature in a house full of cats - no box can be discarded until every last scrap of play value has been ripped out of it.

I now have a stack of boxes forming the kitchen island I never wanted...

 I'm not sure if he's king of his castle or an engine driver... 

 ...and I don't think this box is quite big enough.

© Anne M Stephenson | created at www.mrsite.com

lavender sheep... whatever next?

OK this is what happens when I let my imagination run away with itself... but what secret is inside these mini sheep...? 

Sheep...!

New in my etsy shop - and - my online bookshop

But I'm Not Sleepy gift pack

What is it about sheep...? 

These cute little characters have been a great addition to my table at book signings, and now due to the attention my knitted sheep have been getting in my etsy shop I've added this brand new gift pack: