When spinning plates fall...

 It seems that spinning plates was not the best way forward… they all came crashing down and are now going down with the sinking ship that was my website. And why did I allow my website to sink, well, because the shop was an expensive experiment that didn’t bring in the sales I had hoped for. And so for now I’m settling back into my blogger account, where I’ve shared so many of the ups and downs over my years in writing, illustrating and self publishing.

So what is next? I have a book finish! There I’ve said it, so it will have to come true because I am nothing if not stubborn, and I have a gem of a story to tell… The characters are a little different, and consequently harder to pin down into illustrations, especially as drawing is not my first language, but they are well on the way, and now that I’m not spending so much time playing with my website, I have more time to bring this project to a finish line.

The hardest thing about self publishing is having to do everything myself, and sometimes a writer just needs to write, and draw, and paint… and figure out why the scanner no longer scans… OK that feels like more than enough to be going on with, I’ll see you all at the other end of the paint box.

February at Lost in a Book

February at Lost in a Book

20th Feb

Do you remember that first book that grabbed you when you were just on the edge of confident reading? The book that took you over the edge into forgetting that you even reading, it just felt like you were magically transported to somewhere else and meeting new friends...

I remember it well, and hope to write books that will do the same thing for new readers who are dipping their toes into new worlds between the pages of a book, because if you dip your toes in enough books, you're going to find that one book that will drag you in and hold a little bit of you there for all time...

#Lostinabook #lovereading #halfterm

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15th Feb

Half Term is creeping up, so here's the plan - I've got Doodle Mayhem on special offer at £3.50 and still postage free - so get the kids reading this half term...

 

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

Lost in a Book

#LostinaBook #amwriting 

Christmas countdown in October...?

OK I know it's still October - but I'm already on a countdown to my first Christmas fair of the season...

On November 1st I'll be in Wetherby at the town hall. There's an exciting list of other traders and crafters, which always makes for a fun day - and there'll coffee and cake - what more could you want?

In my little corner of the fair I'll have books and sheep, possibly a few cats (not real ones - they'll be staying at home), and some of my new quiet / busy books, talking of which... I feel another one coming on.

I wonder what I can come up with this afternoon...?  something festive maybe...

Putting books into the hands of babies and children

Welcome to my homepage - or at least an escapee from my homepage...

Where I'll try and encourage you to get Lost in a Book - and to put books into little hands, even if those hands might damage that book, no, not because I want to sell you another one when that one rips, but because I believe that the sooner babies and children can get their hands on books the better. Yes some of their early books are going to be a bit shabby, you may need to mend them with sticky tape at the end of the day, but you're sewing the seeds of a love of books into the next generation... and what could be better than that?

Meet Lucy from But I'm not Sleepy... apparently everyone has a Lucy, though few will admit to having been one at some point in their childhood...

This one is my bestseller - everyone can relate to the title and the picture on the cover. And where do the sheep come into it...? Well you wouldn't believe the trouble counting sheep can get you into... 

New in my bookshop: downloadable knitting patternto knit your own sheep - knit a flock and count sheep as you read the book...

 

Christmas fair list to follow - watch this space...  

Priceless: being told that a copy of The Monster Under The Bed has been read until it's shabby - it's been a loved book, just like a favourite teddy.  

Lost in a Book, knitted sheep and book signings...

Well on Friday I got totally lost in a book, and all mundane jobs and worries went out of my head, in favour of editing ready to  get a print quote for my next book. There are a lot of photos despite my best efforts to edit some out, so I think I'll be taking a deep breath before opening the quote, and hope I don't have to edit out any more.

Meanwhile... sheep production is back in full swing to promote But I'm Not Sleepy at my Christmas book signings - the next one is in the beautiful Tithe Barn in Nether Poppleton near York on Saturday 7th Dec 10am - 4.30pm There'll be one free knitted sheep with every purchase of But I'm Not Sleepy, while stocks last.

Book signing dates, York area... come and Get lost in a Book

Shopping evenings and Christmas fairs 2013

Get Lost in a Book at:

8th November 7-9pm Huntington Primary School Christmas Shopping Evening

17th November 11am - 4pm Whixley Village Craft Fair

21st November 6.30pm Wilberfoss & District Playgroup &Toddler Group Christmas Shopping Evening

28th November 7-9pm Knavesmire Primary School Christmas Shopping Evening

7th Dec 10am - 4.30pm Tithe Barn, Church Lane Nether Poppleton Christmas Fair

Read me a story. Please... See if you can find the monster.

Read me a story. Please...

Let me share a little snippet  of my book The Monster Under The Bed with you, so that you can share it with your own little monsters... 

“Mum... Mum... There’s a monster under my bed!”

Billy sat up in the dark... something was moving around under his bed.

There was a creak from the stairs, then the sound of footsteps.

The door opened, and Mum switched the light on.

“There’s no monster Billy... now go to sleep.”

Billy listened as his mum went back downstairs.

He lay in the dark, with his duvet pulled up so that just his eyes peeped over the top.

He heard a bump on the floor.

Something was moving about in the dark.

“Get back into bed Billy,” called Mum.

“I’m in bed Mum. It was the monster.”

If you've spotted  the monster in the pictures, and want to see more, why not buy a copy to share with your little monsters at the Halloween price of £4.99

The Monster Under the Bed Halloween special offer...

“Mum……Mum…..There’s a monster under my bed.”
Billy sits up in the dark, he can hear something moving around in his bedroom. When his mum puts the light on there’s no monster to be seen. But when Mum goes back downstairs the noises start again.
“Get back into bed Billy,” calls Mum.
Something is making a noise, and if it isn’t Billy – who can it be? Find out in this full colour picture book that’ll keep you guessing till the last page.

Now on special offer until Halloween - for the little monsters in your life...

Lost in a Book Bookshop