As I blogged about a while ago, the sequel to Me, Suzy P is well and truly in the pipeline. The book’s finished, and now the publisher is finalising the cover and I’m waiting for the copy edits to come over. It’s planned for release by Templar in January 2014.

I’ll post pics of the new cover as soon as I can (I’ve seen it, and it looks FAB), however, what I can do, right here, right now, is reveal the title of the newest book. Are you ready?

Drumroll, please, ladies and gentlemen…

 

 

It’s going to called Suzy P: The Trouble With Three. Whaddya think?

Keep watching this space for more!

 

 

 

Ooooooh it’s so exciting and also a little bit scary, I’m going to be appearing at the Edinburgh Book Festival this year!

I can’t wait, not least because my author friends have told me I will get a special Edinburgh Festival lanyard with my name on it AND there is an authors yurt, where famous author-type people hang out. I suspect I will still be clinging to the doors of that yurt by my fingernails on the last day of the festival, as they desperately try to usher me out. (I still can’t entirely believe they’re going to let me in it, to be honest. And if anyone from the festival reads this, chances are, they probably won’t now.)*

Lanyards and yurts aside, I hope the event will be pretty cracking too. It’s called So Embarrassing, and I’m appearing with Andy Robb. I’ve not met him yet, but we’ve emailed and he seems aces, so I hope we’re going to have a laugh. (His book, by the way, is HILARIOUS).

Our event is on Sunday, August 18th at 6pm, so do come along if you can! All the details are here.

*If these things aren’t actually true, please don’t shatter my illusions.

Oooh, it’s all been a bit quiet on the blog of late, hasn’t it? That’s because I was on deadline with Suzy 2 for the end of May, so my brain melted while I was trying to get that done, and then I’ve been avoiding the PC ever since, if I’m honest. I WILL be blogging again soon, I promise, I’ve got lots to tell you. But in the meantime, I’ve popped in to tell you that I’m appearing at the Bath Festival of Children’s Literature this September! I’m REALLY excited, this festival is very dear to me as I worked very closely with the original directors in getting in set up. I’ve stewarded there a lot, and managed more signing queues than you can shake a stick at.

I’m appearing on Sunday 29 September at 230pm in the Mission Theatre in Bath, with fellow author Mark Lowery. I’ve not read his book yet, but the publishers sent me a copy and the first few pages are properly, properly funny, so I’m looking forward to it muchly.

Our event is called Love and Pants, and you can find all the details you need here. Hope you can come along!

(Don’t forget to check out the other great events on offer too, it’s such a fantastic festival.)

As you know, I posted yesterday about being ridiculously busy lately. But this is something I’ve been meaning to blog about since the beginning of March. At the start of the month, I went over to visit my brother. It was his birthday, and celebrations were to be had. One of the girls that lives near to him had read Suzy P and enjoyed it, so he asked if she could come and meet me. Of course! I said. And so Katie popped in to say hello, and bought her friend Sophie along, too.

It was lovely to meet them both, and we chatted about all sorts of things…but of course, mainly BOOKS. And I promised I’d recommend some books for them. Katie and Sophie are in year 7, and enjoyed Suzy P, but also liked historical fiction and books about horses. So here are some suggestions, and of course for anyone else who likes these sorts of stories…

For contemporary fiction, try:

• Cathy Cassidy
• Cathy Hopkins
• Carmen Reid’s St Jude’s series (about boarding school)
• Hilary McKay

For historical fiction, try:

• Marie-Louise Jensen
• Mary Hooper
• Celia Rees
• Mary Hoffman
• Tanya Landman’s Apache

For horsey stories, try:

• KM Grant’s  Hartslove
• Katherine Roberts’ I Am The Great Horse
• Flambards series by K M Peyton.

Hope this helps. It was fantastic to meet you both!

If anyone else has any suggestions, please comment below…