RED HOUSE BOOK AWARDS...and an AMAZING week of good stuff..

It's a BIG book.

Firstly, sorry 
about the lack of posts!
Been ever-so busy writing 
and finishing off..
Tom Gates- Everything's Amazing (sort of)

  

WHOO HOO!


Brilliant World Of Tom Gates only went and won it's section of the RED HOUSE BOOK AWARDS. 
It's voted for by children so I am THRILLED-AMAZED-PLEASED and every other happy word I can think of!


Meeting everyone was such a pleasure, I just had the best time.
I got to bring my family too. (We scrub up well don't we?)
It's nice for them to see me do other apart from just
shout, be grumpy and clean up after them.


All the other authors and illustrators all had top notch
books. And Michael Morpurgos speech, blimey I dream to be able to talk like that one day. All very inspiring.


Here's some pics to give you a flavour of the day.

Lily-Ella- Zak and Mark all looking SWISH.

Windy south bank and hair sticking to my lipgloss.

The Red House lunch.

Book signing before the awards.

Our table

Picking up the portfolio for Tom Gates.

We all get a collection of children's letters and drawings
as part of the prize for being shortlisted.

Lovely Catherine from Scholastic.
I met Lydia Monks and Steve Cole
who were both lovely too!

Steve taking a picture of me taking
a picture of him.
Go to his BLOG to see his picture!

Zak Ella and Lily at the lunch.

Chris Wormell who wrote Scruffy Bear
and won the younger picture book section.
And Gill Lewis whos book
SKY HAWK has also been shortlisted for the WATERSTONES book award.

Annabel Pitcher- who wrote
My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece.
Also shortlisted for the Waterstones.
Patrick Ness who wrote A Monster Calls and Jim Kay
who did the brilliant illustrations -
 which won the over all prize.

 The awards were in the
Queen Elizabeth hall it was MASSIVE.

 

All the children had these blowers
on the seats. It was NOISY...

My editor Clare has just told me the
latest deadline for
Tom Gates Book Four...

Michael Morpurgo 

James Cambell hosted the awards.
(Yes the same.. remember my Bridget Jones moment from
the Big Book Babble?) He asked  questions to myself, Piers Ibbotson
the son of Eva who wrote  One Dog and his Boy before she died
and Gill Lewis. We look like a panel on blind date.

Steve Cole announced the winner
for the Younger Readers.....

...it's me!

Meeting keen book readers.

My Tom gates stamp on Lilys hand.

The older readers section of chat.. 

The picture book authors
and illustrators on blind date.

The WINNER!

Patrick with his award..
tweeting I think?

Mark and Zak.

Catherine from Scholastic arranged a lovely
TEA and fizz for after the ceremony.

The sliver engraved award they gave me.

Back at good friends house
for dinner they gave us treats!

Lily took these on the way home.

What a day.