Nice news and other brighton things.

NICE NEWSHere's a lovely piece in the Telegraph that Martin Chilton very kindly did about the Tom Gates books. The Telegraph sponsored the Hay Festival this year where Martin was writing about some of the events (including mine).It was my Mums 86th birthday on the 4th November so I showed her the nice things I'd been saying in the article. It made up for the birthday card I did, putting my photoshop skills to good use.
She laughed then told me I was dreadful (true).

 


Getting set for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize tomorrow. 
I heard Francesca Simon (Horrid Henry)
on the radio yesterday which was really interesting. 
I'm looking forward to meeting everyone.
Will blog about it on Wednesday.

It was White Nights Festival 
in Brighton last weekend. 
I love living in Brighton, 
it's totally bonkers sometimes.
At my old studio "the Annex" 
Pete and his wife Claire did a
fantastic puppet show with live action,music and gorgeous 
pictures at the windows. 
At one point all the windows 
looked like they were filling 
up with water. It was amazing!
Here's a behind the scenes video they did.

Light sculpture in Brighton

Lily made this pumpkin for Halloween.
It's Karl Pilkington... she's very clever!

Red House Book Awards 2012!

Fabulous news!

The Brilliant World Of Tom Gates has been 

shortlisted for  

The Red House Book Awards 

which is voted for by children all 

over the country. I'm very excited all over again.

Children can vote on the 

Red House website this year too!

No pressure...

I was lucky enough to go to the awards in 2009

when my picture book

The Three Horrid Little

Pig and the friendly Wolf 

was shortlisted.

Then this June I blagged my way in again 

when Michael Morpurgo won with SHADOW.

Me with fellow author Kes Gray 2009

I usually hate this 

time of the year 

when it's all

dark and cold. 

But so far it's been 

a lot more fun than

usual!

The Red House June 2011

Yorkshire Fat Rascals in Ilkley

Alan Titchmarsh
...glowing as ever.

The Crescent Inn
hotel in Ilkley 
where I stayed, 
had a few well known 
faces on display 
(and some not so..)




At the Ilkley 
Literature Festival,
Zoe from Scholastic
took me to
BETTY'S TEA ROOM a 
proper old fashioned
tea shop. With silver
teapots and cake trolleys.
I took a Yorkshire Fat
Rascal back on the train.
Which was DELICIOUS! 
Betty's needs to come 
to Brighton please. 
Had a great time meeting
everyone at the Playhouse where my event was. We had a proper theatrical dressing room and everything. Got some good questions from the audience.
One about the band DUDE3 in the book, I had to think
quickly!

I look like an iphone
sales person here..

OMG..Yorkshire Fat Rascals
are insanely delicious

Me, Gillian and cakes.

 Fellow author Gillian Rogerson who wrote "You can't scare a Princess"  had just finished her event and I met her at Betty's along with Zoe. 
We'd met before at the Bishops Sortford Awards so it 
was great to get a chance to chat more.
Here's a link to her blog where we have the same
pictures up!

Zoe (from Scholastic) and Gillian   

I'm not Tom Gates.. but you get the idea.

Everything's AMAZING...(sort of.)

I've a bit rubbish at keeping up with the blogs.
This mostly because 
Tom Gates Everything's AMAZING (sort of) 
needed to be written (which I have done..now)
Just editing it and doing the artwork and drawings.
Nearly finished.


Also went and visited two
schools in BARROW AND GRANTHAM.
Long Bennington Primary school first.

 Fina Martinez who helps run
the Barrow and Grantham
Book group helping me.

 

Fantastic dogs.

BRILLIANT super heros... 

I LOVE Wonder Woman!

  




















Then went to GREAT PONTON SCHOOL. 
It's a small school where the head master
Jon Clack is a SO enthusiastic about 
getting the children to read all kinds 
of books.They had read book one already,
so I read from book two and we 
did lot's of drawing.

Then they presented me with book of 
drawings and letters telling me what they liked about the books. 
Amazing!
How nice was that?

ROALD DAHL FUNNY BOOK PRIZE and SLUGS.

Am so excited! 
The Brilliant World Of Tom Gates 
just got shortlisted for the ROALD DAHL FUNNY BOOK PRIZE.
Here's the review they gave it on the Book Trusted site:

 Judges are Grace Dent, Michael Rosen

Tony Ross, Francesca Simon and Danny Wallace.

And this year children will have a 

say in the winners too.

The ceremony is 8th November in London and 

there are some fantastic books 

on the shortlist.

There are two categories:

The Funniest Book for Children Aged Six and Under

• Bedtime for Monsters by Ed Vere 
• (Puffin)
• Cats Ahoy! by Peter Bently, illustrated by Jim Field (Macmillan Children’s Books)
• First Week at Cow School by Andy Cutbill, illustrated by Russell Ayto (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
• Limelight Larry by Leigh Hodgkinson (Orchard)
• Marshall Armstrong is New to Our School by David  Mackintosh (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
• A Place to Call Home by Alexis Deacon, illustrated by Viviane Schwarz (Walker)

The Funniest Book for Children Aged Seven to Fourteen

• Animal Tales by Terry Jones, illustrated by Michael Foreman (Pavilion Children's Books)
• The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon (Scholastic) 
• The Get Rich Quick Club by Rose Impey (Orchard)
• Letters from an Alien Schoolboy by Ros Asquith (Piccadilly Press)
• Penny Dreadful is a Magnet for Disaster by Joanna Nadin, illustrated by Jess Mikhail (Usborne)
• The Wrong Pong by Steven Butler, illustrated by Chris Fisher (Puffin)

I still can't believe I'm on the list!

Just to bring me BACK down to earth.

I walked into ANOTHER 

spider web this morning 

which 

made me behave like I was being attacked 

by an invisible 

swarm of bees.

Then I looked down AND this slug 

was by my feet.

DISGUSTING! It was MASSIVE. 

It shrunk back when I put the 

ruler next to it.. 

but you get the picture.

The whole garden seems to be 

(or should I say WAS 

being

) 

attacked 

by the most 

ENORMOUS slugs have ever seen 

in 

my life. 

They are (were) truly revolting.

Back to writing Tom Gates Book Three now.

(Which might include a chapter on monster slugs?)

 

LOOK WHAT'S ARRIVED!

FRONT

 YEAH!

Got two my 
early copies 
of: 
TOM GATES
EXCELLENT EXCUSES
(and other good stuff)
Out officially 
September the 1st.


Hope it goes down
well (fingers crossed
and all that.)

BACK