Castle Hamster goes to Broughty Ferry library ...

Yesterday I had a sunshine drive up to Broughty Ferry where I gave a talk to two Reading Groups. Here I am in full flight!

It was, all in all, a pretty LIVELY talk, and at the beginning there was much speculation as to what was inside the big black box. 

Suggestions ranged from 'someone with a hamster in their pocket' through 'a hamster in a cage' to 'one of my cats' and definitely reflected the imagination of the Broughty Ferry Book Monsters!

When Castle Hamster was eventually revealed and the Toffee 'n Caramel Game played, the noise level hit a new record level ... I hope all the serious readers had gone home for their tea by then!!

I was made very welcome by Fiona and her colleagues and once the talk was over, refreshed by apple juice and custard creams, I drove to Falkland where I'd decided to spend the night.

I stayed at The Bruce Inn where I was made doubly welcome! Asked to choose between 'a room overlooking Falkland Palace with no TV' and 'a room not overlooking Falkland Palace but with a TV' I opted for the latter, to be told that actually I could have BOTH rooms - since no one was in the 'room overlooking Falkland Palace' I had it at my disposal too. And what a view it was!

Today I spent a lovely morning exploring Falkland, and found two particularly interesting shops.

This one was full of fascinating fiddles and other antiques ...

... and this one, the Cottage Craft Centre, has to be one of the best craft shops I've ever seen. It looks quite small from the outside, but inside it's like the Tardis - the rooms just go on and on!

All in all, I really liked Falkland!

Nice review in Scotland on Sunday

Got a review from Jasmine Fassl on Scotland On Sunday's 'Santa's Spellbinders' ...


'... for newly confident readers, There’s A Hamster In My Pocket by Franzeska Ewart (Frances Lincoln, £5.99) is just about perfect – a laugh-out-loud tale about pets, deadly curses and eccentric families.'


That's a nice little Christmas present!

Christmas holidays!!

Yes - they're finally here, I've decided! On Thursday I wrote the last part of Chapter 5 of my latest book and now I'm concentrating on Christmas.

The 'latest book' is Book 3 in the series for Frances Lincoln which so far contains Sita Snake-Queen of Speed and There's a Hamster in my Pocket!


In this book - which hasn't quite got a title yet - I'm introducing the indomitable Poppy O'Day, aka 'Pod' who, with the help of her psychic red squirrel glove puppet Mr Mystico, makes poor Yosser Farooq's life a bit of a misery one Christmas time.

Delivery date is the end of February, so I'm well on track and even hoping perhaps to have it finished ahead of time.

Not that the end of February will see the end of Yosser and Kylie! I've got a two-book contract this time, so there will be another title following soon after.

Which is great news - but right now I'm knee-deep in tinsel, candles and festive fayre, and enjoying every seasonal minute of it!

Nicola Morgan - Mondays Are Red

I braved snow, ice and sleet today to visit my 'old' friend Nicky Morgan in her lovely flat in Edinburgh.

I hadn't seen Nicky for quite a while, so we had a lot to talk about, including the Scottish Children's Book Awards which take place in February 2012. Nicky's fabulous new novel Wasted is shortlisted in the 'Older Readers' category and her The Highwayman's Footsteps was previously shortlisted.

One of the projects we discussed today was her latest venture into the world of ebooks with a title of hers I particularly like - Mondays Are Red. 

When I first got to know Nicky Mondays Are Red had just come out, and I loved its vivid, chilling descriptions of the world of synaesthesia.It's great to see it making a come-back now, with all sorts of new additions.


If you'd like to have a look at the Kindle edition of Mondays Are Red click here.

The Kelpie's Song

The first pantomime I've ever written, The Kelpie's Song, is over - and I think it was a great success! I certainly enjoyed every minute of the preparation (except, perhaps, the Amputation of the Kelpie's Nose ...) and I thought the Calder Drama Group did really well!

The sets were lovely - and I especially liked the bedroom scene, where 'Mum' reads Loch Legend - Betty McKellar's re-telling of the Kelpie legend - to Grace (right) and Jenny (left).

The real 'pantomime' part was set in the Lochwinnoch Charity Shop (we do have a very good charity shop here in the village!) where a mysterious 'necklace' turns up. The 'necklace', it soon transpires, has magical properties - and in this scene 'Mum' has her eye on it - but 'Mandy McManus', proprietor of the charity shop, is determined she won't have it!

There were four schoolchildren in the pantomime, and they were great. Here's Amy, the youngest, who played Angel Fish and did a lovely dance to usher the mortals into the Kelpie's underwater kingdom underneath the River Calder.

In the end, thanks to the 'necklace' (which turns out to be the gem-encrusted magic bridle without which, I'm assured, you can't release a Kelpie!) and various other magical devices, King Kelpie is not only freed, but returned to his original status of King Unicorn!

And, in true pantomime tradition, EVERYONE finds their own true love and lives happily ever after!

London

On Thursday 17th I went down to London to do some research for my adult novel, The Faraway, and to meet Catherine Pellegrino, who I'm delighted to say is to become my new agent; and as I came out of the tube at St Paul's this was one of my first sights.

The whole anti-capitalist protest camp was so fascinating I found it difficult to drag myself away, and consequently when I did finally arrive at St Bartholomew's Hospital (one of the main settings in The Faraway) the museum, which I'd planned to visit, had closed. It was a bit disappointing, but I walked around in the last of the evening sun, taking photographs, and a very helpful hospital gateman was able to answer some of my questions -so it was still a very worthwhile visit.

It was lovely to be back in Smithfield again, and especially around the church of St Bartholomew the Great, which I've written about in the past (my first children's novel, Columbine, was set in Bartholomew Fair) and have a great affection for. This part of London, being just outside the Wall and therefore surviving the Great Fire, feels very much unchanged and I'm looking forward to writing about it again soon.

Here's the entrance to the churchyard - made famous by its appearance in Four Weddings and a Funeral!

King Kelpie's Mask

At last, King Kelpie's mask is finished! Well ... almost ... It still needs a mane, but it's just about there and I think it looks very regal. Here it is, with the Fish Sprites masks alongside:

The horn is still drying on top of the radiator and hopefully, by the Magic of Velcro, King Kelpie will transfer seamlessly into King Unicorn later today.

Hooves crossed!!!!!