Yesterday as I was waiting in the lobby of a school (which I won’t name), I noticed that all-too-familiar sign on the door which read something like ‘Our staff are free to work in an environment without assault. Verbal or physical assault will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted’…or something like that. We’ve all […]
In the run up to World Book Day, I’ve unshackled myself from the writing desk and am flinging myself up and down the UK to talk to students as part of the MetaWars 4.0 Book Tour. I love doing school visits. It’s a chance to get out of my own bubble to meet young readers […]
Back in the day, Twitter asked you to share “What are you doing right now?” Twitter has evolved beyond that simple query, but most (non-commercial) Tweets are still a variation on that status update – what I’m doing/thinking about/caring about/what’s happening. But there’s a filter between brain and tweet (fortunately), and people consciously think about […]
If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you will have no doubt noticed that I’m obsessed with world-building. It’s a skill and an art. Some creatives do it well (J.J.Abrams, Joss Whedon) and others not so well (no need to name names). Last night the first trailer broke for Marvel’s newest edition to its […]
Last night I was fortunate enough to be invited to the kickoff party for the Southbank Centre’s Imagine Festival – a two-week celebration of reading and storytelling sponsored by The Book People. Three iconic authors were invited to speak to the assembled great and good of children’s publishing. Michael Rosen rightfully articulated the need to […]
Human beings are obsessed with immortality. We all want to live forever, or at least, live on forever. In writing MetaWars, I dreamt up a concept of UPLOADING, a process to upload your consciousness to the web to live on forever; to be digitally immortal. Here’s how a video advert for Uploading might run… […]
I can clearly remember that Tuesday, January 28th, 1986. I was in 6th grade at Pineland Public School, the freshmen grade of middle-school, and the our class was interrupted with the terrible news of the Challenger disaster. I was mad about space, and the entire school, like all schools, were excited about this lift off […]
Growing up, I hated reading. I was what is now termed a “reluctant reader.” Back then the terms ranged from lazy to uninspired (and probably some my teachers didn’t share with me. Not only did I find reading hard, I frankly wasn’t that interested in books because the written word failed to capture my imagination […]
I spend most of my working day in fictional worlds of my own creation. It’s a bit like taking a mental trip to faraway, often fantastical places, without leaving my cluttered office. Since I’m constantly writing and creating, I don’t tend to read much in the way of fiction – I don’t want to get […]
If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll notice that I’ve been silent for a few weeks. Besides the December rush of finishing a new manuscript and taking Christmas holidays, I’ve actually been blogging for other people. The blog tour for the final MetaWars book launched last week and it’s been a joy to guest blog […]
