The one aspect of being a writer nobody prepared me is the solitary nature of the job – it’s just you, your imagination, and fictional characters. But every now and again, I get out from behind the writing desk (probably much to my editor’s annoyance…who’s waiting on a new book) and go from utter solitude to hyper […]
Halloween is a time to celebrate the scary and play with our fears. For one night, we can place aside our real fears (Ebola, climate change, school shootings, terrorism) and focus on ghosts, ghouls and zombies. But it’s only one night a year. What about the other three hundred and sixty four nights? Fortunately, we’ve got books. […]
Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good party. So when the good folks at Penguin Canada decided to bring ‘Memoirs of a Neurotic Zombie’ into Canada, I naturally wanted to celebrate with my family, friends, and colleagues. This week at the Young People’s Theatre in Toronto, we introduced Adam Meltzer to the […]
You’d have to be living under a rock, or perhaps deep underground or in a maze, not to know that THE MAZE RUNNER movie has just opened. The film, from Fox, based on James Dashner’s best-selling YA thriller, opened well this weekend in the U.S. and a sequel is in the works for next September. […]
I vividly recall the last Quebec referendum that threatened to tear Canada apart. It was 1995, I was in high school, and all the history and geography I’d been studying was about to be thrown out of the window with the cast of the ballot. Now, years later, living in the UK (London), I’m stuck […]
This weekend I attended the Moreton On Marsh Show, an annual agricultural fair in the gorgeous Cotswolds. It was my fifth time attending. For anyone with young children (or an interest in rural life), it’s simply a grand day out. But beyond the sheer entertainment value, it’s a vital aspect to our food supply, and a […]
Tomorrow marks the end of a long road! It’s been over seven years to bring a book I love to the screen, but on September 6th (at 4 pm), Trucktown debuts on preschool channel Treehouse in Canada, and will soon be rolling out all over the world. At the Bologna Book Fair in 2007, I was shown […]
Today I made the pilgrimage to the annual August mecca of literature, the Edinburgh Book Festival. Today was a very special part of the festival, the Baillie Gifford Gala Day, when the kids take over! I arrived to sunny skies, which I was (contractually) assured was the norm for Scotland. I made my way […]
Today I became a zombie. Well, technically I put on fake flesh wounds and grey make up and commuted (yes, via tube & train) to my first book tour event for ‘Memoirs of a Neurotic Zombie.’ Commuting in London rush hour this morning, I half expected a few people to at least blink, and even […]
Today I had the honour and privilege of addressing the Year 6 class of Emmanuel Church of England primary school. I met these wonderful students earlier this year when I was on book tour for MetaWars. I was thrilled to be invited to speak at their Leavers’ Service. It was a real pleasure to address the […]
