I spent lots of time in my garden this summer, and after a while I noticed that the same robin was coming to visit me every day. As the weeks passed by, she became braver and braver, and soon she was eating out of my hand. This was very sweet and special, and the fluttering of her wings and the light touch of her claws on my skin made me very, very happy.
Here’s a video:
Last month I wrote about leaving my comfort zone. In case you weren’t paying attention, I reluctantly agreed to do a food demo at the Hay Kells festival. This is what happened:
When I arrived in Kells the night before the event, things got a lot worse before they got better. The food demo had turned into an interactive, hands-on cookery session, and 66 children aged from 6 – 13 had signed up!!!! I confess that I was tempted to sneak back to my car, drive home, jump into bed and hide under the covers for a week – but I didn’t do that.
The lovely people at the festival had set me up with an amazing team. There was a chef, a techie team, and lots of people without job-titles who were BRILLIANT at organising stuff.
Before the event started, and, no, I have no idea why it looks like I’m about to slide off the stage.
Before the event started, and, no, I have no idea why it looks like I’m about to slide off the stage.
I demonstrated how to make french bread pizza, and tried not to think about the overhead camera that was relaying my every move to huge screens on either side of the stage.
Next I demonstrated how to make eton mess, and when I was finished, an army of volunteers raced out to give every child a supply of ingredients and utensils. There was a lot of laughing, and a lot of mess, but we did it – in less than twenty minutes, 66 children in a tent made dessert.
It was a fantastic day, and now I’m thinking of a new career. Watch your back, Mary Berry!
Spot the wardrobe change. A lovely girl called Roisin lent me her lucky apron.
(This post first appeared on www.girlsheartbooks.com)
I love Eva and her friends in the Eva books. I also love Lauren and Tilly from the Friends Forever books.
Alice and Megan though – well they will always be special to me. They were the first young characters I wrote about, and they will always be close to my heart. When I re-read all the Alice and Megan books late last year, it was like revisiting old friends. When I started to write Viva Alice, I found that I couldn’t wait to get started every morning. I had missed my old buddies and wanted to continue their story.
Luckily when I sent off the manuscript, my publishers liked it as much as I did, and they quickly set the publishing wheels in motion.
Woody Fox made a great job of the illustrations as always, and the O’Brien Press team, did what they do so well, editing, designing covers and all the other stuff I don’t even understand. Anyway, now the hard work is done, and Viva Alice is ready to go out into the big bad world.
Coming to a bookshop near you on August 4th.
Recently I was asked to do an event at the Hay Kells Festival. I was delighted to accept, as I love doing book events, and the Hay Kells festival is brilliant. However, when they said, ‘we’d like you to do a cookery demo,’ I started to quietly panic. I’ve never done a cookery demo before, and I couldn’t stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong.
Then I remembered how I always tell my children they shouldn’t be afraid to try new things. How hypocritical would it be to dole out advice I wasn’t prepared to take myself?
So I gave myself a stern talking-to, as follows:
I’m used to speaking in public.
I cook for my family every single day.
The audience will be mostly children, who will (hopefully) be enthusiastic and forgiving.
And finally, I’ve even written a cookbook!
And so I said ‘Yes.’ I have stepped out of my comfort zone. On July 5th, I will be doing a cookery demo in Kells.
Watch this space!
(This post first appeared on girlsheartbooks.com)
I am really delighted to announce that my next book is going to be……. Viva Alice!
I wrote my first Alice and Megan book more than ten years ago. It was meant to be a stand-alone book, but I loved the characters, and readers seemed to like them too, so one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I had written eight books about the girls. At that stage, I reluctantly decided that it was time to try something new, so I began the Eva series, and the Friends Forever series. Luckily I loved my new characters too, and I happily wrote lots of books about them.
In the years since then, the question I am most often asked is – ‘are you going to write a new Alice and Megan book?’ I’ve never been able to answer that question properly – until now! Earlier this year, I felt a strange longing to go back to my old friends. For the first time ever, I picked up all of the Alice and Megan books, and I spent a happy few days reading them. When I was finished, I knew what I had to do……..
Viva Alice will be out in August. Here’s a sneak preview of the cover:
