I’ve had a very busy and exciting May! I’ve visited schools from Richmond to Grantham, and festivals from Brighton to Linton. There’s almost too much to share – below are just a selection of my favourite moments from May!
All school visits are special, but being asked to visit the Royal Ballet School in Richmond Park was particularly incredible. I had an amazing time talking to the year 7s and 8s – here we all are at the end of the talk!
On the 15th May I visited Barnes for their children’s festival. It was a wonderful event, and I was particularly impressed by my two introducers, Loulou and Lauren.
… And just when I thought my Barnes event couldn’t get more exciting, I saw a Deepdean pupil in the front row! She even had a piece of string in her pocket for carrying out detective missions. A true member of the Detective Society!
On the 22nd May, I went to the lovely Linton Book Festival. I spoke about the new kids’ crime anthology Mystery & Mayhem with fellow Crime Club member Helen Moss (read Helen’s brilliant write-up here), and was part of their writers’ panel – it was such a fun day!
I also teamed up with Crime Club members Julia Golding and Katherine Woodfine to hold a Mystery & Mayhem event at Bookfeast Oxford. I love being part of a team on stage – it makes staring out at an audience slightly less terrifying! If you ever wondered what an author sees when they get up on stage, take a look at the picture above …
My last May event was Brighton Festival on the 28th, and it was an amazing way to finish the month! I had an incredible signing queue afterwards, and some of them even brought me presents. Thank you Stephanie, Molly and the rest of the audience for being so thoughtful – I loved my bunbreak!
I’ll be back out on the road in July (see my upcoming events here), but this week I’m editing, making final tweaks to my fifth book. Watch out for the title and cover reveal coming in July as well. You can already pre-order it here, though, and it’ll be out in UK shops on 20th October, just in time for Christmas!
