September was a very exciting month for me as an author. I visited Marshlands Primary School in Goole near the end of the month – and did something I’ve not done before. I gave an assembly to the whole school and did a Q&A with all the students. What Read more…
I love the city of Hull. The fact it’s the City of Culture in 2017 means that next year there are going to be a number of exciting and high brow events. So thank heavens it’s still 2016 for the next 3 months and they let the riff-raff like me into Read more…
You know you’re doing something right when you end up in Harrogate. The buildings are pretty. The air is cleaner. The dogs woof posher. It’s the sort of place where you imagine nothing bad ever happens and policemen come round and tuck you in bed at night. The Waterstones Read more…
I really love book shop events. Today I got to spend time with the lovely folks at Waterstones in York. I love doing signing and drawing activities in all bookshops, but sometimes the staff in store are just so positive and professional it really makes your day. I have Read more…
It’s funny how in life, one thing leads to another. You go to a Leisure Centre to do some illustration workshops, and then before you know it a mum there says that her child’s school has an End of Year Fayre taking place the following week. So you go along Read more…
One of the reasons I love being an author & illustrator is that I get to visit schools and work with pupils in the Arts. I recently visited Beverley Girl’s High School, and two great things came out of the day. Firstly, I had a really enjoyable talk with the pupils and Read more…
The best thing about getting my first picture book I Have an Orange Juicy Drink published is getting to read it to fantastic chaps like these guys! Saint Mary’s Primary School in Beverley has got some delightful children and some wonderful staff. We had a wonderful Monday morning doing readings and improving Read more…
A Leisure Centre might seem like an odd place for author & illustrator to visit. But actually, it makes a lot more sense than you would think. In past lives, I have been a TV Gameshow Contestant, a supply teacher and five-a-side footballer, but I was also a swim teacher for Read more…
There’s a school of thought that says that design should purely be functional. For instance, if you’re making a ceramic heated oil holder, all that you really need is a a part to hold the oil, openings to give easy access to the candle and holes to let the air Read more…
Imagine you’re a young and enthusiastic Illustrator Let’s say you like drawing and you’re quite good at it. In fact, you’d like to start charging people money for it – the one problem is that you have no track record behind you, and you haven’t really got the first idea how Read more…