I’m still fairly new to this writing malarkey. My first book, The Tygrine Cat, came out in August 2007. Writing can be a solitary business, with long hours spent tapping at a keyboard (or staring guiltily at a blank screen). I’ve learned to relish the opportunities to get out and chat to people about stories – and I’ve had lots of fun in the last few weeks celebrating release of The Bloodstone Bird.
The Bloodstone Bird hatched into print on the 6th of October and I had a chance to introduce the book to prize winners of the Summer Reading Challenge at Sutton Central Library. I managed to clatter onto the stage without tripping on the steps and later helped Lord Graham Tope hand out congratulatory books while taking sneaky peeks at the titles. Afterwards, there was time to sign copies of my books and to talk with Challenge winners, who were all wonderfully enthusiastic about reading. I don’t remember anything like this when I was at school – I wish there had been!
On the 15th of October I joined another new writer, Sally Nicholls, to speak at the South East regional meeting of the Youth Libraries Group. Sally and I had very different routes to writing (she always knew that she wanted to be an author and studied creative writing at university; I lived in sheepish denial for years before stumbling upon the idea for The Tygrine Cat). I love talking to youth librarians – it’s such a delight to meet people who are passionate about children’s books.
A couple of days later, on the 17th of October, I spoke about The Bloodstone Bird at a school in North London and later toasted its launch at the gorgeous Tales on Moon Lane, which recently won the Walker Independent Children’s Bookseller of the Year 2008.
I still have various events lined up to tie in with the book’s release, but things are starting to settle down. On the 14th of November, I will be travelling to Egypt to research the sequel to The Tygrine Cat and shall thereafter revert to a diet of feline capers, keyboard tapping with – no doubt – liberal smatterings of writers’ guilt.
The Bloodstone Bird has flown the nest – at least we gave it a good send off!