‘Picture Purrfect’ is a self-published picture book written and illustrated by Heather Dickinson. This is the story of a cat named Zuzu, who wants to paint a picture of her friends. Her friends comply, but soon get fidgety. The result is a hodgepodge of features which together form a surprise. The illustrations are beautifully done […]
We’ve booked a last minute long weekend break on the Scottish coast for next month, and I couldn’t be more excited. We’ll be staying in a lighthouse cottage. We stayed there two years ago and it was incredible. This time, I’m thinking in terms of how inspiring it could be for my writing. I’ll be […]
I’ve recently made two submissions directly to publishers that I feel really good about. You know how it goes; you’ve read loads of their publications, you feel like your manuscripts fit perfectly, you can imagine your books on the shelves etc. Then you remember the reality: that publishers receive an insane amount of submissions, they […]
This is Reeves’ debut picture book from a new publisher, Storyhouse Publishing. As an aside, I love the ethos of Storyhouse – inspiring care for each other and our world – and have ordered more of their books. The story centres around Magnus, a monkey who loves to dance. Magnus gets a right sulk on […]
Unicorns – they’ve been everywhere for what feels like forever. But has the trend passed? My instincts say yes and no. Any look around a shop will tell you that unicorns are still very much on trend. But of course, any book being written now would only potentially be released in maybe a couple of […]
Normally, I’d spend the weekend with my family, letting my brain wander, story ideas circling around until one goes ‘ping’ and feels like a good fit. I’ll then spend the rest of the weekend mentally sketching out the plot, before putting pen to paper (well, fingers to keys) the following week. I’ve had a few […]
Being a lover of all things spooky and all things toilet humour, one afternoon I sat down and gleefully sketched out ‘The Were-Poo’. I truly believed this to be my magnum opus and imagined my young readers howling with laughter and me basking in publication success. In brief, The Were-Poo is about a poo that […]
You should 100% become a literary agent. Yes, you. Because you like books, right? And because I need more agents to submit to. You know the story – I need a literary agent to get published and it’s insanely hard to get one. Not only that but there are only about 20 agents currently in […]
Today is the final day for submissions to Scholastic’s illustrated books ‘open season’. Open season is an exciting opportunity for un-agented picture book writers and illustrators to submit their work directly to a large publisher. Most publishers are usually closed to unsolicited submissions and acquire new publications via literary agents. I’ve really loved the openness […]
I picked up this book on a whim while shopping in Sainsbury’s. I was drawn to its bright colours and the cute wide-eyed slug staring at me from the cover. With Rachel Bright, you know you will get quality. Don’t we all want to be Rachel Bright? However, I have to say that it’s Nadia […]
