Pyjama Power: Tatler

I've written a piece about pyjamas for Tatler. You can read it in this month's edition - not online, so have a look at the lovely print edition.

Children's Book Round Up: Literary Review, December 2017

Hello, my Christmas round up of children's books for Literary Review is in the December / January issue, featuring:

Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend
The Land of Neverendings by Kate Saunders
Mike by Andrew Norriss
My Side of the Diamond by Sally Gardner
The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud
Witchborn by Nicholas Bowling
Christmas Dinner of Souls by Ross Montgomery.

Read the full piece here.

Interview with Kate Saunders in Books for Keeps, and Children's Books of the Year in BfK

My interview with Kate Saunders, about her new book, The Land of Neverendings, is in this month's Books for Keeps; also in the issue is my books of the year. Have a look at another wonderful, packed issue of the children's specialist title.

The Accident on the A35 by Graeme Macrae Burnet: review

I've reviewed Graeme Macrae Burnet's latest novel, The Accident on the A35, for Literary Review. Subscribers can read it here, or you could avail yourself of the lovely print edition.

Writing for Children vs. Writing for Adults

Here's my piece on writing for children for the TLS.

The Arrow of Apollo by Philip Womack launches on Unbound

Today is a great day: I have launched The Arrow of Apollo on Unbound, the wonderful crowd-funding publisher. I'm very excited about this - partly because they make such beautiful books, but also because it's a chance for this idea to reach an audience directly. There is a synopsis below, but you can read more here on the Unbound website.

An epic children's adventure set in the legendary past: three friends must find the magical Arrow of Apollo before evil consumes the world

The gods are leaving the earth, tempted by other worlds where they can live in peace. Only a few retain an interest in the mortals left behind, including Hermes, the messenger god, and Apollo, Lord of Light. Other, darker, more ancient forces are wakening, and threatening to take over.
In The Arrow of Apollo three teenagers encounter increasingly perilous situations in order to defeat Python, the most terrible enemy of all. It draws freely on Greek and Roman myth, whilst telling stories that have not been told before in a gripping, fast-flowing tale for boys and girls aged eleven plus, combining literary quality with an absorbing plot.
In The Arrow of Apollo, two opposing houses are forced to come together to face a terrible danger. Silvius, son of Aeneas, of the Italian House of the Wolf, is given a task by a dying centaur. The dark god Python is rising and massing an army of unstoppable force. The only thing that can save the world is the Arrow of Apollo - but it was split into two.
Against his father’s wishes, Silvius and his friend Elissa must travel to the land of their enemies, the Achaeans.
Meanwhile, Tisamenos, the son of Orestes, is facing his own dangers in the kinghouse of Mykenai. A plot is afoot against both him and his father, and he is the only one who can stop it.
When Silvius, Elissa and Tisamenos meet, they enter a final, terrifying race to reunite Arrowhead and Shaft, and destroy the army of the Python.
There’s one more problem: a prophecy tells that one of them will die.

La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman: review in the Financial Times

I've reviewed Philip Pullman's new book for the Financial Times. Read it here.