Laurie Lee's Rosie

Morning, I've written a little piece for The Independent about the pitfalls of inspiring a literary work. Read it here.

A Bluffer's Guide to Greek Mythology

Chairete! I'm giving a short talk on Greek Myth for the How To: Academy. Come and join! Details here.

Autumn round up of children's books

Here's my autumn round up of children's books for the Telegraph. Read it here.

Bath Festival of Children's Literature & War Girls review

This year I'll be appearing at the Bath Festival of Children's Literature; the Telegraph asked me to do a round up of some of the authors who are also doing events, from September 26th to October 5th. The round up is in the paper today, (not online yet - I'll post it when it appears) and features:

A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond
Terror Kid by Benjamin Zephaniah
Wild Boy and the Black Terror by Rob Lloyd Jones
The Tornado Chasers by Ross Montgomery
Secret Agent Mummy by Steve Cole
Boy Face and the Tartan Badger by James Campbell
Papa Chagall, Tell Us a Story by Laurence Anholt

My review of War Girls, a collection of short stories about girls in the First World War, published by Andersen, was cut, so I've pasted it here below:
 

 War Girls: A Collection of First World War Stories (Andersen Press, 258pp, £6.99), is a welcome addition to the reams of books commemorating the Great War. The nine stories here cover a wide range of the feminine perspective: among them Berlie Doherty’s outstanding “Sky Dancer”, in which a young singer goes to the front to entertain troops; Anne Fine’s tightly-wound “Piercing the Veil” which deals with spiritualism; and Theresa Breslin’s finely-cut “Shadow and Light”, about an artistic ambulance driver. All nine engage thoughtfully with the battles that girls faced: to love, to work, and to become themselves whilst all around the world exploded.

Launch of Dan Jones' The Hollow Crown

Dan Jones: Moody

Evenin' all! Despite the fact that it seems like no time at all since his last book, last night I went to the launch of Dan Jones' new historical tome, The Hollow Crown, at the Rook and Raven Gallery near Tottenham Court Road. It was very hot. As these photographs on the Tatler website will attest. Obviously, both Anna Friel and Heston Blumenthal were in attendance. I wonder if I missed the canapés because they were all shaped like something else? Oh well.