We took time out to meet with Jenny Hawke, new Chair of the Youth Libraries Group and to ask her some questions about her career in libraries and involvement with the group.  Find out more below and do consider getting involved with the group if you aren't already!

Please can you give us an overview of your career in libraries (what did they mean to you as a child, how did you come to work in them, what's your current role)?

I have spent over 30 years working in academic, special, school and public libraries. I left school at 17 in 1983 and made the decision to work in a public library which seemed natural to me as I enjoyed reading books as a child. I have fond memories of my parents taking the whole family to the local library on a Saturday afternoon. We would look for our favourite authors and get excited about new books. Armed with a large pile of books we would come home and all settle down with a cup of tea and get lost in one of our new books. Often my dad would read to me, favourites were Watership Down and The Borrowers.

At my first library job, favourite activities would be working alongside the children’s librarian, telling stories to visiting school classes and helping to run under-fives sessions. Five years later I wanted to gain experience in an academic setting so I began working as a library assistant in South Bank Polytechnic which later became South Bank University. Whilst working at South Bank I undertook an access course which enabled me to go back into full time education and study for a degree and it was at this point I decided I wanted to qualify as a librarian, so undertook a Masters at UCL.

After graduating I was appointed as a librarian in a special library/information centre at the International Transport Workers’ Federation ITF (an umbrella organisation for national transport unions). I decided to charter in 2008 and needed to focus on a different sector, so I chose school libraries and, rather conveniently, my daughter’s school invited me to overhaul and expand and organise their modest library. This benefited the children with a fully stocked and fully functioning library and I gained valuable knowledge and experience of working with children’s resources.

I started working for Bromley Libraries in 2008 as a manager of a medium sized library. By now children’s activities and children’s literature was at the heart of my professional career.  Later, when GLL (the charitable social enterprise) who were now running Bromley Libraries asked me if I would like to move to one of their larger libraries and become the children’s librarian I was thrilled.

This was a great move for me involving a variety of interesting projects. I currently wear three hats. One is to plan, prepare and run children’s activities at Orpington Library from Baby Bounce and Rhyme right up to our Older Teen Reading Group.  Another is to work with the children’s team to plan borough-wide activities. Finally, my other hat is the set-up and managing of the GLL Literary Foundation which was launched in November 2024.  This aims to support authors, inspire young readers and champion public libraries.  We are offering bursaries, training, networking and mentoring opportunities for authors through the new foundation. This is an incredibly exciting part of my role and I’m hugely grateful to GLL, the YLG and other organisations who have helped to make this project a reality.

How and when did you first become involved with YLG?

During Chartership, I decided it would be important to sign up to the YLG as one of my Special Interest Groups as I knew children’s libraries and their activities and services was an area I wanted to move into. In 2011 I applied for the YLG SE bursary to attend the YLG National Conference at Goldsmith’s College. This was an incredibly inspiring experience: listening to a mix of authors, academics and librarians talk about children’s literature and library services.

It was also a wonderful opportunity to network and share good practice with other librarians. After the Conference I asked the Chair if I could join the Committee and have been there ever since. I have really enjoyed being an active member of the YLG SE which has involved our annual training day and annual Carnegie Discussion Day and also a monthly Picture Book Chat focusing on either the BookTrust Storytime Prize and the Carnegie Medal for Illustration Shortlist. I am really grateful to the YLG SE Committee members as they have all been very enthusiastic and passionate about everything we set out to achieve.

You've been a judge for the Carnegies, what was the most challenging aspect of this and what was the most rewarding?

I think the main challenge was the obvious one of reading over 200 books across both medals. I had to be very strict with family and friends and at Christmas I would sneak upstairs and furtively read a few exciting chapters of a Carnegie or get absorbed into a Kate Greenaway. Meeting the other judges and discussing the books in such detail was incredibly stimulating and everyone was so committed about the whole judging process.

The best part of being a judge is how much it has helped me in my job as a Children’s Librarian. It gave me a greater awareness and knowledge of literature for children and young people, and obviously helped me with my Shadowing groups over the years as well. Shadowing the Carnegies is a brilliant way to find out about new books for children and particularly books which are often more thought provoking, diverse and promote discussion. I always ensure there is an informal setting with snacks and the children find that chatting about books is just a great thing to do.

What has been the highlight of being involved with YLG?

I think this has to be my two years as a Carnegie judge (2017 and 2018) and particularly the award ceremonies.  Before this 2014 sticks in my mind as this was the year that my Chatterbooks shadowing group won the Shadowing Magazine Award. It was fantastic and we were invited to the award ceremony when Jon Klassen won the Greenaway and Kevin Brooks won the Carnegie. My group did a radio broadcast to start with and then met lots of authors and illustrators as well as watching the ceremony live. The group members are all practically grown up now but I’m sure they will all look back on it as a very memorable experience.  I also really enjoyed chairing the Funny Fiction panel at the 2024 conference in Glasgow, it was such fun!

Are there any particular areas or themes you hope to make the focus of your time as chair?

I’m very excited about the National One Day School which we hope to hold in Eastbourne in the autumn of this year. It will be themed around Journeys and encompass books in translation, empathy, refugees and how children and young people embark on their reading journey.

We need to look at communication with our members and how we currently deliver this and if we can make improvements. AI and new technologies will be affecting the way we all do things so this is another area that the YLG should focus on. There have been a lot of cuts in public services over the years and it’s really important to find ways in which we can support our colleagues who work in the public sector. Governance and business planning should underpin everything we do at a regional and national level.  National committee meetings will be discussing other themes that should be focused on throughout my term as Chair, I’m very fortunate and grateful to have such a brilliant team of people on the National Committee who have already given me so much support since becoming Chair.

Can you give us three top tips for books you enjoyed in 2024 please?

Rainbowsaurus by Steve Antony is a joyful, inclusive and extremely colourful picture book whose characters jump off the page. The family, which has two dads and three children, set out to find the Rainbowsaurus and invite the reader to join them in addition to a number of distinctly coloured animals. Different age groups of readers will engage with this book as there is so much to look out for in the illustrations. This is much more than a simple picture book.

Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler is a compelling and poignant novel set in World War II written from different points of view in a really accessible way. The writing is beautiful with well defined characters from past and present.

Glasgow Boys by Margaret McDonald is a beautifully written coming of age story and includes themes of acceptance, love and guilt but also the importance of family in its widest sense and friendship.

A big thank you to Jenny Hawke for taking time out to be interviewed!

We are honoured to welcome Laurence Anholt to the blog.  Laurence is the author and illustrator of Small Stories of Great Artists.  He was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal with The Hypnotist and has had books published in over 30 languages.  In this poignant guest blog, Laurence considers the impact personal grief has played on the creation of his own work.

When my daughter died, I thought about libraries. This is how it came about…

In the spring of 2023, life seemed easy for my wife Cathy and me. It would be hard not to find contentment on this Devon hilltop overlooking the sea. In the wildflower meadows below the house, gentle long-horned cattle graze, while our grandchildren run amongst the trees.

After 35 years as a writer and illustrator, a golden opportunity had been presented to me – I received an invitation from the legendary art publisher, Taschen to launch their children’s list. They proposed a super high-quality 336-page anthology called Small Stories of Great Artists, based on my series about great artists and the real children who knew them. What a privilege it was to collaborate with the enthusiastic and efficient editors and designers in London and Cologne.

Together we created fresh layouts, and Taschen employed their expertise in Art publishing to obtain licences for dozens of high-quality reproductions of the artists’ work. I set about creating new illustrations and writing child-friendly biographies of the artists. The book would be translated into several languages and would even have a silky ribbon bookmark, they promised me! Our aim was to create a gorgeous object for a child to handle. Something that would provide a springboard into a lifetime’s love of art.

When things are going well it’s as if we inhabit a bubble in which health and happiness will last forever. It’s easy to forget how perilously thin the skin of a bubble may be.

In her own studio Cathy was lost in her work, putting together a one-woman show of her lovely paintings in Seoul. Our grown-up children were well and happy; and best of all, our daughter Maddy and her new partner came to live just half an hour away.

Maddy was a powerhouse – a fearless standup comedian, an actor, an activist and a Women’s Aid Ambassador. When Covid thwarted her run at the Edinburgh Fringe, Maddy didn’t grumble, she sat down, reimagined the stage show as a book; found an agent; got published by Pan MacMillan.

Now pregnant with her first child, she and her partner managed to scrape together a deposit on a romantic tumble-down chapel, which they set about converting into a family home, just in time for the arrival of their first child.

When our granddaughter was born our happiness seemed complete. I have never met a child quite like her – from the very start that kid had a sense of independence and easy contentment. Basking in love, she slept well, rarely cried and laughed easily. After all, that girl is Maddy’s child.

There was only one small cloud of worry in our bubble world - Maddy began suffering from headaches, which her doctor put down to postnatal anxiety.

And then, late one night and very quietly… the bubble burst.

At home in the chapel, Maddy collapsed in the kitchen. Within an hour we were propelled into a vortex of blaring ambulances, glaring hospital corridors and CT scans. Within a fortnight, Maddy had undergone a traumatic ten-hour operation for a brain tumour. Within months, the long drive to Bristol for radio and chemotherapy had become almost routine. By the time the superb NHS consultant took us to one side and told us, with tears in her eyes that it was all over, we were burnt-out shells.

Declining the offer of a hospice bed, my wife and I brought our daughter to our home above the sea, where we created a different kind of bubble – a sanctuary of tranquillity and love.

The 13^th of September 2023 was a golden, dappled day. Through the open doors and windows, you could hear boundless birdsong, as our beloved 35-year-old daughter died in our arms.

There are no words to describe that kind of pain. In the dark days that followed it was all we could do to put one foot in front of another, let alone organise a traditional funeral. In any case, Maddy wasn’t one for Onward Christian Soldiers. Church services made her giggle.

In a moment of insight, we realised that we had a choice - we could do whatever we pleased. We decided to create something extraordinary to honour that vivacious, rebellious, compassionate, funny and beautiful woman. Huddled together in grief, we began to plan a kind of mini mid-summer festival. We would call it Maddy’s Full Moon Celebration.

The mammoth task of organising the event became a welcome distraction. Our friends rallied around. We erected a huge marquee in our fields. There would be delicious homemade food, a huge firepit and flowers everywhere. Some kind neighbours promised miniature ponies for the children. Twenty or more friendly musicians offered to play for free.

There would be speeches of course, and rashly, I promised to speak. But with the stultifying grief and the sheer effort of organising that event I prevaricated and failed to prepare, beating myself up for letting everyone down. The truth is, I was lost for words.

And then on the morning of the celebration, 22^nd June 2024, something magical happened. I woke before dawn, and discovered an odd phrase had lodged in my mind like an earworm: ‘Life is a Library.’ The words seemed meaningless and bizarre.

I dressed and wandered into the fields where a lone fox returned from a night of villainy. I spotted our resident pair of twin deer – particularly poignant as Maddy is a twin. In the half-light I entered the huge, empty marquee. Walking past bare tables I came to the shrine we had set up beside the stage. There was that magnificent photo of our girl, shining like a flame. And in my mind, I heard that stupid phrase again: ‘Life is a Library.’

The sun rose like a golden ball above the sea. Around midday, more than 200 of Maddy’s friends rocked up from far and wide. Dressed in colourful clothes, they represented every walk of life; every age; every race; every gender; united by love and tears and laughter. It was beautiful. It was sad. It was dappled.

As we assembled in the marquee, I felt anxious. Very shortly it would fall on me to speak and still I had no plan. As I clutched the microphone, I peered through my grief at these wonderful, expectant humans. I spotted Maddy’s angelic daughter, blissfully unaware on the lap of her big cousin. I glanced at the huge photo of Maddy who beamed at me. “Go on dad. Own the marquee!” she seemed to say.

Someone made a recording of my speech, and I swear those words were not mine, and that was not me talking. “Life is a library,” I began. “Everything is on loan. We don't own anything at all.

“When our children were small, I came across the famous words about parenting by Kahlil Gibran: ‘Your children are not your children, they are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself’. I had always thought of that as a caution against helicopter parenting, or a platitude about letting go - like when a child takes their first steps, when they begin at school, or when they have their first relationship. What I didn't know… what I had never wanted to contemplate, was the true immensity of this concept: we literally cannot hold on to a thing. Everything must be returned in the Library of Life -our youth, our property, and all we love.”

I heard myself expound on the Buddhist teaching of Impermanence - nothing is fixed; nothing lasts except spirit. Nothing lasts except love. Everything is in a state of flux and flow and the more we try to cling on, the more we suffer. Happiness and sorrow are inseparable. Health and sickness are two sides of the same coin. Birth and death are twins. Peace comes from acceptance of the dappled quality of life.

“When Maddy left us, we were faced with the brutal reality of this fact,” I continued, “I would give anything to extend the return date on our precious girl.

“And I should acknowledge that there is nothing unusual or singular about our grief. I fully realise that we are always in the presence of people who are mourning the loss of a loved one. Death is an everyday catastrophe.

“But if nothing lasts, what is the point of it all? Well, I won't lie to you, there were moments in those early days when we felt as if we were stumbling through a dark labyrinth and life seemed utterly futile. All we can do is find a way of accommodating the pain. To make some kind of meaning of it all.

“What I am learning is that I am closer to Maddy when I'm creative; or when I'm in Nature. And here's another thing - whenever you think of Maddy, she's smiling or laughing, am I right? Hard as it is, we must relearn happiness. We're closest to her when we're with laughing with friends. That’s why I feel she's truly with us now.

“So the answer to the question, what's the point of it all if nothing is permanent? is that we are custodians. We are Life’s Librarians. All we can do is take the book home. All we can do is enjoy it as fully as we can and learn from it.

“I learnt so much from Maddy about forgiveness and tolerance and humour, and I continue to learn from her now more than ever. Life is so fleeting and unbelievably precious; all we can do is feel gratitude for what we have, and then return it graciously to the Library of Life.”

The other speeches were better than mine. My god there was some talent in that tent - young actors and comedians who sung, recited poems, told hilarious stories about crazy times with our girl. Her mum, her sister and twin brother spoke tenderly. Her younger cousins celebrated her lustrous hair, her banter, and more than anything, her kindness. Late into the night we sat around a fire as a full Strawberry Moon rose in the starry sky.

And in the coming days, when everyone had gone, and the marquee was dismantled, I went back to my studio to work on this book - Small Stories of Great Artists. Somehow the events of this year made me want to work with more love and care than I ever had before. When the bubble bursts we reevaluate. We appreciate the truly important things in life: family, friends, nature, art, books, and children… especially the children. I hope Small Stories of Great Artists brings joy to many. I’ve dedicated it to my grandchildren, ‘with a starry night of kisses.’

Heartfelt thanks to Laurence Anholt for the blog and to Dannie Price for the opportunity.

We are delighted that Alison Brumwell, former Chair of the Youth Libraries Group and past Chair of Judges for the Carnegie Medals is one of the candidates for the CILIP presidential elections.  Successful candidates become Vice-President before going on to be CILIP President.  We spoke with Alison about her relationship with libraries and plans.  Members of CILIP are able to vote here, each members can only vote once. 

(1)  How important have libraries been to you growing up?

The reason I value libraries as an adult, and appreciate the positive impact they can have on the lives of children and young people, is that they actually weren't a big part of my life growing up. There was no public library close to my house; while my parents both enjoyed reading and we had books in the house, they didn't read to me and my sister. So, I could easily have become a non- or reluctant reader.

(2)  Can you tell us a little about your career in libraries?

My career in libraries began when I moved back to the UK from Canada, where I worked in publishing. I started out as a Library Assistant with Leeds Libraries, and in various other roles with the service, before changing gears to work as a secondary school librarian and then as librarian for Kirklees' schools library service. I had some time out as Artistic Director of Morley Literature Festival before accepting a post with Kirklees College. I have worked across five of the college's six centres and am now based at its Sixth Form Centre where my focus is very much on promoting the college's well-being initiatives.

(3)  You've held a number of high profile positions within the Youth Libraries Group, chairing the judging panel of the Carnegie Medals and being Chair of the group itself.  How do you feel these experiences might have equipped you for the role as CILIP president?

My roles as YLG national Chair and Chair of the Carnegies judging panel in 2019 were both high pressure, front-facing roles that required me to manage my time and priorities effectively and to have a vision for what services for children and young people could (and should) look like. Learning to focus on what was achievable, while working to future-proof the group and the medals, was often difficult; however, I feel these experiences helped me to develop leadership skills and re-affirmed my belief that libraries should be considered an essential service. These are qualities I can bring to the role of CILIP Vice President.

(4)  How relevant is the library and information professional in today's world?

There's an increasing need for those working within the library and information profession to respond to dis/misinformation and fake news, particularly in terms of online content. It's vital that young people are supported to develop the critical skills they need in order to interrogate what they read and hear, and we are ideally placed to provide this support. In my view, our role has never been more relevant or critical.

(5)  What would you hope to platform if you were to become president?

I'd hope to platform issues that are of perennial concern to our profession: library closures, cuts to public spending and ensuring that reading is embedded across all school curricula. We will likely never regain the library services that have been lost in the past several years - the local branches, mobile library services, school libraries and schools library services - so halting this negative trend is crucial. There are many opportunities for growth within the knowledge and information sector, so I am hopeful that we'll have something to celebrate nationally in 2027 when CILIP marks its 150th anniversary.

Make sure your voice and views count, vote today!

We are delighted to welcome Anne Fine, twice-winner of the Carnegie Medal and former Children's Laureate, to the blog to introduce her new book On the Wall and share her thoughts one of its lead characters, Finley.  On the Wall is published by Old Barn Books.

It’s perhaps as well that children don’t come, like sweets, as a Pick-and-Mix choice. We all know what we’d be tempted to choose. But mostly, instead, we end up with a pack of All Sorts.

I have a host of sisters. My mother only had to raise an eyebrow at one for the poor soul to fetch up on the edge of tears. But Mum could scold another till her throat ran dry, and all that sister would do was stubbornly stand, arms folded, till she could welly in with her own tirade and fearlessly argue her case.

So one of most interesting things when writing about the young stems from the fact that they have such astonishingly differing personalities, and such wide emotional ranges. Take Stolly, in Up on Cloud Nine - without a doubt the most eccentric child I’ve ever tried to portray. He makes a raft for his gerbils. He can’t help but tidy the queue at his bus stop. He even starts to build his own personal Wailing Wall. He drives everyone, including his best friend Ian, to distraction.

Yet Stolly’s still in mainstream school, and rolling along nicely. And that’s one of the things I find most fascinating about schools. They take in pretty well everyone, the All Sorts, and by and large everyone learns to fit in and rub along.

There are exceptions, of course. Children like Josh in The Ladder of Fear, (one of the short stories in Blue Moon Day), who has to be taught how to overcome his almost overwhelming anxieties about school. Or unhappy and awkward Tulip, in The Tulip Touch, whose own appalling classroom behaviour and frequent truancy stems from her horribly stressful home background. I’m sure the relentless show-off Titania, in the three comedies about the Mountfield Family (The More the Merrier, Eating Things on Sticks and Trouble in Toadpool) would prove a bit too much for most of those around her in her class.

But I’ve found it hard not to fall halfway in love with the young boy I feature in my new novel, On the Wall. Finley is moving up to secondary school. Those of his classmates who come from the same feeder primary already know him well. But those who don’t, and a goodly number of the staff now set to teach him, find themselves mystified by this unusually quiet and contemplative, but in no way shy, spirit. With his quite extraordinary gift for stillness and his seemingly cast-iron happiness, Finley appears to exist in his own private peaceable kingdom. What on earth makes the boy tick?

And how, by simply sitting unflappably on the wall of the recreation ground, does Finley end up having such a strong effect on both pupils and staff? For somehow, in his presence, nervous Juliet learns how better to deal with her previously relentless and intrusive worries. Overly excitable Akeem can be calmed. Even Miss Fuentes, suddenly bereft of her precious cat, finds his simple closeness on the bench beside her a tremendous comfort. It’s as if Finley’s acceptance of himself spreads outwards, to become an easy acceptance of how others are, giving them a confidence they find both soothing and healing.

Like many authors, I need a lot of time alone and a good deal of silence. Putting a character who has those same needs into a school became a sort of thought experiment. Sarah Maitland observed that most children tend to ‘disappear behind a wall of noise’. I chose to look more deeply into one who chooses to do the opposite. And I found it amusing and enlightening to work out, first, what fellow pupils and teachers would make of him, and how they might interpret his behaviour and even benefit from his presence.

Though there have always been children who come over as ‘different’ in children’s literature, this is a novel that wouldn’t have been written in quite the way it is before the sea-change in teaching whereby the nurture of the individual child began to be taken at least as seriously as the smooth-running education of the herd. And as a result, more and more of those of us who have dealings with young people are fully aware that disquieting numbers of our children now suffer from things like deep anxiety, or loneliness. For these, books can be a lifeline. We do, after all, read partly to know that we are not alone, and reading about someone else’s path out of an emotional mire can offer shafts of light, and ways to go.

A big thank you to Anne Fine for the blog and to Nicky Potter and Old Barn Books for the opportunity.  

With her forthcoming title, Me and Aaron Ramsey, Carnegie Award winning author Manon Steffan Ros conjures a beautifully nuanced slice of Welsh life that celebrates football, family and finding your feet. Alison King caught up with Manon prior to publication to talk about her powerful new story.

As someone who has never engaged with football, I am fascinated by the culture and the community that it encapsulates. You capture both of those things so well in Me and Aaron Ramsey - I was utterly swept up in that world, despite having no real reference points. Where does your own passion for football come from?

I had absolutely no interest whatsoever in football until 2016. The idea of it bored me; I didn't understand why people got such a sense of identity from the bunch of people they happened to support kicking a ball around a field!

Wales qualified for the Euros in 2016, which sparked an interest in football in my eldest son, who then got me interested. I was firmly on the bandwagon, and I'm still on it now! There's such grace and skill and beauty in football, and I can't unsee it. I've been surprised by the sense of belonging one gets from supporting a football team, and the joy of being tribal. I think I'd always thought of the tribalism aspect as a bad thing, but now I can see that it's not about hating the other team and wanting them to lose- It's about loving your own team.

I've been in the Kop in Anfield, underneath the huge banners that the fans pass around, singing You'll Never Walk Alone. There is absolutely nothing like it. It's the opposite to loneliness.

Following the success of Nebo, I imagine it must have been quite difficult to find the story you wanted to tell next. I'm curious as to how you landed on Me and Aaron Ramsey - it's very different, perhaps that was part of the appeal?

Nebo came out in 2018 in Welsh, and so those questions of what to do next were answered some time ago! The first thing I wrote after Nebo was a crime novel- very different, and that was no mistake. I didn’t want to write the same thing again, because I want to respect each novel within its own space and theme. This novel is translated and will be published in the autumn.

Me and Aaron Ramsey made sense to me as the next step, but also just as a novel in its own right. The whole mood and feel and meat of it is so different, but there are similarities thematically. I think they’re both novels about the relationship between a parent and a child, and that tricky bit between childhood and adulthood.

In Me and Aaron Ramsey, the reader spends time with a family that is coming apart at the seams, and although there are some very tense moments peppered throughout the story, the atmosphere created is one of hope, and trust and love. Did you set out to depict it this way or did it happen naturally as the story evolved?

I write a lot about parents separating, and also parents who stay together but are unhappy. When I was younger, there were a lot of middle grade books which tackled this- Paula Danziger, in particular, tackled it masterfully. But I think there’s a danger now that because it’s a more common occurrence in children's lives, we think it maybe isn’t such a big deal, and so we don’t write about it so much. Or we tend to write parents who are together and happy, or are separated - not much in between.

I always try to write with empathy, and am aware that I don’t really want to write goodies and baddies. It’s just not my style, and I don’t really believe that people are like that.

I want to ask you about Sam's brushes with anxiety, which colour his experiences throughout the book. What did you want to achieve by exploring this, and how did you approach shaping Sam's emotional journey?

To me, Sam’s anxiety was a natural progression from having to hear parents arguing often at home. I think that we all experience some level of anxiety- it’s a natural and often useful reaction to worrying situations. I wanted to explore how to deal with the feeling when it does surface, the different coping mechanisms people have. This is admittedly close to home for me- I remember being quite an anxious child, worrying about war and nukes and whether my friends really liked me until very late at night. I came up with ways to stem the worry, and Sam does the same.

in a house

Let’s talk about Mattie - there's a real sense of freedom in her and I found her to be a lot of fun and also unexpected, in terms of the way little sisters are depicted in children's fiction. Where did she spring from and did you enjoy writing her?

I love Mattie! I think that there’s a lot of sibling rivalry and tension in books, and although that is often a reflection of real life, it isn’t always the case. When there is tension between adults hold, siblings can be allies. Siblings can also be friends! I really wanted a cool and happy little girl in this novel, whose brother really loved her and who was more than the stereotypical annoying younger sibling.

I don’t know how much you can say but I’m sure everyone reading would love to know what's on the horizon for you, in terms of writing projects.

What’s on the horizon? Lots I hope! I absolutely love my job and I get antsy when a few days pass where I haven’t written anything. I have a few books coming soon- Feather, is another middle grade novel, and there’s the  crime I mentioned earlier, which is set in my home town of Bethesda. But I’m itching to write something new now, a YA book, but I’m not going to jinx it by telling you about it novel before it’s taken root…

A big thank you to Manon Steffan Ros for the interview, to Alison King for conducting this and to Firefly Press for the opportunity.