LATEST:
The Liars League (or Reading Aloud for Grown-Ups) (July 13, 2016) Earlier this month, one of my short stories was fe ... ☞
Happy Loving Day! (June 12, 2016) It will always strike me as odd to think that if w ... ☞
Dispatch from Norwich (May 22, 2016) One of my favourite quotes about the city of Norwi ... ☞
Children’s Book Day Masterclass at the Norwich Writers’ Centre (February 22, 2016) Good news, everyone. This year on International C ... ☞
What I’m Looking Forward To in 2016 (January 7, 2016) To whom it may concern (i.e. anyone who experienc ... ☞
Breakfast with Dr. Seuss (July 29, 2015) This week a strange, unexpected, and rather wonder ... ☞
Manchester Children’s Book Festival and the Importance of Children’s Poetry (June 29, 2015) Question: Are you reading this in North West Engl ... ☞
This is What the “Essence” of Reading Sounds Like (May 26, 2015) Earlier this month, I took an incredible, whirlwin ... ☞
On Authors for Indies Day, Please Support Your Local Bookshop! (April 21, 2015) Saturday, the 2nd of May is Canada’s first ... ☞
An Interesting Time for Train Travel in the UK and Japan (April 12, 2015) You might file this under Things In Which Only I&# ... ☞
Spock, Science Fiction, and Me (February 28, 2015) The death of Leonard Nimoy was sad news. There ar ... ☞
The Creature Department Nominated for the 2015 Silver Birch Award (January 19, 2015) Happy 2015, everybody. The year has started well f ... ☞
The Wonder of the Webcam: Tips for Virtual School Visits (January 12, 2015) Because I live in London, England and much of my ... ☞
Out Today: The Creature Department, GOBBLED BY GHORKS (November 13, 2014) NEWS! NEWS! Today is the day the sequel to The Cre ... ☞
The Vancouver Writers Festival, 21-23 Oct (September 15, 2014) Good news everyone! Next month, I’ll be appe ... ☞
The Liars League (or Reading Aloud for Grown-Ups)
Earlier this month, one of my short stories was featured at the Liars' League, a kind of live action literary journal. It's a monthly reading series where professional actors read new short fiction. This might seem like an obvious combination, akin to writing for the stage, but as far as I know the event is relatively unique (not counting other chapters of the League operating in other cities). On the night, I learned the idea for the Liars' League sprung from a somewhat dull reading, in which actors in that crowd were disappointed by the writers' renditions of their own work. They thought, why not let us give it a go? There is a certain (somewhat brutal) truth here—sometime
Dispatch from Norwich
One of my favourite quotes about the city of Norwich comes from Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, Never Let Me Go. "The lost corner of England" he called it, referring to the fact that Norwich is on the east coast, where the land juts into the channel towards France. This makes Norwich slightly out of the way, just left of many of the major north-south routes linking southern England to Scotland. The implication is that travelling to Norwich requires an expressed reason to do so. Last month, I had quite a good one. I was invited to participate in a day of writing workshops and readings on writing for children at the rather gorgeous Norwich Writers' Centre. The lineup was as eclectic as a
Children's Book Day Masterclass at the Norwich Writers' Centre
Good news, everyone. This year on International Children's Book Day (2 April), I'll be part participating in a full day of talks at the Norwich Writers' Centre. If you haven't heard of it, it's a wonderful venue in Norwich's historic Dragon Hall. I'm very honoured to be presenting workshops alongside author and illustrator, Nadine Kaadan, Alexander Gordon Smith (the Furnace series of books), and Bloomsbury editor, Helen Szirtes. Each of us will talk about our work, our lives in the world of children's literature, and offer instruction and advice on writing and getting published. We'll also address our various areas of expertise. I'll be doing my bit on poetry and novels for chil
Happy Loving Day!
It will always strike me as odd to think that if were I born a few years earlier, my whole existence would be illegal in many parts the U.S. Until the summer of 1967, sixteen America states still had laws prohibiting human beings of difference "races" from getting married and having children together. The law was struck down as unconstitutional on June 12 of that year, in the now famous Loving versus Virginia, in which Mildred and Richard Loving fought for the right to fall in love with, marry and reproduce with a person of their choosing. The Lovings were married in 1958 in Washington, D.C.—where interracial marriage was legal at the time—but were arrested upon returningÂ
What I'm Looking Forward To in 2016
To whom it may concern (i.e. anyone who experiences the passage of time): Happy New Year! With some welcome holiday downtime, Machiko and I celebrated with some baking (and punning). Our logic went like this: In Western Europe, the winter holidays have a strong association with gingerbread. In Japan, the biggest celebration in December is New Years, when most people make a visit to their local Shinto shrine. The Japanese word for shrine is "jinja" (神社). Jinja...ginger...see what we did there? It's looks like this: 2016 ought to be an eventful and interesting year. Here're some things I'm looking forward to. January: Electronic Superhighway is an art exhibition at the