Thursday evening, and my brain (and calculator finger) is busily trying to get all my tax sums into order, ready for tomorrow's appointment to fill in my Tax Return. Groan! If you are a young 'un, and do not know what I am talking about, ask a grown up. They will groan too!

So for a pleasant change of mood, I'm going to say thanks to everyone I've seen at this week's schools: REPTON PREPARATORY SCHOOL at FOREMARKE HALL - hope you have an ace Book Character Day tomorrow - and SMAWTHORNE HENRY MOORE PRIMARY SCHOOL - hope you have been really enjoying your Dragon Week, because I enjoyed making up those dragon stories and poems with you- and last of all, thanks to ST. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL in Middlesbrough for being such a happy audience. I'd much rather be with you all than doing these sums . . . Bye for now!

(PS. This is a late night edit! Hooray, I got all my sums done! Triumph - until I find out how much tax I must pay, of course! Luckily, no tax yet on exclamation marks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)  ¶ 8:15 PM

Hello again after Easter. Hope you had a few good eggs and met no bad ones. In a funny mix of things at the moment. I'm rejoicing because a story I wrote for a Christmas anthology has been accepted, and is out this Autumn, and happy because my agent read the start of something I've been struggling with ( and had almost lost confidence in) and said she really liked it. I've also been delighted by interesting proofs for two forthcoming picture books - how I admire the speed with which illustrators have to work! - and, almost as excitingly, my tax returns are getting closer to completion.

Tomorrow- Sunday afternoon- I am off to Derbyshire, to be ready for a Monday visit to Years 3&4 at Foremarke Hall Preparatory School in Repton, so hello to everyone there. See you soon!  ¶ 8:11 PM

Well, I have been promising myself for the last month that I'd sort out some new text so I could update my website. However, as you may have gathered, life has been so busy that I STILL haven't done it.

So thought I'd let you know on this blog that I am now the proud writer of THE THIRD ELEPHANT, a junior fiction novel published by Walker Books, and illustrated - just look at this lovely cover- by the artist Helen Craig. A story about a small wooden elephant, wishes and dreams, journeys and adventures - with several small mice and Divali celebrations too!

(And I've learned - I hope - to upload pictures into the blog too! So here we go, blog-publishing now, with virtual fingers crossed. Am not sure if this image is too big in the pixel department yet!)  ¶ 6:02 PM