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Pick up the Independent Booksellers’ August Book of the Month Spirit Warriors now!

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Wahoo! The end, friends. That's two books written this year, which has never happened before. I'm still finding out a lot about myself as a writer.

I've been sent some stellar MG and YA proofs this year, so I WILL be conducting the hype train 🚂

November was a bumper month for events, and a great way to cap off author visits in 2025. School visits remain one of the greatest privileges in my life, and something I love doing, but for the last couple of days I’ve been reflecting on how this summer was marred by the prevalence of nationalistic, anti-migrant sentiment. I was driving to schools all around the country and had a bit of a mental health dip having to pass so many St George’s Crosses in towns, on masts and off bridges, and then go and be energetic and cheery to a room full of excited students.

It's a pleasure to be joining the #BookFriday campaign as a reading champion. This campaign is all about celebrating the best book finds in our schools and libraries. My reading recommendation is the stunning forthcoming folkloric fantasy MAGPIE GIRL by the author of Heartseer @rowanfoxwood

I'm stoked to have been invited to run a class called WRITING EPIC MIDDLE GRADE ⚡️⚔️🪄 at the @writers_artists_ Children's Writers and Illustrators Festival! The lineup looks amazing, and it's super- accessible being online only. There are a number of ticket options available, and to save 15% on all of them, enter the code CATCHTHEWORM! at checkout. Link to the site in my bio.

Manchester Met University was host of the 'Future-Proofing Equallity in Children's Fiction Symposium' today. It has not been a great couple of years for the industry on that front, from losing brilliant indie presses to agencies shutting down, book bans across the pond, and the private conversations I have with many of my contemporaries of colour hoping for equity. Today was great to be in a theatre full of like-minded people wanting to create real and lasting change in the industry. Hearing from @clpe.org.uk @reflectingdisability and an amazing keynote from @dr.illustration were highlights for me. But it was also great to run into author pals and industry colleagues I hadn't seen in ages.

A few weeks back I was a guest on Lucas Maxwell's awesome Booklings Chat podcast, and it was such a good chinwag! It's always fun chatting to knowledgeable librarians, particularly about keeping boys reading, but this conversation had the added dimension of speaking with someone who'll also be a published author themselves next year (Look out for Lucas's A Million Tiny Missiles All At Once). Link to listen in my bio.

Back at it today, and in my hometown of Nottingham as well. Thanks to @literacy_trust for having me and @new_art_exchange for feeding me 😋

Thanks to everyone who reached out to check in on me and family with Hurricane Melissa. I appreciate it and we're safe. I hadn't posted about it because this natural disaster isn't about me. Eventually I'll be allowed to fly home and my life will continue as normal. But for many people on this island, life will never be the same again. Homes, livelihoods in some parishes are gone - flooded or destroyed - and we'll be seeing more and more of these as the climate crisis intensifies, if we carry on down the same path of denial.