This week I was in Edinburgh Academy Junior school with all the Primary one classes and it was a a great morning.  They had based their work for some weeks around Hamish with all sorts of exciting things such as each class having a cuddly Hamish which each child could take home for one night.  There was even a diary with photographs and  short pieces describing their evening with Hamish.  They were planning a highland games day with all kinds of activities similar to those in Hamish McHaggis and the Clan Gathering  which we read together and they had designed their own tartans and there were displays about Hamish and about pine martens and hedgehogs.   We talked about stories and all the people it takes to make a Hamish book.

I visited Gargieston Primary in Kilmarnock  at the end of January and it was wonderful to see all the amazing work the children had done based around the Hamish McHaggis books and  characters.     First I visited the nursery who had a lovely display on the wall with Hamish, Angus and friends.  The children helped retell the story of Small Smooth and Grey, the baby elephant in What Colour is Love? and we talked about Hamish and his Whirry Bang and then I read them a Hamish McHaggis story.

I also visited P1 and P2 who had been working hard on their Scottish Week celebrations which included a march around the school following a piper, special shortbread and pancakes from the lovely ladies in the school kitchen.  It was fun to share the Hamish stories and to see how the children had used them to learn new Scots words and about places around Scotland.  It was a great day and Hamish enjoyed himself, too!

Each of the authors had to speak for a few minutes and we were encouraged to wear something red. I had so been looking forward to wearing my red shoes!

To find out more about the day I have been blogging about the RED Book Awards on my blog BOOKWORDS

As the new year gets underway I am back at my desk looking at my diary for the year. I am looking forward to quite a few things and you can find out more details on events I am booked for on my events page.

SPIDER is on the shortlist for the RED BOOK AWARDS which are awarded at end of January . The RED stands for Read Enjoy Debate.  Find out more about this and about the other great books on the shortlist on my Teens and Young Adult page. Spider is also on the longlist for the Catalyst Book Award and the Lancashire book award.

DEAD BOY TALKING is my latest book for the same readership.  It is due for publication in May 2010 – not too long now.  Come back soon for more on this.

I am especially looking forward to tutoring one of the Arvon Foundation residential writing courses in Inverness-shire at Moniack Mhor writing for children in late June 2010, with my good friend Cathy MacPhail.

In the meantime you might like to have a look at my guest blog on  farmlanebooks blog where there is also a GIVEAWAY of 2 copies of my book Writing For Children. but you have to leave a comment before 5th January to be entered into the draw.

And why not drop into an Awfully Big Blog Adventure varied thoughts each day from the SAS (Scattered Authors Society) members.   I will be blogging every couple of weeks, but here is my latest pre-Christmas blog. – Ghosts on the Street.

The Whirry Bang is seen here at the Clan Gathering in July this year- where Hamish was the children’s mascot.

Come along and join in the fun! The cars will all be on display from 3pm   in Edinburgh’s Parliament Square (High Street)  and I will be there with Sally  and Hamish himself, so come and say hello! and get some stickers for the children.  The parade starts a 5pm and will finish in St Andrew’s Square Gardens. see Edinburgh’s Christmas for more details

I have been telling Hamish McHaggis stories all over the country visiting  Christ The King and Mossend Primary Schools  in North Lanarkshire-  and as part of Imprint, the East Ayrshire festival I was at the Burns Memorial Centre speaking to local primary schools. I met children in St Joseph’s Primary in Whitburn and I was in Largs speaking to the nursery and P1 classes in Brisbane Primary.

My visit to the SALT Festival (Song, Art, Literature and Theatre) based in Portlethen, Aberdeenshire was over three days at the beginning of October.  I visited Fishermoss Primary, Newtonhill Primary and Banchory-Devenick, and Portlethen Primary.  Hamish McHaggis came to visit the children with his Whirry Bang which had made the trip north for the occasion.  The following week I visited Fisherford Primary and Aberchirder Primary both in Aberdeenshire, to tell Hamish McHaggis stories.

Later in September I was  in London at KINGSTON UNIVERSITY speaking at their conference on How to get Published and this was followed by a trip to BATH CHILDREN’S BOOK FESTIVAL where I was asked to speak about getting published with publisher Barry Cunningham of Chicken House and two first-time novelists Rachel Ward (Numbers) and Lucy Christopher (Stolen). It was a lively discussion. I also managed to meet up with a few members of the SCATTERED AUTHORS SOCIETY for lunch and a chance to meet some of the librarians from the local area.

This is one of my favourite months of the year.  Once more I am delighted to be a part of the festival and to be able to wander amongst the writers and readers listening and talking about books and stories, hearing the news from the publishing world and ideas from all over the world about issues that affect us all.  It is also a time when I get to meet up with old friends and make new ones as writers converge from all over.

In the second week fo the festival Hamish McHaggis will be visititng the festival on Wednesday 26th in the late afternoon and on Friday 28 I am running a workshop on writing for younger children.  Hope to see you there!