Season of mists

It feels like Autumn is creeping in today. The light on Portland is very bright and clear, but different from summer. School is looming for the kids. I still haven't got all the uniform... and can't find any pencils. Perhaps the seagulls have eaten them.
Enchantment of the Black Dog, the next book in the Chronicles, has gone to the typesetter and Domini is working on the illustrations for the cover. The roughs look fantastic, it will be great to see Church Ope cove on the cover. And the mermaid. And the Southwell fairy. Not to mention the Black Dog of Portland himself.
I've spent so much time over the last couple of years thinking about the black dog and who or what he may be. The research by Dr Simon Sherwood at CSAPP, University of Northampton, has been v enlightening. And thought provoking. But I'll write more about this another time.

There have been so many things happening this summer. I enjoyed the talks at Swanage and Weymouth libraries, and meeting children and grown ups who enjoy The Portland Sea Dragon. I loved meeting Margaret who grew up on Portland and is a fan of the book. I won't try to guess when she lived at the cottages at underhill! I wish we'd had more time to talk.

The Big Groves Summer Festival

It was hot! The children who came to the Island Play tent worked on a fantastic collage of the mermaid, who looks very slightly sinister (just as she should be!). I am hoping to take her with me to the Book signing event with Gary Biltcliff on Saturday at WH Smiths in Weymouth. It's the last week of the school year, a sad week for parents! and a happy one for kids!

Portland Museum Event 2 May 2010

The Portland Museum event on 2 May went v well, it was nice to have an opportunity to chat to people about the book. Of course the Portland lamb stole the show, v beautiful! Not to mention the baby goats. Glad to hear lots of grown ups are reading the book too!!

The Portland Sheep are Coming Along

We can't get anything done here - too excited about seeing the sheep at the Portland Museum tomorrow. Last night, I dreamt a herd of sheep came and rounded me up for the event but I forgot my shoes.... If the weather is not too bad Soozy is bringing along a lamb... can't wait.

Words Etcetera, Dorchester

Portland Museum

Everyone here is getting very excited about the Portland Museum event/book signing on Sunday 2 May. Even the Portland sheep have said they may like to come along! Baaa! I met Kate Wheller from the Museum last week and talked about arrangements for the day. We will be putting up posters around Weymouth, Portland and south Dorset this week. Have also arranged a talk at Budmouth school for July, which I am really looking forward to.
Took some pictures of the Dorchester bookshop that's featuring the Portland Sea Dragon and if I ever work out how I will display them on here!
Over the weekend I finally sat down and summarised the plot again for book 2, the Enchantment of the Black Dog. It's a good way to see if the plot and sub-plots hold together. Had to re-write a chapter to keep the mermaid and black dog apart till the end, and it works better. Funnily enough I wrote a bit about the Portland sheep too. V important part of Portland, we love them. (Jazzy wants to keep one in the garden).

Visiting All Saints C of E School

Really enjoyed talking to Year 7 students at All Saints C of E school in Weymouth today. They asked some great questions - how many people does it take to produce a book? what inspired me to write about a sea dragon? who proofreads my work? and lots of other good questions - made me think hard.... We also talked a lot about the process of producing a book and looked at how the editor makes changes to a manuscript and how long the process of editing and rewriting takes.