Thursday 9 January 2014

A leafy, toothy Happy New Year!

Dear readers,

I love to muse on symbols as I write and here are two that I find sitting by my desk this January 2014. Leaves and teeth!  I have been asked by my family to remove the teeth because I now write in my kitchen and they are 'grossing out' my children and their friends! But when I sit down to write the mould comes out of the cupboard so that the teeth can speak to me!  Random I know but as Pat Print says to her writing group in 'Artichoke Hearts...'  If you write you've got to be prepared to ... 'Let the random in!'
I am delighted that the results of these leafy, teethy, roamings in 2014 will be:


Red Leaves  - Edited by Venetia Gosling for Macmillan Children's Books (To be published in Autumn 2014)
Three runaway teenagers and a stray dog find their way to an undiscovered air raid shelter in a lonely city wood...but they are not alone. Floating amongst the falling leaves are spirits dating back to the first world war. Elder  - anan ancient homeless woman is the young people's guide as each struggles to find a sense of home, belonging and peace. Will Elder's trail lead them closer to home or further into danger?       





These vibrant red leaves and robin sit next to my desk as I write. Next to them is a mould of my teeth!

 'Brace Mouth, False Teeth' for Barrington Stokes. Edited by Ruth Williams. (To be published in August 2014) 

When feisty, brace mouthed, fifteen year old Abi is send to Magnolia Garden's Nursing Home on work experience, she feels like she's 'the bottom of the pile.' Things don't improve when she's introduced to 'Alice In Wonderland' - a confused old woman who is convinced she's wearing someone else's false teeth.


No prizes for guessing who this toothy grin belongs to?!


Happy New Year!