Sandbach Author Signing Event 2017 #SASE

I will see you this Saturday in Sandbach, along with 20+ local and regional bestselling authors at Sandbach Town Hall for #SASE 2017. Woo-hoo!!! 

Spend the day meeting your favourite authors, speaking to new ones, and buying yourself some pretty books! Attend panels; children’s workshops & story time, and meet the authors exclusively where they will be selling and signing their books. Don’t forget to pick up your ‘swag’ goodie bag which you will receive on entry.

There will also be a raffle to help raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society. Just £1 a strip and you could be in with a chance of winning a bundle of goodies; all items donated by each attending author/exhibitor. Winners will be picked and announced after the event and announced on the SASE Facebook group, book signing website, and will also be contacted.

Doors open at 10:30am till 4:30pm.

Free Entry. All ages welcome, but please note that under 16 must be accompanied by an adult as some of the authors write erotic romance.

For more details please visit; www.booksigning.co.uk

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Read Dating at Middlewich Library, Cheshire #ScribeFest

Join the #RecordBreakers Summer Reading Challenge at your Local Library

One thing I find about our libraries is that they do a lot to support and encourage children to read and revere books. I mean, it was Cheadle library in Staffordshire that set me on my path all those years ago, back in the 1980s and 90s… Those were the days when I would take out six books every weekend and read them voraciously as soon as I got home. The process of choosing the books was wonderful. My Mum encouraged me to take my time, read every title, and sample a few pages here and there. She was very patient, which is more than I can say for my younger brother (he is not a reader!)

Anyway, now I have the pleasure of taking my own children to the library, and both my girls are voracious book lovers, just like their mother. Neither of them can read properly yet, both being preschoolers, but they recognise shapes of letters, and my elder daughter can read and write her own name, and can recognise most letters of the alphabet. Last year we signed up for the Mythical Maze reading challenge, which we completed, and my daughter was rewarded with a certificate and a medal. Once again we have signed our pledge, and this year we included the youngest, who isn’t quite 2, but enjoys her books.

Do you want to be a part of the #RecordBreakers Summer Reading Challenge? Get down to your local library and sign up. Most libraries have their own Facebook pages and Twitter feeds now, so really you have no excuse. Let’s see how many more horizons we can broaden in the literary world…

Gathering Inspiration in Nature #amwriting

This past week I have been stepping away from my computer, and my work for the upcoming #MidLitFest, and out into the beautiful weather of a mini heatwave here in the UK. I have been walking in previously unexplored woodland in the Cheshire West and Chester borough:

 

I have visited the beach at Hoylake on the Wirral:

And I have enjoyed the delights of my back garden and my home town in Cheshire East:

All in all, a very delightful week. And now I am refreshed and prepared to enjoy the Middlewich Literary Festival that starts tomorrow, hooray! Check out #MidLitFest on social networks for details of guest authors, competition winners, book club reviews and more...

It's Official! The Middlewich Literary Festival is Coming Soon #MidLitFest

We  have seen the official launch of the all-new Middlewich Literary Festival, taking place on May 23rd and 24th this year. There are two short story competitions for children, and one design competition for any budding marketing professionals and illustration artists currently at school...

See the full story in The Middlewich Guardian, and if you are in the East Cheshire area during that time, we will be very happy to see you at the festival!

Celebrate World Book Day

Today is World Book Day. Did I mention before that I love books? Well, I do! And I am doubly excited because my daughter’s pre-school are taking part in the event by requesting that the children dress up as their favourite book characters. Now, my daughter is only 2 years old, so this could be tricky. She is very independent, and she has very definite ideas about what she will and will not do.

But, she loves books, just like her Mummy! And at the moment she has a little obsession with Peppa Pig. So, I have the bright idea to dress her up as Peppa Pig. She has a pink dress that will suit, and I am attempting to make a mask and a curly tail to complete the outfit. Simple but effective (I hope!).

When I first heard about World Book Day I really wanted to be a part of it, but I didn’t know how. I mean, it was difficult, being a new mother and experiencing all sorts of new lifestyle situations. Today I will make a small contribution by attending my local library in Middlewich, Cheshire, where they are hosting a story time and tea session at 11:00. My daughter loves visiting the library, and it is a place that instantly calms me down when I am feeling stressed.

If you want to do something for World Book Day, why not check out your own local library for events? Or see their website for a list of events and activities. Also, get your World Book Day tokens for children’s books. I have received two tokens from my daughter’s pre-school, and I cannot wait to go and purchase her new books. Hooray for books! Happy World Book Day.

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#NLD13 - National Libraries Day 2013

I  have just discovered that it is National Libraries Day today! That will be Friday, 8th February 2013, depending on when you read this post. I am very excited, although I haven't seen an advert for activities in my local library. Apparently libraries all over the UK are participating in  events to celebrate the special day, and I came across it through my local newspaper, the Winsford and Middlewich Guardian. Winsford library is doing an event offering animal handling, which sounds like fun.

I love my local library! I love all local libraries. And I have been dismayed to read in the news all these stories about our government closing down libraries in the UK, reducing their opening hours, and generally taking away what I consider to be a very valuable and useful resource for local communities. I attend Middlewich library pretty much every Tuesday morning, when my daughter enjoys their free Rhymetime session. It consists of half an hour of singing and dancing for pre-school children, and a social hour for the parents and carers. The children enjoy some time together, they find lots of exciting books to read, and they run around burning off steam in a safe and contained environment.

As a child I would visit my previous local library every Saturday morning, with my mother and younger brother. Mum was the one who encouraged me to read. She was the guiding factor in my progression as a published author, and it was partly her insistence on us visiting the library that sticks in my mind. I loved those weekly jaunts. The library was a small, 1960s building in the market town of Cheadle, Staffordshire. It was not an inspiring place to look at, certainly no architectural dream, but it contained everything I needed to free my imagination and take me to other worlds.

Nowadays we use libraries for all sorts of reasons. They are not simply a place to borrow books anymore. I recently discovered a selection of magazines and business pamphlets in the Middlewich library, and they offered up ideas and suggestions for my developing business as a freelance writing professional. You can read daily newspapers in your local library, you can access the internet, and you can find details about events and groups in your community. They are a fantastic place to socialize and to meet like-minded people, no matter what your age.

So here's to National Libraries Day in the UK! I love my library!