The first story that I had accepted for publication was 'The Teddy Bear Scare'

Before I wrote it, I had this idea of a teddy bear that wanted to be different from all other teddies.

He didn't want to be cute.

He didn't want to be cuddly.

He wanted to be scary.

I couldn't think of how to make him scary so I put myself in his paws. How could he become scary?

Then I realised that if he was in a toy room there would be other toys there that would be considered scary. All that Ted would have to do is copy them. But of course, things don't go to plan (if they did it would have been a very short story).

Ted does become scary, but then he realises that this has results that he doesn't like.  What does he do now?

One of the main points I consider when writing a story is whether the main character gets what they are after. If they do get it - are they happy with it? If they don't get it - does something better come along? Or do they live happily without it?

I like taking everyday characters, like a teddy bear, and letting them do unexpected things. The question I ask myself constantly when writing is, 'What if......'

Here are some photos of my book. Taken by my daughter's ipad. She doesn't know I've used it, she's at school. 

If you write stories do you ever get writers' block?

That feeling of wanting to write - but you just can't get down to it?

Or maybe, you just don't know what to write. As if your mind has gone blank.

Some writers feel like there is an invisible force that's preventing them from writing.

I sometimes suffer from this feeling but I found a way to break through it.

First, I thought of all the reasons why I wasn't getting on with my writing. I decided to write them down so at least I would be writing something. As I started to write I found that I couldn't stop. It was like I had so many excuses lined up in my mind that they just had to come out. For a bit of fun, I also made up ridiculous reasons for not writing.

I came up with 100 reasons all together. Then I took myself right out of my comfort zone and published a short book on Amazon Kindle about writers' block. Further details of this below.

What I discovered was that writing had become easier because I had made it shorter in the form of making a list. I decided to see if this would work with my children's stories. I have just started on a project of writing longer stories. I knew how the plot should go but didn't know how to start it. So I wrote a list of questions about the first scene in the first chapter:

Where is the scene set?  What is the weather like?  Who are the characters in the scene? Who speaks first? What do they say?

It is so much easier to think up questions about your story first rather than trying to jump straight in. The funny thing was, that as I was writing the questions the scene was starting to come alive in my head. And when it was time to write the story it was much easier to get in the 'flow'.

Why don't you try it the next time you sit down to write. Or, if you're still having problems, you could write a list of reasons why you're not writing e.g. far too much housework, far too much TV to watch etc....

Here is the link to my book on Amazon Kindle. (If you don't have a Kindle you can download the app for your pc - that's what I've done.)

   http://www.amazon.co.uk/Overcame-Writers-Reasons-Nearly-ebook/dp/B006SX0D46/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327161567&sr=1-8

And here's a copy of the cover of the book - done by me (I know, it looks so professional!)

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to be invited to Martin King's book launch in Leeds.

Martin self published his book as an e book and he has now published it as a physical book.

The title is Jack Hunter - Secret of the King. It's an adventure story full of twists and turns, with some interesting history facts too. I would say it's aimed at children aged 7 upwards.

Martin gave a talk about his book, read a section of it and also played a game with the audience based on envelopes with clues. I was really pleased to see Martin's book literally flying off the shelves by the end of the evening.

The staff at Waterstones, Leeds are so lovely. They knew I was coming to the event so they put out a display of my books, as well as Martin's. Thank you to everyone who bought one of my books.

If you want to know more about Martin you can visit his website at www.martinkingauthor.com

I believe there is another Jack Hunter book that will be released next year...

Martin talking about his book

Martin reading from his book

Martin's book, next to a display of mine

I've had a really busy weekend at the Leeds Thought Bubble Festival. It started off with me meeting Sarah            McIntyre in Leeds Central Library. Sarah's book, Vern and Lettice, was nominated for the Leeds Graphic Novel    Award.This is an award that school children vote for. Sarah won! Well deserved too. I've read Vern and Lettice        and it's brilliant.

Sarah stayed with me and my family over the weekend. I plied her with  many cups of tea and cake, chocolate of course. On Saturday we set up stall at the Royal Armouries for the Thought Bubble Festival. The organisers were brilliant, so friendly and helpful. As well as selling our books, we had activity tables set up where people could design their own pirates. We had well over 100 pictures by the end of the day, most of them created by grown ups! I shall put some of these on here on my next post. It was lovely to meet so many people and the day just flew past. Sarah and I were too tired to party but I know some people stayed out until the very late/early hours. I wasn't able to do the event on Sunday so Sarah took charge - with a couple of wonderful helpers. Thanks, Sarah!

It was so lovely to see Sarah again. We seem to see each other every 3-4 months. Thank you to everyone who stopped by at our table and a big, big thank you to the Thought Bubble Organisers.

Here are a few photos from the day.

                                                                Sarah with her Leeds Graphic Novel Prize

Our table and Pirate Cove area

Sarah setting up the tables

Storm Troopers passing by

Batman posing for a photo