Over the last couple of months I’ve been busy writing short stories aimed at the general/adult market and have really enjoyed the challenge imposed by this format. Hot off the press recently is a ghost story called ‘The Reckoning’ and the humorous ‘The Sculptor’s Apprentice’ with a distinctly ‘Italian feel’. If I can get them placed, I’ll post information about the publication and date/edition etc. Fingers crossed.

Look out for my Goodreads Giveaway (UK readers only) of a signed copy of Daniel (Hardback edition) which starts next Friday (14th October) – it is FREE to enter on Goodreads. If you’re not already a member of Goodreads it is quick, easy and free to join. In the meantime, why not read ebook version which is still only £3.99 on Amazon.

To join Goodreads go to www.goodreads.com

Took advantage of the lovely weather this week for a trip down to Somerset – to the small, picturesque town of Bruton where many moons ago the author John Steinbeck (Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men etc…) spent some time living and writing. After a great lunch in the uber-trendy Chapel, visited the Hauser & Wirth art gallery just outside the town where I came upon this unusual sculpture of a tree by S Gupta made up of a load of pots and pans – I don’t know its title but it looked great in the bright sunlight.

This book has just won the Young Quills Award 2016 (older readers) beating my Daniel and the other shortlisted books – and I’d like to congratulate Vanessa on her deserved victory. It is a very good book belonging to the WWII Holocaust genre/theme and is set in Latvia which, perhaps, has been less written about than other places. It is believable and doesn’t pull its punches. I read the book having just come across an obituary for Elie Wiesel, the Auschwitz survivor and author of Night who dedicated his life to  Holocaust education and who was awarded the Nobel peace prize. So, I was maybe a little sensitised to reading yet another ‘fictional’ book on the subject as such stories need to be handled carefully. It is very well written – some students may find it quite harrowing but that goes with the territory.