One of my favourite writers (and amazing children’s author) has just launched her new website.
Category: Leila Rasheed
Me? Forget?
I’ve been meaning to mention this for ages. Sorry, sorry, sorry. It’s the brand spanking new website of Great Shakes – who do a BRILLIANT job of putting on Shakespearean plays with children.
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Also the second Leila Rasheed’s Bathsheba series has been released – I loved the first book and I doubt this’ll be a disappointment.
From Talk of Aliens and Space to…
What Brilliant Friends
It’s been a hard week, beginning with the last of my World Book Day visits (I can hardly believe that this has been my third World Book Day, by the way) which was followed by hard writing work. I spent all week tweaking a short story. Goodness me, it was hard work! I reminded myself of the poet in that joke (the one which goes something like: a poet was telling a friend how hard he’d been working. ‘I spent the whole morning putting a comma in,’ he said, ‘and the whole afternoon taking it out.‘).
With the story almost done I found myself with a few little niggles to sort out. So I sent three different questions (they came up at different times) to three trusted readers. And you know what? Every one of them not only answered my question – they all went into real detail, commenting on the piece as a whole; far beyond the call of duty. (To be fair, just having them look at it was help enough and hugely appreciated.)
So thanks, folks. Big time. You know who you are.
And thanks as well to everyone who’s provided me with skipping rhymes. That’s been a massive help, and hugely appreciated, as well.
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And in other news…
I’ve been reading, in the small opportunities I’ve had, The Daughter Game. Very much liking it so far.
This interview with Leila Rasheed is cool, as is this discussion, on Chicklish (can’t believe I’ve not mentioned them before!) about her book.
And thanks to Gillian for this. It is a lot of fun but be warned, it’s also rather addictive. (My best’s 22secs – beat that!)
I Have Been Waiting a Long Time For This!!!!
Today is a really special day. And do you know why? (Girls, you should.)
Today is a special day because today is the day when Chips, Beans and Limousines, the fantastic diary of Bathsheba Clarice de Trop, by the utterly brilliant Leila Rasheed, is released.
Click here to order your copy.
Excellent News
The brilliantly fantastic “Chips, Beans and Limousines: The Fantastic Diary of Bathsheba Clarice De Trop!” by the equally brilliantly fantastic Leila Rasheed is now available for pre-order on amazon.
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I’m still typing up my story from the other week. The word count at the base of my screen is saying almost 16700 and according to my calculations I’ve still got 2 – 2500 handwritten words left to type. All this is good as it means that I’m on target for around 20k. Looking forward to getting it finished and getting stuck in to the editing.
And here’s what things are looking like this side of the screen:
Pics and Book Spotting and Things
And now, back to the writing.
And now the Exciting News
And exciting news it is indeed.
Where to begin?
First with the announcement that ‘CHIPS AND HORRIBLE MALTESERS: THE FANTASTIC DIARY OF BATHSHEBA CLARICE DE TROP’ by Leila Rasheed will be published by Usborne in the spring of 2008.
Now I’ve been lucky enough to see this book being written (kinda). I remember having a conversation with my girlfriend after reading the first couple of chapters (via the writewords site) a year or so ago, telling her what a fantastic story it was. ‘That will be a book,’ I told her, ‘and a good one at that.’ It’s nice to be right, of course, but it’s nicer to see something worthy of being published, published.
And what’s more, the author, Leila Rasheed, is also on my list of nicest people I’ve never met. I’m thrilled for her and can’t wait to get my copy. (I should mention that the book’s for 8-12 year olds.)
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Exciting news part 2.
Another name on the nicest people I’ve never met list is Roger (sometimes N) Morris. And I’m delighted to say here that his latest novel, A/The Gentle Axe, has been reviewed in the New York Times – favourably! (You can see the review here.) Big congrats to him. And that’s another book I can’t wait to get reading.
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And while I’m on the subject of books, I think it’s been too long since I mentioned mine. So here it is.
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Thanks to those who took the time to send their best wishes about my Nan. It was warmly appreciated.
And thanks too, to the very lovely Emma, who was good enough to cast her eye over the poem at very short notice – and who made some fantastic editorial suggestions.
Thank you all very much.
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Right, off to get some writing done before this afternoon’s workshop.