I’m going to be quoting today from a lecture given by Neil Gaiman for The Reading Agency delivered on 14th October 2013 at the Barbican in London. If you would like to read the abridged version of this lecture as … Continue reading
Category Archives: Children’s Books
The Last Watch of the Night
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Excuse this blog if it’s not strictly about writing. I have been in Spain for three weeks awaiting the arrival of my first grandchild. She arrived nine days ago, later than expected. I expect all grannies, nannies, grandmothers, grand-meres and … Continue reading
Not in Front of the Adults
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One of the problems when writing middle grade fiction is getting rid of the parents. This appeared to be easier in the past as children roamed freely in books such as ‘Five Children and It‘ and the ‘Famous Five Series’ … Continue reading
Why I’m obsessed by old brickworks
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I first saw the beehive shaped brick kiln at Bailey’s Hard on the Beaulieu River in Hampshire in July 1996. The following year I took a class of ten year olds on a field trip to Beaulieu Village and … Continue reading
White Teeth by Grandad Smith, not Zadie Smith
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My father’s dad was called Grandad Smith whilst my mum’s dad was called Papa or Pa. When I was almost five years old, my older brother fell ill with rheumatic fever followed by rheumatic heart disease; after some time in … Continue reading
Elephants in South London
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I started at Dog Kennel Hill Primary School in South London in January 1960 when I was four and three quarter years old. The playground was split into two sections, one for the infants and the other for the junior … Continue reading
From Rocking Horses to Don Quixote
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One of my favourite children’s books was ‘Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse.’ Today, whilst researching for this blog I discovered that Ursula Moray Williams, the author of this children’s story, briefly attended the Winchester College of Art, as did … Continue reading
Old and New Beginnings
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Happy New Year to all of you. Thank you to everyone who has followed my blog since the beginning of December. I hope that 2015 is good year and brings you happiness, peace and fulfillment. Today, I am thinking about … Continue reading
Miss Havisham walks the streets of Rochester
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Last weekend was the annual Rochester Dickensian Christmas Festival where townsfolk dress up as Victorians or characters from Charles Dicken’s novels. Here is an interesting view of the procession at midday on Sunday. Look out for Bill Sykes -from Oliver Twist – with a very authentic looking dog and Miss Havisham – from Great Expectations.
Who Do You Think You Are?
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Have you considered using a pseudonym? I decided to use J.M.Dallimore as my writing name in 2011; it was my maternal grandmother’s name. All the other surnames in our family rate as some of the most popular in the United … Continue reading
