A wonderful journey back in time…
I want to take you back in time a little…
Sixteen years ago I went on a very exciting adventure. I went to a writers’ conference in Winchester. I traveled there with my lovely friend Ann, and tucked in my bag was the very first chapter of a story I’d written, all about codes and mysteries. At the conference I was scheduled to show my work to the wonderful Senior Commissioning Editor at Hodder Childrens’ Books – the fabulous Beverley Birch. What happened in that meeting is a bit of a blur…because Beverley loved what she saw. In fact she loved it so much that she commissioned me to write the six book series that was to become Secret Breakers.
Now I want to take you back even further in time…
Forty six years ago I was given a typewriter for Christmas. I loved everything about that typewriter. The noise it made, the way you turned a wheel to squeeze the paper through the inky mangle and most of all how you fed in ideas and out came a story. I think it was that Christmas morning forty six years ago where my dream of becoming a writer first took flight.
And now I want to take you back to a time not that long ago at all…
In the Year 2022 I had the exciting opportunity to travel back to Winchester and to take part once again in the wonderful conference that is now known as the IAMinPrint Writing Festival. I’ve been part of the conference many times since my first visit in 2006. But this year was extra special. After the very weird couple of years we’ve had it was so wonderful to celebrate with writing friends old and new – some who’ve been writing for as long as they can remember like me, and some who are just beginning their own writing adventures. The pictures show me with my writing friends, Jenny McLachlan and Vanessa Harbour. And I love how happy I look. Because it truly was a wonderful weekend…and that younger writer back in 2006 would have been thrilled if she’d known what was just around the corner for her. And the very young writer, with her Christmas morning typewriter, would have been blown away by the magic that was yet to come.
Keep looking for magic! You never know when it’s going to arrive…