Newsletter Fifteen - December 2009

To my great excitement I find that my very first book is now available on iTunes! You will need access to an iPhone or on iPod Touch, to buy the book on iTunes Apps. It costs £1.19, and has a quiz to do at the end of the book. I’d love to have some feedback from people who have read it, so do let me know what you think.

Sebastian's Quest for the iphone and itouch, published by Sleepydog. With the bathroom floor turning to sand, and a strange dog in the kitchen, Sebastian's holiday house is throwing up loads of unexpected challenges, and when he ventures into the attic things really take off. What is the old house telling him? And can he work it out and do what he has to before the holiday ends?

Visit the Sleepydog website, where you can find out a bit more about ebooks, read about Sebastian’s Quest and Sleepydog’s other titles and see my happy face!

Life has been busy, but in a different way from the past few years. I’ve had some time to reflect this summer, and to travel a little bit as well. It’s so important to have time to think when you’re a writer, and as I’ve been looking at new projects I have needed space to do just that.

At Easter there was the trip to Istanbul, and later on I went to Spain with my family. More recently I spent a few days at Port Meirion in Wales. Gazing out over the estuary is for me an excellent way of letting the ideas come flooding in. [Click each of the images to see a larger version]

Of course I’ve been writing too. I’ve been working hard on Tricks and Treats, which will be number 14 in the Fame School series, coming out in time for Halloween 2010. I love the colours on the jacket. I hope you do too.

I’ve also been concentrating on getting my new series Heart sorted out. I’ve finished the first draft of the first book, and am loving it, especially Ellie, my very determined main character. The first books in this series will be out towards the end of 2010 or maybe early 2011. It depends how long it takes to get them as much fun as possible! I’m working on other projects too, but they are mostly still in my head, so I can’t share them with you yet. I’ll let you know as soon as I can.

I recently heard that Stadium School, the football series I wrote with my son Seb, has been chosen by the National Literacy Trust for their Reading the Game initiative. Both Seb and I are thrilled about that, and hope that lots of budding football stars get to enjoy the series in 2010.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and look forward to sharing lots more news with you in 2010.

Cindy