Invitations, Amnesty International, Long Melford, Norfolk and Tanya Davis

With a new book out I have a busy couple of weeks ahead. Here are a couple of invitations. The first is for an auction of artwork to raise money for Amnesty International. I will be at The Illustration Cupboard, to sign books maybe on the evening of the auction. I am told that you WILL need an invitation or to be on teh guest list for this event so please email Amnesty if you intend to come. You can also bid over the phone I think. No bids in yet, so there is a strong possibility of getting a bargain.

Later in the week I will be at The Norfolk Children's Book Centre for a launch, on National Poetry Day of The Cat and The Fiddle. Then off to Suffolk for an exhibition and third 'launch' this time with artwork.

I will also be signing books around independent bookshops in London and will post a list of the shops for people who would like to get signed copies. And signed copies are always available from Solva Woollen Mill.

And one more invitation. I have been loving listening to Tanya Davis over the last few days. Beautiful. Hard to know which track to show, but the first I heard was this one.

Drawing a dragon

Norfolk Libraries posted a short film clip of me drawing Little Dragon Small at their event for the book awards. Try as hard as I can I couldn't get the share link to work so click on the link to the library to see the film.

How delighted can one woman be with a van?

Parked in dappled light outside the Norfolk Children's Book Centre.

Very!

Dragon adventure no 1.

I suppose if you are going to go for a trip you might as well drive from one side of Britain, right across to the other, in a van wrapped in dragons. So, armed with a Nepalese Healing bowl, some dragons, a book or two and some pencils that is just what we did.
Before I left I gentley broke it to my parents that I had sold sensible car and bought rediculous van and then wrapped it with dragons. Lucky really, as I think they would have noticed.

At Annie Dalton's house the van snuggled up against the cottage walls for the night and the wind dragon kept an eye on all that we did. Riley seemed untroubled by a visitation by dragons and it was good to see that Annie too talks to the cats.
As we set off the next morning Millie tapped me on the shoulder to wish me luck.

 

Again the dragons watched through the windows, this time of Attleborough Library, as children talked about the books they had shortlisted for the Norfolk Childrens Book Award. Then Kasuno Kohara showed how she printed a block for the Jack Frost book. Beautiful colours and mesmeric to watch. I talked nonsense about dragons and read the children Little Dragon Small, a new story, just hatched.
And Tell Me a Dragon won, and the children gave me a beautiful small dragon of my very own to keep, and I was pleased and so were all the dragons in the book, and Little Dragon Small was pleased to.

 

After a magical mystery tour of Norfolk with Robin navigating we finaly arrived at Marilyn's bookshop and have since been hatching plots.
We stayed at The Saracen's Head and all I can say is that I am so looking forward to going back again in the autumn. I do love it there. So relaxed and comfortable.

 

Very glad to say that later the next day, while driving to Wimslow to see Charlie with picture books to read and the van to show him, the dragons managed to dodge the shower of s**t that the muck spreader flung at us in passing! 

Meanwhile great to see that when I park my van in the street children siddle up to it to converse with dragons.

 

On our travels we saw red kites, buzards, ravens and rooks, four herons flying, a duck up a tree, swans, morehens, a great flag with a deep red dragon, drifts of snowdrops, hedges of old man's beard and probably more of Norfolk than we needed to. But it was very beautiful.