Ten-Minute Blog Break - 21st January

Here I am again, although it may seem like I never went away ;-)

Do excuse my overexposure - I promise to (mostly) shut up about me and get on with the business of highlighting your fine blogs!


The Edge's salute to librarians finishes its six week run with an interview with Matt Imrie, who may be familiar to Scoobies from his appearance at various events including the conference. Matt's Lego Han Solo doesn't make an appearance, sadly, but you can always follow his adventures on Twitter instead.

Lego Han Solo is confused by
Sara Grant's Half Lives covers!

Sally Poyton has some great news for us, as she reaches the Times Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition Longlist for the second year in a row. You go, Sally!

Sam Zuppardi taps into something I've often sought inspiration from myself - unusual place names on road signs (I remember creating a pair of mismatched detectives called Poyle and Datchet after one too many trips to Heathrow Airport). Check out Sam's blog to see the drawings he's made depicting two unlikely characters called Burnt Yates and Bishop Thornton.

Writers seem to differ widely as to how many How To Write books they have. Some have whole bookshelves full, and others (like me) only have one or two. In an entertaining and perceptive post on Notes from the Slushpile, Candy Gourlay talks about her author's journey through various How To books, and tells us which ones she found too early or too late!

Nick.

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Nick Cross is a children's writer, blogger and all-round techno-ninja. In 2010 he was a winner of Undiscovered Voices with his zombie comedy Back from the Dead and currently writes short fiction for Stew Magazine, an event that was recently celebrated on this site.