Blue Peter shortlist

I'm really excited. Foul Play is on the shortlist for the Blue Peter Book Award. It's in the category I Couldn't Put It Down. It was announced today.

Thank you Blue Peter!

I'm off to celebrate...

Russia

I've been invited to Russia - to go and talk at a conference next week.

It's good timing. I'm just doing the rewrites for the sequel to Foul Play. It's called Dead Ball and has Danny taking on a Russian oligarch football club owner.

I went to Moscow in March to research Dead Ball. But the one thing I didn't do was go in the church where Danny will be spending a bit of time - hiding. Now I can go back. I'm really excited. It's more than a church, actually. It's St Basil's Cathedral.

I like to go to the places my books are set. It makes them feel more realistic. I think it'd be hard to write well about a place you've never vistied. (Saying that, some writers manage it.)

I've had a good month in schools. I've been meeting lots of lads (and a few girls) who've been reading Foul Play. It is a really good feeling hearing them tell me what they think of it, people who've actually read it.

There's some good news about Foul Play coming up too. But I'm not allowed to talk about it yet...