Croatia away

Croatia v England on Wednesday is a massive game. If we lose... our chances of getting to the World Cup finals will be much reduced. Sadly, barely any of us will be able to see it on TV.

Croatia are a bit of a nightmare team for me. I set Foul Play in the month just before the last European Championships. When I wrote the book it looked like we'd be going to Austria and Switzerland. And it looked good until Croatia scored that winner late on.

Then they scored. And while the nation was grieving our not qualifying, I had to go up to my desk and change a hundred things in Foul Play. My deadline was the next day. So I worked through the night to change the novel's setting from June 2008 to an undetermined time.

I wish I was there on Wednesday night. I've been to Zagreb and seen how fanatical they are about their football. Frankly, they make us look like a load of moaning whingers. They know how to get behind their team.

A lovely country, Croatia. My favourite place is Dubrovnik. I wrote a story about going there to remember my dad, who went there just before he died. (It's in a collection called Four Fathers, published by Yorkshire's magnificent small press, Route - www.route-online.com.)

Instead of being in Zagreb I will be in Harrogate, doing an event at a library to help launch the town's Sporting Words festival - www.sportingwords.co.uk. Worth a look on Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 October.

Leeds 5 Crewe 2

Today was going to be the first day I took my four year old to Elland Road to watch Leeds. But plans changed.

She's actually been to see Leeds once before. Burnley away, 2004. She was one. But, that day, she was far more interested in the Burnley mascot than Super Leeds. So we left at half time. (I was worried she'd become a Burnley fan.)

This morning she told me she didn't want to go because she knows we're a bit short of money. So we went to a scarecrow festival in Calderdale instead. And it was good.

When I heard we were 5-0 up I was happy. But sad. How good a start to her Elland Road life would that have been?

Booked Up books

I've been reading the other Booked Up books. Just to see what they're like.

They're good. Here's my top five so far (I've not read the other 6 yet and I can't really put mine in the list, can I?):

1st: H.I.V.E. - I've not even finished it yet and I love it, great characters, great action, great suspense

2nd: The Garbage King - very different to H.I.V.E., but really well written. Very moving. You get into the heads of two boys from a very different culture to ours. Superb.

3rd: Kiss of Death - good story, creepy and intriguing

4th: Arctic Hero - very interesting, about a man I knew nothing about

5th: Skullduggery Pleasant - great start to the novel, but not my cup of tea as I'm not into the more fantasy style stories (I am sure the author won't mind me saying so: Richard and Judy and millions of others love it)

I'll do a definitive top 11 wen I've finished them all.

Overall I've been loving reading them - all available at your local library!

Rest

Today is the first day after four months of doing events. From Newcastle to Cornwall. 117 events. Over 3000 people.

The last few days I've been in Surrey and Sussex and Southampton. (And Liverpool.) As I got to the end I was feeling more and more in need of a break.

The highlight of the tour came on the penultimate day. In Bognor Regis. A six year-old girl was grilling me on being an author. Why do I write books? Why do I only write about football? That sort of thing. Then she asked:

Do you ever get time to play?

And it made me think.

I was supposed to be spending the next ten event-free days writing the first draft of a book Puffin want to publish in October 2009. I was going to blitz it. But, when that girl asked what she asked, I decided I'd do something else. I called my editor at Puffin. I asked if I could submit the book a month later. She said Yes, of course.

So now I have time to play. Ten days. Here's what I'm going to do:

Monday: take my daughter swimming
Tuesday: take my wife swimming, then go for lunch
Wednesday: see a few mates in London
Thursday: go to see a film with my wife
Friday: go for a walk in the Lake District with the poet Craig Bradley (www.craigbradley.com if you're interested)
Saturday: take my daughter to her first home Leeds United game
Sunday: meet a friend and his daughter in the Lake District
Monday: ?
Tuesday: ?
Wednesday: ?

Gateshead

I was in Gateshead today.

In the morning doing a drop-in event at Borders Bookstore. It's a great shop: in the Team Valley Retail Park.

I spoke to the children's specialist for ages. Each Borders has a children's specialist who runs events and knows the children's book world inside out. I learned a lot. Marie Dawson is the specialist in Gateshead. She looked after me very well - and got me a cup of tea too.

Then I met the lad who works in the stockroom at Borders. He's just finished a degree in criminology: the science of crime. He made me want to do the course myself. Studying crime, why it happens and how to stop it. Why not?

After the bookshop I went to the library. We had three events over three hours. Loads of kids came. Mostly Newcastle fans. But a four year old girl in a Liverpool shirt won the penalty shoot out.

Gateshead Library are brilliant. They do excellent events. They looked after me really well too. Two cups of tea and a muffin. They have lots of event over the summer to let people know about books and their authors.

As I left the chief librarian of Gateshead arrived and went in goal. A good sport: but he shouldn't give up the day job.

Then the train home. And another cup of tea. I like the North East. Nice people.

Booked Up

The Booked Up promotion starts this autumn. Every year seven student in schools gets offered a free book - choosing from twelve. I'm proud to say Foul Play is one of the books they can choose from. If you qualify and haven't heard about it yet ask your teacher or librarian. They'll know.

I was in my local library on Friday - Todmorden - doing an event. The Booked Up boxes arrived there. Twelve books in each box. Posters. Bookmarks. Stickers. And all the books. It looked really good. I'm going to read all the other eleven books. I particualrly want to read Skulduggery Pleasant, seeing as I've seen it all over the place.

This week I'm in Gateshead and Surrey. With Liverpool sandwiched in between.

The football season started last week. Leeds have won two and lost one. Not so bad. On 6 September I'm taking my four year old to her first home game. She's excited. But not as excited as me.

Team Read

Have you joined Team Read at your library? You get stickers, freebies and a medal for reading six books over the summer.

I took my daughter to sign up for it. She read two books - Pinkie and Za Za's Brother - last week. I was with her and she read every word. I was amazed. She really wanted to get her hands on the stickers. But I think she likes reading too.

Ask at your local library.

You get a starter's pack and access to a very good website where you can design a character that looks like you to walk through a sport stadium. Then you can read and email about famous authors like Anthony Horowitz and Jeremy Strong. And me too, if you like.

Wales

I'm in Wales today. Did a session with 60 kids in Rhyl. Very nice. By the sea. We did some quizzes and penalties. I had an egg sandwich.

The library staff were great in Rhyl. Three of them went in nets. Some with more success than others. And now I'm in a very nice hotel. Any other authors reading: work in Denbighshire. They really look after you. Tomorrow I'm off to Flintshire, North Wales. Then home.

I started book 4 of my Football Academy series today. Planning. I did a flow chart of the story and tried to make sure it's exciting. I do a graph thing to help me. I mark each chapter for happiness v sadness. I like the graph to go up and down, so that the character in the book is happy, then suddenly sad. It keeps it exciting.

It's about a lad called Ben who isn;t good at reading. He struggles and bunks off school to avoid showing people he can;t write or read too well. Then the coach of the academy he plays at seps in...

But that book's not out until July 2009.

South West

I was in the South West last week. Events in Plymouth, Truro and Torbay.

Plymouth was great. We had the event at the away end of the stadium, the kids sitting in the stand, chanting and shouting at their classmates as they tried to take penalties. We weren't allowed on the grass, because they were cutting it and they like to keep it nice. It reminded me of when I went to choose a season ticket seat at Leeds United in 1984. I took my dog and was told not to go on the pitch. But my dog got away, sprinted across the grass, then did a wee in one of the goal mouths.

Truro and Torbay were good too, by the way. It was nice to go back to Torbay. I used to go on holiday there when I was 17 or 18.

There's something funny going on in the South West. Loads more people support Liverpool than any other team. Does anyone know why?

Dead Ball

I've nearly finished the sequel to Foul Play. It's called Dead Ball and takes place four months on from Danny's first adventures. I set it in Russia. Danny comes up against a menacing Russian oligarch.

(And if you're reading this, Mr Abramovich, you should know it's nothing to do with you. It's a purely fictional figure who is the baddy in Dead Ball.)

I am lucky to be a member of a writing group. Three of us meet once a month to say what we think of each others stuff. The other members are James Nash - poet and story writer, who is working on an excellent teen novel - and Sophie Hannah, who is a hell of a writer.

It's so helpful having them give me feedback. It's sometimes hard to hear people say what is wrong with my stories, but in the end it helps make them better.

Anyway, the really liked Dead Ball. I was expecting lots of extra work, acting on what they said. But they didn't say much. It's a good thing: I have to submit it to Puffin on Friday.

Then a break. A few days before I start work on book four of the Football Academy series.