tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-323540022008-11-19T09:52:38.027-08:00Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-14936529575126826822008-11-13T04:26:00.000-08:002008-11-13T04:37:18.984-08:00

I offer a manuscript critiquing service for people who have written children's books and want to get feedback. And it's fascinating to see the variety of work that people are creating, and interesting to see where the manuscripts come from. I'd say the majority, but a slim margin, come from the United States, but I've had several from the UK, and a few from the Brighton area. As this is something

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-50121353795825232902008-07-22T02:59:00.000-07:002008-07-22T03:21:33.728-07:00

Sorry - another long break between posts. But I'm interested in the ideas of bringing technology and the children's book together. Had a conversation last week with Mick from Vivid Interactive. They are developing digital content - sometimes with publishers (such as Scholastic), but also creating some original work. This is aimed at the education market, where technology is a key area for kids.

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-7936470948526464212008-04-29T13:01:00.000-07:002008-04-29T13:12:47.397-07:00

The fantastic Candy Gourlay of Notes from the Slush Pile has blogged many excellent photos from the festival. Read all about it here. Candy gave a very entertaining talk about using the internet to promote yourself as an author/illustrator. It was abbreviated, and I would definitely think about bringing her back for the whole session. If this is something you are thinking about, she's got a

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-8788813576048555342008-04-25T06:19:00.000-07:002008-04-25T06:23:20.780-07:00

We've had some great coverage for the festival, and I wanted to give people links if they were interested. ITV Local TV had a great feature, with interviews and clips from the festival. If you missed it and want to get a flavor of what happened, take a look here.  Daniel Hahn, co-editor of The Ultimate Book Guides books, wrote a nice, in-depth blog entry on the festival. Like me, he's a big fan

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-72224059853664421772008-04-24T02:57:00.000-07:002008-04-24T03:38:40.543-07:00

Well, this'll be my first crack at giving a report. But we took lots of photos and video which should be posted on the website at some point, so I'll be sure to post when that happens. Where do I start? There was so much going on, and it was my dream programme. We got to hear from Kitty Taylor and David Mackintosh about how things work behind the scenes in the Charlie and Lola TV show. They

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-69996573747955404182008-04-02T05:13:00.001-07:002008-04-02T05:15:52.647-07:00

I know I haven't been posting much, but... I've been asked by Oxford Brookes University to be on a panel discussion at the upcoming London Book Fair (I'm speaking on Tuesday, 15th April). They asked me to talk about recent children's publishing trends in the US. Since I'm now living in the UK, I don't feel that my knowledge is as up-to-date as it could be. So.... I was wondering if people could

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-30350780423141413482008-03-03T14:50:00.000-08:002008-03-03T15:14:12.229-08:00

I'm very pleased to give people information about the 2008 Brighton Children's Book Festival. Want to hear David Almond, Dakota Blue Richards (young star of The Golden Compass film), Michelle Magorian, Valerie Bloom and many others - all at one exciting event? Aimed at young people and adults, this year’s Brighton Children’s Book Festival celebrates the way children’s books ‘leap from the page’

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-70900348591032770682007-11-14T02:53:00.000-08:002007-11-14T02:56:57.595-08:00

I just got a call from Floris Books to tell me about a children's book prize that they run. It's called the Kelpies Prize, and full information is available on their website. They are looking for manuscripts set in present-day Scotland (they're a Scotland-based publisher), of 40,000-60,000 words in length. The deadline is February 29th.

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-57515855814578811842007-11-07T06:40:00.000-08:002007-11-07T06:55:22.394-08:00

I went to a fantastic training event yesterday called Mums in Biz. Nicky Chisholm, a mum herself (one arrived and one well on its way) runs the seminars. She is a business consultant who brings great passion to her work, and she quickly got those of us there talking and networking. We covered topics such as business planning, time management, child care opportunities, provides business ideas,

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-2816562983213385222007-10-27T09:49:00.000-07:002007-10-27T10:15:22.350-07:00

My latest e-mailing (if you'd like to be added to my mailing list, please write to me Laura@lauraatkins.com): I hope all are enjoying the shift to autumn weather. It's a great time of year to stay warm and write - and I'll be running a creative writing workshop (details below). Please feel free to pass this to anyone who might be interested. I also wanted to give people the date for the 2008

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-90739856809055362342007-09-09T05:47:00.000-07:002007-09-09T10:35:39.055-07:00

Or should that be babies and blogging? To be specific, one baby - the totally darling Cassiopeia who is now about 3 1/2 months old. But having a baby around makes blogging, or doing almost anything that involves brain activity, very difficult. I'm lucky enough to be on maternity leave for six months, so don't go back until the beginning of December. But I have restarted the writing group I run

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-42657137765372465622007-06-25T08:39:00.001-07:002007-06-25T13:58:50.371-07:00

After a long time with no post, I can happily announce that we had a new baby. Cassiopeia was born on May 27th and is now a month old. She's happy and mellow, and we are very proud parents. Maybe maternity leave will inspire me to write more often - though at the moment I've got a whole lot of baby on my mind. She'll have plenty of books to read!

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-81095498359412665692007-03-13T06:55:00.000-07:002008-03-11T09:06:05.148-07:00

Please note - this post relates to the 2007 Brighton Children's Book Festival. The latest blog post for the 2008 event is here. And you can find full details on our website: www.bcbf.org.uk The Brighton Children's Book Festival is coming along splendidly. We have a full programme, and it is now possible to book your place on THE SOUTH's website. Here's the full information and programme: THE

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-50071250405094809652007-02-19T01:12:00.000-08:002007-02-19T01:41:15.110-08:00

In what has become my usual a-bit-behind way, I wanted to say that the Cybils Award has been announced, and we judges in the graphic novel category came up with our winners. Big congrats to American Born Chinese (13 and up) and Amelia Rules! SuperHeroes (12 and under) for taking top prizes. We had some interesting discussion in the judging process, and the biggest debate was between

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-511281632523518412007-02-12T03:16:00.000-08:002007-02-12T03:15:48.133-08:00

Last minute announcement - tomorrow (Tuesday, 13th Feb.), I'm going to be interviewed on BBC Southern Counties Radio. I've been told it will be at 9:40am on the Gordon Astley show. They are running a writing competition called Monsters and Magic , in which people can submit a 300 word story about monsters by 23rd February. I was asked when I spoke at The Space last week, and am happy to have a

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-1168803152723675222007-01-14T11:29:00.000-08:002007-01-14T11:32:32.740-08:00

For anyone in the Brighton area, I'll be interviewed at The Space event on February 6th. Here's the information: THE SPACE: TUESDAY FEBRUARY 6TH – The SPACE (Southern Performance and Creative Energies), Brighton’s popular media and arts networking event, brings together the creative community, with special guest interviews. It is a great place for making contacts and connections, so, ideally,

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-1168637134527303502007-01-12T13:05:00.000-08:002007-01-12T13:25:34.540-08:00

I know, I know. I start this blog thinking I'll post at least once a week, and now it's been well over a month. What happened? The main thing is I found out I was pregnant, and my energy level went way down. It's great news, but my focus is now pretty much on June 2007 when we'll have an addition to our lives. All those children's books I've been gathering over the years will now have a new

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-1163853154740224712006-11-18T04:25:00.000-08:002006-11-18T04:32:34.763-08:00

PaperTigers, a vast resource of information about Pacific Rim, Asian and south Asian children's book resources, has just sent out their regular email newsletter. I act as a consultant for them and have been an associate editor, so am not completely unbiased. But I do recommend this fantastic website to anyone interested in finding books from/about the Pacific Rim. This is unique in being an

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-1163088316770686112006-11-09T07:45:00.000-08:002006-11-09T08:05:16.926-08:00

I know, I haven't been posting very often at all. Life has been feeling overwhelmingly busy lately. I think I'm juggling too many things at once. One of them, the British IBBY/NCRCL MA conference, will be done after this Saturday. I'm quite pleased that it has sold out, and I'm sure it will be wonderful. But part of me will just be happy when it's over. I'll be interviewing Jamila Gavin and Mary

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-1162306912054521672006-10-31T06:36:00.000-08:002006-10-31T07:01:52.070-08:00

Exciting news...I've just heard that I'm going to be teaching an undergraduate children's literature course next semester in a castle in East Sussex. It's the International Study Centre for Queens University in Canada, and I went to visit on Monday. It's a spectacular setting - nestled in the hills near Battle in the south of England, in an amazing brick castle. Class sizes are small - I'll

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-1161450113536537082006-10-21T09:53:00.000-07:002006-10-21T10:01:53.546-07:00

...pronounced as in cyber-space, have arrived. These are the first-ever children's literature blogs book awards, and very democratic too. Anyone can nominate a book - you don't have to be a blogger. You can just head over the The Cybils website and add your nomination as a comment. Books need to have been published in 2006 in English (but can be translated). There are several categories,

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-1161341858200016362006-10-20T03:41:00.000-07:002006-10-20T05:18:04.936-07:00

OK, so I'm doing "The Owl and the Pussycat." Not the most original, I know. But this is honor of our poor cat, Thomas, who I've dropped off at the vet this morning. He has a lump on his shoulder, and the vet thought it was best to remove it (she was afraid it might be cancer). So I had to leave poor, sweet Thomas there, and will call today after 1 pm to see how he's doing. I want to dedicate

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-1160765574126220032006-10-13T11:43:00.000-07:002006-10-13T11:52:54.146-07:00

Here's my poem for today. It's from A Poke in the I: A Collection of Concrete Poems, selected by Paul Janeczko and illustrated by the inestimable Chris Raschka. Crickets Aram Saroyan crickets crickess cricksss cricssss crisssss crssssss csssssss ssssssss ssssssts sssssets sssskets sssckets ssickets srickets crickets

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-1160158713038221572006-10-06T10:44:00.000-07:002006-10-06T11:18:33.090-07:00

I just finished this amazing little book by Guus Kuijer, translated by John Nieuwenhuizen in a voracious single seating, and had to write about it. What an amazing reading experience. A book about God, love, a specific place and time - the Netherlands post-WWII and Nazi occupation - and yet a book about so much else. I love the main character, Thomas. He's a nice year old living with his

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32354002.post-1160131262946447572006-10-06T03:31:00.000-07:002006-10-06T06:21:48.066-07:00

I have decided to post in the Poetry Friday tradition - I'm working to become more of a poetry person after bad experiences in school.... Here's my addition: First Fig My candle burns at both ends; It will not last the night; But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends - It gives a lovely light! --Edna St. Vincent Millay This was featured on a Radio4 segment very late the other night, and the poem

Tocklahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04738561919010280761noreply@blogger.com2