Free Poems and Prose for Children in Lockdown - Published by Cranachan

Free ‘Stay at Home!’ book for children living in lockdown by 40 children’s authors in Scotland

Island-based publisher Cranachan has launched a free, illustrated anthology of poems and stories for children aged 8-12. Stay at Home! Poems and Prose for Children in Lockdown is a collection of 40 lockdown-themed contributions by writers based in Scotland. 

The new book, which is available for free and available on the Books from Scotland website and on Amazon, is described as “a book about lockdown– the good bits, the bad bits, and the ugly bits when nobody could get any toilet roll. It’s divided into three sections – Life in Lockdown, Everyday Superheroes, and the World Beyond Our Windows.” 

Stay at Home!, illustrated by Darren Gate, aims to help children reflect on their time in lockdown. There is something in the anthology for everyone, from the serious to the hilarious, with short stories, flash fiction, poems, letters and diaries (including some in Scots) all giving their take on lockdown life topics such as kitchen haircuts, birthdays, home-schooling, daily exercise, pets, nature, neighbours–and even toilet roll alternatives.

The collection is edited by debut novelist Joan Haig and comprises work written especially for the lockdown volume, from well-loved children’s authors and new writers including: 

Raisah Ahmed, Annemarie Allan, Dean Atta, Nayanika Basu, Pamela Butchart, Philip Caveney, Maisie Chan, Suleman Chebe, Alastair Chisholm, Justin Davies, Lari Don, Elizabeth Ezra, Matthew Fitt, Kerry L Fleming, Merryn Glover, Laura Guthrie, Joan Haig, Yasmin Hanif, Robert J Harris, Callum Heitler, Barbara Henderson, Diana Hendry, Emily Illet, Lindsay Littleson, Joseph Lamb, Elizabeth Laird, Joan Lennon, Caroline Logan, Janis Mackay, Alan McClure, Miranda Moore, Raman Mundair, Alex Nye, Rachel Plummer, Ross Sayers, Linda Strachan, Chae Strathie, and Victoria Williamson.

Explaining her motivation for creating the book, Haig says: “Originally, I had an idea at the start of Lockdown for a recipe book from children's stories and contacted a few authors then to gauge interest. It was pointed out that ingredients were short in the shops and I gave up thinking about it! But I still felt that there was an opportunity to do something incredibly positive through writing in the Covid crisis, to reach out to children, but also to bring together children's authors in Scotland.” 

The book’s publisher, Anne Glennie of Cranachan, added: “It is the job of writers to record and to make sense of this new world. We are living through an historical moment in time–and this collection does not shy away from that reality but explores it, and hopefully, helps children come to terms with it as they recognise themselves and their experiences in its pages.”

Stay at Home! Poems and Prose for Children in Lockdown launches on 28th May and is available to read for free here: www.booksfromscotland.com and is free for download on Amazon.

Book News World Book Day is 20 years old in 2017 - World Book Day YA Event Waterstones London- 1st March 2017

World Book Day is 20 years old in 2017, and we are celebrating with an extravaganza of a day on Thursday 2nd March 2017. 

Waterstones Piccadilly, 203 - 206 Piccadilly, London W1J 9HD - : 01 March 2017 @ 5.30 - 6.30pm

As part of the Biggest Book 

Show on Earth tour, we are hosting a special YA event on the eve of World Book Day, 1st March 2017.

Joining us will be David Almond and Michael Grant, authors of World Book Day £1 books Island and Dead of Nightrespectively; presenter and DJ Gemma Cairney whose debut Open is released in March; and author, vlogger and musical actress Carrie Hope Fletcher as chair.

The group will discuss their favourite books; where, when and how they read; the books they are currently working on; and give the audience book recommendations. After the event, there will be an opportunity to redeem £1 World Book Day tokens, meet the authors, get your books signed – and take selfies, of course!

Come join the booky fun! Tickets are free but to reserve a ticket, please click here

By: David Almond

Each year, sixteen-year old Louise travels with her father to the island of Lindisfarne. It’s a holiday, but also a pilgrimage to the place Louise’s mother loved best of all in the whole world. This year things are changing and the beautiful and haunted island is a troubled place. Louise is growing fast, and is yearning for independence. Her father becomes infatuated by an American tourist. And they arrive at the same time as Hassan, a mysterious boy from Syria, who fascinates Louise. He seems to have known this place from long ago, and to be at home here. He’s an acrobat, maybe a sorcerer, maybe a source of great danger. The gang of boys who live in the island’s wilder places want to cast him out.

Over the course of a few days, the forces of love, death, hope and destruction move these characters towards a deeper understanding of themselves and the world. This is a story which shows how the journeys we take and the people we meet shape us forever.

By: Michael Grant

Rio Richlin doesn’t have superpowers. She is an ordinary young woman. A soldier in the American army, wearing a uniform, carrying a rifle, and fighting alongside thousands who are trying to make a difference, trying to change the world.

At least, that’s the plan. Right now she’s part of a squad on a training exercise in some place called Wales. They’re cold, they’re wet, and Rio’s pretty sure they’re also lost. Spending the night in a creepy old inn wasn’t part of the plan at all…

Set in the alternative World War II scenario of his Front Lines novels, Michael Grant, author of the bestselling Gone series, has written this story exclusively for World Book Day.

Find out more: http://www.worldbookday.com

Guest Post by Stephen Bennett - NaNoWriMo Survey of 2000 Writers Reveals Surprising Ways to Succeed‏!

Anyone who had attempted NaNoWriMo – the challenge of writing 50,000 words of a novel in November – has surely faced a number of obstacles on their journey to the end of the month. 

Half way through, these distractions become ever more tempting and there’s usually a dip in motivation and creativity at the prospect of continuing to write 1667 every day for the rest of the month. 

As luck would have it, Stop Procrastinating, the productivity website, has surveyed 2000 NaNoWriMo writers ahead of this year’s November writing challenge to find out what kept them going until the very end. 

The findings are insightful and actionable. From undertaking a little planning before hand from learning how to write just about anywhere, the strategies are sure to help many undertaking the challenge this year and should ensure many more cross the finishing line. 

Stop Procrastinating has pulled all the results together in the infographic below.

Courtesy of: stopprocrastinatingapp.com

Guest Post by Stephen Bennett - Is writer's block a curse or a fiction?

Writer’s block: 25 proven tips for how to cure writer’s block used by writers.

Post by Stephen Bennett.

The productivity website Stop Procrastinating conducted a survey with 2000 writers to find out what techniques they use to beat writer’s block. Yes, writer’s block does exist. In fact it exists for more than 60% of writers, according to the survey, and is caused by high expectations, fear of failure and pressure of unrealistic deadlines.

But as with most conditions there’s a spectrum where some writers may find it difficult to write for a few hours or days and all they need is to adjust their way of thinking, while for other writers the problem may have set in for longer.


The the good news is no matter where they were on the spectrum, all the writer’s beat their writer’s block though a combination of creative motivation techniques and unorthodox routines.

From talking to your cat to having a cold shower or doing the West Wing Walk and Talk, the survey resulted in 25 strategies to help writers be more creative and motivated about their writing. And it’s all in the infographic below: 

Courtesy of: Stop Procrastinating

Press Release: UK YA Literature London Convention Returns (17-19 July 2015)

YALC first took place in July 2014, launched by Waterstones Children’s Laureate 2013-2015 Malorie Blackman as one of her major Laureate initiatives. The event was the first large-scale public literature convention dedicated entirely to teen and Young Adult books ever to be hosted in the UK, and saw thousands of young people attending a weekend of events celebrating reading, featuring 50 Young Adult authors.

YALC will showcase the best of UK YA, as well as continuing to play host to special appearances from US YA stars. This year’s event will also feature appearances from some of the authors shortlisted for The YA Book Prize, a brand new prize for UK and Irish YA books from The Bookseller.

YALC 2015 will take place in a dedicated Book Zone at the London Film and Comic Con.  A host of top YA authors will be joining Blackman for the three day convention, which incorporates a programme of author events, hands-on workshop sessions, drop-in activities and book-signing sessions. 


An initial list of just a few of the authors taking part has been announced today, including US YA superstar and creator of the Mortal Instruments series Cassandra Clare. Also appearing at the event will be TV personalities turned authors Charlie Higson and Arabella Weir; creator of the international bestselling Skulduggery Pleasant series Derek Landy; and award-winning Young Adult author Patrick Ness. Joining them are Youtube star Carrie Hope Fletcher; author of the Night School series C J Daugherty; and of course, Blackman herself. See the full fantastic list HERE