Top Gossip!

I’m back from the MOST amazing holiday in Egypt and Jordan… I saw the pyramids, the Sphinx, the Valley of the Kings, rode a camel (see pic below), watched the sunset from a felucca boat on the Nile, saw awesome Petra and witnessed the start of Ramadam in Amman… wow! I also met some lovely people, ate fab food, soaked up some sun and promised to return…

I’m so excited now as CHERRY CRUSH is almost out… and the feedback so far is pretty incredible! With a big chocolate theme running through the book, as well as a heart-racing forbidden crush, I think you will love the story.

Very soon I will be off on my September tour… check the EVENTS page on my website to see if I’m doing a public signing near you. I will be in bookstores in Irvine, Dublin, Cardiff, Bluewater, Bromley, Norwich, Boston, Stockport and Coventry, as well as lots of schools in between… and there will be CHOCOLATE! There are dates too in Wigtown, Bath and Cheltenham… don’t miss out!

Voting is still open for the fabby QUEEN OF TEEN comp, and the ceremony is on 10th September… there is just time to cast your vote. Just go to QUEEN OF TEEN and vote for your fave, if you haven’t yet – every vote counts! Pity it isn’t called Queen of Chocolate, actually, I would be a winner for sure…

Grab your copy of CHERRY CRUSH, vote for your QUEEN OF TEEN and check out the tour dates on my EVENTS page… see you soon!!!

xxx

Don’t forget to buy MIZZ MAG on 8th JULY to see who which six lucky readers have been shortlisted for the 2010 MY BEST FRIEND ROCKS award… choosing has been tough, as the entries were SO brilliant this year!

All the judges have have their say, and I have spent a few days sifting through the longlist and whittling it down – in the photo you can see my cat Pepper ‘helping’! The shortlist will be announced in Mizz mag’s 8th July issue, so don’t miss out. Shortlisted readers will then be informed by mail, too, and I’ll see them for the fabby award ceremony at this year’s EDINBURGH FESTIVAL. Woo hoo!

If you live in the North West, see if you can come along to my event at the MANCHESTER CHILDREN’S BOOK FESTIVAL on Saturday July 3rd… I’ll have some exclusive taster chapters from Cherry Crush to give out!

For more info on my EDINBURGH FESTIVAL event or on the MANCHESTER CHILDREN’S BOOK FESTIVAL one, check out the EVENTS page on my website!

Last but not least, good news… Thanks to your brilliant nominations, I have been shortlisted for the 2010 QUEEN OF TEEN award. Yay! It’s time for you to get voting – and tell your friends, too! Just click QUEEN OF TEEN to cast your vote. It’s a pretty cool shortlist… scary biscuits!

The fabby QUEEN OF TEEN comp is running again, and it’s time to nominate your favourite author… the top ten teen-queen authors will be whisked away to a sparkly ceremony along with one of the lucky readers who nominated her!

Last time, we travelled to the party in pink stretch limos… oooh! There were fizzy drinks, pink cupcakes and a whole raft of cool author-types to chat to, which was pretty cool!

If you have a fave author YOU would like to nominate, click across to the QUEEN OF TEEN website and make your nominations… you never know, you could be a part of it all!

On the subject of comps, there’s still time to enter the MY BEST FRIEND ROCKS comp... if you have a very special best friend who deserves a boost, let him/her know how much they mean to you! The MBFR ceremony will be ultra-cool too, and we have special guests GIRLS CAN’T CATCH coming along to make sure it goes with a swing! Check out the MBFR link for more details and get those entries coming in!

Cathy xxx

Hiya…

This week I have been out and about on tour around the UK… and if you live near BROMLEY or EPSOM there’s still time to make it along to one of my signings!

I have had a great time meeting children from schools in Lancaster, Leeds, Bromsgrove, Worcester & Glastonbury, plus some super-cool kids who came along to meet me at the Puffin Offices!

Today I am off to Newham in London and on later to sign stock at Waterstones in Harrods! Wooo!

If you can get along to BROMLEY or EPSOM on SATURDAY MAY 1st, I’d love to see you and sign any books you might have! Here are the details…
WATERSTONES, GLADE SHOPPING CENTRE, BROMLEY, 11.30-12.30 (May 1st)
WATERSTONES, HIGH STREET, EPSOM, 2-3pm (May 1st)

I’ll be home again on Sunday, but there are lots more events lined up soon… check the EVENTS page to find out when I will be near to you!

Cathy xxx

Angel Cake is out in paperback NOW… yay! It’s perfect reading for the holidays, so add it to your Easter list… a welcome change from all that choccy. (What am I SAYING?!!!) OK, OK, something to read while you munch! Find your copy of Angel Cake in all good bookshops now…

Readers in the UK & Ireland can check the COMPS page now for the brand new 2010 MY BEST FRIEND ROCKS comp and start planning your entries… I can’t wait to see your arty collages and stories of fab, fantastic friendships. Postal entries ONLY for this comp, though – check here for all the details on how to enter.

I’ll be off on tour soon all around England to celebrate the launch of Angel Cake in paperback… check the EVENTS page for a taste of where I will be off to!

Oh, and last but not least… Happy Easter!

xxx

I’m back from my tour to China, and TOTALLY fell in love with the place… Beijing is just amazing! I met some very cool kids, saw some incredible sights and loved every minute… thanks to everyone at the BOOKWORM FESTIVAL for inviting me out there!

I didn’t have much spare time, but I still managed to see the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square and the Great Wall of China… whoa! I have a niece living in Beijing, so she was able to show me round – big hugs, Tara! While I was there, I filmed a programme for Chinese TV, ate some awesome veggie Chinese dishes, bumped into some friends from Scotland – what were the chances of that – and even met one of my all-time heroes, the rasta poet Benjamin Zephaniah.

All that, and it snowed, too… so hard that my flight home was delayed by 5 hours! Eek! I’ll post some pics so you can see what I got up to…

Now I’m back, I am very excited because it’s almost launch-time for the paperback version of Angel Cake… watch out for it in a shop near you from April 1st! There will be LOTS of CC books for you to read this year, but if you haven’t read Angel Cake make sure you don’t miss out… and remember, life is sweet!

xxx

Hey… I am just off on a fab overseas tour to Beijing in China… how cool? I can’t wait to meet my readers in Beijing… and do a little exploring, too!
I have just finished writing Cherry Crush, phew… so I can really relax and enjoy my tour now! Cherry Crush is the first in a brand new series for readers aged 9-14… it will be out in September and I think you’re going to LOVE it!
There’s lots more news and info coming your way VERY soon, but meanwhile I thought I’d ask what’s the most amazing place YOU’VE ever visited… and why?
See you soon!

CC xxx

As promised, a comp specially for overseas readers… we need a bit of sunshine here in the UK, so how about sending in some pics of you in the sunshine to cheer us up while we shiver?

Again, there will be 10 signed books from my backlist up for grabs as prizes, and the only rules are that this time you have to live OUTSIDE the UK & Ireland to be eligible to enter! Send a photo that will make us smile, one that looks sunny and sizzling and fab. I will post a selection of them on the YOUR PHOTOS page and the ten that look the most interesting/unusual/summery will be chosen to win a signed book.

Just send your photo as a Jpeg through this link, and remember to include your name and full address in case you are a winner (these details will not be published, promise).

And a special shout-out to all Aussie readers… if you were at my Melbourne signing in May 2009, good news – I finally have the link for the cool film Puffin took of it. Just click here or here to see! Happy days…

As for the rest of you… send me your sunny thoughts and ideas to warm up the winter a bit!

THE COMP IS NOW CLOSED AND WINNERS HAVE BEEN INFORMED… THANKS TO ALL WHO ENTERED!

xxx

The snow was cool… and perfect writing weather, ‘cos I was snowed in part of the time and writing Cherry Crush! What did YOU get up to in the Big Freeze? I have ten signed books to give away to the readers who send the coolest snow pics!

This fab snowman, sent by Shannon & Lauren B, got me thinking… I’ve also been sent pics of a snow dragon (thanks, Ana), a snowball fight (thanks, Kate!), and much more! I will post the best on the Your Photos section on the YOU page in a fortnight, and send the ten winners a signed book and a winter warmer hot-choc.

So what do you have to do? Find your fave snow-pic from the last few weeks – a snowman you made, an igloo, a snow-dragon, a pic of you and your friends in the snow… if it’s snowy and something to do with YOU, it’s OK! Put your pic onto the computer & save as a jpeg, then fill in this form with ‘SNOW JOKE’ where it says’What is your picture of?’. Include your name & postal address in case you are a winner… these will NOT be published. The winners will be picked by a panel of judges and the decision will be final. The signed book will be picked at random from my backlist.

The comp is now CLOSED and the following readers have been chosen as winners & informed… the prizes will be on their way shortly & a selection of the best pics, including the winners, will be posted on the YOUR PHOTOS page soon.

Well done to: Georgia R; Shannon B; Krishma; Mollie D, Sara D, Lydia M; Ellie Mc; Andrea M; Hannah L & Kate P.

xxx

I’m writing this on the very last day of 2009… the last day of the DECADE in fact! I hope you all have a fun and fabby New Year and make the most of every opportunity that 2010 brings you… go for it!

2009 was a good year in lost of ways for me… I got to meet my fans in Australia, Singapore & New Zealand in May, I launched the first ever National Best Friends Day in July and wrote like crazy in between times! The year had its sad, tricky and low points too, of course, but I hope that on the whole 2009 was a good year for you, too.

I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be even better. I love that moment when the year turns and a whole new year lies before you, like a field full of snow, silent and perfect, with no footprints upon it yet (I know, I know, but I am writing this surrounded by fields of snow, so it seemed like a good image!). For me, it’ll be a busy year… Angel Cake goes paperback in April; Daizy Star & The Pink Guitar comes out in June; and Cherry Crush is out in September. There will be a few little surprises along the way, too… let’s just say there will be plenty for you to read this year!

What were your best/worst bits of 2009? Are you making any resolutions for 2010? And how are you celebrating the New Year? Let me know by posting your comments through the link below. Happy New Year!!!

xxx