World Book Day is always a mad dash around numerous locations. This year was no exception.
First stop was Mossneuk Primary School in East Kilbride, where almost 500 P1-7s will soon be embarking on creating their own book. So we talked about how writers write and explored the dark art of editing.
When I ask pupils what editing involves, the first answer is usually, ‘spelling and punctuation’. That’s usually the last thing an editor concentrates on, so I was delighted that the first person with their hand up talked about editors deciding if a story was interesting or made sense.
I left Mossneuk behind and headed for Greenock. (Lunchless. Oh how I suffer for my art! Please send all food parcels to… Of course, I should have done what hilarious Young Adult author Kirkland Ciccone does. He has a rider for his visits: a packet of ginger nuts. Still, we learn from our mistakes (or from what the scales say after too many packets of ginger nuts!).
Awaiting me at King’s Oak Primary School in Greenock were: a) P4-7 and their teachers, b) some parents (always good to see parents at an author visit) and c) Mr IT, the head teacher. Mr IT came up with a neat solution to their projector needing a VGA input and my laptop only having HDMI. However, infinitely more impressive, is that he told he controls his own PowerPoint presentations from his WATCH. Surely that means he’s actually Q from James Bond. ‘Being a head teacher’ is merely cover.
King’s Oak were fab. The Pupil’s Voice group had organised everything, with the support of Mrs Bowles (hello). When I say they’d organised everything, they’d even made sure there was a Lee in Mrs Bowles class! So my fictional Lee was able to shake hands with a real Lee. (Sort of.)
Inverclyde Libraries were also along for my visit, complete with The Case of Wonders. That’s a case of library books to you and me. The two fabulous librarians with the case are trying to take over the world one library card at a time. I’d watch out for them!
That all done, I dashed home and edited a book until 0115. Because I’m like that. And because it was World Book Day. But mainly because a print deadline was looming.
Thanks to everyone who made it such a special day.
