I’m often mindful that I do most of my work quietly on my own in the stillness and calm of my studio. Having to speak publicly in schools at festivals and conferences requires a lot of work and planning and can be quite intimidating. And I’ve never been made more aware of this than yesterday when broadcasting to over 20,000 children for the The Authors Live event from the BBC in Glasgow, arranged by the Scottish Book Trust! But WOW! What an incredible experience… utterly unforgettable! All the people who supported me – from Sarah (Hachette Children’s Books) to all the Scottish Book Trust people and presenter Janice Forsyth and all the BBC people – made everything as easy as possible. My thanks to them all – I’m so very grateful!
I must also mention the school – the children were a wonderful bunch! Thanks for coming and making the day so special…
I was so excited to be there, and truly very honoured to be added to the extraordinarily illustrious list, which includes Michael Rosen, Julia Donaldson, Michael Morpurgo, Charlie Higson, Jacqueline Wilson and Eoin Colfer. Indeed when first invited my immediate reaction was: Why me? surely they’ve made a mistake!
Most of all, I was really proud to be the very first illustrator to be asked to take part.
The Authors Live programme is a wonderful scheme broadcasting events with Children’s Authors to children in far flung schools who might otherwise miss out. Of course any school can join in the fun – and many others did so, including lots of schools that I’ve recently visited.
The set up was an open space in the enormous new glass building which is the home of BBC Scotland in Glasgow. It was agreeably low-key and much less formal than my fearful mind had anticipated. As usual everyone in Scotland was incredibly warm and friendly and put me as much at ease as is humanly possible.
Here are some pictures to give you an idea of how it was all looked. There were a few hitches. Something exploded on the technician’s equipment; a motorway accident delayed the Book Trust people; the event was 30 minutes not the 40 I’d expected. But all came right in the end (I think) and despite a few garbled sentences I don’t think I disgraced myself too badly.
You can now watch the event – wherever you are in the world – on the SCOTTISH BOOK TRUST website. Just CLICK HERE!
I can’t bring myself to watch it just yet. Perhaps it’s best not to dissect everything and worry. It was a big deal to me and I gave it my best shot. But for now… it’s back to the stillness and calm of the next book.
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