For The Best - Part Two?

It was overwhelming seeing the amount of positive feedback for my father's memoirs, For The Best.

I even wrote a follow up blog post earlier in the year, to express the appreciation I have for people going out of their way to comment, and write to my father about the book.

The events that took place in For The Best don't seem real - but they all are, as my other relatives have backed up the bizarre and wonderful stories.

My father is also part of an online forum where he often posts his stories, and the other members on there have also given amazing feedback to his words.

My father has not been able to make notes lately of any memories, but we have recently discussed either making a follow up book or a novel based on his childhood - either way I am always excited to hear stories about his childhood.

Can't wait to start the next one!

Cheeky Charlie Cheese C-plug?

I have not plugged my childrens books in a long time and feel today would be ideal.

It's almost Halloween and Tommings made a lovely cartoon of Charlie dressed up a few years ago, and I love it.

Ideally, I'd like to make seasonal and festive CC books, this is something I've definitely put a pin in before, so it could be good to make a start on the Christmas version soon.. Hmm..

Anyway, you can purchase Don't Eat Charlie Cheese and Charlie Cheese Travels The World on Waterstones, Amazon, and loooooads more online book stores!

Writing Challenge : Stand Up Comedy

This blog post is a follow up from 'How I Help Write A Stand Up Comedy Set' and it's also ticking off part of my 2018 Writing Challenges!

Lately, I've been going over drafted jokes and comical stories to put forward to Adam closer to the date - he may not even use them, I'll find out at his next gig.
I have a broad sense of humour, so I make notes for him, but then have to word it into how he would say it, we talk very differently, so I've had a lot of editing and reading it aloud (with tragic attempts of doing his voice).

With writing comedy, I'll make a list of the jokes, rearrange them to see what flows best - it's all trial and error. I try and bunch the jokes within topics, as he never uses notes on stage and it's all from memory so if the topics are linked slightly, it's easier to have it in a particular order.

I'd love to post some of the jokes and ideas, but I think it'd be better to hear them in person - obviously coming from Adam and not from me..
He is gigging in Leeds from March onwards, so please keep an eye out for his name on the bill for comedy nights and he's also partial to doing stand up at open mic nights!

School Visit - Photo!

This morning I received a photo of Tommings and I at our school visit earlier this month!

The photo is from the first class of Year 3 we visited, during a question and answer session about how I get ideas for my Charlie Cheese Books stories, how we got interested in writing and illustrating, and then brainstorming ideas for new books with the children.
- I'm mid sentence in the photo so excuse my face!

Thank you so much to Mrs Goodlad and the Year 3 staff for inviting us into their classes, and thank you to the children for making us feel welcome in their school!

For The Best : News and Reviews

You may know, I have released a book via Blurb that logs my father's memories of growing up in 1950's Leeds. In the little time between releasing it, and now, I have had some incredible feedback! - Thanks so much! - People have made comments on the book and have been lending it out to family and friends to read. I am delighted the book has gone down a storm, I've not had my Blurb account so busy in such a small time frame.

I've been talking to my father about a follow up book - or even a spin off of some of the best characters in the book. It's a little up in the air right now, but ideas are being recorded and put to good use.
Thank you to everyone who has purchased For The Best - and to those who have given feedback and shared posts about it! And for those who haven't found it yet, as a treat I'm putting a short preview of the book on the Blurb page!

Not read it yet? - Get it HERE.

Our First Ever School Visit!

As I said before, Tommings and I got invited to come into a local primary school to talk about the Charlie Cheese Books. Today was the day! It was fantastic, the children asked questions on where we get our ideas from, how long it takes us to write and illustrate, and how reading lots and lots helped our brains get new ideas! We also set a challenge to make their own food characters, all of them were amazing!

Here's some of the ones I remember:
Ogy Orange, Lucy Lettuce, Hassan Hummus, Dennis Doughnut, and for some reason Pizza Pig!

The children drew up their characters, some wrote their own rhyming childrens books, and Tom had illustrated what they were writing about. I'm very pleased with how our first school visit went as the children heard all about the effort and time that goes into writing - and that reading books is super important. We loved each minute of it, and hope to do it again in the future!

For The Best - Memories of a Fifties Child

I have written up all the notes my father has made over the years about his experience growing up in Gipton, Leeds in the 1950s.
I made a copy of the book last year just as a gift to him and so that all of his memories are together in one place, but I have decided other people need to read this, it's such a relaxed yet bizarre childhood, and ridiculously hilarious.
Note: The stories are directly from my father's notes and haven't been edited, and not acceptable for children as it contains explicit language.

The book is called 'For The Best' and you can buy it HERE.