Useful Links

An Awfully Big Blog Adventure
http://awfullybigblogadventure.blogspot.com/
This is the blog to see. Lucy’s blog wisdom on writing and assorted matters is here, along with that of several other children’s authors.  A brilliant read, if I say it myself—please visit often, it’s updated daily.

Armadillo Magazine
http://www.armadillomagazine.com/
A fantastic online magazine about children’s books with news and reviews.

The Scattered Authors Society
http://www.scatteredauthors.org/
The ‘other’ SAS where you can find and contact children’s authors for school visits etc.

Contact An Author
http://www.contactanauthor.co.uk/
Tips on how to book a suitable author for your school or library.

Doodled Books
http://www.doodledbooks.com/
If you are a collector of children’s books and like first editions, these guys have all the latest publications.  Each signed book is unique—I did lots of separate Hootcat Hill doodles for them—all sold out now.

Write Away
http://www.writeaway.org.uk/
Nikki Gamble publishes another really good children’s book magazine here.  Lots of current news and topics, and reviews

The Anti-Bullying Alliance
http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/Page.asp
Find out more about how to cope with bullying here, and let’s all do something to stop it happening.

Yellapalooza
http://www.yellapalooza.com/map.html
Yellapalooza is a useful US site for budding writers and illustrators of children’s books.

Achuka, Books for Keeps and Carousel
http://www.achuka.co.uk/index2.php
http://www.booksforkeeps.co.uk/bfk_home
http://www.carouselguide.co.uk/
Three really good magazine sites which have brilliant reviews of children’s books, as well as news, views and stuff to keep you up to date with what’s going on.

The Arvon Foundation
http://www.arvonfoundation.org/about.asp
The best place to go if you are serious about creative writing in any shape or form.

Celtic Pronunciation
http://www.mythome.org/celticnames.html
If you’re confused on how to pronounce the Celtic stuff in Coll the Storyteller’s Tales of Enchantment or the spell in Hootcat Hill then this is the site to help you.

Anthony Lewis
http://anthonylewis.info/
See more from the brilliant illustrator of Coll and Atticus. Without his pictures of Branwen and lots else this site would be really dull.

The Society of Authors
www.societyofauthors.net/
For general information on authors etc.

The Society for Storytelling
http://www.sfs.org.uk/
A great place to find out about our rich tradition of oral storytelling, and to find a storyteller if you need one.

Book Trust
www.booktrust.org.uk/
Booktrust is an independent national charity that encourages people of all ages and cultures to discover and enjoy reading.

Writers’ Services
http://www.writersservices.com/
Where to find agents, publishers and stuff like that.

Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids
www.druidry.org/
Find out about real life people like Coll, and what they do nowadays right here.

The Encyclopedia Mythica
http://www.pantheon.org/
Any mythological reference from any culture is almost sure to be written up here. I’ve spent hours on it, finding out all sorts of amazing facts about gods, goddesses and assorted creatures.

Pedalo
http://www.pedalo.co.uk/
If you need to have your own website, these are the brilliant people who designed mine. Ultra-helpful, ultra-efficient and just plain nice.