What I am publishing this year

 Happy new year. It is a new year so there will be new books to publish this year. Here is what I have planned.

I was planning to publish the fourth Sammi picture book early this year but due to financial reasons I am going to have to wait until I build up funds from writing profits to be able to do so. It might be later this year or even next year. I do want to publish this last picture book. The rest of the Sammi stories I have in mind will be put into a collection of stories with a working title of 'Sammi and Best Friends'. I already have written and typed up the first one.

The first definite publication will be Fran's story called 'Fran and the Canine Chase'. This is book 4 in The Pet Rescuers series and is a bit different to the others. Fran is non speaking autistic and communicates with her hands and her device, which she needs to use when her assistance dog is stolen. It has been edited. All I need to do now is put in the ISBN and send it to my cover designer next month when she is free.

The other book I do plan to publish later this year is the first cozy mystery in the Anna Travers Mysteries. It is called 'The Blackmail Bombshell' where Anna discovers a letter blackmailing her late mother when she starts unpacking from inheriting her mum's house. Not only does she discover the letter but the spirit of her late mother, who goes on to help her solve the mystery. This story will only be available as an ebook to start with due to financial reasons.

If you have seen or read any of my other adult ebooks then you know that I like writing stories with helpful ghosts in. If you haven't seen them, then the first series was Geraldine's Gems and featured Geraldine who went to heaven but had to earn her place there. That book is called One Good Turn and is available here https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0090HBZ62

I have also renamed my writing workshop and it is called Story Magic. I have been pitching it to libraries and schools so far. If you know any budding storytellers, then this is for them. It involves creating a story or first chapter of a book using a story prompt that comes from one of my books plus two picture prompts including a magical one.

If you are an author, what are you planning to publish this year?

Final time to see me this year.

 If you are in the SE2 London area of Abbey Wood this Saturday come along and find out all about autism. There will be lots of gifts, including my books, all geared for autistic families. As usual at events, all my books are discounted and you won't find them at that price anywhere else. Hope to see people there. It will be my final fair this year.

It's getting very Christmassy now

 

If you couldn't come last Saturday to the library to see me, then you have the opportunity of seeing me at the above Christmas market. Lots of craft and art things for sale. Usually from hand made cards to pottery and my books. I have found extra little books I had printed for a few of my teen and magical realism adult stories and plan to bring those too for sale. So come along and see what I have to offer.

Hope to see you there.

(See you there Councillor Best).

Create a new Sammi story for Christmas

 

Come and help me create a new Sammi squirrel story for Christmas on Saturday. I will be reading one of my picture books, then asking help to create a Christmas Sammi story. Let's have fun. Or just come and say hello here.

Why I write my children's autism books

 Reflection — “The Mirror in the Story”

There is a quiet kind of magic that happens when a child sees themselves on the page.
For autistic children, that moment can be rare—too rare.
Too often, the stories they are given to read are mirrors that fog when they lean in close, pages that almost reflect them but not quite. Characters are flattened into stereotypes or erased altogether, their brilliance and beauty distilled into misunderstanding.

But children deserve stories that feel like home.
They deserve to see their way of moving through the world honoured, not corrected.
They deserve to find characters who flap their hands in delight, who find safety in patterns, who love deeply but differently—and to know that these ways of being are not broken, just beautifully specific.

When autistic children read books that reflect their lives, something sacred happens: belonging.
They begin to understand that the world has room for them. That they are not strange for needing quiet. That their way of thinking—their honesty, their attention to detail, their sensitivity—is not something to hide but something to celebrate.

Representation is not decoration; it is recognition.
It tells a child: you exist, and your existence matters.
And in a world that too often tells autistic children to mask, to shrink, to be less—books become a gentle rebellion. A place where they can rest in truth, unedited. A place where they can be fully known.

Now more than ever, we need those stories—because belonging cannot be assumed; it must be built.
Because when autistic children see themselves on the page, they begin to imagine futures that include them.
And that imagining, that quiet seed of self-acceptance, can grow into the kind of confidence that changes everything.

This is one reason why I write what I do. For the other two reasons, come along to the book fayre tomorrow (poster in previous post) and find out from me.

Want to buy a book for Christmas?

 

Want a new book for Christmas? Or for any of your family as gifts? Then come to the Book Fayre above on 8 November. Plenty of choices to make, from children's books (including mine), memoirs and crime and mystery. There will also be talks by some of the authors, including me. You can hear me talk about what I write and why.

Let's have start Christmas shopping early this year (if you haven't already).

Hope to see you there.

Come and have fun at a Fun Palace

 Tomorrow, Saturday 4 October, I will be taking part in the local Fun Palace in Sydenham, SE26 London. From 1 - 2pm I will be doing a short book reading followed by a writing workshop and a book signing. All my books I have with me will be at a discounted price, as they always are at in person events with me.

Here is a complete line up.

12.00 Welcome by Mayor Brenda Dacres

12.00 - 2.00 Dr Bike - cycle maintenance 

12.05 – 12.15 Live music

12.15 – 1.00  Drama workshop for children - Spontaneous Productions

12.15 Paint a Smile

12.15 Design the Sydenham Community Project Christmas Card

12.30 Make Your Own Badge

12.30 Vision Board Post Cards - James Ross Hunter Youth Support

12.30 Cross Stitch for beginners

1.00 – 2.00 Join autistic children's author Julie Day for a magical book reading, creative writing workshop, followed by a book signing

1.30 – 2.15 Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the German community in the locality

2.00 – 3.00 Join author Allison Parkinson and Zarif the Tiger for a roarsome reading of her picture book Tiger's Eye, followed by a colouring activity and book signing

3.00 – 4.00 Salsa Dancing with Yamile

2, 3 and 4pm Tours of Ignition Brewery - space is limited so please book on eventbrite

Hope to see someone there. 

See you there, Councillor Best.