David Almond said it was in the works

Skellig the opera!

Go here: http://xkcd.com/451

Children's writers group conference

We should get back to the lady about how many of us want to go at the reduced price. She needs money either cheque or cc plus full address, phone and emails for all of us, so we need to get that sorted and send it off. Let me know.

Children's Writers and Illustrators Group Conference

To anyone that is interested:

Children's Writers and Illustrators Group Conference

Phillip Pullman will be in attendance, as well as David Almond!

I can email you a copy of the itinerary if you're interested.

But, it's kinda really expensive...

So I sent an email to the co-ordinators and they've sent this reply:

We've come up with various options:
a) you and your fellow students can come at members rates - they are as low as we can go I'm afraid
HOWEVER
b) you and your fellow students could come for £40 each for the two days - no meals but all talks/workshops
or
c) £70 per student lunch only plus all talks/workshops for the 2 days.
Let me know what you choose. We can only offer this to a very limited number of students so I suggest you don't hesitate for too long!
Outings are £10 each and can't be reduced...but are very optional and there is a lot of good stuff going on in Cambridge for free.

I think there are plenty of ways to make this affordable, choosing the £40 option and getting meals at boots and taking things that can be made easily like cuppa soups and whole fruits and veggies. Getting there can be done on the Megabus and if you book early, fares are only £1 (but be aware that you have to travel from Newcastle to London, London to Oxford, and then on to cambridge. Long freaking day on a bus) but hey, it's cheap and you get to take the scenic route). There are quite a few hostels in Cambridge, and I bet if we ask around, some of the uni's might let us stay in their dorms quite cheaply.

I think I want to go. Who wants to go with me?

Getting Published

Here's a nifty tool that allows you to search for magazines that publish creative writing. It allows you to enter specific search options such as the length of the piece you want to publish, the genre, payscale you are looking for, etc.

http://www.duotrope.com/index.aspx

"I'll keep this short..."

I saw this on the BBC News website and thought it might be interesting...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7495000/7495638.stm

Castle Writing

Hi. Cassie & I are heading out to Alnwick tomorrow to do some serious writing in the castle/gardens. Anyone want to join us? I will be driving so can take more peeps up. The atmosphere up there is great for writing and I want to get up again before the schools break up.

http://www.alnwickcastle.com/

Lynne x