Just a reminder to everyone when sending me a message to check the emails you are entering are correct. I really like reading all your messages and I always reply, but I have had a few messages recently where the email doesn’t seem to work and may have been mistyped. So please don’t be disappointed if I haven’t replied, and try again if you would like me to write back. I hope you all keep enjoying The Company of Goblins!
 Orlando and I really enjoyed our visit to Netley Abbey Junior School last Friday. We were given a terrific welcome by all the children and the staff. Many of the children already had copies of ‘The Company of Goblins’ and said it was the best adventure story ever. I was delighted to find it was being read in class. There are free sessions to download that accompany the book here. Two of the children presented me with their drawings which you can see below, and of course, they will be added to The Goblin Gallery. I really like them, they are great - I especially like the big red wart on the nose of the goblin to the right!
Another student wrote to me outlining the plot for her very own novel – a fantastic achievement. Please keep writing, Abbey, your ideas are extremely interesting and very inventive.
There were lots of interesting questions: What sort of story would I write after I’d completed the trilogy? Who was my favourite character in The Company of Goblins? How long did it take me to write the first book? What was it like in Egypt, and in which city did I live? Which mythical creature did I like the best? Who were my favourite authors now? And, What was my favourite book as child? When I answered that ‘The Faraway Tree’ had been my favourite book, all the children let out a gasp and nodded in agreement. I’m so pleased that the very first book I enjoyed is still going strong today. I know there are many keen young writers at Netley Abbey Junior School, I’d like to wish you all lots of luck for the future - one or more of you could be best selling authors, just keep reading and writing! As part of the Waterside Arts Summer Festival, the Hythe Library has organised an Arts and Crafternoon on Saturday 11th July 2015. Plus they are launching this year’s Summer Reading Challenge!
So please come and join me at the library on Saturday afternoon, 11th July. I will be available for a book signing, everyone is welcome. Ask me about goblins, Anglo-Saxon and Norse Mythology, and why story telling is important to our culture. Have you ever wondered how folktales and legends start? Are they just made-up stories, or do they have any truth to them? Come along and find out.  Children’s Workshop – Waterstones, Ringwood, 29th May 2015. I had a terrific morning last Friday; my publisher arranged for a filming opportunity at Waterstones, Ringwood, a bright, colourful and welcoming bookshop with a terrific café that has locally made cakes and biscuits including a gluten free selection – yum! The children really enjoyed my talk about mythical creatures, and made up some wonderful combinations of their own. Tiger, aged 7, drew a lion goblin, which had wings as well as a unicorn horn growing out of its head. All the pictures can be seen in my last blog, below, and also in the "Goblin Gallery".  In my talk I describe the Nixies, powerful water demons who lurk in dangerous pools of water. In one of the drawings Orlando is shown swimming with a rubber ring. I’m really pleased that Jude, aged 10, wanted to look after him. Orlando was pleased too, and took great delight in posing for a number of sketches which the children took home. Some questions I was asked were: ‘Can you earn a living as a writer?’ ‘How long did it take you to write your first book?’ And, ‘Why do the Icelandic people still believe that “The Secret People” help protect them from earthquakes when nowadays everyone knows about the movement of the tectonic plates?’  I visited Iceland last year. Whilst the Icelanders know about the tectonic plates, they also like to keep their traditions and folktales alive - because remember that folktales are a way of passing important information down through generations and not everything in them is just make-believe. The same can be said of Norway. In dangerous and inhospitable places local people are more aware that science can’t explain everything - for example exactly when a volcano will next erupt - so perhaps they don’t want to take even the smallest chance that elves, fairies, and magic aren’t real. Also, wouldn’t it be a shame if we forgot all those stories about trolls, mermaids, ogres, dwarfs, and elves – I wouldn’t have anything to write about! For more photographs of the event and more sketches, follow the link to my publisher Little Knoll Press. And remember, the video will be coming soon. You can watch a VIDEO of this workshop by following this link – WATCH HERE!
I had a wonderful visit at Waterstones in Ringwood on Friday. It is such a fantastic place. The full blog will come shortly, however, since I know all the children were keen to see their amazing pictures in the gallery, I have put them up now! They are all so good, thank you for such colourful pictures.
You can click on the images above for a bigger view, or you can follow the link to the "Goblin Gallery" and see if you can find your pictures there too!
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Celia Leofsy
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