One of the most fulfilling things I’ve done this year is to work with Accumulate Art School For The Homeless charity. The remarkable founder Marice Cumber, read my piece about being homeless in The Big Issue and asked if I’d hold a workshop for her students. Since then I’ve contributed to their Book of [...]
WHAT EVEN??!!! I have only gone and WON The Diverse Book Awards, Young Adult category!!! I had no idea this was going to be a thing, so please forgive the babbling! Massive thanks to my agent James Catchpole and publisher Andersen Press, who backed me all the way, even when I was convinced no [...]
I love getting gorgeous, shiny things in the post. And today it was my very own special copy of BBC Radio 2's 500 Words Competition book, with all the winning stories in it! I illustrated 10 year old Ellie Aitken's story 'For the last time', a moving and devastating account of a Jewish family's final [...]
I've been shortlisted for quite a few awards since Chinglish was launched, and in each one I've been side-by-side with some real award heavyweights. But this particular one was a surprise because it's a BIGGIE, supported by Books Are My Bag run by The Booksellers Association who support independent book shops in UK & [...]
The lowest point in my life was when I was pregnant and living in a squat at 18. That’s why I didn't hesitate when Accumulate asked if I'd like to help out at one of their workshops. The charity provides learning to young, homeless people who have gone through hardships and are now living [...]
Holy crap. If ever I've felt like a gatecrasher it is well and truly now. Today, I got the news that I'd been included in The Guardian's Best Books of the year list (YA) alongside Philip Pullman(!) and Malorie Blackman(!) as well as others in the star-studded list. When I was writing Chinglish there [...]
If you told me a year ago that I'd have a self-penned piece published in The Guardian, I would have choked on my tea and asked what you were on...but here it is! Basically a two page synopsis about my novel Chinglish, fully adorned with embarrassing childhood photos and dotted with some madcap illustrations from [...]
Chinglish pics from around the world!
I still can't believe how I've managed to get to talk live on air to the entire nation about my humble debut novel Chinglish! I'm SO proud and TRULY grateful to all the fantastic people along the way who helped to make it happen. Anyway, just so I can prove to myself in years [...]
A lot of people ask if 'Tina', my best friend from the 1980s that I wrote about in Chinglish, is real. Answer: YES! And here she is 30+ years on! She's stlll a bezzie and still wears 'The Cure' tops and she's print maker in Hampshire now - do you see now, why I thought [...]