The Curse of Heatherwell House (Working Title) came from a slightly different place than many of the other stories in this collection. When I decided that I was going to put together a collection of short stories with the theme of Gothic Horror, I quizzed Clemency on what would scare her. She said “zombies”. Not the easiest thing to work with for Gothic Horror – give me a ghost any day. Here are some thoughts about how I went about creating The Curse of Heatherwell House … Once I had spoken to Clem about the things she finds scary – and discovered which of my back catalogue she found the creepiest – I started to get an idea for a story. It involved a vicar (obviously the younger son of a wealthy family, as all these Gothic vicars seem to be) who took over gravedigging responsibilities because the rest of his parish were too sick to do it. I was pleased with the premise – and perhaps it will turn into another story. Watch this space… But there was one major sticking problem: whils...
So, the New Year Resolutions went out the window. But don't they all?
I was in a staff meeting after school today, and it was mentioned that Park Primary had reopened, and needed some interim supplies before they could get their stock up again.
For those of you who didn't see it on the news, Park Primary in Invergordon was burned down after an old laptop caught fire. Amazingly, all the staff and children got out and were not harmed. They reopened last week, but have lost all of their supplies.
My headteacher, a practical-minded individual, was hoping to put together some textbooks that we don't use. My first thought was that it was World Book Day this week, and the school had no library. Surely, if they had lost all their textbooks, they would have lost all their library books too!
Imagine that! No books for the kids to sail away on. No chance for the children to fight or fly with dragons, or meet superheroes and wizards.
With that in mind, I determined to package up my book, Taking Wing, and the two other Crowvus books that were written for children (Rosie Jane and the Swodgerump by Susan Crow, and The Backwater by Judith Crow), and send them to Park Primary to help in some small way.
I would encourage other children's authors to do the same. We all know how important books are to kids - I'm sure we all loved to read when we were little. I know that authors need the income from sales but...
Please consider sending just one of your fantastic books to help Park Primary regain its class libraries. Thursday is World Book Day. Make this year's event memorable for those children and their teachers.
It seems that Park Primary have temporarily relocated to Invergordon Academy, so I would send the book to:
Park Primary
c/o Invergordon Academy
Academy Road
Invergordon
HIGHLAND
IV18 0LD
Their postcode is old!!
Thanks, tremendous people!
More details about the fire are here:
https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/pupils-of-fire-hit-primary-school-to-be-taught-at-academy-site-192214/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-51614060
I was in a staff meeting after school today, and it was mentioned that Park Primary had reopened, and needed some interim supplies before they could get their stock up again.
For those of you who didn't see it on the news, Park Primary in Invergordon was burned down after an old laptop caught fire. Amazingly, all the staff and children got out and were not harmed. They reopened last week, but have lost all of their supplies.
My headteacher, a practical-minded individual, was hoping to put together some textbooks that we don't use. My first thought was that it was World Book Day this week, and the school had no library. Surely, if they had lost all their textbooks, they would have lost all their library books too!
Imagine that! No books for the kids to sail away on. No chance for the children to fight or fly with dragons, or meet superheroes and wizards.
With that in mind, I determined to package up my book, Taking Wing, and the two other Crowvus books that were written for children (Rosie Jane and the Swodgerump by Susan Crow, and The Backwater by Judith Crow), and send them to Park Primary to help in some small way.
I would encourage other children's authors to do the same. We all know how important books are to kids - I'm sure we all loved to read when we were little. I know that authors need the income from sales but...
Please consider sending just one of your fantastic books to help Park Primary regain its class libraries. Thursday is World Book Day. Make this year's event memorable for those children and their teachers.
It seems that Park Primary have temporarily relocated to Invergordon Academy, so I would send the book to:
Park Primary
c/o Invergordon Academy
Academy Road
Invergordon
HIGHLAND
IV18 0LD
Their postcode is old!!
Thanks, tremendous people!
More details about the fire are here:
https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/pupils-of-fire-hit-primary-school-to-be-taught-at-academy-site-192214/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-51614060
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