As 2025 warms up there are lots of things happening … my new picture book ‘My Granny Went to Scotland…and she brought back’ is OUT! World Book Day saw the first appearance for ‘Granny’ at Wigtown, complete with all the eccentric gifts she brings back. She’s definitely got a sense of humour!  

I had a blast with 140 lively people of all ages and sizes at the Borders Book Festival in June. Granny’s next outings will be at Edinburgh International Book Festival (23/9), Gryffe Valley Book Festival (7/9) and Wigtown Book Festival (4/10).

Meanwhile the Museum Mystery Squad series continues to bring puzzling problems to solve about space, Vikings, Romans, Egyptians and more. In classic ScoobyDoo style, there is always a villain to unmask, so these are great books for budding investigators.

In the background I’m working away on another novel for 8-12s…the last one of these came out in 2008 so this is a step back in time for me. I’m also working up other picture book ideas and researching a true story from World War l story set in Scotland – I’m not yet sure what this will turn into…book? play? film?…but it’s a story which I think needs to be told. 

Last year’s scriptwriting work for CBeebies programme Tiny Wonders has come to an end but you can check them all out on BBC iplayer. It was fun to be part of that team writing episodes about the Nogglin characters making sense of each new ‘world’ they land in – pumpkins, blossom, peacock feathers and volcanic rock to name a few. ‘Slow down…look closely…’ the show’s repeated lines are good ones for us all.