Lots of great pics have arrived from my workshops at Hove Park School last week (thanks Mrs Iliffe) but my fave has got to be this one. LOL! This is me holding up a beach towel I designed for a department store many years ago (if you were wondering!)

I've never been to Lincoln before but my first ever visit was certainly short and sweet. It's such a lovely looking city with really friendly people; even the taxi drivers, which, as a Londoner, is a real novelty! Unfortunately, Lincoln is quite a trek for me, especially as I decided to do it in one day. It meant I was travelling for 10 hours (8 trains and a car) for a visit that lasted for 3! Just enough time for lunch and a couple of hours of sketching and chatting about teen books, graphic novels and (inevitably) Doctor Who! Here are some of the cool people I met and who agreed to pose for me.

I'm giving my favourite propelling pencil a little rest today after a long weekend of drawing. It started on Friday afternoon when I skipped over to Headline HQ for a Bloggers Party. It was so cool to actually meet some of the people I've been chatting with, facebook-ing and tweeting for a while now. What lovely folk book bloggers are. After a devilish book quiz (I was hopeless - sorry team mates!) we all trooped off to the pub, where I got out my sketchbook. Whahahaha! (evil laugh) Here are some of my 'victims'. Can you spot some Headline authors among the bloggers?

Just back from a day of fun and drawing at Hove Park School (*waves* Hello Year7s!), and some of the most creative students I've EVER met. Almost everybody raised their hand when I asked 'who loves art and design' then proved it by producing excellent cartoon versions of themselves. I particularly liked Isabel's hair and Molly's eyes. For only the second time, a student had the courage to do a portrait of me. Like the nose. Thanks Alex... I think! (P.S. Thanks to everyone at Hove Park for looking after me today.)

So, I'm really getting stuck into writing book 4 this week. I've just agreed a first draft deadline so am being very disciplined and writing for several hours every day (including weekends, which don't exist for most self-employed people, by the way). I had fun working out how to start the book and how to introduce the different characters in a really cool way. Now that the three main protagonists are fully-formed, I am going to spend some time drawing them. I always need to know exactly what they look like, how they behave, and the quirks of their speech, etc. before sending them off on an adventure. And, boy oh boy! what adventures I have planned! This one has loads of drama, angst, excitement and emotion. I can't wait to get to my desk again tomorrow to write the next chapter...