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Reader feedback time: a recent fan letter loved the Laws of Magic partly because it ‘has me looking up words very page? (which is what I absolutely love about your books)’. Finding the right language level is a crucial aspect of writing for young people, but I maintain that...

How I love quinces. Take this hard and unappetising cousin of the apple and cook slowly to see some magic. Gradually, they turn pink, then red, then deep burgundy – and the aroma becomes a fragrant, perfumed delight. These were simmered slowly for five hours and I think I...

Reading and writings go hand in hand. I wanted to be a writer because I loved reading so much. I wanted to do for other people what writers were doing for me. In a presentation to a large group of teenagers, I was once asked about the connection between...

Force 10 from Westminster The Disraeli Identity Mary Shelley, Princess of Power Gilbert and Sullivan and International Domination Have Pith Helmet, Will Travel The Revenge of the Colonies Dirigibles, Digging Machines and Great Big Tanks The Funicular Network Giant Cats Destroy London via the Underground (some work needed on...

I’ll be at Supanova Melbourne this weekend (April 13/14). Look for me on the Dymocks Bookstore stand....

Version Control This could be the most important writing tip you’ll ever read. I’ll settle for second best, I suppose, but I’m pretty sure it’ll be in the top five. Easily. Computers are wonderful and they make a writer’s life easier in many ways. But computers can make a...

I’ve made this recipe for twenty years. It’s tried and true and tasty. Ingredients 750g good bread flour. Ordinary plain flour will do at a pinch. 2 cups sultanas and currants in whatever proportions you prefer. 100g butter, softened. 1 egg yolk. 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon. 1 teaspoon ground...

I’m still coming to terms with the Paris trip of last November. Partly it’s because I’ve just recovered a huge stack of photos after the catastrophic computer failure I suffered in the last week of the idyll. Short version of this: I’d been carefully moving photos from phone and...

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