Plastic is a wonderful, useful, clever thing we humans invented and now can’t seem to live without. From bags that hold our shopping, to plant pots, to computer keyboards, to furniture, to pens, to containers for foodstuffs… It’s everywhere. But I was saddened recently to be reminded of how most of the plastic thrown away…
Blog: News, Fun & Freebies
Back to Basics: 5 Fun and Easy Activities You Can Do At Home With Your Kids
Home-schooling has been an exciting novelty for many children and parents. But it’s been months since schools closed and if you weren’t used to being a parent-teacher, having your children at home and racking your brain for engaging educational activities can be taxing. And now, with a few more weeks of summer holidays looming, and…
Self-Publishing: A Guide to File Prep & Uploads for Ingramspark & Amazon KDP
Many authors are ditching the long waiting times and the fierce competition typical of traditional routes to publishing their books. And since there are so many ways to become published nowadays, you don’t have to have an agent or be rejected thirteen times in order to get your book in front of customers. Jane Friedman,…
New: Interactive, Code-Cracking Novel for Middle-Graders Released
Books are wonderful. They allow you to lose yourself in another world. What if there was a book which not only transported you to another part of the universe, but in which you must crack a code along the way? The Space Hamster and the Universal Code, standalone sequel to Ilnoblet Elmer and the Alien…
May 25th is Towel Day!
Towel Day? Towel Day is a fun day celebrated annually on May 25th, when fans of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams go around all day with a towel. Why? Because a towel is listed as one of the essential and most useful items to have with you when hitchhiking around the…
New! Interactive Worksheet: ‘Trees in Numbers’
Trees are not only life-saving storers of carbon, creators of oxygen, and bringers of peace and greenery, but there are large numbers of them on Earth. Three trillion, in fact! Unfortunately humans are depleting them by 10 billion trees every year. And while planting baby trees to replace the trees we’ve chopped down is important…
Poems Long-Listed for Erbacce-Prize for Poetry 2020!
Erbacce-press, a UK-based publisher of poetry, arranges an annual, worldwide poetry competition, the erbacce-prize for poetry. They recently announced their 2020 long-list of around 140 poets, chosen from over 9000 submissions, and I’m on it! You can read more of my poetry here – some of these poems were submissions to the competition. Here is…
4 Simple Things to Consider When Making a Video
You want to make a video… Perhaps of you talking about something you’re passionate about, reviewing something, or teaching something? Even if your video will be chatty and informal, it needs to be planned and edited to some degree, so your viewers will like what they see. Here are 4 simple things to consider when…
5 Tips for New Parent-Teachers on Stress-Free Home-Schooling
It’s been a huge ask of parents to home-school their own children during this lockdown period. The kids may be worried about what’s going on out in the world. And parents too. But somehow, through all of this, you’re expected, as a parent, to now be a teacher too. Unfortunately there’s no magic formula that will…
New Video Series: ‘Science Fiction Station’ – Free Mini-Lessons and Cross-Curriculum Worksheets
Looking for engaging, educational and fun home-schooling activities? Introducing ‘Science Fiction Station’: a bunch of themed mini-lessons for kids aged 9-12. All done for you. This set of fun videos, with free, matching worksheets, is based on the kids’ Science Fiction novella Ilnoblet Elmer and the Alien Water Thieves by the author. The 10 videos,…