Went to the library on Tuesday. Now, this is a bad confession to make in the National Year Of Reading - especially as I'm on the Somerset steering group for the NYR and am therefore heavily committed to encouraging people to use libraries - but I haven't used a library for ages. When I was a child, we didn't have many books (and lived in a shoebox, all  went to work down the mines when we were three years old, etc etc - all the kinds of things that happened in Ilkeston all those years ago), and I used school libraries and the town library to the hilt. I even got a part time job at the town library, which meant I could take out an unlimited number of books, and not have to worry about fines. It was the most impressive building in the market place, the Carnegie Free Library; it easily outshone the Town Hall and the two pubs. Though the Scala Cinema, just off the square, would have run it a close second; it's often used in TV series nowadays, because it's so well preserved.

Anyway, yes. I used to use the library a lot. But these days, with books being relatively cheap, and looking so tempting all spread out at the front of bookshops, I have tended to buy rather than borrow. The result is that we end up with piles and mountains of books, most of which I know I will never want to read again. So using the library makes sense, then I can read as many books as I want as quickly as I want, and not feel guilty (except in that I'm not supporting fellow authors. Sorry, everyone.)

One of the books I took out on Tuesday was The Changeover, by Margaret Mahy. Now, despite reading so much, it's not often that I read a book and feel really excited by it - that sense that this is it, this is what I wish I could do, this matters. Keeper, by Mal Peet, was one. The Changeover is another. It's a reissue, originally published in 1984. I've read and admired other books by the author - The Tricksters was one, and my two sons loved it too. This is earlier, and the two books have much in common; teenagers at the turning point between childhood and growing up; dangerous, somehow completely believable and potentially sinister magic; the New Zealand countryside as a vivid and dramatic backdrop. Well, more than a backdrop; it's part of the fabric. Oops, mixed metaphor, but I hope you know what I mean. I'm not going to tell you any more about it; just read it - whether you're an adult or a teenager, it doen't matter. It's a beautiful and powerful piece of writing.

And use your local library! Libraries are a wonderful resource, and they're under threat - at least the book part of them is. Library budgets are being cut all over the country. At a time when library staff are more successful than ever before at reaching out to people - old people, young people, children, book roups, disadvantaged groups - to encourage them to read - the budget for buying books to feed the need is being eroded. They need your support, and you need their books.

Frome Festival took place recently, and one of the events had writers in residence working in shops and cafes in Frome for four hours, writing anything they wanted to on the theme of Fellowship and Community. I was lucky enough to be asked to judge this. There was a great variety of work, including poetry, non-fiction, short stories and even a song lyric, and I really enjoyed reading it all. The winner, a story set at the Glastonbury Festival, was easy to pick, but it was difficult to choose among the rest - they were all so good.

This week there was an event at the Garden Cafe to hand out the prizes and listen to the writing. It was fascinating to hear the extra dimension which performance added to the pieces; the song writer not only sang his song, he got us all joining in the chorus, and the poems really came to life. Tremendous - congratulations to all the participants, and to Sally Gander who organised the event.

It was great to be a part of it, and a huge treat to be given some flowers - great golden sunflowers, red daisies and white chrysants, all beautifully arranged. Lovely.

Warrior King came out in April, and there was a launch for it at the beginning of May at Waterstones in Wells. Lots of people came and it was great; many thanks to Amalie at Watertones, and Tim from Walker Books (who supplied the wine). We had cakes (not burnt ones!) in honour of Alfred, even though they didn't really and truly go with the wine. I read the bit from the book where Alfred and Fleda arrive in Somerset, because that seemed appropriate.

The week after, I went to Norton Hill School, near Midsommer Norton, to talk about The Willow Man. Particularly enjoyed a session with a Year 8 group, who'd read the book in class, and had apparently really enjoyed it. We talked about the structure of a story, and how at the centre of it there must be a hero/heroine who has a problem they must overcome. (This is advice I've just realised I ned to follow more closely in my own writing - but that's another story!).

Then there has been a small series of talks to school children in libraries about Warrior King - this was in connection with the National Year of Reading - I'm on the steering committee for the NYR in Somerset. Incidentally, there's to be an NYR event in October at Dillington House, organised by Sarah Cooke, who is a literacy adviser for primary schools. It sounds as if it's going to be great, with all sorts of activities themed round the Somerset Big Read book for this year, The Wind In The Willows.

A couple of weeks ago I went to Dunster School, to work witha group of children drawn from four of the Exmoor Coast Federation schools. Dunster is a really lovely school, with little surprises round every corner - a wooden train where the children can sit and eat their lunch, a walled garden, a sort of tunnel which lead through to another playground - brilliant. We had most of the day to work together, which was lovely, becuase it gave me time to get to know the children. We started off with games, and then I talked about The Willow Man - the children had all been given a copy of the book and read some or all of it, so they had lots of interesting comments and questions. Then we went on to talk about other mysterious monsters, and the children made up their own and began to write about them. There was a real buzz - a great day, brilliantly organised by Peter Hoyland.

In February, I went to Broadlands School, in Keynsham near Bristol. Jo Blair, the head of English there, asked me in to talk to year sevens about The Willow Man. I explained to them where the ideas behind the book came from, and read some bits, and then they asked questions. Jo had used a really excellent resource to introduce the book to those who hadn't read it, as a way of getting them to think about the kinds of questions they might ask, and she's given me permission to publish it on the site - click here  to see it.

It was a really enjoyable morning, and we agreed that I would go back to do some creative writing workshops, and also to talk to students about my new book, Warrior King.

At the beginning of March I went to Haygrove School in Bridgwater, again to talk about The Willow Man, at the invitation of Jill Thompson, the librarian. Bridgwater is the home of the real Willow Man, and Jill had organised a number of events that week to do with willow and the local area, including a visit to The Wetlands Centre.

I worked in the morning with a group doing creative writing as part of The Creative Arts Award, focusing particularly on place. I talked about the importance of setting in both The Willow Man and Warrior King, reading relevant extracts, and used the book covers - both very atmospheric - as starting points for the students to write guided poems, either based on the the covers or on a place which was important to them. They produced some lovely work.

In the afternoon, I talked to a bigger group of year sevens, about the inspiration behind both the books. By a lucky chance, I'd just received an advance copy of Warrior King, so I was able to try it out for the first time on a live audience. There's always a big gap between writing a book and meeting up with it again in published form, and it was with a real sense of excitement that I encountered my characters again through reading it aloud. The audience seemed to enjoy it too!

Yesterday was the turn of Ashley Down Junior School in Bristol. Don Collins, the Literacy Co-ordinator, has organised a writing week, with story tellers, authors and a sports journalist, Alex Kee. They have just opened a new library.

It's a big school, in a beautiful old building, with arched windows, beamed ceilings, and decorative brickwork. The classrooms are big and roomy, and so they have a great setting for the library - but what they've done with it is amazing. It's a colourful, tremendously inviting space, with comfortable seating, big squashy jewel coloured cushions - and the most terrific big collages, based on drawings and thoughts about books contributed by the children. These were done with the help of an artist who collaborates with the school on a regular basis, and they were absolutely stunning. Oh - and of course, there are lots of books!

I was working with years three and four, and had been asked to talk about the process of writing a book, from idea to publication. I based this mostly on Spook School, as I have all my notes, plans and drafts to illustrate the process. We spent some time on good names for ghostly teachers, and class 3J in particular were very good on making extremely scary ghostly noises and spooky faces.

One interesting postscript. I noticed that the school's architecture was very similar to that on the cover of Spook School. I showed the children an early sketch which the artist had done of the cover; it featured a chandelier, and I told them that I'd suggested that this wasn't right, because everyone knows schools don't have chandeliers. Whereupon Mr Lewis, the teacher, pointed out a square piece of metal in the middle of the ceiling, and said that, actually, this one did - it used to have gas chandeliers! So apologies to Lynne Chapman , the illustrator - not for the first or the last time, I got it wrong!

I knew it had been a long time since I added a newsletter (I think it makes more sense to stop pretending this is a proper blog, and call it newsletters instead) - but almost four months? I'm covered in shame.

So first, school visits. To pick out a few from last year: last February, I went to Berrow School, a primary school in Somerset. I was lucky enough to be asked to open their new library, as well as to do workshops with three groups of children. I talked to them about the Willow Man, and about other magical monsters - like Ted Hughes' Iron Man, and the Green Knight from the middle English poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The children came up with their own ideas for a magical monster - then they went on to design book covers for the stories they'd thought up. It was an excellent day, with enthusiastic teachers and children who were full of brilliant ideas.

I'd intended to talk to them about the library in Ilkeston in Derbyshire, where I come from. It's a very imposing building in the market place, called the Carnegie Free Library. Andrew Carnegie was a wealthy American, who gave lots of money away, particularly for things like libraries. Ilkeston wasn't a wealthy place, and not many people actually went out and bought books. So the library was really important. I went every week and got out as many books as I could, and then when I was old enough I got a Saturday job there, which meant I could take out even more, and not be fined when they were late. Libraries now are used for all sorts of things apart from lending books - you can get information there, you can use computers, you can borrow DVDs and so on. That's great, but still, at the centre of it all, there must be books. Books can be and do so much. They are gateways to other worlds.

Off the soapbox! Other visits... in May, I spent three days at Grassroyal Junior School, in Yeovil, working with years 3-6. We did the magical monsters again, and again, I was amazed by the inventiveness and imagination of the children - they came up with ideas for monsters made of chocolate, diamonds, gold - all sorts: and thought up terrific words to describe them. Some of the children showed me stories they'd written, and I talked to them all about how I started writing - I showed them a book I wrote stories in when I was about their age. They thought the pictures were hilarious!

Grassroyal is in the middle of a town, but they've recently refurbished their playground, so now they have raised beds and shelters where they can eat their lunch out of the sun. I thought it was great.

Last one: in September I went to Kings of Wessex, in Cheddar, to talk to sixth form English Language students about writing children's books - they have a module on that. Also did a session with a group of ninth years, about creating character. Many thanks to Bridget, the school librarian, for setting that up and looking after me.

One book to recommend hugely - Mal Peet's Keeper. It's a ghost story about football in South America. I'm the least sporty person you could possibly meet, and I don't have a clue about football, but I loved this. One of the best books I've read in a long time - absolutely gripping, and just a beautiful whole - every bit of it worked.

Woke up early this morning and finished 'The Secret Countess' by Eva Ibbotson. I had to finish it (over breakfast - I almost read it walking down the stairs) because I was completely gripped by the story; but now I feel quite cross with myself, because I was enjoying reading it so much and now I'm outside its world. I remember feeling like that the first time I finished reading 'Lord of the Rings', when I was about 13 or 14; just desolate because I was back in this boring world of school, bus journeys and homework - and because there were quite definitely no hobbits in Ilkeston.

Anyway, 'The Secret Countess'. This is a warm and wonderful book, with the most fantastic array of characters. The countess of the title is Anna, a refugee from the Russian revolution. Her family has lost all its money, and to help make ends meet she takes a job as a maid at Mersham House. the obvious thing here would be to make her put-upon and silently suffering - but Eva Ibbotson doesn't do that. Anna actually enjoys being a maid, and she's one of those charactes, like Lyra in 'Northern Lights', who just makes everyone love her. But she's not sickeningly perfect either; she's funny and perceptive and kind.

Her counterpart - and rival for the love of Rupert, the owner of Mersham - is Muriel, beautiful but dreadful, who is obssessed with the science of eugenics, with its creed of genetic purity. She's trapped Rupert into becoming engaged to her, and he's far too honourable to jilt her: despite all, canTrue Love possibly triumph? Well, of course it can...

It's got something of the flavour of Dodie Smith's 'I Capture The Castle'; it's fresh, and vivid, and fun, and lusciously well written. Very highly recommended for girls from ten to a hundred.

It will be immediately obvious to the millions of you who have been following my blog that so far, there's not been very much to follow. I think it will be an evolving blog; for the time being at least, it will also be an irregular one. I have been thinking a bit about what it will be about, and I've decided that it will centre on books and writing, which will come as no surprise to anyone who's looked anywhere else on my website.

My Very Good Intention is to write a little bit about all of the children's books I read. I recently met Adele Geras at a writers' retreat/conference type thing (organised by the SAS - not the Special Armed Services, but the Scattered Authors' Society. We do sometimes have wild fantasies of ourselves crawling through grass wearing balaclavas, but so far as I know only two or three of us have ever actually done this). Anyway, Adele mentioned that she keeps a note of every book she reads, and I think she said her husband has been doing this ever since he was about 11. I was extremely impressed by this, and really wish I'd done the same. So I'm going to make a start here. I think I'll stick to children's books, in the hope that that might be useful for children, teachers and librarians who visit this site - but I might get to like the sound of my own voice so much that I write about other books too. We'll see.

So, what have I been reading recently? Well, I reviewed two books for Armadillo, which for those of you who don't know is an online magazine about children's books, run by Mary Hoffman and her daughter, Rhiannon Lassiter. The first was Hazel, by Julie Hearn. It follows Ivy, and has some of the same characters - Ivy is the mother of Hazel, who, as you might guess, is the subject of this book. It's for teenagers - really mainly for teenage girls, I would think - and is a very engaging story which sweeps from Edwardian London and the suffragettes to the exploitation of workers on a sugar plantation in the West Indies. The exotic location of the second part and the chance it provides to explore important issues is good, though I did have the feeling that this really could have been two books rather than one.

The other book was The Deep, by Helen Dunmore, which is the third in her series about the Mer People and about Saffy and her brother, who are half Mer, half human. This is a wonderful book, again for teenagers. It's beautifully written and the world it creates is absolutely convincing. But it's the portrayal of the characters and their relationships that struck me most; it's very subtly done, very real - which makes you easily accept the semi fantasy world created in the novel - the chracters are real, so the world they inhabit must be also.

Have also just read Mortal Engines, by Phillip Reeve. I know this has been around for quite a while, but I've only just come to it. I enjoyed it very much - extremely inventive, a story that sweeps you along, and three interesting central characters. I want to get to know them better, so will read more in the series.

There are more, but will save them for another post.

Welcome to my brand new blog! The first entry is about an event in Bridgwater last Friday. I was lucky enough to be asked by the librarian, Tricia, to introduce a willow workshop which she had organised together with Ben from the Blake Museum, which is just across the park from the library.

We started off in the library, where I told the children about how I came to write The Willow Man and about going to see Serena de la Hey, who created the giant figure beside the M5 which the book is named after. I talked a bit about willow, and how you can make amazing things from a few withies (thin, pliable pieces of young willow.

Then Ben explained what was going to happen next. He was going to show the children how to make creatures out of willow. Tricia had some books ready for them to look at for ideas, and then we would walk across the park to the museum, looking at the river on the way and watching out for insects and creatures which might give us more ideas.

It was a beautiful day, so the children worked in the courtyard outside the museum. They all had brilliant imaginations, and made fantastic creatures, including sharks, a cat, spiders, butterflies, a dragonfly, a bat, a pig, a fish and an owl, and then they all worked together to make a huge caterpillar. Ben kindly supplied drinks half way through which we had in the museum, in the company of a slightly spooky life sized figure of Admiral Blake, after whom the museum is named.

It was a really excellent morning, and many thanks to Tricia and Ben for organising it and inviting me. Take a look at the Gallery page to see some pictures.