Mokee Joe masks at Roughwood Primary School

It doesn’t matter where you go or who you meet, you can’t beat being back in your home town. As you get older, your ‘roots’ pull all the stronger on you.

Last week was spent in my home town of Rotherham, South Yorkshire. I was working under the banner of ‘Inspire Rotherham’ in a number of schools that have already had previous visits from me. It was a real joy to be among so many enthusiastic fans. The schools involved in my project, entitled ‘Books R Brilliant!’,  had all been reading  ’Mokee Joe is Coming!’ and it seemed they had thoroughly enjoyed it. They had also  worked on a Mokee Joe Fun Activity Pack and done lots of creative work centred on the books.

It has been an absolute pleasure working in Highgreave Junior School, Dinnington Community Primary School, Kimberworth Community Primary School, Maltby Crags Junior School and East Dene Primary School. The staff and pupils have been real friends to us and we will make sure to keep in touch. At the end of our visits, all of the pupils were given a signed copy of my new book ‘Scabbajack’ and anyone who thinks that books are going out of fashion should have seen the wide eyes and broad smiles on the faces of the pupils receiving them!

Next week sees return visits to Bramley Grange Juniors and Broom Valley Juniors…two more brilliant schools. Can’t wait!

Scabbajack

I apologise if this sounds boring, but yet again the schools we have visited have been nothing short of fantastic.

St Benedict’s RC MS at Ashington provided a somewhat smaller audience than usual…about 260 pupils. However, at our book-signing the next day we signed just over 200 books and the most popular book by far was the latest scary novel, Scabbajack!  Hope all you guys at St Benedict’s don’t have nightmares!

The next day it was back to the school we had a fabulous time at just over a year ago – Valley Gardens. The main man who looks after us there is the handsome and suave Mr Jonathan Royds. He’s from my home town of Rotherham, so I’ve got to say that! For those who don’t know, Valley Gardens is the biggest Middle School in the land…about 800 pupils.  I saw about half of them last year, but this year I saw them all. I have to say that the pupils there are wonderful to entertain. They are really up for the scary stuff and have no problems with joining in whatsoever.  They even applauded when I went into my embarrassing ageing pop-star routine and sang my favourite Kelly Clarkson song into my hairbrush…though I think they were really just being polite!  While I was at Valley Gardens, I met up with my old friend Adam.  I will never forget Adam…he has no belly button, just like Hudson Brown in the Mokee Joe story. Last year, when I first met him, I didn’t believe him…until he showed me along with the audience of 400 other people while he was up on stage with me. As my wife said later, it was the first time she had ever seen me speechless!

Tomorrow, we’re off to the other side of the  A1, to Pontiland. I’ll be re-visiting the Richard Coates MS and a first visit to Pontiland MS. I can’t wait.

As usual, a big thank-you to all the staff and pupils in the NE for making our visit so ‘special’. We love it up here. Real people…real hospitality… and a real thirst for the supernatural!  Please look under your beds tonight…the Scabbajack boy might just be hiding there!

Great article in New Britain Herald

What a great day!

Firstly, we visited a fabulous elementary school, called Smith School, in New Britain, Connecticut. The auditorium was a wonderful place to perform in. The walls were amazing – painted with story-book characters – and the stage and seating were perfectly arranged to ensure an intimate feel between audience and performer. I so enjoyed my performance; the 200 plus audience were extremely enthusiastic and attentive and during my scary reading you couldn’t hear a pin drop, as we say in the UK – maybe you say that too in the US?  The Mayor of New Britain, Tim Stuart, appeared equally spellbound in his close-up position in the front row; I’m very grateful to him for giving up his time to come along and join in the fun.

A subsequent book-signing at Smith School almost cleared us out of books and I would like to say a huge thank-you to Paula Eshoo and her staff for making our visit to her wonderful school so special.

Another thank-you to Mayor Tim Stuart for providing us with VIP tickets for the Northern Ireland v Turkey soccer game. Despite temperatures of 97 degrees, we still managed to sit and enjoy the skills of the international players – soccer is my favourite sport back home. That night following the match we had a very scary storm…thunder and lightning and hailstones the size of marbles…true Mokee Joe weather!

We are having a brilliant time in Connecticut and our cousins Judy and Corrine can’t do enough for us. Imagine their delight (and ours), when they handed us the local newspaper, The New Britain Herald, and Mokee Joe was on the front page – and inside a beautifully-written article about our work in schools. This was the ‘icing on the cake’ to a fantastic last few days. We have met so many lovely people…thank you for making our stay so memorable.  Hope Mokee Joe doesn’t give you nightmares!

Round-table Discussion at MS 319

I can’t believe our NY week has come to an end already. I can’t help feeling sad!

We’ve so loved visiting all ten schools during our week’s tour. In my last post on this blog I said I would mention some of the schools again, but in truth…all of our visits have been fantastic and the overwhelming reaction of the students has merged the events into one combined wonderful experience.

Our last day on Friday involved two middle schools – MS 258 and MS 319 and both sets of students were a real delight to meet and chat to. Their enthusiasm for our books once again provided a real drive for me to push on and write more spooky, scary books! At the end of a very busy and fulfilling week, my birthday treat of taking in a Broadway musical provided the perfect ‘medication’ to combat the sad feeling that the NY experience was coming to an end.

Kath and I would like to thank Dr Judy Parker and the Carmel Hill Team for making our week so wonderful, and of course, to all our brilliant fans in all of the schools we’ve visited.  We’ve already been invited back for a longer stay next year, so Kath and I are pleased to say ‘Au Revoir’  and not ‘Goodbye’. And don’t forget the fourth Mokee Joe book…remember that nowhere is safe…Mokee Joe is  set to return…and this time to New York!

New York, New York!

After a relatively smooth journey from Monroe, Louisiana to Houston, Texas and onto New York, we are now safely tucked up in our hotel, the Park Central on 7th Avenue. Times Square is minutes in one direction and Central Park even closer in the other. We stayed here in May last year and we love it!

Today is Sunday and the weather couldn’t be better – cool (70′s) and very sunny. We’ve been up to Central Park already and enjoyed watching the softball matches. I even took my running shoes and joined in with the hundred of joggers looping around the park…great fun!

Our hostess for NY, Dr Judy Parker, took us out for a wonderful meal last night and informed us that our school audiences for the week ahead are ‘buzzing’  about my visit. Many of them have already read the new book, ‘Scabbajack’, and thankfully, they love it! Phew…what a relief!  The book isn’t even out yet in the UK, but I’m told that fans back home are pre-ordering signed copies on the website, so that’s OK. I’m also told that one of the NY schools has built a huge model of Mokee Joe. I can’t wait to see it and hope to have photographs to paste on the Blog asap.

It’s my birthday whilst I’m here in NY, May 19th, and my wife, Kath, is treating me to a Broadway Musical at the end of the week. We’ve heard rave reviews about Catherine Zeta Jones and Angela Lansbury in ‘A Little Light Music’ so we’ve booked to see that. It was either that or the Jersey Boys..but they will have to wait until another time.

That’s about all for now, folks. Keep in touch and watch this space for news of our New York week ahead.

Hi to all our fans, and to all those in Kuwait…missing you already!

Our host and friend, Margie, has already ensured a fantastic welcome to Monroe, Louisiana.  It’s the first time we’ve been here and it’s a wonderful place…warm, a little humid and very green!

The first few schools have already been visited and we’ve been overwhelmed by how well the students know the Mokee Joe books - even better than I do! We have met students and staff from Lexington, Jefferson and Minnie Ruffin Elementary schools and our reception could not have been better.  I was so impressed with the knowledge and ability of the pupils and the staff treated us like old friends - what a start to our US tour!

Kath and I are now back in our lovely hotel and resting to get rid of the jet-lag. Due to the dreaded volcanic ash cloud our flight yesterday was extended by three and a half-hours and we spent a long, long time in the air. But worth every minute, we’re sure.  Louisiana is gonna be one awesome place!

Werewolf boy takes revenge at NES

I suppose ‘Payback Time’ had to come sooner or later! I’ve caused so many nightmares in Kuwait, but now it was my turn to be the victim.

There I was innocently signing books at the New English School (NES), when out of nowhere a horrific howl sounded behind me. I turned and saw my worst nightmare… a werewolf…a boy werewolf…staring right into my eyes!  Was this Kuwait’s answer to the Moonwailer? I did the only thing I could think of to protect myself….I screamed for mercy and ran away!

The werwolf boy disappeared, but has since been seen lurking around the corridors of NES, hunting for food. Rumour has it that the beast has already taken one victim – a boy by the name of AbdulWahab; he has mysteriously disappeared and has not been seen for some time!

I can’t believe the trouble I’m causing in Kuwait!

First the weather turned bad…dark skies, thunder and lightning and heavy rain. Then the power went off in our hotel last night. Everyone had to sit in the dark and sip orange juice waiting for the staff to sort out the problem. Of course, I knew exactly what the problem was – my spooky characters were moving into position ready to cause nightmares. Dawn Demons were hiding themselves in dark corners and under beds, the Bonebreaker was preparing himself to strike at unsuspecting victims and the Moonwailer was lurking under the crescent moon, wailing his mourneful song!

The NES students are even afraid to go to the Marina Mall, convinced that they will fall asleep and find themselves alone and locked in when everyone else has gone home. But will they be alone…or will they be stalked by the Phantom of the Marina Mall? This is a story they are going to work on, surely giving them even more nightmares!

And so you see, everyone is afraid in Kuwait…and all thanks to me! I’m so sorry for causing all this trouble. I think I will have to go into hiding myself, before lots of angry parents come looking for me!

I’m so sorry! It always happens! Wherever I go with my scary books the spooky weather seems to follow me! I can’t believe that the skies went dark and it actually rained today on Kuwait’s day of leisure. Kath and I watched in amazement as hoards of people ran from the beach and huddled together to keep warm; strange winds whipped up and drove them to shelter.

In many ways it was just like being back in the UK and it prevented Kath and I from feeling homesick.

We took refuge in the French Cafe in the Marina Mall and warmed ourselves with yet another cappaccino. And then we were spotted by a group of girl fans from BSK. They were a little shy and sent their parents over with a piece of paper for me to sign. Don’t be afraid…if you see us out and about…come and say ‘Hello’ or give us a wave.

The comments on the Blog keep coming in. We love to hear from you, even though it seems most of you are now having nightmares. Keep in touch and watch this space…NES tomorrow…they’d better watch out!

BSK School: Looking out for the Bonebreaker

Another ‘Bonebreaking’ performance in front of a fantastic audience at BSK!

A packed theatre of older students from Years 6, 7 and 8 showed their energy and talents during a two hour performance. Acting skills were very evident, as was the enthusiasm and sense of humour of the audience. A group of Year 11′s joined in for a time, but unfortunately they were overcome with fear and had to make a quiet exit!

A huge ‘thank you’ to everyone at BSK from Kath and myself for making us feel so much at home. All of the students without exception have been a delight to meet and sign books for. Tomorrow is the turn of the older students to attend a book signing…I wonder how many of them will dare to get hold of the books and read them at night without taking time to look under the bed!

BEWARE all you BSK students…the nightmares are about to begin!!!