Young Writers have their work published

Words by Claudia Conerney and Amillah Javed

It was All Write on Saturday Night!

On Saturday 8th December hundreds of children and their families descended on Manchester, many travelling from far afield as Aberdeen and Worcester. However, it wasn't just the lure of the X-Factor final that drew them to the city, but the annual All Write celebration event, that took place at the Z-Arts centre in Hulme.

All Write is a creative writing competition that provides budding writers, aged between 9 and 12, with the opportunity to produce original and imaginative stories, the best of which are selected for publication in an anthology.  All Write has been publishing poems and stories by more than 600 young writers since 2005. 

Kaye Tew, the competition’s organiser and director of the Manchester Children’s Book Festival, is really excited by this year’s collection, “there is a huge amount of young talent out there and the standard of competition entries just seems to get better and better each year.”

There was standing room only in the Z-Arts’ studio as everyone squeezed in to hear Iris Feindt, Noel Fagan, Emily Birch and Helen Sea (graduates from the Manchester Writing School and authors of the very successful Animal Stew) announced this year’s winners. Judging by the many smiles that beamed around the room, it was clear that the children were delighted to have published authors celebrate their achievements.

First place prizewinner Lydia Edwards

In first place was Lydia Edwards from the Royal Grammar School in Worcester, who received tremendous praise for her story The Journey. As she collected her award and her copy of the anthology, Lydia told us: “my story was inspired by a visit to my grandmother, who lives in Devon. It was a very long car journey because we got stuck in a horrendous traffic jam, but I decided to occupy the time by observing what was happening outside the window. I’m really grateful to that traffic jam because here I am, a year later, a published writer and a first prize-winner.” 

Safia Adia with big brother Yussuf

In second place was Yussuf Adia, from Ladybridge High School in Bolton for his story, My Community, about a strange dystopian society where dogs play chess and babies have abnormal intelligence. Yussuf  “my favourite part has been winning. I wrote about things that I enjoy such as chess and dinosaurs.” Yusuf’s 7-year-old sister, Safia, looked on proudly as her big brother collected his award from the Manchester Writing School’s Iris Feindt. Not to be outshone, she informed us that she too will be entering in the future and plans to write about nature. 

In third place was Aoife Ronan from All Hallow’s Catholic High School in Macclesfield for her poem, Dia Duitch, a celebration of the Gaelic language and culture. Aoife read her poem aloud to the audience, who responded with a thunderous applause.  

Klaudia Kawa

In fourth place was Klaudia Kawa from St Peter’s High School in Gorton whose impressive poems, Nightfall and Leaves, evoke the work of Ezra Pound. She told us that it was “an honour to have my work published in the anthology, let alone to actually win. The competition has given me a lot of confidence and has inspired me to keep writing”. Klaudia’s English Teacher, Suzy Boardman, was very proud of her pupil; “I would like to congratulate all the winners but especially the twelve entrants from St. Peter's RC High School and our winner Klaudia. Well done!”  

Annabel Malkin

The 2012 All Write anthology features 40 of the best poems and stories from this year’s entrants. Among them is Annabel Malkin’s highly imaginative poem, Ten Things that a Mum would Never Say, which was inspired by a literacy lesson in school. Her poem provides an amusing and alternative take on parental discipline that will no doubt appeal to any child who wishes to get away with just about anything! Annabel from Queensgate Primary School in Bramhall was brimming with excitement, “I’ve really enjoyed today, it’s been absolutely great and I am so glad that I entered.” 

Mortan Fawns Williams

Mortan Fawns Williams, from Longdendale Community Language College in Hyde, who wrote a quirky and surreal story about rubber ducks taking over Manchester, was also delighted to have his story published and to discover that it was among first prize-winner, Lydia Edwards’, favourites.  “I really enjoyed writing my story because it allowed me to be imaginative,” he  said excitedly.

As the ceremony drew to a close, many children were already signing copies of their anthologies for friends and family, while others discussed their entries for next year. The 2012 All Write anthology is on sale now, priced at £5. You can purchase a copy from Amazon here.

It certainly was a fabulous afternoon at the Z-arts, despite the rain and the cold, but it isn't over yet. We’re all off now to explore the Z-arts Mysteryland exhibition, a creative attempt to construct an adventure playground of the imagination for children and families. The exhibition is free and open to the public until Saturday 22^nd December and visitors are also encouraged to bring along children’s books for the Christmas book exchange. 

For further details please visit Z-Arts. For further details about the 2013 All Write Competition for 9-12 year olds, please visit the website mcbf.org.uk

Steve ColeZ - Apocalypse

Steve Cole, Friday 14^th September, 1:30pm, MMU Business School

Here at MMU's new Business School, aka The Mothership, the MCBF has continued its author school visits in collaboration with Manchester Libraries, by bringing back the ever popular, Steve Cole, here to talk to us about his new book, Z-Apocalypse. 

A professional in rousing a racket from any young school kid, Debra Conroy from Manchester Libraries gets us all warmed up by bellowing a welcome for the eager author. As soon as Steve comes bouncing into the room, I'm instantly thrown back to the first time I met him during his talk at the MCBF Family Fun Day. 

Launching into a political topic of the recommended five-a-day, Steve admits he doesn't actually condemn fruit, he just finds some to be utterly pointless. Kiwis, for example, are basically grapes dressed in bulletproof vests. Pacing lively from one side of the lecture theatre to the other isn't the only way Steve is able to maintain the attention of these excited children. He keeps us all hooked as he explains that, as a writer, his job is to 'chuck imagination at words', giving us examples by bringing two of his own creations: DRACUCUMBER and WARENANA (can you guess what he combined?).

Brief side note here. A girl is sat in front of me scribbling away in a notebook, just like me, taking notes of Steve's most interesting tips and anecdotes, just like me. I bet she's either out to get my job, or just very keen on getting some excellent pointers. I did ask, and fortunately (for me), she is a big fan and is taking personal notes. 

We return to words and imagination with Steve telling us the origin of the name 'dinosaur' - 'dino' meaning 'terrible' in Ancient Greek and 'saur' meaning 'lizard'. His mind played with the notion that dinosaurs became extinct with a collision of an asteroid from outer space, and he began to wonder what would have happened if they had been able to escape, possibly in a spaceship, before the asteroid collided with planet earth. He put together the word 'astro' meaning 'star' and 'saur', turning them into star lizards, aka Astrosaurs. A simple bend in common sense and you have some best-selling children's stories. He lets us further into his mind by sharing where the idea of creating the character of his very first Astrosaur book, Z-Rex, came from; already aware of the big, bad T-Rex, he continued the evolution from 'T' (tyrant) through to 'Z' (zenith) making him into nastiest of all Rexes. Author's secrets don't half boggle your mind!

When the Q&As begin, the lecture theatre is filled with fists punching the air. One kid asks how old he was when he wrote his first book. Steve fumbles around for that long-ago date and remembers it was at the age of twenty-five. He then lets slip (probably on purpose) that his birthday was only last week. Starting from the back, a raucous ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU’ is sung at a deafening volume. Seriously, throbbing eardrums.  

After numerous intervals of excited chanting, feet stomping and desk pounding, Steve Cole has proved to be popular with the school children, as well as all the adults in here too. Keep your eyes out for his new book, Magic Ink, coming out next year.  

Here's what some of the children had to say about the author:

Creative Writing 101 by the Queen of the Fairies

Liz Kessler – Book Reading, Saturday 30^th June, 1 - 2pm, MMU Geoffrey Manton building

Words and photographs by Sophie Bannister

There are small gasps from the young girls in the room as Liz Kessler, author of the successful Emily Windsnap and Philippa Fisher series, enters. I can see her books everywhere, sitting on the tables in front of their owners, ready to be signed at a moment’s notice. A hush descends, and every little girl’s face lights up and looks towards the front expectantly. There is a surreal air hanging about the beginning of this event. It is created by the strong feeling of excitement emitted by Liz’s fans and vaguely resembles what meeting the Queen must feel like. I – though arguably too old for Emily Windsnap’s adventures, sadly – begin to sense the bubbling feeling that comes from the mounting excitement. Perhaps I’m reverting back to childhood.

It isn’t much of a surprise that Liz is more popular with girls than boys; the majority of her books consist of adventures about mermaids and fairies, which, of course, most little girls aspire to be. Yet, Liz’s books have inspired all kinds of children from every walk of life. It’s not hard to see why. The scope of imagination that has gone into these books is impressive.

Liz begins the event by talking about her writing, and it soon begins to resemble a creative writing lecture. We learn about Liz’s habits as a writer and she describes some of her influences whilst incorporating events that led to the creation of her famous works. Of these, the story of how the Philippa Fisher books came about is one of the most entertaining. It was based on an experience a young Liz had when she picked a daisy one day. She immediately knew it was going to become a fairy at midnight. So she took it to her room, placed it in a jar on her windowsill and stayed up that night to wait and watch. As midnight crept closer, Liz began to grow fearful of what might happen. What if the fairy was bad? She couldn’t take it any longer. Liz flung open her window and threw the daisy out. She instantly regretted it. This was later to become the beginning of the first Philippa Fisher book, and it is just one example of how life experiences have shaped Liz’s work.

Liz confesses that when she writes, she is an obsessive planner. Her routine begins by scribbling ideas into beautiful notebooks with covers that inspire the imagination (‘if you love notebooks, you’re pretty much halfway to being a writer!’ she tells us). They then all get typed up, printed out, cut up and moved around until Liz is fairly happy with the order. Eventually, it is broken down into chapters then sent to the editor for approval. It’s a process that takes a painfully long time, yet for Liz, it is a necessary one in order to make her stories so inspiring.

It is entirely fascinating to listen to Liz’s enthusiasm. Her excited tone of voice highlights exactly how much she cares for her line of work and how desperate she is to help others to break into the world of writing. The audience is given lots of tips to help with problems like writer’s block and time management, which are eagerly absorbed by little brains.

The writing business is put aside for now, as Liz begins to read from her new Emily Windsnap book, Land of the Midnight Sun. The audience reclines into their seats and lets Liz’s words surround and transport them into the story. The whole event is over far too soon. Yet, the quality of the snippet read to us confirms one thing; if the authors of the future sit in this room today, they’ve been given a great head start with Liz’s advice.

Sophie Bannister has just completed her first year studying English Literature at Manchester Metropolitan University. She hopes to complete a Master’s degree after her time at MMU. MCBF has given her the boost she needed to start her own blog and showcase her work. You can view Sophie's blog here.

A Howling Good Time With Curtis Jobling

Curtis Jobling - Wereworld, Saturday 30th June, 2 - 3pm, MMU Geoffrey Manton Building


Words and photographs by Sophie Bannister

I catch up with Curtis Jobling as he signs a copy of his first book of the Wereworld series for 9-year-old Sasha Vellins. Not just a signature, in fact. The page is filled with doodles and messages, showing how he is more than happy to go that extra mile for his fans. He even gives her a signed poster. Sasha looks thrilled.

The illustrator and animator has recently broken into the thorny field of novel writing – and he has truly excelled. The Wereworld series gains more and more momentum as the story continues, appealing to a large audience of pre-teens and young adults, so much so that the series has been increased from four books to six. And Curtis says he can write more; ‘I’ve only scratched the surface of what I can do here,’ he tells us. The world of Lyssia may be in for more adventures than originally planned.

MCBF’s own young reporters sit eagerly on the front row, winding Curtis up with endless questions and their cheeky comments. However, Curtis can give as good as he gets; he draws Spud, the scarecrow from Bob the Builder, as an example of his animation work, ignoring the boys’ cries of ‘You’ve missed his nose!’, until they threaten to deafen the rest of us. We all see the funny side though. This good-humoured rivalry continues throughout the session, yet the boys still seem spellbound by Curtis and his line of work. Maybe it’s because Curtis is still a big kid, shown by Bob’s later transformation into ‘Were-Bob’.

And so the topic changes to his current line of work, The Wereworld series. The books are set in the world of Lyssia, in which there are beings called ‘werelords’ who can shape-shift into an animal particular to that person. The first book follows Drew Ferran, the last of the werewolves and rightful King of Lyssia. This is most definitely not Twilight-esque. Curtis explains that since he was a small child, he has been fascinated with the Fantasy horror genre (‘big F, little h,’ says Curtis) and that this project was never going to stray far from his roots. His face lights up as he talks, and he is rather more animated than when he spoke about, well, animation. The Wereworld series is clearly close to his heart.

Curtis keeps it interactive by answering the audience’s questions, and playing a game called ‘Hairy Man or Wolf Man’. It involves looking at a zoomed-in image of either a wolf-man or a hairy-man and guessing which one it is. I am awful, but the children love it.

The extract Curtis reads from the first book emphasises that this is a series to spark the imagination, to take you away to a different world entirely, and wholly engage you while you’re there. There doesn’t seem to be any upper age limit with these books; they are accessible to almost everybody who enjoys Fantasy horror.

The book reading ends, Lyssia vanishes, and we come back down to earth with everybody feeling inspired. I, as a self-confessed Fantasy horror geek, feel compelled to go out and buy the Wereworld books pronto. It seems that this hour has quietly drawn us all into land of Lyssia, and I don’t think there’s any turning back.

Sophie Bannister has just completed her first year studying English Literature at Manchester Metropolitan University. She hopes to complete a Master’s degree after her time at MMU. MCBF has given her the boost she needed to start her own blog and showcase her work. You can Sophie's blog here.

Garen Ewing Comics Workshop

Waterstone's Deansgate Children's Party, Sunday 1st July, 1pm, Waterstone's


Words and photographs by Emma Reynolds

On Sunday the 1^st of July the Waterstones Deansgate Children's Party takes place in the afternoon. Garen Ewing, creator of the fantastic adventure comics series  The Rainbow Orchid, runs an engaging and interactive 'Comic Characters' workshop, as well as signing books for fans at the end of the event.

Garen starts off by introducing himself and his comics, and then dives straight in to asking the children to give him some examples of different facial expressions. The kids all have juice, raisins and plenty of pens and paper, ready to draw their own characters, starting with the faces. After showing how you can create different emotions by making adjustments to the shape of the character's eyes, mouth and eye brows – Garen moves on to starting with different shaped heads.

It is a great exercise because it's always tempting to start with a circle, but by beginning with a square, a triangle or any other shape, the characters become more original, individual and expressive, with the head shape helping to accentuate their personality. Once they draw a variety of heads, everyone adds bodies, hair, beards, hats, horns and other assorted accessories to their characters to make them their own!

Next, Garen asks the children to shout out some ideas for what a really nasty villain would be like. They come out with some fantastic and utterly foul ideas, which is brilliant to watch, including a 'Black Hole Gun', and 'Bugs in his teeth!' Garen then encourages them to start designing their own villain, while he sets to work visualising their super villain on his drawing board.

To counter the super villain, next of course comes the super hero! And what a dashing fellow he was too – handsome, hilarious and with an afro that people can get stuck in! After everyone had finished their heroes, Garen winds down the workshop by showing them some of his concept drawings for his characters, and explains how he changed and developed his characters until he was happy with them, encouraging the children to do the same.

Garen drawing his main character from his comic series: Historical-research assistant, Julius Chancer

It is fascinating hearing about Garen's attention to detail and in-depth research into the 1920's time period, explaining to the group how the Natural History Museum used to look, and how he wanted to make sure his portrayal of Ancient Greek was accurate. Garen also tells us the story behind the Breguet 280T aircraft featured in the comic - 0nly twenty one were ever made in real life - so after carefully tracking down some blue prints, he was able to ask a friend who builds model aeroplanes to make him one so that he could draw it from any angle he needed for the story.

A huge thank you to Garen Ewing and Waterstones Deansgate for hosting the event!

You can find out more about The Rainbow Orchid series over on Garen's website here. You can also keep up to date with his news on his blog and follow him on @garenewing 

Emma is a freelance illustrator from Manchester, with a passion for narrative story telling, creating characters and producing original and whimsical illustrations. She is currently working on her book 'Reynard the Detective'. You can follow Emma on her blog at Emma Reynolds Illustration, on twitter @emmaillustrate and on Facebook. And to see her portfolio you can visit her website too, here.

Pullman Makes an Impact

Philip Pullman – Meet the Author – ‘Big questions are important’ – 5^th July 2012, Geoffrey Manton

Words by Laura Griffiths and photographs by Kevin Danson

Philip Pullman, one of this generation’s most treasured authors, visits Manchester Children’s Book Festival where he talks about his inspiration, beliefs and most importantly, the importance of storytelling.

The room fills quickly and it’s a real testament to Pullman’s work to see just how diverse his fan base has become. Children, teens and adults alike, eagerly await amongst the rows decorated with copies of his best-loved works, ready to unleash their questions. The writer, who says he; ‘would like an audience as big as possible’, has certainly got his wish this evening.

There’s a very honest presence about the author, whose most notable work is the ever-successful children’s fantasy piece Northern Lights. He sits casually in front of the lecture theatre crowd in a modest Q&A manner with fellow children’s author, Sherry Ashworth, who directs the evening.

It becomes clear from the first few questions about children’s literature as a genre, just how strongly Pullman feels about speaking to his younger audience. This is evident in his answers. He is not afraid to be honest in front of the young crowd and voices his beliefs on religion, a widely discussed aspect of his work, with great candidacy, dismissing the stereotype that children’s authors are selective about what they choose to speak about.

There is a unanimous gasp of excitement when Sherry moves on to the topic of the book everybody wants to hear about, Northern Lights. The fantasy novel, which focuses on the journey of two children, Lyra and Will, won Pullman much critical acclaim upon publication—and it is not difficult to see why the audience shares such admiration for the book. When asked about Lyra, Pullman assures us that the character is not an unusual girl. He feels there are ‘Lyra’s everywhere in our world’, but the one thing that does make her stand out, is her ability to love, a universal trait that speaks to the entire audience.

Countless hands shoot up, as it is the audience’s turn to ask the questions. The listeners are keen to learn of Pullman’s writing processes, his answers to the ‘big questions’ and of course, when is the next book to the series coming out? The room lights-up when the prospect of a His Dark Materials sequel is raised. He assures us that he never follows the fashions of fiction and simply writes what he wants to write. He says, ‘I am the boss. I kill people, I bring them back to life, I do exactly what I want and I like it’.

An exciting announcement about the possibility of one of his old comic strips hitting the big screen sends the crowd buzzing. Pullman is keen to use ‘as few pixels as possible’, to avoid the feeling surrounding his last cinematic translation, which he does not shy away from sharing his disappointment in. James Bond portraying one of your characters has got to be a good thing though!

For Pullman, writing and reading go hand in hand. He prefers to write his novels quietly in his garden shed and doesn’t stop until he believes they are good enough, reminding us that what he chooses to pen down is ‘none of the reader’s business’, during the writing stages. Reading is a personal experience, it is about the reader’s imagination and he praises this idea that language can be interchangeable. Pullman, whose interest in reading came from reading Noddy books and The Moomins, sees words and illustrations of equal importance and says his beloved comic books are to thank for his appreciation of the two.

The legacy that Pullman has created through his writing shows the sheer power of literature to transcend boundaries and speak to everyone. There’s a message to be heard tonight about reading and writing: There is no right and wrong when reading. How you read a book is how it was intended to be read, there is no fixed agenda, just good tales of a world where truth can exist and ‘everyone is welcome’.

Laura Griffiths is a recent MMU English graduate with several writing outlets, working towards a career in music journalism. Check out her blog here, and follow her on twitter @leanaura

  

Praise The Pictures

Picture Consequences, 30th June, 10 - 4pm, MMU Geoffrey Manton Building


Words and Photographs by Emma Reynolds

On Saturday the 30th of June at the MCBF Family Fun Day, I ran a Picture Consequences workshop where people came along and made their own unique characters. For those who have not played before, two or more people each start by drawing the head. Next, everyone folds their drawing over and passes it along to the next person to draw the body, and again  for the legs, and lastly the feet. The best part is unfolding it at the end and watching your unique combinations come to life as a character!

'Burger King' has to the be my favourite character created from the day. He has cheese slices for ears, a pickle mouth, a veggie burger orb and chips for legs! Best thing ever; he made me laugh so much.

I had an absolutely fantastic day running the workshop, it was truly inspiring to see what the kids (and adults!) came up with, and I met some lovely new people too. The feedback's been great and I'm really happy that everyone had so much fun creating their brilliant, wacky and completely hilarious characters. Thank you so much to all who came, there was laughter and smiles all day - I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

Emma is a freelance illustrator from Manchester, with a passion for narrative story telling, creating characters and producing original and whimsical illustrations. She is currently working on her book Reynard the Detective. You can follow Emma on her blog at Emma Reynolds Illustruation, on twitter @emmaillustrate and on Facebook. And to see her portfolio you can visit her website too, here.

McMillan and Goss: Boss

Ian McMillan and Luke Carver Goss: Flipchart and Squeezebox Musical Comedy Show, Wednesday 4th July, 6-7:30pm Royal Northern College of Music

Words and photographs by Caroline Greenwood.

Having only a passing familiarity with Ian McMillan’s work, I am more than a little intrigued as to what awaits me at his mysteriously named; ‘Flipchart and Squeezebox Musical Show.’ How on earth could large pieces of paper and an accordion make a ‘hilarious’ night out? In the quest to find out, I pulled on my boots and braved the typically seasonal Manchester weather, as I headed towards the Royal Northern College of Music, for an evening of entertainment…

Entering the RNCM Theatre, there is an excited hum of chatter coming from the gathering crowd, as groups of children and parents all scramble to their seats, ready for the show to begin. Alongside them, in equally high spirits, is also a good selection of people from the non-parent-child demographic, who - presumably familiar with McMillan’s Radio 3 show, The Verb - have also braved the elements to watch the star in action.

Equipped with only the bare essentials (two chairs, a table, an accordion and a flip chart), McMillan keeps his set simple, with a clear focus on the two objects featured in the show’s title (An Accordion and a Flipchart). However, this simplicity proves to be all that is required, as McMillan’s performance and stage presence is more than enough to brighten up the theatre.

“You don’t get this with Carol Ann Duffy”

McMillan’s style is one which fuses together both music and poetry, whilst actively encouraging audience participation through a selection of musical refrains and choreographed movements, designed to accompany his words. When watching him perform, his craftsmanship is apparent, offering something for everyone in his crowd-pleasing, double-edged-pantomime style jokes and slapstick comedy. Also typically northern in its roots, Ian’s comedy frequently makes use of the northern ‘lingo‘, as he gently probes the classes, softly mocking southern sensibilities and northern ways to great effect. Particular highlights of the show include his poems about Dinner Ladies, Derek the train spotter and Postman Pat’s three brothers, which all have the audience in hysterics.

 The main thematic focus of the show however, is placed upon schools and teaching. McMillan explores the classroom, entertaining us with poems about his own school experiences (Hole in the Hall - A poem about…well… a hole in the Hall!) and ‘Creaking Head Teacher Mr. Moore!’ These references prove to be particularly relevant for the younger members of the audience (and especially a boisterous scout group) who take great pleasure in acting out the poems, cheekily challenging McMillan at any given opportunity.

The evening’s music (on the Accordion) is provided by Luke Carver Goss, who like McMillan, has an exceptional ability for improvisation, which he demonstrates throughout the show by making up tunes to compliment the poets work. Both men are clearly comfortable with each other’s style and work well together to achieve an effective collaboration.

 The show’s big finale comes in the form of a poem constructed entirely from audience suggestions on the ’Lyreco Flipchart’, accompanied by Goss on Accordion - An exercise which proves very interesting, with the end result being as follows;

Midnight at the RNCM

Midnight at the RNCM (x3)

Oooooo

There’s an owl

With a scowl

He’s called Powell

In a cowl

And he’s carrying a piece of cake

And he’s carrying a quite long snake

It’s not a real one it’s a fake

Coz it’s a slug

                        It’s a what?

It’s a slug

                        What did you say then?

It’s a slug.

He’s here with the fake snake

Looks like a tie to me from M&S

Where is your hat?

Where did you buy it?

The invisible tie maker

Is sneaking up behind him

With a cravat (x3)

The children in particular, enjoy this part of the show, singing along with great gusto to Goss’ accordion. MCBF’s own James Draper is then coaxed up on stage to perform the role of the snake carrying bird (Kudos go to James, who made a truly exceptional Owl!)

 After all the excitement, the show ends somewhat abruptly, with McMillan and Goss vacating the stage at the end of this performance, denying the audience a revival of ’Adios Mama, Adios Papa’, promised earlier in the show. However, McMillan does compensate with a book signing in the foyer, which I’m sure, for his fans, more than made up for the lack of an encore!

As I got back in the car and reflected on the evening’s experience, I again asked myself the question. Was what I had just witnessed a ’hilarious’ night not to be missed?

- You bet!

Caroline Greenwood is a recent English graduate from MMU. After enjoying her first degree at the university, she hopes to begin a Master’s in Gothic Literature this coming September. A keen writer, she currently runs two blogs; carolinecupcakes and theafternoonteaclub (co-run with fellow MCBF blogger Laura Griffiths)

You can find Caroline on twitter at @FromCaroline