This page lists up to date news and events. Do keep checking back, as I’ll be updating it regularly, showing news about ‘Numbers’ and other books, and highlighting events where I’ll be appearing to talk about books and writing.
Coming up…
6th July – I’ll be speaking at Oxfam, Keynsham, as part of the Oxfam Bookfest.
9th July – St. Bede’s School, Bristol.
14th July – Branford Boase award, London.
16th July – Norton Hill School, Midsomer Norton.
7th October – Oxfordshire Book Awards in Abingdon.
13th October – Weatherhead School, Merseyside.
Events 2010
15th January 2010 – Went to London to help Chicken House Big celebrate its 10th Anniversary. Happy Birthday Chicken House!
29th January 2010 – visited Oldfield School, Bath and spoke to the whole of Year 8. Great audience and loads of good questions. Thanks for listening…Really impressed with the school and its facilities – amazing view from the Library!
2nd March 2010 – I had a great visit to St. James School, London. What a lovely school! I gave two talks and there were lots of questions about writing and being published. Thanks for all the letters afterwards – I am going to reply as soon as I get a quiet five minutes…
17th March – Trip to Leipzig to help launch Numbers: Den Tod in Blick with Chicken House Germany! It was a fantastic trip, really interesting and great to meet young people in Germany and to visit a German youth centre and school.
24th March – To Tooting to help celebrate the very first FAB (Fabulous Award for Books) in Wandsworth. I was so pleased and surprised to win – it means a huge amount as this award is voted for by readers and it was great to meet so many keen readers at the event.
20th April – London Book Fair for a seminar on Writing for Teens with Barry Cunningham, Sophia Bennett and chaired by John McClay. The seminar was packed! Good discussion and lots of interesting questions. Great to see you all there.
21st April – Home in Bath to help celebrate the Centurion Book Award. I was runner-up to Gemma Malley, who won with ‘The Declaration.’ Congratulations to Gemma! It was lovely to meet lots of local school students, all keen readers.
17th May – Had a great time in Angus, Scotland where I won the Angus Book Award.
25th May – Enjoyed meeting enthusiastic readers in Leeds at the Leeds Book Awards.
22nd June – Launch of Numbers: The Chaos at Waterstones, Bath.
2nd July – Blackpool Teen Book Award. Great to meet readers there and see their love of books and reading.
News andEvents 2009
5th January 2009 – ‘Numbers’ published
12th January 2009 – ‘Numbers’ is shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize.
June 2009 – ‘Numbers’ is shortlisted for the Southern Schools Book Prize and longlisted for the Booktrust Teenage Book Prize.
6th May 2009 – Rachel helped to open the new Learning Centre at Ralph Allen School, Bath
30th June 2009 – Rachel spoke as part of the pre-Festival programme for the Keynsham Music Festival, in the Pomegranate Cafe in Temple Street. It was a lovely evening and it was great to meet local readers and writers – there’s alot of creative talent in Keynsham! Maybe next year, we could put together a panel event to showcase local writing…
5th July 2009 –Rachel was part of the ‘Writing Children’s Books’ session at the Frome Festival, with Barry Cunningham and Imogen Cooper of The Chicken House, at Frome Library.
23rd August 2009 – Rachel was on the panel for ‘Compelling Novels, Vulnerable Children,’ at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The reporting of fellow-panellist Anne Fine’s words about the effect of grim endings to books on readers who have difficult lives themselves caused a huge media debate, both about happy endings and also how comments are reported and spun. Interesting.
24th September 2009 – Rachel was part of the ‘Writing Children’s Literature’ session at the Bath Festival of Children’s Literature with Barry Cunningham (founder of The Chicken House), Linda Strachan and Lucy Christopher. It was a great evening and good to meet so many enthusiastic readers.
6th November – Hampton Community College. Rachel met the pupils who championed ‘Numbers’ in their Battle of the Books earlier this year. What a great group of people. Thanks for a really inspiring visit.
7th November - Rachel visited Upper Norwood Library and spoke to a small, but select, audience on writing for teenagers and what it’s like being published. Thanks to Fiona for hosting my visit, and great to meet up with the multi-talented Alex ‘Mousehunter’ Milway.
20th November – visited Hayesfield School to meet some of the Year 9 students. Thank you for such a warm welcome.
4th December – visited the Book Club at Wellsway School Library – what a fantastic group of keen readers! Great that Book Club is so thriving. Loved your Library – a place to really inspire and delight.