NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT Photographer Susan Singfield Philip Caveney 1. Why did you become a writer? Because it gave me the opportunity to shape the world the way I wanted it to be. That rarely happens in real life! 2. Where do you live? I live in the fabulous city of Edinburgh. It’s home to a castle, an extinct volcano and it’s only a short trip to the sea.  3. Where do you work? Usually in the National Library of Scotland in their fabulous reading rooms. All you need to get in there is a library card! 4. What for you is the spirit of Scotland. Scotland is one of the most diverse places on the planet - it’s also one of the friendliest! As well as being home to some fabulous cities it has some of the most beautiful locations you could ever hope to visit. I’ve only recently started to visit some of them. 5. Has this spirit influenced your work? Yes! Several of my books are set in Scotland, many of them in E...

  Children's Books North Autumn Highlights This week we've been celebrating new books from Children's Books North members, with our first ever tour of Northern and Scottish book blogs. The reaction has been fantastic, so a huge thanks to all the creatives and bloggers who've taken part across the week and to everyone who has joined in the sharing, commenting and cheering! In case you missed any, here are all the blog posts gathered together - so grab yourselves a brew and enjoy! The Book Linguist and Sophie Anderson Primary Teacher Bookshelf and Hiba Noor Khan Book Murmuration and Mandy Coe The Quiet Knitter and Louisa Reid Book Worm Hole and Tom Palmer Roaring Reads and Alison Murray Unicorns and Kelpies and Philip Caveney Bellis Does Books and Sara Ogilvie Book Monsters and Zoe Waring A Little But a Lot and Anjan Sarkar

NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT ALAN WINDRAM Tell us about Little Door Books and Little Door Debuts. Little Door Books was set up in 2016 by myself and my wife Susan. Since inception, we have so far published eighteen high-quality picture books, each with an audiobook and specially-written songs. While I look after the day to-day running of LDB, Susan is involved in the planning, copy editing, author/illustrator liaison and has a full-time job as the editor of the Oban Times newspaper. While working in children’s theatre, I recognised the key part that music plays in engaging children, leading us to produce an audiobook and original songs for each of our titles. Susan and I decided early on that we wanted to champion the work of new, exciting and undiscovered illustrating talent, so a key feature of our list is partnering named authors with emerging illustrators. LDB works hard to find the right author/illustrator pairing, and actively encourages more collaboration between the author and illustr...

SPECIAL GUEST NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT Chris Newton, Scottish Book Trust  Can you tell us about SBT and how it has changed over the last 20 years? We are a charity who aims to improve the lives of every person in Scotland through reading and writing. We have grown considerably from a small team to over fifty colleagues, delivering a wide array of program mes for all ages.    We’ve cultivated a tremendous team of creative individuals who are extremely passionate about the work that we do and constantly drive our agenda forward. As well as championing reading and nurturing writing talent, we also work with a wide range of stakeholders from Scottish Government to the NHS and Scottish Friendly.       What are the advantages of being based in Edinburgh? It is great to be part of a vibrant literary scene. We are home to many publishers and writers and illustrators. Edinburgh is, of course, also a UNESCO City of Literature and home to Edinburgh Internationa...

NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT JOAN HAIG 1. Why did you become a writer? I've always kept a diary and penned letters. When I was 36, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. One side effect was an urgent desire to start a story for my children - and recovery time was time to write.   2. Tell us about where you live. I live in a small cottage at the edge of the Scottish Borders - our garden backs onto fields, heathery hills and an old witch's cave.   3. Where do you work? When I was at university, my Granny cashed in and divvied up some premium bonds. It was enough for me to buy a bicycle, a word processor and an antique writing bureau. The bike was eventually nicked and the word processor obsolete, but I still work at my beloved bureau in a little outhouse we call 'the studio'. The kitchen table, garden steps or an old armchair are also productive spots. Occasionally (particularly at the editing stage of something), I treat myself to a day in a city c...

 NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT POLLY NOAKES Why did you become an author-illustrator? I was lucky to grow up in a very creative family where it was expected we would go to into the Arts and at 14 I knew I wanted to be an illustrator. So I followed my sisters to   Cambridge School of Art and enrolled on its newly created illustration course. In 2012 - many years later, after a career break - I returned to study on its   MA in Children’s Book   Illustration, led by Martin Salisbury (who taught me the first time too!) and haven't looked back.   Hide and Seek , published by Child’s Play International. Cover design by Annie Kubler.  A Present for Rosy , written by Jonathan Emmett, published by Walker Books, designed by Charlie Moyler. Tell us about where you live. I recently followed my heart   and moved to North Yorkshire, buying a fairly isolated   cottage on top of a hill with incredible   views. It's   situated at the end of a long narrow tr...