On The Fifth Day of Christmas

My True Love gave to me

Five Gold Rings!

Can you fill in the missing words in this Christmas story?

One magical Christmas Eve, Mary Christmas and Noel, were walking home through the snow when suddenly –

‘Help!’ Mary Christmas cried. I’ve lost one of my diamond _ _ _ RINGs! It must have fallen off when I took my hat off at the circus!

Noel, RING the _ _ _ _ _ _ , it might have been stolen!'

‘Don’t worry!’ Noel said, pulling out his _ _ _ RING. 'I’ll drive you back there in no time.'

Sure enough, there it was in the Big Top, in the middle of the _ _ _ _ _ _ RING.

Suddenly the spotlight fell on Mary and she gasped as Noel dropped to his knees. 
‘Will you marry me?’ he asked, pulling out an 
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ RING.

‘Of course!’ Mary cried. 'This is the best Christmas ever!’

Top Four Calling Birds!

On the Fourth Day of Christmas 
my true love gave to me
Four Calling Birds...
Which, to me this Christmas has to mean Twitter!
So here are my top four 'calling birds' well worth following for their fun, interesting and entertaining tweets...

@Tamsyn Tweetie Author of the fabulous 'Afterlife' series, Tamsyn's sparky tweets always brighten up my day.

@Keris Author of Della Says OMG and Jessie ♥ NYC Keris always has something interesting & funny to say.

@MaureenJohnson Author of 13 Little Blue Envelopes, MJ is sometimes controversial, often funny, and always worth a read.

@Bubblecow Packed full of wonderful advice for writers, Bubblecow is a must-follow for anyone with writerly aspirations.


And if you'd like to follow me, I'm @katiedaleuk!
Merry Tweetmas! 

Festive Friday DOs & DON'Ts at Publishers (or any!) Parties...

This one counts!
- Just find 2 more!

On the Third Day of Christmas 
my true love gave to me
Three French Hens...
Find 3 French hens scattered round my website then email me here to say where you found them - and win!
The French certainly know how to party, but here are my 
Five Festive Friday DOs and DON'Ts 
for publishers parties this Christmas:

Teri Terry - author of the
upcoming SLATED

DO meet up with some fellow-attendees before the party - I recommend Helen Dennis, Kate O'Hearn, Teri Terry, Kathryn James, Fiona Robertson, and Chris Hill for a delightful mix of giggles and invaluable writerly wisdom and advice. 


DO line your stomach first (preferably at an unexpectedly extravagantly expensive restaurant where they move already-dining people to accomodate a table for 8...)

DO then order only side orders and/or dessert (Recommended: Cauliflower Cheese, Chips, Crumble) and watch the look on the waitress's face...

Lucy Jones - author of the upcoming
THE NIGHTMARE FACTORY

DO catch up with everyone you met at last year's party - it's so much more fun if you already know people, particularly the lovely Holly Webb, Lucy Jones, Karen Ball and Catherine Coe.


DO be brave - talk to those actually-not-so-scary editors and famous authors/illustrators wandering past (Kes Gray) - they're really friendly and approachable once you're brave enough (or tipsy enough) to say Hi!


DON'T accidentally spend your entire cab fare on raffle tickets - even though you might win an Ipod dock (though you don't actually have an Ipod) and then leave said Ipod dock at the bar!

DON'T choose canapes with a risk factor (Chicken satay with drippy sauce in particular, followed closely by brownies with melting ice-cream on top, and (surprisingly) spring rolls with flaky pastry and chilli dip! Disastrous!)

SO pretty - but great for
running for the Tube!

DON'T forget a spare pair of flat shoes should your gorgeous party heels begin to rub/blister/bruise your feet after five minutes/hours!


DON'T drive to the station - get a taxi or a lift so you can let your hair down properly!


DON'T drink so much bubbly you can't find your way back to the Tube or fall asleep and miss your stop! (There are taxis waiting at the end of each tube line ready to charge sleepy passengers extortionate fees to get back to the city!)


Most of all - Enjoy yourself!!

The Twelve Days of Christmas Contest - Day 2

A Turtle-Dove...?

On the Second Day of Christmas 
my true love gave to me
Two Turtle Doves 
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

Prize! Limited-Edition
Someone Else's Life
fridge magnet!

Whoever thought of the name turtle dove? A dove looks nothing like a turtle, right? 
But can you name the other animals whose names are derived from two other animals from the clues below? 
Answer for fun in the comment box below - or if you've got all twelve click here to email them to me to win a prize!


1) Eight-legged creepy crawly + long-tailed primate!
2) Fire-breathing buzzing insect
3) Sea mammal - with a trunk!
4) Purring sea creature
5) Male cow - dwelling on lily-pads!
6) King of the jungle - under the sea!
7) Equine - with wings!
8) Woolly farm animal - that barks!
9) Large stripy cat - with a dorsal fin!
10) Small garden bird - also bird of prey
11) Cunning bushy-tailed forest canine
12) Barking sea-creature!


This video may help a little :) 
Good luck - and have fun!

The Twelve Days of Christmas Contest - Day 1

Advent Calendar Day 7 - 
On the first day of Christmas, 
my true love gave to me
A Partridge in a Pear Tree!
Stuck for a stocking filler?
As it's Wednesday Winsday, what better day to launch my Twelve Days of Christmas contest!


Simply find today's picture of a partridge in a pear tree (identical to the one above) somewhere on this website, then click here to send me a message telling me which page it's on!


Every correct answer will win one of these! 
A limited-edition 
Someone Else's Life 
fridge magnet!


(UK entries only, sorry)

Oh Christmas Tree!

Advent Calender Day 6 - Oh Christmas Tree!

My Christmas tree!

I'm very excited today, as I've just bought and decorated my first very own Christmas tree! There's nothing quite like a tree to really make you feel festive in the run-up to Christmas, sipping mulled wine and watching the twinkly lights as presents slowly begin to accumulate beneath... But some people have entirely different ideas when it comes to Christmas trees! Check out this upside-down Christmas tree "specially imported from Australia!"

There're lots of weird and wonderful Christmas trees out there, But my favourite has to be this lobster-pot Christmas tree from Provincetown, New England. 

Made from 112 lobster-pots!

Every year, Julian Popko and his family create a Christmas tree out of 112 lobster pots, decorated with red bows and plastic lobsters, 3,400 lights, and 58 buoys, representing 58 local lobstermen. Many people like to stop and have their picture taken in front of it, but when one mother wanted to photograph her one-year old son with the tree he kept falling down. So "We gave her a bungee cord to strap him against the tree and take the picture!" Popko laughed. In fact, I loved this tree so much and thought it was such an original idea, it features in my upcoming YA novel, Someone Else's Life. 

Read more about Popko and his tree here

Here's a round-up of the best of the rest - which is your favourite?

Thanks to UV 2012 Winner Rosie Best for
recommending this Lego tree at St.Pancras station- Wow!

A tree made from Mountian Dew cans

Sushi Tree!

A tree made from singers!

Pac-Man tree!

A tree made from 350 Christmas trees!

And beer bottles...

Discovered!

Advent Calendar Day 5 - Christmas Come Early!

Today, nineteen talented SCBWI-ers (members of the Society of Childrens Books Writers and Illustrators) discovered that Santa had left them a very special early Christmas present - as winners of the Undiscovered Voices 2012 competition! 

Congratulations to the six winning illustrators:
Julia Groves, Amber Hsu, Heather Kilgour, Shana Nieburg-Suschitzky, Nicola Patten and Rachel Quarry! 


And Congratulations to the winning writers! 
Rosie Best (Skulk), 
Veronica Cossanteli (Dragons Do. Dodos Don't), 
Sandra Greaves (Gabbleratchet), 
Jane Hardstaff (The Executioner's Child), 
Deborah Hewitt (Felix Munroe: Hell's Angel), 
David Hofmeyr and Zoe Crookes (Kalahari), 
Sharon Jones (Dead Jealous), 
Rachel Lathem (To Dance With The Wind), 
Maureen Lynas (To Destiny or Death), 
Richard Masson (Boonie), 
Rachel Wolfreys (Touch)
and Jo Wyton (Magpie)! 
What great titles! The winning writers were selected by a judging panel of industry professionals from over 150 anonymous entrants, and they have a very exciting ride to look forward to!

It is no exaggeration to say that Undiscovered Voices 2008 launched my own writing career. One day I was struggling in the slushpile hopefully submitting my work to agents and publishers without any success - then after being selected as a winner, agents and publishers were contacting me! Unfortunately I was in Vietnam at the time (timing has never been my strong suit!) but UV led to a publishing deal (Fairy Tale Twists), which led to four agents offering representation, which led to a two-book YA novel deal (Someone Else's Life) in the UK, US & Canada! Click here to read more in my Story So Far
And it has brought success and recognition to many other talented writers. In fact, from the first two anthologies (2008 & 2010) thirteen of the twenty-four winners now have publishing contracts, and have won or been nominated for a galaxy of awards, from the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize to the Blue Peter Awards! Read more here.
In fact five out of the eight EDGE members are Undiscovered Voices winners, including

Sara Grant 
(Dark Parties, published by Orion December 2011) 
Dave Cousins (Fifteen Days Without a Head, published by OUP January 2012), 
Bryony Pearce 
(Angel's Fury, out now from Egmont), 
Paula Rawsthorne (The Truth About Celia Frost, out now from Usborne) 
And Bryony and Paula have just been short-listed for the Leeds Book Award! 




Congratulations to all this year's winners - I'm sure you'll all be having a very merry Christmas!