World Book Day... in a nutshell.

If it's going to be a nutshell, let's make it a coconut. Because it was sweeeet!

First I spent a day with the kids at Cumnor Primary School in Oxfordshire. Now, these children were seriously BONKERS. And totally brilliant at coming up with stories - like the alien hatchers and the cross-dressing accountant who stole money for make-up! And I think we managed to convert the biggest alien in the school into one of the best human story-finders in our terrific game of Detective, Thief, Spy. You know who you are, football girl! Your team's story about kids trapped inside old people was genius. (Year 3 - I'm a bit concerned about the levels of violence in your stories, but then again, if you will read Harry Potter... ha ha ha!). I can't list all the stories, but I hope you'll keep making them. And I will remember you all - including Kia who tapped into a world of wonder, and Thomas and Paul, who definitely owe me an email to let me know what they thought of the Jim Reaper books. *wink*

Then I went to Newbridge Primary School in Bath. HELLO YOU CRAZY LOT. This was the school my own kids went to. A lot of the children had seen me in the playground before, but this time they managed to see past my previous incarnation as 'Matilda and Ben's mum' and take me seriously as a writer and teacher... Well, I say take me seriously, but I have a feeling they were laughing at me big time! Was it the rollerskates? What can I tell you about my time at this school.... well, it was seriously exhausting. But that's a good thing. I laughed the whole day through - and the kids kept me on my feet with great questions, and plenty of enthusiasm, from first thing in the morning until the final bell. Even then, there were still lots of eager and imaginative kids waiting to talk some more. I hope your World Book Day potatoes looked fantastic - did any of the Year 6s take inspiration from my Mr Twit beard? And I'm super chuffed to hear that Eoin immediately started writing his own book when he got home, and that Ruben wanted to get reading NOW. And a message for Mai - who has the most incredible idea for a sci-fi: you must MUST write it. Big wave to Alex D, Lucy C and Sophie G (indeed, my next book is dedicated to this girl wonder)! Special thanks to Mrs Button for lunch and friendship!

Finally I spent a day with Cirencester Primary School. You lot are HILARIOUS. We kicked off with some fabulous caveman noises, and then threw ourselves into some stories. Even those that couldn't be BOTHERED at first (you know who you are) became some of my finest and funniest tale-tellers of the day. I grinned from start to finish. This is a school obsessed with 'other dimensions', and we saw some seriously interesting dimensions of story-telling - entire plot ideas and kooky inventions... headphones that make your head change colour (or make you bothered to do things - I refer you to the pupil mentioned previously)! We didn't have time to get through all our stories, did we? But please email me your plots, as I watched you working on them and thought each and every one was fantastic and full of promise. Thanks for the enthusiasm for Jim Reaper - what a bunch of keen mutant bananas you are (looking at you, River, and at you, Evvie with two Vs). Please write and let me know what you thought of the books. *and thanks for my rainbow bracelets, loomband girls! (see picture below).

Creating plots and loglines for stories is super fun, and I think all the children I spent time with can now do it with their eyes shut - or their eyes open; it depends which method they're using (are you a What-Iffer or a Thief?)! They can now go forth, armed with tools in their mind-sheds, polished and sharp and ready to carve out wonderful ideas for the next piece of creative writing. 

So nearly a week ago, I got in my car and went for a drive and listened to my learn Spanish CD along the way. I'm going to Spain in the summer and I like to know a little of the language, see?

After a couple of hours I pulled up outside Wychwood school in Oxfordshire. Nice part of the world. Cotswolds. Lovely. I grew up in Oxford, so these types of crumbly villages and towns with their rose-clad houses, stones walls and leafy lanes are familiar to me. But what I walked into was a whole new world.

KIDS! EVERYWHERE! HILARIOUS, LOUD, FASCINATING KIDS!

Luckily I spoke a little of the language already. And the language we were all speaking was STORIES.

​The kids' enthusiasm was absolutely infectious and - although that kind of bonkers, uninhibited approach to story creation was something I might have left in my own childhood, I fell back into it. It was like riding a bike. Before I knew what I was doing, I was bouncing around like Tigger on E-numbers, snatching wild and wonderful ideas out of the air with the help of my new friends. 

What a great time we had. Three classes, back to back, all different and yet, all the same in that wide-eyed, up for anything approach. Kids, if you're reading, just remember - Don't Sigh or Yawn, grab the sTORy by the middle. I won't broadcast our techniques here, it's out secret. I made it up on the spot just for you. But I hope, now, you are armed with all sorts of tools in your story-making shed. Including, Lucas (I remember), the Pig of Randomness.

Now, before I go further I need to say a huge THANK YOU to Maple Class for my thank you letters. The pictures were awesome, and the words were touching. You feel ready and armed to write? Excellent! You are inspired to try a story of your own? Brilliant. You had fun? Great. I'm just glad you got something out of my visit...

..speaking of which, I know some of you are a little miffed that you didn't get a snail. It was cruel of me to hand out just a couple and leave the rest of you snail-less... So, I have a plan, to get you more involved with the wonderful world of Will's molluscs and have a chance of winning one of those little critters. On my website, I've created a snail gallery. Using my email (on the contacts page), send me your photos or pictures or fascinating facts you've discovered, and I'll pick one at random every week to win a snail (don't forget to send me your address). How's that? I've started you off with a snail I found yesterday. I popped him on my raincoat so you can see him better.

Check out Will's Mighty Mollusc Gallery here. Early days yet, but let's hope it's soon crawling with little characters.

And that's the end of the snail trail. Again, pupils of Wychwood - you gave me three hours of hilarity and fun, and I can't wait to come back and see you again.

​Love from Random. Er, I mean, Rachel x

PS If you loved Jim Reaper, he'd love you to go and leave a review for him at AMAZON - thank you! 

I'm just back from two one-hour story-creation workshops at the wonderful Wells Cathedral School in Somerset, where I met 70 kids, all confident and well up for some What If battles. They were all big personalities, with ideas that seemed impossibly huge, considering the regular Homo Sapiens size of brain, inventing some absolute magical stunners - I'm keeping my eye on the Australian Desert Dragon (you know who you are....). There were also some frighteners, too (are you sitting comfortably - good, I'll tell you a torture story); and the characters that were created in minutes right in front of my very eyes, like Butcher Bob and Paul the Potter and badger-hater, were awesome and should be copyrighted immediately.

And to Abigail, who gave me a story to take away and read - I will write on this very page again with my thoughts in the next few days. Do check back. But I can already tell you, having read the first couple of paragraphs, that you are an absolute natural. Can't wait to read the rest.

I cannot wait to visit Wells again. Please invite me back!

Bye bye. All's Wells that ends well.

Super fun to be involved by Teens on Moon Lane. 

5-4-3-2-1... dont' hold your breath - that's just what the interview was called. Read it here

Wonderful feature in the Los Angeles times. Posting this just so you know it's not just me. Actually, I thought it was. But it isn't - there are lots of people fascinated by snails. So get out there, watch where you're putting your feet and feast your eyes on this little speedy slime-fuelled marvels of nature.

http://www.latimes.com/science/la-sci-snail-hunt-20160130-story.html