My Blog is BACK!!!

It’s been such a weird year, in so many ways. One of the strangest things is that I stopped writing my blog. At some point in January I just stopped, and never really thought about doing it again until quite recently. Also, for a while I forgot how to do it, which didn’t help.

            Anyway, how are you? What have I missed..?

            I’d like to get back to writing this. I used to love my blog – in its various incarnations, from 2009 until the start of this year. Mostly I used it to talk about what I was reading, but also what I was working on, and publishing, and about events or appearances and projects.

            So… here goes. Let’s start again. Are you still out there..?

           

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This autumn I’ve been hard at work, every day, on the third volume of my science fiction trilogy for kids, ‘Heart of Mars.’ I’ve been writing about Lora and Toaster and everyone, all over again, and taking them towards the climax of their adventures. Volume two, ‘The Martian Girl’ came out back in September. www.fireflypress.co.uk

            My other big writing project of the year has been to do with ‘Baker’s End’, an audio adventure series that Simon Barnard of Bafflegab Productions and I came up with, almost a full year ago. We had both decided to do create a new project together: something new and funny and good fun. And so now we have a series in which Tom Baker plays himself, reincarnated as a gigantic black cat, having spooky adventures in the strange village of Happenstance, alongside Katy Manning and Sue Jameson. Recording these stories has been a complete blast, and the reviews have been absolutely terrific. www.bafflegab.co.uk

            As were the reviews for my Big Finish Doctor Who story, ‘The Peterloo Massacre’, which came out back in March. I’ve written at least one new script or story for BF every year since the turn of the century, and I don’t think I’ve ever had such a wonderful response. It was great to get a crack at writing what they call a ‘pure historical adventure’, of the kind that Doctor Who used to have right at the very beginning of the TV show’s history. A special feature of this story is that my research was carried out, and my initial notes and ideas were outlined, in Manchester Central Library: just about on the very site of the famous Massacre itself. 

           

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Something I’ve got coming out very soon… ‘The Levenshulme Cats Colouring Book’! Following last year’s ‘Lovely Levy Colouring Book’ I’ve put a whole new series of thirty drawings together and it’s all at the printers right now. It’ll be ready just in time for Christmas. I’ve had an amazing response locally from cat-loving residents sending me photos of their feline chums and vying for inclusion in what I hope will be a very fun book. It’ll be on sale at SumapaBooks here in Levenshulme, or at the People’s History Museum in Manchester, or you could drop me a line (if you’re further afield) ... my email is… pmagrs@gmail.com.

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I should tell you about my reading this year. 2016 was the year I really launched into my Beach House Books project – ie, when I really set about reading the books I already own, rather than buying any new ones. I was marginally more successful at doing both those things than I am in most years, but I didn’t still to the resolutions absolutely. 

But I have had an amazing year of reading – which I will tell you about, I hope, quite soon.

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