http://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=June 09, 2013 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=544Wow! Wow! Wow! So far my Invisible Girl tour has been AMAZING! It started on June 29th with a family day in Parc Prison, Bridgend, where we talked about stories, wrote letters and made beautiful beaded bookmarks. I then headed straight to London and early next morning met the lovely people from The Big Issue Foundation plus 12 fans at King's Cross station. We wanted to start raising awareness of the shocking truths about runaways and homeless adults by creating a flash mob event. If you haven't seen our brilliant video that Jason, one of the Dads, created yet, then click the picture below to see it - it really amazing. On June the 2nd I join Andy McCullough from the Railway Children Charity and John Bird, the founder of The Big Issue Foundation at the Hay Festival, in Hay-on-Wye. it was an amzing event that had quite an impact on the audience. After a lovely evening barbecuing with friends and a big sleep in a very squishy bed I headed off to Abergavenny Library for a lovely event with 60 yr 6 girls. They were really engaged, asking so many questions. And then I whizzed through the stunning Welsh countryside to Whitchurch Primary school in Cardiff where I had masses of fun with 160 year 5 andamp; 6 boys. We're still only on Monday the 3rd June - and I still have a whole week of other events to tell you about - but right now it's late and if I don't to go to bed soon I won't get up in time for tomorrow's event in York. Sweet Dreams! June 03, 2013 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=543Hi Everyone, By the time you read this post I'll have done my event at the Hay-on-Wye literary festival, EKKKKKK!, and it will have either sunk or swum. Right now I'm busy preparing like crazy not only for Hay but for my three week Invisible Girl book tour that takes me up and down the country visiting a whole host of schools, libraries and festivals. Needless to say I am excited to the moon and back! Hurrah, Invisible Girl hits the street, well, ahem, the bookshops in 3 days time! On Wednesday I went to Parc Prison in Bridgend, where I ran a session for families. We talked about my first book, Shine, that tackles the issue of a parent being in prison, and then we all got down to the serious business of letter writing. I asked the Dads to write to the children and the children to write to the Dads, telling each other three memories or moments that they love and two memories or moments that they find difficult about the experience they're having of the Dads being in Prison. I wanted to show them that it's much easier to talk about difficulties when we first connect up with love. And the results were amazing and very, very touching. Then we settled down to some serious beading, making beautiful beaded bookmarks for everyone to take home. Very, very early on Thursday morning I met some gorgeous fans at King's Cross station in London. And with the help of The Big Issue Foundation and Railway Children charity we created this amazing flash mob stunt to help raise awareness of the problems runaways face. Seeing children hold up the statistics is much more shocking than just reading them alone. I'd love you to share it with your friends and families so that more people can be on the look out for these vulnerable children and hopefully, together, we can find ways in which to help. [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4dTM5qRfXI?rel=0andamp;w=420andamp;h=315]   Anyway, I have to go now because there is so much to do before Sunday,,, you know, big decisions like, what to wear? Which colour nail varnish to choose? Boots or sandals? The pressure is enormous! And remember that you're all invited to join me at the Invisible Girl book launch in London at Nomad Books, Fulham, from 6-7.30pm on June the 5th. It would be lovely to see you there! Love Love Love xxx PS if you were a runaway what three things would you most like to have in your backpack?May 01, 2013 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=542It's May Day! So, how many of you lovely girls are busy ironing your long frocks and getting ready to dance around the maypole and fight for the honour of being crowned May Queen? I've never been May Queen but when I was small I did love dancing around the Maypole. At primary school we'd start country dancing lessons straight after the Easter holidays and it always involved some Maypole dancing. I loved it with all my heart. It was as exciting as playing the recorder altogether in class, doing embroidery whilst listening to radio 4 story time, listen with mother, making stained glass windows out of tissue paper, and those lovely woven baskets at Easter to put the little speckledy eggs in. I can still smell the paint and the paper. I can feel the felt between my fingers. Mmmm, lovely memories. May Day is all about celebrating spring and the fact that the sunshine makes things grow. In Gaelic traditions May Day is known as Beltane and is associated with Irish mythology. It marks the beginning of summer when, historically, cattle were driven out of the barns and into the fields. Special bonfires were lit and rituals performed to protect the cattle from harm. I love these celebrations but May Day is very special to me for another reason entirely because three years today, after being together for 14 years, I married my lovely husband, Daniel. We dressed our gorgeous bridesmaids as May Queens... we had a fire...   and yummy food...   and lots and lots of dancing.  I'm curious to know how many of you have been bridesmaids? And if you ever get married what kind of wedding would you love?March 28, 2013 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=541Hello! Right now I'm in bed with flu. I don't mean a bad cold, or a slightly whoozy thing - I mean properly, grown-up, textbook flu. Flu enough to mean I had to cancel an entire day of patients, a day of coaching in London, and two writing workshops in Birmingham. I'm shocked because I never do this - I usually manage to carry on somehow. But this has floored me. Or more precisely, bedded me. But to make the most out of my bad week I thought I'd share my experience with you so the next time you're writing a story and are looking for something to happen you can give one of the characters a nice fat dose of flu! So, here goes... My head feels so heavy I think it's made of concrete. The slightest touch of anything makes the nerves endings under my skin shriek with a weirdly exquisite type of pain that makes all the tiny hairs stand up and tremble. Whereas heavy pressure is surprisingly soothing. My mouth tastes like rotting metallic cheese. My eyeballs feel like someone's squeezed golf balls into my skull and is digging at them with fine hot wires. It's hard to read or watch tv or even write this blog because light presses into them and makes them ache. My body is as weak as a melting jelly. Getting out of bed to do simple stuff like going to the toilet or cleaning my teeth is as exhausting as I imagine climbing Everest to be. And the achievement is just as great. Yay! I made it to the other side of the room! I put my socks on! One minute I'm freezing and shivering, my teeth chattering together like a ghost has slipped under my skin or icy water is dripping all over me. The next my skin is melting because a volcano is exploding inside me turning me into hot sticky lava and sweat. All I want to eat are passion fruits, rhubarb and yoghurt. I'm thirsty for gallons of water and juice. I'm desperate for proper sleep but all I get is this strange swimmy in and out of sleep thing, with intense dreams and restless legs. My pillow feels like it's made of stone. My usually comfy bed feels alien and wrong. And I'm being really kind to myself and gentle and patient with the flu bugs who have invaded my body but I'm getting a little bit bored now, because easter is fast approaching and I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that I'll be well enough to munch the big chocolate bunny I found in the cupboard! Shhhh, I think it's supposed to be a surprise! EEeeek - I hope it's for me! It's is, isn't it? I am the one who loves chocolate bunnies more than any other chocolate in the whole wide world! Anyway... here's a quick Easter Competition for you and I hope the flu bugs don't invade you and your holidays are fab. xxx Love xxx February 23, 2013 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=517I'm really busy at the moment as I'm getting ready for the the launch of my new book, Invisible Girl, (out June 7th). It tells the story of 12 year-old, Gabriella Midwinter, who, after being abandoned by her dad, finds herself living alone on the streets of Manchester. I decided to write the book after reading an article about a man called Andy McCullough (pictured below). Andy is chief policy maker for a charity called Railway Children who work to support street kids in the UK and all over the world. From aged 11 Andy spent more and more time away from home, living on the streets to avoid the difficulties he faced with his family. I was so touched by his story that I contacted him and told him my plans to write a story about a runaway girl. Andy was brilliant and immediately offered to act as a resource, helping me with research, telling me the kind of details about street life that if you hadn't lived it you just wouldn't know. When I'd finished writing I emailed him my story and had a very scary, nail biting wait for his feedback. Lucky for me he LOVED it! Phew! Andy and the other people at Railway Children are now planning to use Invisible Girl to help promote their current campaign. In the UK one child runs away from home every five minutes. For some of these children, just like for Andy, they can't see any other way out. Life at home is often so intolerable that they believe street life will offer them something more. The thing that runaway children often fail to see is that life on the streets may appear to taste of freedom, but the reality is it's a difficult and a potentially dangerous place to be. The Big Issue Foundation are getting involved too because their statistics prove that a huge proportion of homeless adults began their journey to homelessness as a runaway child. They're keen to prevent this happening by showing the realities of street life, so have put together a brilliant fundraising "Big Sleep Out" pack for schools and youth organisations. If this is something you'd like to do then let me know and maybe I'll join you on your Big Sleep Out too! The plan now is for us to travel together, the Railway Children, The Big Issue and I, up and down the country, to begin a dialogue between parents and children about the realities runaways face. We're taking talks and workshops and Invisible Girl, of course, into schools and libraries - so if you'd like us to come to your school or youth group please contact me to let me know! With all this runaway talk I'm really keen to know - have you ever runaway? Do you know anyone who has? I often talked about running away when I was young but always I was too scared to do it. Maybe it had something to do with my mum always saying: "If you're going to go, then don't forget your woolly vest!" If you'd like to pre-order your copy of INVISIBLE GIRL then please click here. Love, Love, Love, Kate xxxJanuary 31, 2013 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=507If you've ever spent time with a librarian you might have been fooled into believing they were an ordinary, everyday kind of person, just like you or I. You might've thought them a little too strict, obessively interested in giving you the evil eye and going 'Shhhhhhh, be quiet!' all the time, you might even have thought them a little eccentric, or shy. But remember Roald Dahl's witches? You know, the ones with wigs disguising bald heads, gloves covering up inch-long claws? The blue saliva? The inhuman eyes with the red-white glow and the toeless feet squished into too tight shoes? Remember them? Well, I'm going to shock your knickers off here by letting the cat out of the bag and telling you that librarians are up to a similar game. Oh yes, you see, they might not have bald heads, blue saliva and inch-long nails but if your particular librarian was in correct disguise, as governed by rule number 4567of the Very Serious Code of Conduct for Librarians, they've been forced to appear ordinary for reasons that even I cannot fathom. But I can assure you that the next time your librarian helps with schoolwork... listens to your woes... shares your interests... or lets you hide away in the peace and quiet of their library... if you pay attention to their cardigan... hidden underneath it you'll find a tender heart... and a pair of wings... because your wonderful school librarian is an angel in disguise. xxDecember 31, 2012 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=492To make a resolution or not? Ho hum... that is the question! It's 7.15pm on New Year's Eve, which means in just under five hours time it'll be 2013 and the big question looming over my head is... shall I make some New Year's resolutions or not? Mostly I fall on the side of not because if I make them and don't keep them I'll feel guilty. But... if I were to make some I think they'd include things like getting more exercise... organising my time more effectively, taking whole days off now and then where I don't plan anything at all but I'm free to do what I like. I'm also pondering setting myself some kind of challenge this year... you know, like walking a million miles over some very uppy downy mountains in big boots with just a bar of Kendal mint cake to eat and rainwater to drink. What do think? Should I? Shouldn't I? Do you think I'm totally mad? And what about you? Are you a resolution kind of a girl or not? If you are then be sure to email back and and tell me all about them.I'm MASSIVELY excited about two things happening in 2013 - the first is the launch of my NEW COMPETITION... because the prize is awesome!  and the second is that it's only six months until my next book, INVISIBLE GIRL, comes out and I can't wait. In my opinion it's my best book yet - and I can't wait to hear if you like it too! I'm really lucky to have had a sneak preview of the front cover - it's quite different from the others... but I know from the bottom of my heart that you're going to LOVE LOVE LOVE it too!Hope you're having fun whatever you're doing and wherever you are,Happy, Happy New Year,Love, Love, Love, Kate xxxNovember 25, 2012 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=484 Some people need only to start recounting the story of something that happened and before you know it a gaggle of sparkly-eyed, open-mouthed people have gathered around them and are hanging on every golden word… Others express their stories through images as paintings… or photographs… or moving images as films… Some people express them through dance… Others make music and sing…  Some people express them best by making things… I express mine by spinning and weaving long ribbons of words… Stories are the telling of happenings and feelings – The soldier drives him away and my words tumble through the air like rocks. “I’m scared you’re going to die, Dad, I’m scared you’re never coming home.” (From: A Million Angels)  Because human life is full of happenings and feelings it means all of us are storytellers. And our stories and our ways of expressing them are as wonderfully unique as we are, there’s no right way or wrong way… What’s your way? October 26, 2012 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=463  Hello, Have you ever felt that everyone else’s lives seem so much better than yours? That somehow…  Whhhaaaaaaaaaa! IT’S NOT FAIR? All the characters in my books have felt it at some point in their story and it’s a common complaint people make everyday.  Gabriella Midwinter, the main character in the book I’ve just finished writing called, INVISIBLE GIRL, has every reason to feel that life’s not fair. But the truth is if you look back in history it’s never been fair. It’s sad but true that there has never been a time without a war being fought in some part of the world… there has always been famine, people starving, begging for food…  there has always been flood… and drought… earthquake… and volcanoes. People have been mean and hurtful to one another… and to our beautiful, beautiful planet, forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever. LIFE ISN’T FAIR. And it is so sad that it never has been and probably never will be. It’s frustrating that there’s no big book up in the sky that said it should or would be. It’s true that somethings that happen really aren’t OK. Some things do need to be stopped. But life, in all its wild and wonderful beauty, is this changeable tide. It’s this moveable feast that is forever shaking the ground beneath our feet. I’m not being defeatist in this, just realistic. Our minds want fairness and order and predictability, they want to know what’s going to happen, to somehow feel in control. But if you think about it there’s never been a situation or an event that has ever been anything like how you’ve imagined it to be. It’s generally much better or much worse than you might have predicted. Often it’s just plain boring. But whatever, it’s never, ever like the swirling images in your mind. It’s really useful to remember that, after all, we are like tiny grains of sand, on this incredible planet that is spinning us around the sun at 66,000 miles per hour, that there’s not been and there never will be even one single moment that we can totally control. But, having spent many years unravelling the mystery of what it is to be here, in this life, experience tells me that if we could drop from the battle that our minds create and let our hearts break open and be touched to the very core by all the pain that surrounds us… if we could surrender to the confusion, the imperfection and the mystery of it all… We’d find, in the very centre of our being, all the answers, all the wisdom we’ve been looking for… arising from a bottomless well of love. Love has the capacity to embrace all the difficulty that the mind runs from or tries to change… and if we listen to it’s whispers as well as it’s shouts, it knows, utterly, butterly, what what to do. So… bring your gifts, your wellness, your strength and your love to the world. Instead of whinging about what’s not fair… Whhhaaaaaaa… feed the hungry, give your coat to those who are shivering with the cold. And remember that everything will keep on changing for the rest of your life. Everything that lives will die and the world will keep on spinning and spinning and spinning to infinity and beyond… until that too runs out of fuel and dies. So, live, sing, dance, touch and taste while you can… delight in all the wonderful things that surround you, with utter respect for everything that appears in front of your eyes, utter reverence for the mysterious space in which they all appear. Just saying… xxx      September 08, 2012 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=445Last Sunday I had so much fun with my lovely competition winner, 9 year old, Lula, and her mum, and little sister, Dora. We met in London and spent two hours in a photographic studio having loads of crazy photos taken by a professional photographer, then we headed off for supper at Carluccios on the King's Road. For those of you who didn't get chance to look at my summer competition it was all about mermaids. You had to make, sing, bake, paint, film, sculpt, write or do anything at all that was mermaid inspired. There were so many brilliant entries I was totally spoilt for choice. People wrote some amazing poems and stories and then there were fab things like... this amazing sand sculpture... and this beautiful painting... Then one day Lula's entry arrived and immediately stole my heart. It's a song called Wish To Be, inspired by the film The Little Mermaid. Lula wrote the lyrics and then composed the music using Garage band (a music programme on Mac computers that uses pre-recored blocks of music). Then she videoed herself singing and uploaded it to YouTube. Lula's entry was so amazing I actually contacted her mum to make sure she'd done it all herself because the rules stated it had to be your own work. Her mum said she'd had no idea what Lula was doing until it was finished and assured me that the only help she'd had was from an older cousin who had helped her upload it to YouTube. When I met Lula I was really excited to ask her more about her song and why she'd chosen those particular blocks of music, why she written those lyrics. And her answer was simple, she said, "I just wanted it to connect to people's emotions." So I'm sharing this with you because connecting with emotions is the thing all writers and artists are attempting to do. Whether it's making people laugh or cry or rant with rage, they want to move their audience in some way, they want to wriggle under their skin, to have an effect. Many of the poems and stories I received did this too - like the gorgeous pictures above. But Lula did it in such a way as to make herself unforgettable. My family and I haven't stopped singing her song for weeks now and once you've listened to it I pretty much guarantee it'll get under your skin too, it'll find a way into your heart. And the thing I'm excited to tell you is that we all have the capacity to touch the world in this way... ...to be totally unforgettable. All we have to do is feel what's going on inside us and bring it into being as a gift. Sometimes it'll come out as a picture or a word or a song or a dance, other times it'll be a cup of tea, a flower picked from the hedgerow, a really well done piece of maths. Sometimes it'll come out as a raw, untempered expression of truth, or as laughter, or a tender hug. But at the root of all of these gifts is a deep, rich river of love... simply appearing as life. Simply appearing as you... bringing your gifts... touching the world... being totally unforgettable. xxx OK - I've finished rabbeting on -  now you can see the video of Lula's song and the one I made of our fab day out! But before that I'd like to say... Thank you Lula for bringing your gifts to the world, for touching my heart, for being totally unforgettable. xxxAugust 19, 2012 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=442New situations can sometimes feel really scary. They can make our hearts beat fast, our tummies twist and churn; our palms drip with sweat and our mouths feel dry. Sometimes the worry gets so much we feel a deep sense of panic rising inside, making us feel totally out of control.  The good news is that all these feelings are really normal. Everyone gets them. You are not alone. And all you have to do when the feelings start to overwhelm you is let yourself feel them. And then ask yourself… “What do I need?” Not what do I need to get away from the feeling, but how can I support myself in feeling afraid? Once you can let yourself feel the feeling, any feeling, and take care of yourself, it will mostly start to fade away. A hug and some reassurance is often all you’ll need, a chat and a cup of tea, a snuggle somewhere cosy with your favourite old Ted. Imagine you’re looking after a 2-year-old and they get scared about something. It’s unlikely you’d you say, “Get over it!” “Pull yourself together!” “Don’t be stupid!” Is it? What you’d probably do is pull them on your lap, give them a cuddle and reassure them that everything will be OK.  So what you have to do is learn to do this for yourself. With the summer holidays almost over and many of you starting new classes, new schools, new situations, I thought I’d help you with some of the fears that are swimming inside you.  So… grab your Ted, make a cup of tea/hot choccy/juice, sit back and read on… Before the end of last term I asked a class of year 6’s what fears they had about starting a new school. Here are just a few. 1.I’m scared I won’t make friends. Making new friends can sometimes be instant but more often than not it takes time. The best way to make new friends is to be yourself. Resist the temptation to turn yourself into something you’re not just to please others. Stay true to you. People are more likely to be friendly with someone who’s friendly. So even if you’re feeling scared and shy, rather than pretending you’re not, you could risk sharing that with someone. They’re probably feeling scared and shy too – so instantly you’ve got something in common – instantly you’ve found a new friend. Joining clubs is another great way of making friends with the same interests as you, so sign up for everything you can.  2.I’m worried about getting into trouble for something I didn’t do. It’s really unlikely that you’ll get blamed for something you didn’t do. But in case it ever does happen make a rule for yourself that you’ll always tell the truth. It’s a good place to start from. If you make this a rule for yourself then your friends as well as your teachers will always know that you’re trustworthy, they’ll be more likely to believe your side of the story. For example, if your teacher accuses you of copying someone in a test when you didn’t, you should: Stand tall and keep good eye contact with him or her whilst saying what happened. Keeping your eyes on the floor or all over the place will look like you’re lying. Speak out loud and clear. Again if you mumble they’ll think you’ve got something to hide. You might say something like, “I apologise that my behaviour lead you to thinking that I was cheating but I’m an honest person and cheating is something I’d never do.”  3.I’m worried about getting bullied. I hope you never get bullied but if it does happen it’s really important that you know how to take care of yourself and what to do. The first thing is to ask for help straight away. Most schools have a no tolerance bullying policy in place and someone there to help you. So make sure you tell your teachers and your parents. Don’t believe it if people tell you that telling on the bully will make it worse. Bullies need to be stopped once and for all. So if they start up again you tell again and you keep going like this until the problem is resolved. If it gets really bad make sure you take care of yourself by avoiding being alone in quiet places in the playground, making sure someone walks home with you etc. Again, if they approach you keep good eye contact because it will put a bully off guard. They prey on people who they think are weaker than them because underneath their tough exterior they feel really weak themselves. Stand tall, look them in the eye and say: “Go away! Leave me alone!” 4.Will people like me? Another way of looking at this question is to ask yourself, will you like people? And I guess the true answer is, you’ll like some people and not others and some people will like you and others won’t. It’s unrealistic to expect that everyone will like you but very realistic to expect that plenty of people will. Like I said earlier it’s good to seek out people with similar interests as you and to get yourself involved in as many activities as possible. If someone doesn’t like you it’s important that you let yourself feel the pain of that. It hurts inside when someone rejects us. But just because they don’t like you it shouldn’t mean that you stop liking yourself. So here’s a time to take hold of your own hand, give yourself a hug, cuddle your teddy, and talk to someone about how you’re feeling. It’ll all help, I promise! 5.How will I get to school, know what bus to get etc? Ask your parents to explain clearly how you’re going to get to school and then do a few trial runs through the summer holidays to you get some idea of how long the journey is going to take you. If you’re travelling by public transport get your parents to go with you once or twice until you feel sure of the route. Then, if one of your friends or someone near where you live is going to the same school you might suggest doing a trial run together, then maybe, once you start school, you could meet up every morning and travel together. 6.I’m starting to worry about GCSE’s and A levels already, they’re so important and there’s so much stuff to learn. You really don’t need to even think about these kinds of exams now. By the time you get to them you’ll know everything you need to know. 7.Are the teachers going to be strict? Some teachers are strict and some aren’t. But remember that strict doesn’t necessarily mean they’re not going to be nice – it means they like to keep order in the class. If you’re well behaved in class this shouldn’t be a problem for you. If you ever do feel that a teacher is being unfairly strict on you then make sure you tell another teacher and your parents and insist that something is done. 8.Are the teachers going to like me? Again some teachers will like you others may not. But remember, the same goes for you, you’ll love some teachers and not be so keen on others. It’s a fact of life, something we have to get used to.   9.Will the work be really hard? Most schools are really good at pitching the work to the right level. The main thing to remember is that if you don’t understand something ask for help. It’s much better to get help straight away and unravel the problem than it is to wait until the end of the term. The longer you wait, the more behind you’ll get, the more stressed you’ll be. Talk to your teachers, talk to your family and get the support you need. 10.Will I be able to cope with all the homework? Again, most schools will feed the homework to you gently so you don’t get too overwhelmed. If you do feel overwhelmed and feel you’re struggling then remember to tell someone; ask for help. It’s really useful to get into a good routine with homework. The longer you leave it the more stressed you’ll get. You could make a plan, something like: come home, have a snack do homework/music practice etc. Then once it’s done watch tv, play computers, go out, do something you love. If you do the fun stuff first then you’ll find you end up doing your homework late at night and in a rush and that can be really stressful. 11.Will the older children help me? Some of them will be really happy to help you, especially if they remember what it was like on their first day at school. Some big kids aren’t so friendly; they’re too busy trying to act older and cool. Ignore them, they’ll grow out of it soon, and ask the ones who look friendly and approachable.  12.Will the food be nice? You won’t know until you try it – but I hopefully it’ll be delicious! 13.Who should I ask if I get lost? New schools can feel quite daunting – everything seems much bigger, the smells are all wrong and everything is unfamiliar. But rest assured your school will definitely give you a tour to help you get familiar with the place and they’ll most likely give you a map as well. But if you do get lost ask a member of staff or one of the friendly big kids to help. 14.Will I be in the same class as my friends?   Some schools get you to write down the friends you’d like to be with and some don’t bother, they just mix it up and let everyone get on with it. Either way it’s good to remember is that everyone is feeling nervous, so be friendly and kind and I’m sure it’ll work out OK. If you're starting something new and have worries you'd like help with please feel free to post them here. I'll do what I can to help! GOOD LUCK!July 21, 2012 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=418What would you rather have on your gravestone when you die... "She was a very bright girl and got A's in all her tests..." OR "She was an amazing friend, we shared so many wonderful memories, she'll be in our hearts forever..." ? I know which one I'll choose. You see, I know it's good to try your best at school and do as well as you can but I need you to tell you that it's not the most important thing in life.  Over the years, in my clinic, I've listened thousands of people tell me how totally rubbish they feel about themselves because they're not as intelligent or well educated as they'd like to be, or because they don't do so well in exams.  I've listened to thousands of children tell me how panicked they get at the thought of getting a bad mark because they somehow make it mean they won't be loved or liked so much. It's the same with waiting for school reports or parents evening. The feeling of dread builds inside and they start feeling so sad and stupid and alone. Sounds familiar? It was like that for me with maths. I still can't do it. If you show me a page of numbers my brain just kind of shuts down. But somehow I never let it get to me. My mum didn't judge me by exam results and deep inside I knew I was clever in other ways; ways like understanding human emotions and psychological twists, like being really good at listening, really good at loving. I find it very strange that our culture puts so much importance on academic excellence but so little on emotional intelligence. I'm endlessly surprised that no one has worked out that this lack of emphasis on emotional intelligence might be a major factor in family and friendship breakdowns, violence, depression, disruption, bullying, destruction and war. I'm surprised that no one can see how amazing our world would be if schools taught children how to communicate and relate clearly, how to be tender with each other's feelings, how to speak their needs and listen well so that people feel heard. And what about being kind and funny and loving and the best friend ever? Where are the certificates for these things? If I were Prime Minister I'd build these subjects into every school curriculum. If I were head of Hogwarts I'd throw out the spell book and get everyone learning the book of love. You might be the most intelligent person in the world but if you don't know how to give and receive love your heart will always feel empty, you'll always feel alone. So... if you're feeling blue because you didn't do so well in your end of year exams or your school report or parents evening, make yourself a hot chocolate, grab a tasty snack, snuggle up somewhere cosy and take heart. Some of the greatest people to walk this earth, people like... Leonardo Da Vinci, Pablo Picasso, Hans Christian Anderson, Walt Disney and Albert Einstein were all dyslexic. Ghandi, who inspired movements for non-violence and freedom right across the globe learned lots but didn't get on particularly well at school. Other qualities that successful people tend to have in common are the ability to pick themselves up and brush themselves down when things don't work out as they planned, the capacity to embrace failure as a useful feedback mechanism, the ability to communicate their needs clearly and be gentle with their tender heart. And some last words from the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Mother Teresa... "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love." "Be faithful in the small things because it is in them that your strength lies."    July 15, 2012 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=409Another year over, school's out...    and the freedom of summer is here. (Ahem, I know it's raining and doesn't feel like summer but stay with me on this, it is summer)...    Now, for some of you that's BRILLIANTO news...  ...last lessons, last lumpy mashed potato lunch, last school assembly, freedom and fun until September... and if you're leaving a school where you haven't been happy then you'll probably be jumping for joy! But... for those of you who are leaving a school you've loved... this can be a truly DESPERADO :( time. You might be leaving because you're moving house, or country, or because the time has actually come for you to join the BIG kids at the BIG school... EEEEEKK! But whatever your reasons, your last days at school are going to be full to the brim of saying...  Think about it... last lesson with your fave teacher, leavers assembly, last best school dinner ever, last art class, last PE class, last sports day, last concert, last theatre production, last literacy lesson, last numeracy lesson, last every lesson, last time hanging your coat on your peg, last moment at your desk, last time you'll empty your drawer, last time you'll unpin your work from the wall, last time you share that special class joke, last time you see the sad girl/boy shuffling in the corner, last time the irritating girl/boy irritates you, last time the school bully glares at you, last time your teacher reads you a story, last time you sing your favourite song... BOOOHOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO.... ...last skid along the corridor, last waft of paintbrush smells, last whiff of polished floors, of moulding cabbage...      ...last skip in the playground, last run down the stairs, last time seeing the really, really tiny reception kids, last time wearing your gingham dress with matching hair toggles and socks... BOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO! ...last school day with your besties, last time sitting next to your extra special bestie, last time you step out of the school gate as a pupil of your school. Saying goodbye can be really hard, especially if your best friends are going on to different schools. It's a huge moment in your life and you'll vow to see/text/facebook/twitter/phone each other everyday for the rest of your lives. And, as you step bravely into your new world, where for just a few weeks you don't really belong in your old school and you don't quite belong in your new... You'll wobble in the unknown... ...missing your old life, wondering about your new one. You'll swing between excitement and fear and you might feel lonely and lost. So, take good care of yourself and if it all gets too much hunt out your teddy and give him a hug, talk about your worries with your family and friends, snuggle down somewhere cosy with a cupcake and a book. The truth is we can never know what's going to happen in the future, we can never predict how thing's will turn out. All we can do is enjoy those last moments, sing the songs and breath deeply of the smells, tell your friends how much they mean to you. swap treasures and keep them forever, etch sweet memories on your heart and trust that when one door closes... ...another one will open wide. xJuly 05, 2012 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=403It's only just coming to me why I write the stuff I write. Obviously... I want to entertain and become an internationally renowned multi millionaire Dame and all that but there's a deeper driver that's just popping it's little (or not so little) head above the parapit and saying... YES, THAT'S IT! So I thought I'd share my wonderful nugget of realisation with you... For the past 10 years I've been engaged in a process of self enquiry that has transformed every corner of my life. I'm waking up to my neurosis, my co dependence, my fragility and vulnerability, my super ego and all the many other wonderfully humaney traits we all share. Now I'm happily splashing around in them, tenderly feeling my heart, my body; gently meeting my needs.    And... by the simple fact of embracing these painful truths about myself an incredible bundle of creative possibility has woken it's sleepy little head up too! I'm inspired in a way I've never been before. Life is bursting with opportunity, I'm alive as possibility, my brain box is sizzling with ideas. Another side effect of this awakening malarkey is that my practice as a therapist has been turned on it's head too. For the past few years my work with individuals and groups has been all about loving 'what is' rather than finding a 'fix'. Over the years I've worked with thousands of people and feel so very blessed to have had the opportunity of holding their hands through their own transformation in the same way that others have been holding mine.   What moves me to writing for children is, having witnessed the unfolding of my own chronic lack of emotional literacy that I lived for so long and the unfolding of so many families I've worked with, that I now know for sure that life doesn't have to be this way, that there is much more depth and possibilty to explore. Parents are so afraid and so under resourced to let their children feel, then children want to please their parents so they numb out, internalise and disappear inside of themselves. And so it goes on and on, the heavy layer of concrete setting harder and harder, reinforced by low self esteem and peer pressure.   Through my books I hope to speak into this void and show my lovely readers how to navigate through difficulty by relating with it, rather than shutting down or spinning out in the face of it. I aim to reassure them that everything they feel is normal and human.   The overspill from this is my work in schools giving author talks and running writing workshops. Here, I hope to point children in the direction that they too will begin to connect up and embrace the deeper truth's inside themselves. And rather than twisting these sometimes painful truths into difficult and troublesome behavioural patterns they'll bravely touch the pain and bring it into being through creativity, through possibility, through writing and art. I hope they'll get some sense of how awesomely creative they are, how exciting and fresh their raw talent is if they dare to step out of the confines that emotional suppression has built for them.  I'd love to support teachers in seeing that the so called 'problems' and 'negative attitudes' they battle with daily in our schools are actually the result of tapped-off life force, they are just painfully twisted expressions of love. I'd like to reassure them that the very thing they are working hard to inspire in children is already the case, already and forever present, patiently shining, as bright as a jewel underneath the layers of concrete.  We all have the capacity to write brilliant books and make great art because it's the overflow of love... it's the natural expression of being human and I so desire to impart this knowledge to children and help them touch the greatness that they are! As Michelangelo said: "Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."     That's all really... just saying... thanks for reading. x   And here a few of my favourite quotes from my books that might help you get what I mean. xxx  "Wouldn't it be great if love and hate could hold each other's hands and be OK together because they're both true. They're just how it is." (A Sea of Stars)  "And I'm shining too. I can feel happiness shining out of me like a fountain, filling the room and lighting up my green, green eyes. And now I know for sure that Matilda was wrong and that all the hurts and tight little scars in the world can be melted by love." (Shine)  "The truth will set you free, pet," she says, "see, either way, whatever happens, it's the most important thing." (A Million Angels)  "Liberty, I'm so sorry I have to go. I want to stay with you a million times over and if I had just one wish then you would be my wish come true. Dying is a part of life, just like being born....... you'll always find me, tucked safely away in your heart, glittering under your skin." (Glitter)  June 13, 2012 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=395 In my new book, A Sea of Stars, 12 year-old Maya's had hardly any freedom in her life because her mum is so panicked about her safety, whereas her newly adopted sister, Cat, has had too much. Maya is two years older than Cat and thinks it's really unfair. She feels like a baby because her mum won't even let her go on a bus on her own, she panics when Maya wants to go down to the bay to surf. Cat's independent because she had to be. Her mum's problems meant she had to start taking take care of herself and her little brother when she was far too young. when she still needed taking care of herself. When I was growing up my mum constantly panicked about my safety but because she had so many of her own traumas going on I was allowed to do what I liked. I had to let her know where I was going but that never felt like a problem because I was free, free, free as a bird. I used to play out with my friends, go swimming, cycling and off to the cinema and one of my favourite things was to break into derelict buildings (please don't do this... it's VERY dangerous!) and play house. I loved spending time in the empty rooms making up stories about who might have lived there, imagining how I could turn it into a dream house of my very own. I loved rummaging on bits of wasteland too. Once I found a dead bird, dug a grave, laid beautiful flowers on it and sung sad funerally songs for hours. I only went to school if I felt like it, which meant I didn't go very often and my mum was fine with that too. One of the strange things about this is that my mum was a brain box full of knowledge. She loved history and literature and classical music; she was brilliant at general knowledge and knew evereything there was to know about flowers. You'd think she would have been more keen to get me off to school but I think she was wise and obviously knew that school wasn't the only place for learning. She obviously knew but that knowledge is absorbed by finding a passion and following your dream. And it's only by writing this now that I can see how much she influenced me. If it weren't for her viewing me and my life through the eyes of possibility I may have given up my dream of becoming an author years ago! When my own children were growing-up I gave them lots of freedom too but not so much as my mum gave me. I always supported them in following their dreams but I  made sure they did stuff like homework and music practice as well. I was really relaxed about where they went but they had to keep in touch and let me know roughly where they were. I was fine about parties and boyfriends and girlfriends and how many children they invited home so long as they ate their green vegetables. And as we lived in a big old tumbly down house that had loads of space it was always full to the brim with kids. There was a mountain of trainers by our front door and I was never sure quite how many teenagers I'd wake up to on a Sunday morning because stray kids would drift in at all hours of the night. And this was fine, so long as they said "hello" to me and let me hug them goodbye when they left bleary eyed in the morning. I suppose you could say I was more like Cat as I had freedom with hardly any boundaries. My own children had freedom with boundaries and some children, like Maya, have no freedom at all. So I'm interested to know about you... How much freedom do you have? Are you allowed to do what you like or do you have loads of rules? And what's the right amount of freedom anyway? Should it be to do with age or maturity or something else entirely?June 13, 2012 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=394A few weeks ago the lovely Orli from girlsheartbooks asked me if I'd write something to go in a book she's compiling to raise money for the National Autistic Society. Her book is going to be full of thoughts from women and girls about things they wish they'd known when they were... It was a really interesting question to be faced with because one of the things I love about life is that we can never tell what's actually going to happen, each moment in life is a big surprise. But I wanted to do this for Orli and the truth is if I had known all this stuff when I was 13 I would have saved myself a lot of worry and pain, so much heartache... So... with saving heartache in mind I thought I'd share my scribblings with you. I don't have a piccy of me age 13 on my laptop, and I'm away working in Devon this week so I can't upload one, but here's one of me when I was 10... And here's me now... So... when I was 13 I wish I'd known how futile it is to worry about stuff because worrying doesn't actually change anything. I wish I'd known how brilliant my life would become, what amazing children I'd grow. This is them... they're called Jane and Tim. I have three lovely step-sons too called Sam, Joe and Ben. When I was 13 I wish I'd known that although life can be painful  sometimes the world is full of love - you just have to be here for it - you just have to feel it swimming all around you. I wish I'd known that I would find true love and that the boys I was crushing on at the time really weren't worth all the effort and the pain. I wish I'd known that I was and always would good enough. That I was perfect just the way I was and that everyone else was too. I wish I known that trying to change people was a waste of time - that loving them and appreciating them as they are is so much kinder, so much richer. When I was 13 I wish I'd known that my dream of being an author would come true. A Sea of Stars... out June 7th! I wish I'd known that I'd create a beautiful home for my family that would be totally brimming with love. I wish I'd known that I'd explore so many incredible places on this planet, that I'd have the opportunity to meet so many amazing people. When I was 13 I wish I'd known that so much of the stuff I learned at school would be a total waste of time. I wish I'd known that school was full of... I wish I'd known that teachers weren't there to give me a hard time but that they were there to show me and teach me wonderful things. I wish I'd known that my mum and dad would both have died by the time I was 33. I wish I'd known how precious every minute with them truly was. When I was 13 I wish I'd known that being true to myself was the most important thing ever. I wish I'd known that life changes when you least expect it. When I was 13 I wish I'd known that some friends come and go and that some stay forever. When I was 13 I wish I'd known that I didn't look stupid when I danced. I wish I'd known that having a big nose wouldn't stop me from being happy or from being loved. When I was 13 I wish I'd known that life is full of possibility and that all I had to do was hold hands and join in. I wish I'd known that although life is sometimes so full of pain, it passes. I wish I'd known that although life is sometimes so full of joy, that passes too. I wish I'd known that it's a waste of time trying to control things, because everything is constantly changing, because that is the nature of life. When I was 13 I wish I'd known that my bright heart would have enough capacity to embrace it all... and that all I had to do was jump on my surfboard and ride the beautiful waves of life. April 21, 2012 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=175Did you know that the main character in every story has at least one mentor? What's a mentor? Well, a mentor is someone who, however tough the going gets, will be there to hold the main character's hand, to guide them, to cheer them on to the finishing line. They'll be there, somewhere in the background, offering... For instance, Harry Potter had quite a few mentors, but my favourite one has to be Hagrid... Hagrid encourages Harry in everything he does, he often rescues him from potential danger, he even made him a... In my book, A Million Angels, Jemima's mentor is her granny... In Shine, Tiff's mentor is her auntie Cass... In Glitter, Liberty's mentor is her new best friend Cali. These amazing mentor people don't just appear in stories though... they're popping up all over the place in real life too... So... even if it sometimes feels like no one's on your side, I can guarantee that someone, somewhere is shouting... Someone, somewhere is truly happy to take the time to listen and to understand.... Someone, somewhere has a willing shoulder for you to cry on; a tender hand for you to hold. If I look back on my life I have had and still do have some completely amazing people cheering me on... sometimes they appear as family or friends... and sometimes they appear, at just the right moment, as a totally random stranger... as a beautiful angel appearing through the mist. And then sometimes, because life goes round in circles, it's my turn to cheer someone on, to guide them, to offer my shoulder or reach out my hand... Sometimes it's my turn to appear like an angel through the mist. Who cheers you on and holds your hand? When have you appeared like an angel through the mist for someone else? xxxxxx March 17, 2012 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=173It might seem like every book you read is just a huge mountain of words... spun together to create images; woven and stitched to take you from the beginning to end of the story. But did you know... that at the centre of the words is a precious gem, a golden nugget of truth that all the other words spin from? It's the theme that sits at the centre of the story like a beautiful shining heart. In my first book, SHINE, the precious gem at the centre of the story is Tiff's longing for safety and security. She wishes her mum were normal and that she didn't keep stealing things and having tantrums. In GLITTER, Liberty longs for her dad's praise. She wishes his heart would send her a little gift-wrapped parcel of love that would land like glitter on her smile. In A MILLION ANGELS, Jemima just wants her Dad back safely from the war in Afghanistan. It's the same with stories that you write. The closer you can keep to the central theme the more satisfying your story will be. It'll leave your reader feeling warm and complete, like the precious jewel, the golden nugget, is actually shining and glowing in their heart. It's the same with conversations... you can blah, blah, blah on for hours, using hundreds and thousands of words... but do you always say what you're longing to say? Do you always touch the jewel, the nugget, that beautiful shining heart? Are you left feeling warm and satisfied by your conversations or do they feel empty and fake? Can you say "sorry" when you know it's the truth? Or... "I love you and appreciate you?" Or... "can you give me a hug, please, because I'm feeling really scared?" I've been practicing this a lot lately and I promise you, it's amazing! All you have to do is drop your attention from your mind, feel deep inside your body... and you'll discover that all the words are just sitting there... longing to be spoken... waiting to be heard. Say something truthful today and tell me how you feel...February 16, 2012 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=171I can't quite believe it - I'm sitting in my bed (my favourite place to write at the moment), the window is open, the brightest blue sky and sunshine are streaming through, and the world is full of birdsong... Spring is definitely in the air, I can feel it in my bones. A car zooms past... a pony leans over my garden fence and I can hear it munching on grass... and then another car... a huge horse clip clops by... and the birds keep singing and singing and singing. And if I don't label the sounds or the images but just listen to them and watch them and let them be as they are... a rich and delicious symphony of Life pours effortlessly through my window. Then if I listen even more carefully... between all the sounds arising... there's this amazing silence... this deep, continuous hum of peace... this unchanging lullaby of bliss... like a clear blue sky in which the birds appear... ...like the space in which you and I emerge in all our human glory... And when I let the silence move through me... it's like I'm not doing the living anymore... it's like I'm being lived by this great well of silence... like every cell inside of me is living as this peaceful hum of bliss... And from here I'm free to participate in the beautiful dance of life... From here all the stories I ever need to write will arise. Listen to your world for 5 minutes... to all the little drips and clatters and clops that appear... listen to the silence in between and let the noise exist in the midst of it... then let me know how you feel. xxxDecember 06, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=170I was driving along the other day wondering what to write about and I got thinking about how, in all of my books, I'm always going on about angels and stars. And that got me wondering where it all started. After thinking about it for about half a second I realised it had to have come from Christmas time in my primary school days. This is me aged about 10 at St Mary's and St Peter's Primary School, in Teddington, Middlesex. What I loved most about the bit before we broke up for Christmas was the fact that we got to miss lots of lessons and do loads of creative stuff instead. I just lalalalalalalalaurved making those stained glass window things - my heart would literally leap for joy on the day we did them, and I'd spend hours and hours trying to get it right. In my mind's eye I'd create wonderful celestial beings, things of great beauty, fit for adoring church windows all over the world. And I hoped they might look something like this... In reality though they always ended up looking much more like this... But I didn't care - I loved them with all my heart and proudly hurried them home to my mum at the end of term. I also loved making tissue paper stars, a bit like this one... And I loved all the shiny gold stars and silver stars that seemed to be everywhere. But the thing I loved most about Christmas time at school was doing the Nativity Play. I was really into drama so I loved everything about it. I used to get really, really, really excited waiting to see what part I got. I never got the part of Mary, and in a way I didn't mind. It always looked like quite a boring part to play, just sitting there with a doll on your lap. I much preferred being a shepherd with a woolly lamb tucked under my arm, and a tea towel on my head... ...or one of the three wise men with a jewel encrusted crown and a beautiful golden box... ...but the part that did it for me most, and got me so excited I literally thought I might wet myself, was playing Angel Gabriel... I loved standing in the wings, looking out into the audience to see if my mum had arrived. And the shaky feeling in my body and the way my throat went tight and my tummy clenched up with so much excitement and anxiety. It all felt so dramatic and wonderful. Waiting for my grand entrance when I would swoop on stage in my white cotton sheet and itchy tinsel halo and wings made out of coat hangers was the highlight of it all. Would I forget my lines? Or would I stand there with my arms outstretched and say in a crystal clear voice... "Hail, Mary, do not be afraid for I am the angel of the Lord. And behold you shall bear the son of God and his name shall be Jesus." Ahhhhh, the sweet memory of it all still sits in me somewhere like a soft warm glow. And here's my favourite Christmas Carol to get you in the mood... In The Bleak Mid Winter Tell me what you love or loved best about school days leading up to Christmas... November 21, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=169You may or may not be aware of it but most of the people in your life are giving you a subtle (or not so subtle) message that it's only OK for you to feel 'GOOD' 'BRIGHT' and 'HAPPY' If you're unhappy about something and raging with anger your parents might say "go and sit on the naughty step until you can calm down and can be a nice girl again!" So mostly you'll do as you're told and gather up all your angry feelings as if they were dangerous beasts escaped from the zoo. Then you'll tuck them under your ribs, out of sight, and turn yourselves into the perfect your parents want you to be, the girl they not afraid of, the one they know how to love. It's sometimes the same if you're feeling sad, they'll say "Cheer up!" "Smile!" "Let's make it better!" Teachers are doing it too. And the media. They're all going on and on about being 'POSITIVE' and 'SUCCESSFUL' Your teachers will shower onto the girls that smile the most, the ones that are perfect, that excel at a million subjects and get top marks A*********'s all the time. You might want to on them but your teachers will love them because they make their job much easier. THE PROBLEM IS... ...when we only get to express this angelic side of ourselves there are a whole bunch of other quite wonderful feelings full of texture and richness that we never get to feel or share. We just feel guilty for feeling them and attempt to hide them even more. We never get to experience ALL of our feelings which are wonderful and totally NORMAL Even ANGER, RAGE, JEALOUSY, HATRED and SADNESS are NORMAL And the reason everyone denies them and is so very scared of them is because when you trap them inside and tuck them under your ribs for too long they really do start behaving like wild beasts. They can't just sit there quietly so they start coming out sideways in things like SARCASM, QUEIT DIGS, SNIDE REMARKS, BANGING DOORS, SLAMMING CUPS, EVIL LOOKS and people who go on to do real harm in the world like MURDERERS, AXE WELDING MANIACS, BULLIES, RAPISTS, ABUSERS ETC do it BECAUSE keeping all the beasts quiet becomes too much, BECAUSE they've not been taught how to relate with these feelings, they've not been told that they're normal, no one's ever seen them feel angry and seen beauty in its expression. No one's ever seen their tears and just gently held them. No one's ever looked at their D grade and said YOU'RE TOTALLY PERFECT AND I LOVE YOU JUST AS YOU ARE I need to get one thing clear though... It's NEVER NOT EVER OK to dump your feelings on others, to take them out on others, or to hurt someone else in ANY way WHATSOEVER. But it IS OK however to CELEBRATE your feelings and to love them because they're yours. And if you start to do this I promise you'll find the relationships in your life will feel closer, richer and deeper. Imagine the freedom and closeness you'd feel if you could say to your Bestie, "I'm really jealous of you," just because it's the truth, without her or you freaking out that you've done something wrong. Or if you could say to your annoying brother or sister "I really hate you" without hitting them and with you both knowing that your hate is as much of a wonderful gift as your love. Imagine the freedom and closeness you'd feel if you could just be angry and rage like a toddler on the floor sometimes with your mum next to you appreciating the power and strength of the emotion flowing through your body just like a wave crashing down on the shore. So how would it be to let your beasties out of their cage and welcome them into your world? October 23, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=168When I'm not writing I spend a lot of time doing my other job, which involves listening to people's problems and helping them to work things out. Over the past 15 years I've listened to literally thousands of people and discovered that all human beings share one fear in common and that's the fear of feeling... If you've ever had it you'll know that the lonely feeling is like an empty room inside you, thickly painted with an ache that colours every wall. It feels like your soul has been ripped out of you, like you've given your heart away. And that's the place that most people get stuck in, sometimes for years and years and years. They look out at the world and feel like everyone else is happier and more popular than them, everyone else has a friend, everyone else is loved. But the reason they get stuck here for ever and ever is because they're constantly trying to distract themselves from the lonely feeling, they're constantly trying to run away from it, hide from it, cheer it up, get over it, think about it, feel positive, to look at it, analyse it and on and on it goes... Another reason people get stuck in the loneliness is because they start believing that everyone else is better than them, more loveable somehow. So they start changing themselves in the hope that changing will get them more friends, more love. They work on being funnier, or kinder, or louder, or quieter, or cleverer or more beautiful, and they go on like this for years and years, pulling further and further away from the truth and beauty that they already are. But the problem is NONE of this will work. It will always lead to more loneliness, more hopelessness, more despair. And the reason none of this will work is because what they've been trying to do forever is fix the problem from the outside. The focus has always been on the other people, the popular ones, the ones who they think have more love. They've never thought of bringing the focus and attention back to them. So if you ever find yourself feeling lonely here's what to do... You bring your own heart back to you and you keep it close and treasure it above all else because it's the most precious thing you have. Then you let the waves of sadness that you've been avoiding for years crash through you like a tide, safe in the knowledge that your own beautiful heart will tenderly hold your feelings in its hands. Then you take hold of your own hand and hold it tight and reassure yourself that you love you. Then you spend time hanging out with yourself doing the things that you love the most, the things that make you feel warm and happy from the inside. And you keep doing this until one day you wake up and realise that you truly are your own best friend, that you're never lonely when you have yourself, that you're perfect just as you are and you're never not loved. Then you take the overspill from that love out into the world to play. You share it with people you meet without needing to feel dependent on them to make you feel good - because you feel full of your own love, you feel good already, friendship is the icing on top of an already delicious cake. Here's a favourite video of mine that describes this so beautifully, hope you like it...October 06, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=167 I was over the moon and back to be invited to be part of Bath Festival of Children's Literature's newest project - The Big Blog Story, a rolling adventure written by a whole bunch of lovely authors. The story so far has taken many curious twists and turns, click on the links to follow its progress. You'll find my chapter below. 8 September Bath Festival of Childrenandrsquo;s Literature http://bathkidslitfest.wordpress.com/ 10 September Robin Etherington http://theetheringtonbrothers.blogspot.com/ 12 September Annabel Pitcher http://www.annabelpitcher.com/blog-news/ 14 September Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell http://www.stewartandriddell.co.uk/immortals_tour.php 16 September Hannah Shaw http://hannahshawillustrator.co.uk/?news.html 18 September Writing From the Tub http://carlybennett.blogspot.com/ 20 September Lauren Kate http://laurenkatebooks.net/category/blog 22 September Marcus Sedgewick http://marcussedgwick.blogspot.com/ 24 September Alan Gibbons http://alangibbons.net/ 26 September John Boyne http://www.johnboyne.com/category/blog/ 28 September Catherine Bruton http://catherinebruton.com/blog/ 30 September Achokablog http://www.achuka.co.uk/achockablog/ And here's my bit... Chapter 15 hope you enjoy it. x It's obvious really that young Scribble is poor Cynthia's only hope. It was clear from the very moment his eyes alone saw her plop from the sky that their destinies would be entwined forever more. And anyway, leave a mission as grandiose as rescuing such a magnificant orb of light to a bunch of battling woman and Cynthia will surely melt and die. Neptune will be munching her on toast, grilled, with sun dried tomatoes, a little chopped basil and black pepper. "Flibbermegibbitandkippers," huffs Mr Catch, checking his watch and looking at Scribble, "I was hoping to catch some fish today, I'm a little bit peckish and me wife will be boiling lobster mad at this rate. But what with Cynthia being dark and cold and damp an' all the goings on I can hardly up and leave you can I? What with you being so small and blue and... well...." He turns to Scribble who is hovering in coral light not quite knowing what to do with his hands. "You see the thing is, lad," says Mr Catch, in a voice as kind as custard, "you need to..." Scribble's innocent blue eyes search Mr Catch's gentle face. "Well..." smiles Mr Catch, "what I'm trying to say is, if we're going to get the job done an' all and Cynthia here back up in the sky in the nick of time, you'll have to stand bigger in your boots, lad, you know, stand up and speak out. Find your voice." Scribble cringes as far back into the shadowy corner of his soul as he can. Memories of bad things, dark evil things that appeared long ago in the dead of night, and stole his voice away, and stictched his lips together with twine, flash terror, no, no, horror in his cobalt eyes. The last tufts of blue fur, his only protection against the dark forces on his trail, drop like a whisper from his skin. He trembles, wide eyed and white teethed and weak kneed. He quickly scribbles on his pad, Nothing I can do! They stole it! Mr Catch pulls a dried up old anchovy from his beard, picks off the mould and pops it into his mouth. "Who stole it, lad," he says, "you can trust me I'm a mate of Captain Bird's Eye." Scribble melts on the floor from fear. He points first to Cynthia, then to his own terrified heart, and then with a clammy, trembling hand writes Firework display. Minnaloushe. Scotland. To read the next chapter click here September 18, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=166Hello, Well, today is a very special day because it's my BIRTHDAY!!!! Just saying! Anyway, yesterday my husband took me to see War Horse. It's a totally amazing play at The New Theatre in London and if there's anyway you can get to see it then do. I think you'll really love it! See if you can get your school do take ouy on a trip. It's utterly amazing and really reminded me of those long ago days that i used to work as a dresser for actors in West End Theatres of London. I don't seem to go to the theatre so often anymore but that's something I'm about to change because War Horse reminded me of how brilliant it is and how much the theeatre and dinner somewhere gorgeous is just aout my perfect day. Well, one of my perfect days... I also love lying on hot sunny beaches! Click here a you'll be able to see a you tube clip of War Horse. I'm now off to sse my lovely sister for special birthday cake time. xx Yum yummy yumski. xx What would be a perfect day for you?September 11, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=165I've always been really fascinated by birth and life and death. In fact, my family might say I'm not so much fascinated as obsessed! I think it's totally amazing that we're here on this planet, walking around, doing all sorts of cool stuff. Having seen lots of babies being born and been with several people while they were dying I can really feel how we're part of this great big circle of life. If you've read Shine, Glitter or A Million Angels, you'll notice that my books explore the themes of life and death over and over in different ways. I'm doing it again in my next book, A Sea of Stars. My stories have sad themes that make my characters dig around a bit with the big questions we all have about life. Sometimes in real life stuff can happen that makes us feel like there's never going to be a happy ending, but usually if we dig around a bit more we'll find little shining gems of hope amidst the gloom. Last month something terrible happened in my husband's family. You might have heard it on the news. His cousin's 17 year-old son, Horatio, got killed by a huge... Everyone in the family was totally devastated and one of Horatio's younger brothers was so sad because he realised he'd never told his brother he loved him and that he'd not said a proper goodbye when Horatio went off on his trip to Norway. Through all the sadness and trauma and tears the family wondered and wondered and wondered how they could ever find anything good out of this terrible situation, how they'd ever find the will to go on, or the glimmer of a happy ending. Then came his funeral, which brought more sadness and tears. People stood up and talked about Horatio and about what amazing boy he was. They talked about how he had this special talent for making everyone feel included and loved, even if he didn't know them very well. They talked about how he was a tender, gentle giant, an amazing loving, and trustworthy friend. And although I didn't know Horatio very well I started to get a real sense of how much happiness and love he had brought to this world. Then in the back of the order of service booklet I found a poem and a wish written by Horatio's Dad, which asked that everyone take a little of Horatio's love and kindness and humour and gentleness and talent for including others, and tuck it into their own heart. He asked that if everyone, everyday, could remember even just one of the qualities that made his beautiful son so special then the world would be a richer place for having had Horatio in it. That his death might find a happy ending in someone else's life. So I thought I'd pass this wish onto you in the hope that you might tuck some of Horatio into your own heart and spread it around the world. It's not complicated, it's stuff like if you find a new person in the playground looking lost and alone you might try to find a way of including them. It's about remembering to be gentle and kind, and the very best friend you can be. It's about taking the time to tell and show your family and friends how much you love them, and it's about always remembering to hug and say... While we were driving home from Horatio's funeral, feeling really, really sad, we had a phone call from my sister. "Hayley's had her baby," she said, "it's a boy, they're calling him Luca!" And because I'm Luca's Great Aunt my sadness moved to happiness and then to this amazing, expansive feeling of wonder at the mystery of it all. Life is an amazing gift to treasure. We live and we die and we leave special little gifts behind so that others can tuck us into their hearts. This is baby Luca! I wonder what special gifts he will bring to the world? We all have special qualities and amazing gifts and I'd love to hear what parts of you you'd like people to tuck in their hearts when it's your time to say goodbye. xSeptember 04, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=164Hello, I guess you're all heading back to school now. When I was young I really liked the getting ready for school bit, you know, buying all the uniform, getting a whole bunch of new pencils and pens etc, but I didn't really enjoy the actual going back to school bit. The actual walking through the gates and sitting in the classroom bit. In fact I really didn't enjoy school at all, except English and Drama lessons, which were my fave. I used to get to the school gates and my tummy would start churning and sometimes I'd even turn straight round again and go back home. Luckily my mum didn't mind too much about that but looking back on it I wish something different could have been done. Maybe a change to a different school would have helped? Or maybe having someone to talk to about whatever the porblem was? I'll never find out now, but I wish it would have been different, I wish I'd been one of those girls who Lalalalalalalalaured school. How do you feel about going back to school? I thought you also might like to know that on Saturday 10th September, from 11am, I'll be in the totally gorgeous 'Ocatvia's Bookshop' in Cirencester. I'll be chatting and signing, sprinkling glitter and generally having lots of fun. It would be SO great to see you there. xxAugust 20, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=163I've just discovered a very BIG BOO BOO! Something's been wrong with my website and emails for a while, which means I hadn't replied to lots of really lovely messages. Hopefully I've replied to them all now, but if you've sent me a message and I haven't done so yet please try sending it again. In the meantime answer this question: Would you rather eat chocolate everyday for the rest of your life or strawberry ice cream? Happy weekend xxx July 15, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=162I was thinking about all of you who can't get to my readings and signings and about me who can't get to all of your schools when I came up with a BRILLIANT idea! How would it be, I wondered, if I could find a way of bringing a live reading and chat session of A Million Angels to you? Would anyone be interested enough to tune and a listen? We'd all have to be eating cup cakes, of course, and you'd have to draw a million angels on your arms and I'd have to sit in my very special storytelling chair while you all settle down for storytime, but apart from that, surely it can't be that difficult a thing to do? So while I'm sorting out the technicalities of how to do this I thought I'd check out if it's something you'd like? Let me know by writing to me on my comments page! Lots of Love, Kate xxxJune 27, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=161So, here I am in Newcastle on the first day of my A Million angels tour and the most brilliant thing about starting in Newcastle is that it's the home of my most favourite sculpture, The Angel of the North. It's it wonderful? I had a picnic underneath it late one night a few years ago. I think it's the most brilliant angel in the world! I'm off to have some breakfast now then I'll be heading to Cramlington Learning Village to do a writing workshop with years 7 andamp; 8. Wish me luck!June 07, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=159OOOOOOOHHHH, what a lovely review The Book Bag has given A Million Angels! I now have a very big smile on my face. Click here to check it out, I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited. xxx have a lovely day xxxJune 06, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=158I had such a great day on Sunday at Frome's Fun Day launching my new book, A Million Angels. Despite the rain so many people came, in fact I think the whole of Frome must have come out to play! My lovely friend Carole made some delicious cup cakes with the little symbols from the gorgeous front cover of my book and my sister and I stamped beautiful silver angels on everyone's arms and sprinkled them with glitter. In fact the whole glitter sprinkling thing got a little out of control! We started sprinkling it in the pages of the books as well, so I imagine by now that there are lots of girls with glitter all over their beds! I'm getting very excited about my tour at the end of June and nail bitingly excited/scared to see what people think of my story. Back to work now, plotting book 4. Lots of Love xxx May 06, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=152Hi, Well I've had a super busy day today. First I went to see an amazing man about my back (which has been very hurty hurty for a while now) and he told me all sorts of fascinating things. Then I went shopping, which is an unusual thing for me to do because I don't really like shopping, and I bought myslef 4 gorgeous dresses! Then I went to my friends fab book launch - she writes for adults and teens and we had a really lovely time and I was invited to be part of the team running a local book group for children. I'm really excited about this! And then I was chatting to my local librarian, whilst we were sipping our wine, and we started discussing the possibilty of me taking part in a summer time reading challenge for local kids. AND I got some details about my tour for A Million Angels AND got invited to talk in a school in Bolton. So all in all a very writery kind of a day. Lots of love and remember to check out www.girlsheartbooks.com - you're going to LOVE it! I'm off to bed now because it's WAY past the witching hour. xxxx Kate xxxMay 01, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=148Hello, So, here it is - my gorgeous new website - FINALLY done! It's taken ages and we still have a few more little things to add and tweak but we think it's good enough for you to see. Two other great things are happening today as well - the first is that it's my wedding anniversary. I've been married to Daniel for one whole year today and we're about to go out and celebrate ourselves. The second is the launch of www.girlsheartbooks you're going to love it. It's a blog site dedicated to girls who love books and will be written by all your favourite authors. Each author taking a day each month. Hope you're having a fab weekend, Let me know what you think of my site, Lots of Love, Kate xxxApril 29, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=146Hello, I've just watched The Royal Wedding and I thought Kate looked GORGEOUS!!! A real Princess! What I really wish is that i'd been invited - I'd like to be in Buckingham Palace drinking champagne and eating yummy things, I'm not there though, I'm here, at home, finishing off my website, which is very exciting too. Hope you're having a fun day!April 28, 2011 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=145Hi, I'm so exctied! My website is almost done and I can't wait to let you see it all. I especially can't wait to start chatting to those of you who are unable to have facebook. Finally you'll be able to keep in touch and get involved with competitions and all sorts of other exciting things! And I'm really looking forward to The Wedding tomorrow. xJanuary 01, 1970 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=January 01, 1970 05:06:09 BSThttp://katemaryon.co.uk/index.php?cID=