HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Aquila

I've written a new two-part story called Carla and the Cuddlecrunchie. The first episode appears in December 2010's issue of the magazine Aquila. If you haven't encountered it, you ought to see if your school keeps it in the library. It's a very good magazine, with lots of interesting articles and suggestions for things to do.

Email Problems

Someone posted previously to say that they couldn't email me via the site. We've checked, and it seems to be working perfectly okay. Go to The Divide page, then to Contact Me.

Galapagos

I have just come back from an absolutely amazing holiday in the Galapagos Islands. Snorkelling alongside turtles and sea lions and marine iguanas is something you don't forget in a hurry. The animals have no fear of man, and come right up to you. The landscape is dramatic - particularly South Plaza Island, with its weird red vegetation!

Banham Zoo

Banham Zoo is situated near Thetford, in Norfolk, and has a lot of really nice animals.

Perseids

The Perseids are a meteor shower that happens every August, and is best seen from the Northern Hemisphere. It's caused by debris from Swift-Tuttle, a huge comet that swings through the inner part of our Solar System every 133 years and leaves behind a trail of dust and gravel.

When Earth passes through the debris, specks hit our atmosphere at 140,000mph and disintegrate in flashes of light. Some of the meteors are more spectacular than others - a fireball is when it's brighter than a star. Last night there was a brief break in the cloud and I managed to see one, despite the light pollution from London, which isn't too far away. Its tail was like a silver firework, very bright and a lot bigger than I expected. It was worth getting up at 3.30 in the morning to see it!

Pamukkale

I've just come back from week in Turkey. I've been there many times, but this time I managed to visit Pamukkale, a place I've always wanted to see. The name means 'Cotton Castle', and the natural terraces are formed from a sedimentary rock called travertine, which is deposited by the hot springs there. The ancient city of Hierapolis was situated here, and there's a big amphitheatre nearby.

Duckling time!

It's that time of year... lots of tiny webbed feet dashing about, carrying fluffy little bodies. This was taken at the Wetland Centre, in Arundel, last weekend. It was a lovely sunny day, too.

The Tree Devil

The Tree Devil, my next children's book, is due to be published at the end of April. It features a genetically-engineered monster which can blend into the background, much the same way that an octopus can. It has been created by Dixon Fisher, an unstable scientist, who believes that man should be eradicated for the good of the planet. Tree devils are dedicated predators, and they'll only eat human beings. Can Rick and his friend Jack find out what's really going on, and put a stop to it before it's too late? You can buy order this book from your local bookshop, or buy it online from Amazon.

For Zosia

Hello Zosia - Thanks for your post. I suspect you haven't looked at my reply, so I'm hoping this will reach you. You were interested in my father - Feliks Krzewinski. He had a sister, Elizabeth, who lived in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, after the Second World War. I've posted one photo of my father from before the war, one from the 1950s, and one from the 1970s. If you are a relative, or knew my aunt, I would love to hear from you. Please email me through the contact page.

Butterflies

There's nothing quite like a few butterflies to brighten up the day in the middle of this grey wet weather. There have been some exotic ones in the glasshouse at the RHS gardens in Wisley - I've posted two blue morphos here. The other two were taken a couple of years ago, and they're British; the comma, and the peacock.

England's Big Freeze

Yes, we have snow here....