Teresa Flavin's Blog

And now for the most beautiful and terrifying highlight of my summer: watching orcas at close quarters in the Straits of Gibraltar. When the bluefin tuna run from the Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean Sea, the orcas are waiting like hitmen to pick them off for dinner. We took an astonishing three hour boat trip with a Swiss marine charity and watched as the orcas battled fishermen in small boats over the tuna caught on their lines. A couple of boats were even taken on a Nantucket Sleighri...

In spring 2012, I took a ferry trip from Helsinki across the Gulf of Finland for a day trip to Tallinn. I fell in love with the Old Town’s medieval architecture, folklore and friendly people. One of the highlights of my day was a visit to the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre and I blogged in detail about it here. I didn’t think it would take five years to return but I finally returned for a couple of days last week (which still counts as summer). Tallinn hadn’t lost any of its charm but...

Earlier this year I was invited to do a Top Secret project with my wonderful U.S. publisher, Candlewick Press, which published the American edition of my Blackhope Enigma trilogy. (By the way, happy 25th birthday, Candlewick!) They were producing a series of podcasts with their authors and I was lucky enough to be one of them. I was also sworn to secrecy! I sneaked into Candlewick H.Q. in Somerville, Massachusetts last April and with the help of the excellent sound-person, I recorded a Q&A wi...

As summer highlights go, this one is right up there. In the spring I had the honour of being asked to create an illustrated map for the Leeds West Indian Carnival‘s 50th anniversary as part of a Heritage Lottery Grant project. Every late August bank holiday, the Carnival brings colour, music and joy for all communities in Leeds and the North of England – and it has been doing this since a few West Indian students brought it here in 1967.

My map needed to tell Leeds Carnival’s hidden stories a...

I know it’s September and we’re almost at the Autumn Equinox, but technically it is still summer. I’m holding onto that thought until 21:02 this Friday, the 22nd, when I finally have to let go of summer. It’s been a rich summer season, busy with work, school and holiday time. I’ve chosen few highlights to reflect on over the last few days until autumn sets in.

This first highlight is probably a bit cheeky because I’m looking back into late May. But, hey, I’m calling it summer because the weat...

I’m giving thanks for the many wonderful days this past year – and reflecting on the ones that weren’t so good. Despite enjoying the fond memories of good times, I always find I learn more from the difficultdays, even if it takes a bit of time to come around to realisations. This has not been a hugely productive year for completed manuscripts … but it has been useful for taking stock, learning new visual art skills, working with wonderful colleagues and students on the teaching side of my lif...

Blackhope Enigma notebooks.

I had an inspiring visit with Year 7 at St John Fisher Catholic High School in Harrogate last month and I set them a little challenge to write a 50 word story about a nearby spooky place. The prize for the top five entries was one of my Blackhope Enigma notebooks.

The students certainly rose to my challenge and delivered some evocative stories. I think we have some budding writers! Here are the top 5 entries, in no particular order, as chosen by the excellent staff...

Earlier this autumn I had the pleasure of visiting Belmont Grosvenor School in Harrogate and working with the pupils on creating stories and illustrations. Here’s a lovely article about the day. We had loadsof fun making up crazy tales prompted by character and setting cards Ibrought along. Sometimes the best stories are created from random elements chosen by chance. I set a little competition for thepupils to illustrate a scene from their stories and I was recently sent a selection of the wi...

Maudie Smith and I at UKMGX!

I haven’t been near this blog since last monthbecause life has been incredibly busy (in a good way). The last time I checked in with great news about JET BLACK HEART, I was at the start of a jam-packed schedule of teaching, school visits, events and workshops. The studio started to resemble a dumping ground. I workedaround piles of paper and books, sketches and snippets of material going into my current manuscript.

Today I did a ritual tidy-up of the studio. It wa...

This is a pretty cool surprise: JET BLACK HEART has been shortlisted for the 2016 Coventry Inspiration Book Award in the 11-16 ‘Rapid Reads’ category. It’s in a splendid list of eight books by great authors. That list will go through elimination rounds and be whittled down to three finalists.

Regardless of the outcome, I’m just totally delighted that Coventry’s young people will be reading JBH and (hopefully) enjoying it. That’s just the best feeling in the world.