Five authors, one prize, but I think we all ended up winners, in the end.

And I mean that. It’s not empty rhetoric, or my attempt to lose with good grace, but simply a statement of fact.

On Tuesday evening I hurried up to Halifax on trains that seemed desperate to thwart my goal: which was to reach Halifax in time to check into my hotel and then find somewhere to watch the England match. I ended up just missing the kick-off, but watched the match in the hotel lounge, cheered loudly when Rooney scored, celebrated when it became clear that England had won the group and avoided Spain, then retired to my room to perform last minute checks on the Powerpoint slides for my presentation, and to rest before the big event to follow.

The next morning we were collected from our hotel and delivered to Halifax library, where there were already loads of kids bustling around. I began to be aware of the scope of the endeavour, and I am in awe of the staff that organised the event.  132 kids from local schools had all gathered at the library to hear us give talks and answer questions; to vote for their favourite book from the shortlist; and then to get their books signed. There were also prizes for kids who had written the best reviews of the shortlisted titles. This is just the stuff I saw; when I think about all the work that had gone into the event, behind the scenes, just to celebrate children’s reading, I actually feel pretty humbled.

It is a truly wonderful thing, and I have nothing but fond memories of the day.

In the calm before the event, and over coffee (+ some very nice biscuits) I met the other shortlisted authors. Martyn Bedford, the author of ‘Flip’; Elen Caldecott  who wrote ‘Operation Eiffel Tower’; Charlie Fletcher, the man behind the ‘Stoneheart’ trilogy; and Mary Arrigan, author of ‘Rabbit Girl’.

Each author had a morning and an afternoon session with a group of 20-30 kids, where my Powerpoint served as a springboard for numerous digressions as I tried to steer a thread that began with ‘Where do you get your ideas?’; took in the process of generating ideas and gave examples by teasing out the ideas behind some books, tv shows and films; took diversions through the history of technology and the ‘law of unintended consequences’; before ending up with the groups discovering where ideas come from by coming up with some great ideas of their own.

What I noticed immediately was a passion for our books that – even now, sitting back at home, tapping words into my computer – has given me a tremendous lift.  People talk about the magic of books, and I saw it reflected back from so many kids’ eyes that it has made me even more determined to create great stories in the future. I am, I rediscovered, merely a part of a circuit. I set ideas free into the world, but the fact that they are picked up, transmitted, transmuted, and form a part of children’s imaginative lives is both humbling and affirming.

The prize went to Martyn Bedford for ‘Flip’ – and my warmest congratulations go out to him – but the event was so good the prize had stopped mattering to me.

Because events like the Calderdale do more than show one book’s triumph over a bunch of other books; they patch us into the larger network that we have become part of by writing our books. They show us that we do not write in a vacuum; that our books gain life and traction in the world that we never expected when we were creating them; and that our next books are eagerly anticipated.

And that is a ‘win’ in my book.

My thanks to the organisers, who have worked tirelessly to make everyone feel it was effortless; to the people who kept me supplied with coffee and cakes; and most of all, I think, to the kids who were – without exception – a brilliant bunch that I felt privileged to meet.