Julie Fulton, author of Mrs MacCready Was Ever So Greedy, was invited to take part in Stratford-upon-Avon’s Literary Festival with three primary schools.  Julie was taking part in book readings and in workshops with the kids.

Here is what Julie thought of the day:

“I had a tiring but exhilarating day in the schools in Stratford! Six workshop sessions across the day. The children were great and we had fun with Mrs MacCready and then writing our own story. A very messy bear called Squidger helped!

There’s a brill photo of one school’s plate designs (and it’s taken before all the plates had arrived too!) – I was blown away by their work and ended up giving two main prizes the standard was so good!

The ‘food’ was so realistic one member of staff came into the room and asked who’s birthday party it was!”

Julie Fulton recently won a place in a brand new scheme for writers.

Writing West Midlands is a Birmingham based organisation which aims to support the development of creative writing and participation in writing activities in the West Midlands area.

They have started up a new scheme, Room 204, specifically to support and develop the careers of emerging writers in the area.

Julie has two mentors and will have lots of opportunities for networking, workshops, courses & conference places, performance and work openings.

A great opportunity which Julie thoroughly deserves!  Well done Julie!

Steve showing Sparkle to Louise from Lovereading4kids

Yesterday was our book launch for our four new 2012 titles.  Our first two, released in February, are Sparkle’s Song by Samantha Hale, illustrated by Mariana Ruiz Johnson and The Goblin and the Girl by Neil Irani and illustrated by Park Yun.  Unfortunately we didn’t have any authors/illustrators to present to as they are all outside of the UK.

However here is Samantha’s response to receiving her book:

“Oh my goodness!!! Just got the book in the mail today. Its absolutely gorgeous. You did an amazing job!! Very excited and very proud. Thank you again for the opportunity to work with you on this.”

And Mariana’s response:

“I want to thank you a lot i’ve received my copy of “Sparkle´s Song”, and I am delighted with the results… it is a special book and I love the paper, the cover, the design… It´s perfect! I thank you a lot for taking so much care of the edition. I’m very happy with my book. Thank you, Maverick!”

Angela's first look at her book!

Then we turned to our two May books not yet published – The Jelly That Wouldn’t Wobble by Angela Mitchell and illustrated by Sarah Horne.  Then also the fantastic  Grandma Bendy written and illustrated by Izy Penguin.  This was the first time that the authors and illustrators had seen their book in print and so it was a very special moment.  We even got a little emotional!

It was a great event with some fantastic people who came along.  We hope that everyone enjoys these new books as much as we enjoyed helping to put them together.  Here’s some photos from the event:

Izy being presented with her book!

Izy, Angela and Sarah with their new books!

Tomorrow is a big day for Maverick.  Our Maverick Shop is opening with special offers on the day.

As a little glimpse into the world of Maverick, our very own social media guru, Natasha Worswich interviewed Steve Bicknell (MD of Maverick) and published on her wellknown blog.

To read the interview, click here.