Aaaaaarrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

....... Zizou is thoroughly ashamed. Imagine having a lovely blogsite and not writing on it for months and months. Zizou hangs his head in embarrassment and - here's a good word - contumelty.

But of course the reason authors keep bad blogs is that they are busy writing other things - you know, books. And sometimes they have to have lunch with their agents, sign Hollywood contracts, be won in competitions and so on, all of which takes a lot of time.

So - it's time for a catch-up in Zizouland:

1) We were won by William Tyndale School in Islington, London, Great Britain, the World, the Universe, Space. The elder Zizou has been pottering along there on a regular basis, to encourage the year Fives and Sixes to lie on the floor on huge bits of paper and draw round each other while giggling wildly. As a result they have written some excellent stories, the ideas for which Zizou has wickedly stolen to re-use at her leisure when she has run out of ideas of her own.

She has also been visiting schools in the south east telling them about Lee Raven, the Boy Thief. (Someone thought he was a thief who stole boys. In fact he is a boy who is a thief).

In sharing her own ideas, she finds that Year Fives don't mind characters falling in love so long as you don't go on about it, and Year Six is very very interested in poop. Also that head teachers don't like you using the proper words for poop.

Zizou is tempted to run a competition to see how many words we can think of.....

2) There is a reason for the poop obsession. When reading aloud from the new book LEE RAVEN - BOY THIEF Zizou offers the youngsters a choice of passages. Funnily enough, they tend to go for the one set down in the dark stinky sewers, with all the poop, and the big crunchy cockroaches, and the being chased by the wild pigs.

3) LEE RAVEN - BOY THIEF! Yes it's out now, looking very fine in its brown and gold jacket (Uniform? Suit? Livery?)There are some extracts and so on on the Puffin site. We're told it's quite good

- but perhaps they just don't want to hurt our feelings.

Have a look and see what you think. It's got baby dragons in it, and a skinny blond boy thief with tattoos, and an evil authoress, and a murder, and a magical Beano which isn't a Beano, and a drowned funfair, and a bullying Dad and a weeping Mum and a kindly old bookseller and a magnificent moustache.

4) And - there's a new competition (oh lord I really should write more often). It's a story writing competition, because we need lots of stories for a very special purpose....
You see on the left where it says WIN WIN WIN in big letters? Click there. You might
WIN A BOOK A WEEK FOR A YEAR!!!

Yes every week a lovely shiny new book will arrive in the post for you to keep forever! And even if you don't win, your story might be chosen to go in our special giant book.... and when I say giant....

check it out.....

5) And, you will be delighted to hear, we have now, at lastly last, signed our new film contract. We are now polishing our shoes for the Oscar ceremony in 2013.

6) This month's Fantasy Castlist is....

ANEBA - WILL SMITH
CHARLIE - WILL SMITH'S LITTLE BOY

7) And we are actually writing a new book now too. It's about a girl who pretends to be a boy, a boy soldier and a boy who's half horse.

I must go and write it.


yours alluringly,



Zizou