Hello, friends. Today, I thought I'd share with you another snippet from my work-in-progress, Monsoon Season. This scene takes place in November 1945. At this point, the Second World War is over (Japan surrendered in August 1945) and the British have resumed their control over the colony of Malaya. The temporary government is called the British Military Administration (BMA), but it's more … [Read more...]
Holocaust literature for younger children
"Who was Hitler?" asked my seven-year-old, a couple of weeks ago. It was 7.30 on a weekend morning. It turns out he'd been inspecting the books on my desk. I ought to have seen this coming: I've amassed heaps of primary and secondary sources about the Second World War over the past three years. It just never dawned on me that he'd go browsing through the unglamorous adult books in the study … [Read more...]
A(nother) fresh start
Hello, friends. It's been a while since I talked about my work-in-progress, and that's no accident. I have been tussling with Monsoon Season, aka the Next Book, for ages now. I'm almost ashamed to say how long, but there's no point in being coy: I first started it about 18 months ago. Then I scrapped what I had, and re-started it. Then I junked the second version and began afresh. And guess what? … [Read more...]