The Children's Bookshow

 I'd like to say a huge and heartfelt THANK YOU to all the amazing children, teachers and librarians I met when I visited Coventry with The Children's Bookshow this week – and I'd like to thank everyone at The Children's Bookshow for inviting me to work with them, and for making this all possible!

The Children's Bookshow is a brilliant charity that works very hard to inspire children around the country with a love of reading and books.  They organise huge events where children from many schools come together to see writers and illustrators talking about their work.  Every child is then given a free copy of a book – and some of them then go on to do creative workshops in their classrooms!

So this year, I did an event at the Warwick Arts Centre attended by 500 children and their teachers, from schools around Coventry.  It's a fantastic theatre space, and I loved being able to talk to so many people at once about reading and writing and books – and then to hand out a copy of Tyger to every child who attended, thanks to the generosity of The Children's Bookshow!  

We then went on to do workshops at Cannon Park Primary, Spon Gate Primary, Newdigate Primary and Little Heath Primary.  I worked with the children through the process of having ideas for stories, writing first drafts, and then editing them, and they produced some fantastic pieces of writing!  

It was a total pleasure to do this, and the whole experience was one of the most exciting and inspiring experiences I've ever had as an author – so THANK YOU again to everyone who was part of it!

Year 5 have written an amazing range of first drafts after being completely inspired by @whatSFSaid. Huge thanks to @ChildrensBkShow for a magical day!#ReadingForPleasure pic.twitter.com/Tj8ZXH5CW4

— Cannon Park Primary (@CannonParkSch) November 5, 2024

Thank you @ChildrensBkShow for organising this fabulous event with @whatSFSaid. We found it fascinating listening about the writing process used! The children have asked if we can do a #Tyger #bookclub and even started reading it on the way back to school! #reading @warwickarts pic.twitter.com/bTM1cUaXva

— 🧡 Abbey Catholic School 🧡 (@AbbeyPrimary) November 5, 2024

Events & Signings

I'm doing quite a few events & signings in the next few weeks.  If you'd like to come and get a signed copy of Phoenix or Varjak Paw, here are the details!

First up is a morning signing at Clerkenwell Tales (30 Exmouth Market, London EC1R 4QE) on Sunday 15th September from 11am-12pm.  Everyone is invited, there's no entry fee, but there will be juice and biscuits, and signed copies of my books!

Then I'm doing a signing at Waterstones Bury St Edmunds (36 Butter Market, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1DW) on Thursday 10th October from 4pm-5.30pm.  Again, no entry fee and open to all, so I hope to see some of you there!

Finally I'd just like to say a big thank you to everyone I met at Waterstones Kensington on Monday 9th September.  The event was called 'Geeksploitation', and it involved a quiz, dressing-up, cupcakes and much general mayhem!  Sci-Fi & Fantasy authors Andy Robb and Sean Cummings were also there.  Here's the fabulous flyer, for the record:

Please call (0843 290 8419), email (events@kensington.waterstones.com) or find us on facebook (Waterstones Kensington) & Twitter (@HSKWaterstones) for more info or to book tickets.  

Big Thanks!

It's been a busy few days, and some big thanks are in order!  First, to everyone I met at the London Film & Comic Con – the organisers, the brilliant Waterstones booksellers, and all the lovely people who came and bought advance copies of Phoenix – thank you!  It was a special day for me, because it was the first time I saw an actual copy of Phoenix, so thanks to everyone who's been part of that journey...  Here's a picture of Dave & I signing; and no, that Toblerone bar didn't last very long!

And today I had the great pleasure of visiting Taxal and Fernilee Primary School, where I met some awesome Varjak Paw fans, some fantastic young readers & writers, and some brilliant teachers!  It was wonderful to hear all your stories, thoughts, and enthusiasm for books; I hope you'll all keep on reading and writing...  And if you want to see the Phoenix book trailer I mentioned, click this link, or have a look at the next post down in this blog!

The Supernova Is Coming To Edinburgh!

I'm excited to announce that I'll be doing a public event for my new book Phoenix at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this year!  The event is titled 'Intergalactic War with SF Said' and it's happening on Tuesday 13th August, from 12-1pm.

I love what they've written about Phoenix on the official event page:

Adventure, space, destiny, aliens, explosions, starships, distant stars and galaxies. Whoa! Amazing! Come join S F Said to hear about his latest breathtaking book, Phoenix. Meet Lucky, an ordinary human boy who wakes to find an incredible power rising in him and a supernova coming, bringing with it a war between humans and aliens. Only one boy can save the galaxy – just as well he’s called Lucky!

Tickets are now on sale; here's a link to the booking page!  And of course there'll be copies of Phoenix on sale, which I'll be signing after the event.

I've had some fantastic experiences at Edinburgh in the past, and met some great audiences there, so please come if you can!  There are some wonderful writers doing events this year – some of my favourites include Julie Bertagna, David Almond, Meg Rosoff, Keith Gray, Garth Nix and Sally Gardner, who won the Carnegie Medal this year for her fabulous book Maggot Moon!  Congrats Sally – hope to see you there!

Phoenix To Launch At London Film & Comic Con!

I'm thrilled to be able to announce that Dave McKean and I will be launching my new book Phoenix at the London Film & Comic Con on Saturday July 6th!

Official publication isn't until August, but there'll be advance copies of the book on sale, and we'll be doing a public signing from 11am to 1pm - so come and get your copy first!

Full details and booking forms can be found on the official website.  It's going to be an amazing weekend, there are some incredible people coming – Peter Dinklage & Lena Headey (Game Of Thrones), Linda Hamilton (Terminator), Eve Myles (Torchwood), even Peter Mayhew & Kenny Baker (who played Chewbacca & R2D2 in the original Star Wars!)  I can't wait!!!