The Guardian Offices, London Photo credit Bryantbob |
And it just so happened that Lucy's most recent picture book, Captain Beastlie's Pirate Party, had just been published by Nosy Crow.
Having been an editor and a bookseller before crossing over to the dark side, there isn't much that Lucy doesn't know about the art - and business - of writing for children. Saturday was a packed day of handouts, exercises and PowerPoints for fifteen keen participants and I'd been asked along to give a session on World-Building as part of the Setting aspect of storytelling.
Another good friend, Michelle Lovric, gave a presentation on how her childhood obsessions found their way into her writing.
I've had over a hundred books published for children and teenagers and I was one of the tutors so I was there to teach, right?
But the funny thing was I came away thinking about how much I had learned - not how much I had conveyed. It really isn't true that you can't teach an old dog new tricks; all you need is a receptive dog, a good trick and a b****y good teacher!
Thanks, Lucy, Michelle and the students - I think we'll be hearing more from them in future.