Catalysed

Well, I didn't expect that at all. I was up for the Catalyst Book Award along with double-Carnegie Medal winner Berlie Doherty whose books I love, and Cathy MacPhail who wins awards all the time (but you just can't hate her, she's great) and Tabitha Suzuma who is an exciting new writer on the YA book scene. I was shortlisted for ZENITH, which was never going to win against that lot, and also because it's a sequel, and sequels never win. So I was very relaxed. So relaxed, and so 110% certain that I wouldn't win, that I didn't see the point in preparing a winning speech - or in saying 'no' to a late, too-big glass of wine with last year's winner and this year's Master of Ceremony, Anthony McGowan...

That's how I came to be standing on the Catalyst stage with a headache and without a speech, apart from an astonished 'wow, thank you.' Thanks indeed to all the enthusiastic teenagers who read and debate the books and vote on the award, and to the teachers and librarians from about 30 schools who make the Catalyst Award such a fantastic event for all the writers involved. You are all really inspiring.

It was a thrill to win and so was seeing so many excited teenagers who were really into books. I was very moved by the connection so many teenagers made with ZENITH, and with the other shortlisted books. The Catalyst Award is a brilliant catalyst for making sparks fly between teenagers and books.

And it all very powerfully proved wrong an article I just read on Achuka.

Big thanks to Cara Murray, a trainee teacher who has been doing a fantastic project with children, based on my Ice Cream Machine books. I'm going to set up a page for schools with ideas and photos of activities from Cara's project and others.

Proof that two days are rarely the same in this job- I was asked to be a BAFTA Scotland judge for the children's TV award by the MD of SMG who made the Ice Cream Machine TV series, and had a great time wrangling with the other judges. Our chosen shortlist is announced tomorrow. My invitation to the Baftas says, intimidatingly, 'Black tie and glamour'. Oh, I'll try...

And for Jack (who gets a gold star for stumping me on a question at the Catalyst Schools events!): you asked how many people are at risk on the drowning islands of Kiribati in the South Seas (which originally gave me the idea for Exodus and Zenith) - it's 107, 817 people, Jack.

Catalysts and black holes

Is it coincidence that so many big banks have imploded all across the world since the switch-on of the big Atom-Smasher (or Large Hadron Collider) in Geneva? Or have they been sucked into big black holes?

I couldn't help wondering, as I've just finished a story inspired by this amazing idea. The story, A Teapot on Pluto, should appear soon on the Young Scottish Book Trust blog where Keith Gray is their first Online Writer in Residence. (Obviously I'll have to buy Keith a few beers for the nice things he said about me.) Meanwhile, you can read and download his story and others here and watch Keith's brilliant podcasts for budding writers here. I've been picking up a few tips.

In a few weeks I'm off to do a run of events for the Catalyst Book Award. ZENITH has been shortlisted, along with books by Berlie Doherty, Cathy MacPhail, Antony Macgowan and Tabitha Suzuma - fantastic writers all. It's a great shortlist and great to be there. Best of all, Catalyst gets teenagers reading and arguing over books.

In November, I'll be involved in an exciting launch with TV's 'Raven' for Our City for the OneCity Trust. It's a project close to my heart and I always wanted to rewrite the story of the Pied Piper - this gave me the perfect chance, with Edinburgh instead of Hamburg as the dramatic setting for a fairytale that haunted me as a child.

And I've just seen the stunning new cover of the US Zenith. More soon!