Sam Wilding meets Gordon Brown at Scottish Parliament

Gordon Brown promotes new fantasy book
Gordon Brown, of Asthma UK Scotland, met with children’s author, Sam Wilding, at the Scottish Parliament today. They attended a cross-party discussion group on asthma action plans and then took the opportunity to launch book three in the Denthan series to tie in with World Asthma Day. Sam Wilding’s fantasy trilogy about a boy hero with asthma has been a great success and Sam’s work in libraries and schools across Scotland has boosted creative writing among children and raised awareness of the affliction. Over 300,000 people have asthma in Scotland and awareness is key to saving lives and preventing primary care patients ending up in secondary care.
Sam had pictures taken with Emma Graham, Asthma UK Scotland’s Youth Engagement Officer.
If an asthma sufferer has an ‘asthma action plan’ they are 4 times less likely to have a serious attack. For more detail visit www.asthma.org.uk/scotland
For details on Sam’s fantasy adventure books for children from 7 – 87, visit Sam’s website at http://www.sam-wilding.com/

Up Up and Away?

Up Up and Away?
Apparently not, if you want to fly anywhere… This is as close as I came to flying during my Easter break, thank goodness. Unfortunately the camera missed my forward double twist roll. Ah well… Wee Joe has a nice pose as does Ruthy. This is Brora just before the ash from Iceland started to clog up my asthmatic lungs. No kidding, I could hardly breathe for days. We had a little cottage in Helmsdale where the chippy, La Mirage, is to die for and the beach, apart from the odd decapitated seal, was a dream. What would do that to a seal? A very fussy Killer Whale? I don’t know. But guess what? I’d never ever seen a newt before and, sitting on the sand minding my own business, one crawled out of the seaweed and walked right towards me. Is it a sign? Wee Joe found some Ammonite fossils and the girls had a good old moan about the dead things. For Pete’s sake, it’s nature… Bought some lovely pork and apple burgers and had a barbecue but still they moaned…

A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE...

It started off so well… A brisk, Easter Day walk round Ardmore Point with Betsy, was the idea. There was sun, a full complement of Wildings (7, including Betsy – the dog)and a cold to shake off. I went ahead with my eldest daughter, Emma, only to discover that we’d actually slipped into another dimension and ended up in the forbidden marshes of Middle Earth. Damn, I hate it when that happens. It was nice, in a bleak, ‘dont follow the lights or jump in a pond with dead people’ kind-of-way but I knew it was all going to go pear-shaped and I was right. A sudden scream from Emma saw her new, expensive trainer disappear beneath the deep mud she thought was sand. Bare-footed, she leapt about, said some rude words and stomped off to the car. And then there were 6. We pressed on, had a giant hogweed fight and soon found the going sunny and very pleasant. Not for long, though. The wide hawthron-lined path soon merged into a tiny strip of mud surrounded by an impenetrable wall of gorse. Before long my youngest was crying and we’d become hopelessly trapped between the Sleeping Beauty-like wall of thorns and an endless Hound of the Baskervilles-type marsh. Everyone started blaming everyone else, mostly me, until we had no option but to get very wet. Besty was in heaven. She splashed and yelped and wagged her sodden tail and shook herself vigorously at every opportunity, usually at the very point where balance and a clear mind were imperative. Ryan, my eldest boy performed a Herculean leap, only to smack straight into a 9 foot gorse bush and fall back, slowly, into the mire. We all guffawed and then saw his expression and bit our lips. Soon, well after about an hour, we escaped the terrors of Ardmore and hobbled back to the car and my waiting daughter, Princess Huff. Well, we all have nasty cuts which are copiously covered in foul-smelling mud, but hey… That’s what family walks are all about.

Return to Denthan released in 7 days

At last, The third and final book in the Denthan Series is to be released any day now.
Find out how the whole story ends and perhaps begins...

Rock and Roll

Dumbarton Castle, the prison of William Wallace and the home of the Britons for many years before that, was resplendent today. There are many legends about the place, one of which is that the Ark of the Covenant lies hidden in the rock. I’ll get a closer look tonight as we attend the Dumbarton F.C. grounds for a night of fun and fund-raising.

Sam Wilding and Kate Humble

Kate Humble and Sam Wilding
Yes, it was a long drive south to listen to vets and country folk enthuse over a new cure for sheep, but there was a fun night and a chance encounter. Carden Park is in the beautiful Chester countryside where, not far away, Kate Humble was filming ‘Lambing Live’. Manged a quick chat and a look at some of the local sheep. Baaaa! Spent much of the day signing books and chasing editors. Book 3 of the Denthan series is in its final throes. The sad thing was, I missed my Emma’s birthday, so I organised a trip in a hot air balloon for her.

Hawick - Young at Heart

It all started with a the search for the historic Hawick Library building, built by Andrew Carnaigie. Parking sorted, I got myself ready and chatted to event organiser, Cameron McAulay. As usual the kids were fantastic and asked some brilliant questions. They also came up with some great ideas and suggestions for their own stories. – “I just wanted to thank you again for your very insightful and enthusiastic workshop with the pupils from Wilton Primary School this morning. I am positive all the kids went away with a whetted appetite for reading but even more so for writing. The drawing exercise made them feel part of the book writing process (beware BEWUL) and it helped stoke their imagination. I won’t hesitate to recommend your name for future visits and I wish you luck with the publication of the final book in the Denthan Series.”- C McAulay – Young People’s Services. Couldn't ask for much more than that. It’s great to get positive feedback, and when people ask “what age group is the Denthan series aimed at?”, I always say 9-90. Today I got another pile of lovely letters and drawings from Stoneywood Primary School in Aberdeen – Part of the Arts Across Learning Festival). I also received a fantastic email regarding a senior citizen that read – “Hi Sam, I thought you might like to know that my 85 year-old Mum has just finished THE MAGIC SCALES and has sat engrossed for 48 hours. She has just asked me to order vols. 2 and 3 on Amazon. My daughter and I heard you talk & read at the canal centre in Linlithgow (I was also there as an author.) My daughter then bought me a copy of THE MAGIC SCALES for Xmas but Mum has got around to reading it before me.” - Linda Gillard. http://www.lindagillard.co.uk/
All fantastic stuff.
See the website for the children’s drawings, letters and stories.
http://www.sam-wilding.com/
Oh! Finally I finally finished Return to Denthan…