Tottenham's Trojan Horse? Book

'Tottenham's Trojan Horse?' is available at Housmans Bookshop and Big Cartel.

Dave Morris interviewed on BBC Radio London. Illustration from 'Tottenham's Trojan Horse'.

Tottenham's Trojan Horse? is based on one of the case studies in Mark Panton's doctoral thesis about stadium-led regeneration.

I helped Mark edit his thesis and during this process we had many conversations about a community in High Road West, Tottenham. Their homes and businesses may be demolished to clear space for a fans' walkway from White Hart Lane train station to the entrance of the new Tottenham Hotspur Football Club stadium and they have joined together to challenge the proposals.

Mark and I decided to create a book that would use his research to tell the story of how the fans' walkway proposals came about, show the impact on the people affected by it and what they are doing in response. The best way to do this, we felt, was to use a comic format, base it around dialogue from interviews and make it accessible to a general audience 14-years-old upwards.

The book was published in February 2018, there have been two print runs and copies have gone to people in 8 countries. It has won an award and has been featured in a number of articles and interviews.

Please visit tottenhamstrojanhorse.blogspot.com for more information including how to buy the book or read it for free. "Tottenham's Trojan Horse?" is not available on Amazon.

Duck&Bear comic (suitable for adults and older children) available on Big Cartel

The first episode, there are five episodes in total.

Duck & Bear was originally created as a webcomic but is now available on Big Cartel as an A4 handmade Japanese-bound comic. Duck is a writer and Bear is an illustrator, the story explores their creative processes and friendship. It's warm, funny and family-friendly but best suited to older children and adults. UK price of £6 includes shipping, overseas buyers or anyone with any questions please message Amanda via the contact form on this blog.

For more information about this comic and to see other books go to: crazypanda.bigcartel.com

The comics are handmade and Japanese-bound.

Duck and Bear: a webcomic about an illustrator and a writer

Duck and Bear originally appeared in SCBWI's online newsletter Words and Pictures. I'm grateful for the support and input I received from the editors at the time - John Shelley and Jan Carr.

The webcomic had been hosted on a website I was running that has now been shut down. I've found a new home for it and put it back online at Authorville.

Bear is a picture book illustrator and Duck is a middle grade fiction writer. This is the story of their creative process and journey to publication.

10m long collaborative comic at Carnegie Library for Fun Palaces (in pictures)

One of the first contributors to the comic.

Mishi Morath wrote a poem.

A local horse riding centre got a mention.

Illustrator Katy Hudson added a duck.

The US army dinosaur squad turned up.

Things started to get very busy in the library, but some took time out to contemplate the comic.

Mark Panton added the views of our dog.

Good to see families drawing together.

Toddlers were very keen to have a go.

After they reached the end of the roll, I had to flip a section over to create more drawing space.

There were lots of activities elsewhere in the library. Co-creator of Fun Palaces and writer, Stella Duffy, kicked off the kickboxing.

You can find out more about Fun Palaces at funpalaces.co.uk Carnegie Library is in London SE24.

Collaborative Comic "Our Environment" at Carnegie Library

Collaborative Comic for Fun Palace at Carnegie Library on October 3, 2015.

On October 3, 2015 I'll be rolling out 10 metres of paper at Carnegie Library in London SE24 and anyone of any age can come along between 10am to 4pm to draw or write on it to make a comic on the subject of "our environment". The comic will be photographed as it progresses and put online so if you can't be there you'll be able to see what's happening on @AJLillywhite @CarnegieLib or @LamLibsFP

The comic is part of a Fun Palace event and there will be other activities at Carnegie Library on the same day including:

Lambeth Fire Brigade with Fire engine – 2pm

Home Cooking SE24 @homecookingse24 – doing pasta making demos – Time tbc

Bloom Yoga – Hourly sun salutes – 12-4

BlueSkyCreate @BlueSkyCreates – Craft workshops – details tbc

Amanda Duncan @Scribeasy sessions – www.artsmiths.org

Kickboxing instructor – Yvette Bee – Demos – Time tbc

Comedian Chris – Details tbc

A Lambeth memories washing line

More activities are being added all the time for an up to date list go to this website.

Fun Palaces are a means to get communities making art and exploring science together in an open space, co-director Stella Duffy explains the idea behind the campaign in her blog.

If you come along and draw or write on this roll of paper don't forget to sign your name under the header!

Authors for Nepal - Ebay auction

In April and May 2015 two major earthquakes struck Nepal, more than 8,700 people died and many homes were lost. Shortly after the first earthquake author Julia Williams set up the Authors for Nepal auction on Ebay to raise money for a charity already established in the region, First Steps Himalaya. 281 illustrators, writers, agents, editors and others offered items that included critiques, book dedications, artwork, character naming and much more. At the close of the auction more than £14,000 had been raised.

My contribution was to offer to create a comic for my winning bidder based on a subject chosen by them. After several days of wondering whether I'd have to draw cars (not my strong point) I was delighted to find out that I would be making a comic for author Anna Bell. She wanted a story based around her son and her dog – an adventure set in the countryside near their home. Anna also told me that her son loves blueberries and her dog loves carrots. This was a dream brief for me and I loved working on this comic. Below is the story I came up with for her:

Nepal continues to struggle in the aftermath of the earthquakes. A statement from First Steps Nepal's website:

This is a catastrophe for Nepal that will take years to recover from.  First Steps Himalaya is dedicated to helping rebuild communities, not only our schools and early childhood centres, but the lives of the precious children we support.

You can donate to the charity via their website www.firststepshimalaya.org

A webcomic about a YA writer and a picture book author/illustrator - Duck&Bear

Duck&Bear was inspired by my own writing and illustrating experiences and those of fellow members of The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. It is a webcomic about a YA writer and a picture book author-illustrator - their efforts to create stories and have them published. Duck&Bear was made for the launch of SCBWI (British Isles) online magazine Words and Pictures. All 5 instalments are posted on my comics page.