An exciting and involved space adventure which engages with big themes . . . Atmospheric illustrations are a bonus. Peters Books As for drafts - every writer is different. Some need more than others. But all of us do more than one. All you can do is keep working on it until it's the very best you can possibly make it; until it's exactly what you would most want to read yourself. And I think it will be worth it, because you have some brilliant ideas. This is Phoenix. This is Phoenix. I am sunk by this book and how underneath the layers of space and of aliens and of war, it is a book about humanity and hope and belief and of love. It is a book about being brave. It is a book about fighting for what you believe in. It is a book about hope. About faith.

Look at the night sky on a clear night. Can you see any star constellations? Is the sky clear enough? Are any planets visible? Can you find out what they are? Here is a link which might be useful and this one too . See the links below to find out more about stars and galaxies. Write a poem I couldn't for the life of me imagine the aliens, nor the planets and stars, and this style of illustration definitely didn't help. I wish there was a map to follow and colorful, detailed drawings of places and characters, and events. For me at least, that'd have enriched the experience much more. And thank you so much for asking about my new books! Yes, I'm writing one right now - or possibly three! It's a trilogy called TYGER. I wrote about it in this blog post - have a look and see what you think...https://www.booktrust.org.uk/whats-happening/blogs/2017/august/bookbuzz-author-blog-s.f.-said---the-epic-story-of-phoenix/

Finally, having said all that - although the new project that I'm working on right now isn't a sequel to Phoenix, it does have a lot in common with it, and even grew out of it, in a way. The working title for this project is TYGER, and I think it's going to be the best thing I've ever written. Please do look out for it - I'm not sure when it will be finished, but I will definitely blog about it here when it is! Hello Sally Bones I am your mother and we could team up and kill Varjak Paw and his friends!” Sor said, but slowly a big hand snatched up Sor and Sally Bones. A powerful story of great scope and ambition, from an expert storyteller" – The Independent On Sunday What an amazing thing for an author to hear - thank you so much! I cried a lot while writing Phoenix too, so I'm glad you had the same reaction while reading it!And if you & Mili still want more - here's a list I made of my top 10 children's books of all time, a few years ago. I'd probably make a different list today, as it's impossible to fit everything into 10, but I'd recommend all of these very highly anyway!

Those things developed as I worked on the book. They weren't there in the first draft, or even the second draft, as you will see if you look at the blog above! I do a lot of drafts, because my aim is always to make my books as good as I possibly can, and that takes a long time. I only realised that the book should be called Phoenix in the seventh and final year of writing it! Sometimes you know the title at the start, as I did with Varjak Paw; but sometimes you need to know everything in the story first, as I did with Phoenix. We understand you are very busy, however we would like to ask you some questions about Phoenix (if you have the time to respond). O’Connell, Alex (24 September 2022). "Tyger by SF Said review — a magical tiger goes on the run in dystopian London". The New York Times . Retrieved 21 March 2023. Kai, I do remember going to college with someone called Victoria! Please say hello to her for me, and tell her to get in touch one day, I'd love to hear from her again!I think my new book Phoenix is my best one so far. It's a great big space epic, and I really enjoyed putting a lot of things I love into it, especially the stars. Here's a blog I did with some of the inspirations behind that book...

Phoenix is so much about love and about connections and about fitting into the great space of the world(s), that I am a little bereft at finishing it. It is - it is something.I am in Year 3 at St. Andrew’s Primary School in Streatham, so hope it is not too far for you to travel, if you can come. Lots of children at St. Andrew’s would love to meet you and you can stay for lunch. I really hope you can come, my Headteacher Mrs Assid would like to meet you and so would my friends.. Thank you for writing such a brilliant book. Said has contributed an essay to The Gifts of Reading (2020), an anthology inspired by Robert Macfarlane's essay of the same name. [13] He also contributed a story to The Book of Hopes (2020), edited by Katherine Rundell, an anthology for young readers that raised money for NHS charities during the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.K. [14] I am definitely planning to write a third book about Varjak one day - and you'll be glad to hear that I think it will be about Varjak as an older cat! I wrote a bit about my idea for it here: