Hey cHEwY gum gums!

Keen beans may have noticed that there was a slight change from the original cover of my new book Brain Freeze. Originally I had 10 short stories lined up for my collection, but now there are two extra stories.

These bonus two stories are special because they feature my characters during lockdown. Super Essential Thai-riffic! is about Lengy and his family dealing with being a delivery-only restaurant, and Quaranteen is about how Vee and her mum try to make their instagram exciting when they are stuck at home.

I was editing the original ten stories back in April, when the lockdown was in full swing. I began to jot down notes for some possible stories about kids in lockdown. Then I wondered, how would my own characters in previous books deal with lockdown?

So I suggested the idea to my long-time friend and lovely editor, Heather, and she said they could squeeze in a few extra stories into Brain Freeze. I was hoping that they could be its own collection (working title was Homebound) but then I realised that time is of an essence, and to have lockdown stories out quickly was more important.

It’s one of the many things that I’m proud of in my collection. I may have written one of the very first middle-grade stories about the pandemic and lockdown. I managed to squeeze in as many jokes as I could about 2020, from panic-buying to Zoom meetings. At least I got in first.

Only one more week and you’ll be able to read them too hehe

O.W