I was lucky enough to win the best and most amazing prize through Authorfy, an afternoon tea with absolutely awesome author Peter Bunzl! The brain behind the books Cogheart and Moonlocket.
I have been super excited about this event as i’ve been thoroughly enjoying reading Cogheart, we’ve all been fighting over it in our house- Daddy was the first to get his paws on the book and swiftly moved on to the sequel which meant he was itching to have book chat with us, i was next to fall in love with Cogheart and Mummy is still waiting to read it (she’s not too happy about being last!)
I was offered to bring some friends along to meet Peter so i called upon the best of my bookish friends to come on this mini adventure.
We are all 9 years old and before i was home educated we all went to the same school. Katie comes with me to book club and thankfully likes to take as many books out as i do! Ruby is currently taking on The Summer Reading Challenge, she frequents the library too so i knew that they would provide me with good company.
We all live in Coventry which was a drive to our super secret (not so secret) destination but the drive provided us with plenty of time to catch up and play a few car games.
It was quite a nice day outside so we had our windows down and lots of music on, although Mummy was perplexed that my friends didn’t know who Steps were despite their recent revival- she treated us to (apparently) such classics as Tragedy, One for Sorrow and 5, 6, 7, 8.
We arrived in plenty of time and i was bubbling with excitement although if i’m honest my Daddy was equally as excited as i was!
We enjoyed being right on the water and being able to see the boats- it was very relaxing! A great choice for afternoon tea with an amazing author.
Usborne had sent some great bits over for the event like themed bookmarks and bunting but it was the Moonlocket cakes that stole the show! Just look at how cool they are. I actually think it was Authorfy who put these together- aren’t they talented?
Thank you so much to Mel and Emily for all your hard work organising the afternoon tea and setting everything up with Peter. You were so friendly and welcoming and very easy to talk to. If you haven’t heard about Authorfy i’ve linked the website in at the beginning of this blog, so please go and check them out.
How cool does our table look? If you’re wondering, those are Cogheart themed pencils and erasers… oh yeah and that’s Malkin heading up the table like a boss!
My Daddy had his eyes on him the moment he came upstairs!
Peter was really nice. He was very friendly and fun to talk to.
It was great to meet him and find out how he became an author.
Peter explained that he had become an animator first before finding his way into writing. His mother was an artist and she had provided him with a lot of inspiration. She was a costume designer for Postman Pat- the real one not the one we have now. And Peter often accompanied her there so he grew up around the creative process, witnessing something made entirely from scratch. For those that don’t know Postman Pat is created using stop frame animation so making the characters move on screen takes a great deal of time! Not to mention maintenance of the puppets! Eyes, mouths, hands and clothes! Plus scenes and anything else that needs to feature on screen.
Peter was literally brought up with a creative outlook on the world and it definitely spilled over! He is clearly no stranger to hard work and patience, animations take a lot of time and skill, traits that he’s absolutely transferred to writing.
We talked to Peter about his books, his personal favourite of all his characters is Malkin and i totally get why! That Fox is awesome; he’s independent, protective and despite his mechanical disposition behaves like he is a real animal. Especially when it comes to chewing on things!
While we were enjoying our delicious afternoon tea and by that i mean, while we were enjoying our cake, The Wizard of Oz was projected on the wall behind us- ironically this is one of Peter’s favourite films! The man has good taste! I love The Wizard of Oz too.
Peter asked the group if they’d read his books, most people were just starting to read them while i was on chapter 16 and things were getting interesting! He asked me if i was enjoying it, which i was immensely.
Mia, one of the girls who accompanied the event asked Peter what his favourite of his books was and he told us that choosing would be like asking a mother to pick her favourite child- in other words something that you simply couldn’t choose one way or the other. It was a diplomatic answer and i think the most appropriate one he would give. Well played Peter!
Being a book lover himself, Peter didn’t just ask us what we thought of his books, he was interested to know what other books we enjoyed and what our all time favourite book was. As a child who grew up in a house made of books (not literally but almost literally), reading from an early age i have always enjoyed Matilda. I liked the idea of a character who was just like me, minus the horrible parents of course! Oh and i can’t move things with the power of my mind- a little bit disappointed by that actually.
Peter was a huge tease, he had a copy of the next instalment of the series with him. It was like knowing there was ice cream in the freezer and not being able to open the door! But it was exciting to be in the presence of Peter’s amazing world and the next part of the story. Right now it looks like Cogheart and Moonlocket will be joined by another book making a trilogy but who knows if Peter finds more to say…
It was a great afternoon, filled with book love and lots of cake!
If you would like to find out more about Peter Bunzl, please visit his website here.
Oh and if you’re wondering what happened to Malkin… he came home with me.
