The audiobook is narrated by Cathlen Gawlich and Franziska Harvey has provided new illustrations which are exclusive to the German editions.

The first book has already been published and the second is due to be released on February 21st 2013.

The first four books of the Bella Donna Series are now available as audio books

“When Megan and Ian got married, they wanted to start a family. But their desire to be parents ended up bringing one furry bundle of fun after another into their lives. At the same time as embarking on difficult and traumatic fertility treatment, Megan and Ian became involved with a charity which provides helper dogs to people with disabilities. And into their home one day came Emma, a soft, sweet-natured puppy with whom they fell instantly in love. However, after six months Emma had completed her training and was given to someone in need. To get over their broken hearts, Megan and Ian took in another pup: Freddy. And fell in love all over again . . . only for Freddy to move on too. Megan and Ian didn’t know if they could keep taking in these adorable puppies and giving them away later. It was getting too hard, too painful. But then, one Christmas, little Traffy came along . . .”

 You can see some photos from the book on my photos page

The 5 books short listed this year are:

The Great Escape by Megan Rix

BUSTER is a lively Jack Russell
TIGER is a feisty white and ginger tom
ROSE is a faithful Collie

Robert and Lucy Edwards love their pets more than anything; but the threat of the Second World War forces them to flee to Devon – leaving their animals behind. And as the air raid sirens sound over London, the frightened animals are sent to be put down.

Buster, Tiger and Rose make a daring escape but with danger at every turn, can the trio make it across the country as it prepares for battle – and cheat death for the second time?

The Messenger Bird by Ruth Eastham

Nathan’s father has been arrested. He works for the Ministry of Defence and is accused of leaking top secret information. But as he is dragged into a police car, he gives Nathan a message. It leads to a riddle, but it’s not from Dad. It’s from an ex-Bletchley Park employee, Lily Kenley, and was written in 1940. Nathan begins to follow the clues left behind by Lily. But how can this war-time story link to his father’s fate? Hope for Dad’s appeal is fading fast. He must solve the puzzle. Time is running out.

Goblins by Philip Reeve

A wild world of magical creatures and heroic adventure from the extraordinary imagination of Philip Reeve. The squabbling goblins who live in the great towers of Clovenstone spend their time fighting and looting. Only clever young Skarper understands that dark magic created by a vanquished sorcerer is rising again. From th lands of men come fortune-seekers – and trolls, giants, cloud-midens, boglins, swamp monsters, tree-warriors and bloodthirsty goblins are swept into a fabulous magical conflict to thrill all fantasy fans.

The Wizz Pop Chocolate Shop by Kate Saunders

Oz and Lily’s family have inherited an ancient chocolate shop and they’re moving in upstairs. It’s the perfect home … apart fro the small fact that it’s haunted. And then they discover some slid gold chocolate moulds – with magic powers! Soon the ghosts are joined by some evil villains determined to get their hands on the priceless secrets of the magical chocolate.

Small Change for Stuart by Lissa Evans

Stuart Horten – ten years old and small for his age – moves to the dreary town of Beeton, far away from all his friends. And then he meets his new next-door neighbours, the unbearable Kingley triplets, and things get even worse.

But in Beeton begins the strangest adventure of Stuart’s life as he is swept up in quest to find his great-uncle’s lost workshop – a workshop stuffed with trickery and magic. There are clues to follow and puzzles to solve, but what starts as fun ends up as danger, and Stuart begins to realize that he can’t finish the task by himself . . .

The short listed books and the final winner are chosen with the help of children from East Sussex schools. In May children vote for their favourite book and the winner will be announced in June – fingers crossed.

The BBC Writersroom is also a good source for screenplay formatting information; On the BBC website you will find Scriptsmart, a set of Microsoft Word templates and macros for formatting scripts.

The format for writing feature films is different from that used for TV and Radio scripts are different again – good screenwriting packages such as Final Draft will allow you to change a script into a different format with just a simple menu selection.

Examples of TV and radio scripts are available from the BBC; Example feature film screenplays can be found on the internet using websites such as Drews Script-o-rama or Simplyscripts

Loglines

One of the first things people will ask you when you tell them you’ve written a story or a script is ‘What’s it about?’

A logline is a one or two sentence description of the overall idea of your story. You definitely need to have a logline for your script – it shows you’re a professional or aiming to be one.
And how would it sound if a producer or an investor or even a friend asks you what your script if about and you’re stuck there saying um well – it’s too complicated – I can’t reduce it – or go on for the next half hour until the person you’re talking to eyes glaze over.

So a logline must tell us:

• Who the story is about (who is your protagonist – your hero)
• What he strives for (that’s his goal)
• What stands in his way (the antagonist – this could be another person or an event or something within himself that stops him for achieving his goal.)

A logline must convey the action of the story. Sometimes the logline also needs to show the setup of your story.
Jaws needs a setup – The logline for Jaws might be –
After a series of grisly shark attacks, a sheriff struggles to protect his small beach community against the bloodthirsty monster, in spite of the greedy chamber of commerce.
Without the setup – which is ‘after a series of grisly shark attacks’ the logline wouldn’t be quite so intriguing.
You wouldn’t just use your logline when you’re talking about your script it can also be used in your query letter. It’s your hook to get someone to read the rest of your script.

Loglines Quiz

Remember a logline should tell a reader 3 things:

1. Who the lead character is
2. What his problem is
3. How he is going to solve it

Can you identify the following films from their loglines?

• The extraordinary story of a thoroughbred racehorse – from his humble beginnings as an under-fed workhorse to his unlikely rise and triumphant victory over the Triple Crown winner, War Admiral.

• A 17th Century tale of adventure on the Caribbean Sea where the roguish yet charming Captain Jack Sparrow joins forces with a young blacksmith in a gallant attempt to rescue the Governor of England’s daughter and reclaim his ship.

• After segueing from a life of espionage to raising a family, Gregorio and Ingrid Cortez are called back into action. But when they are kidnapped by their evil nemesis, there are only two people in the world who can rescue them… their kids!

• Toula’s family has exactly three traditional values – “Marry a Greek boy, have Greek babies, and feed everyone.” When she falls in love with a sweet, but WASPy guy, Toula struggles to get her family to accept her fiancée, while she comes to terms with her own heritage.

• A young man and woman from different social classes fall in love aboard an ill-fated voyage at sea.

• When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by a corrupt prince, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek his revenge.

• An older man is forced to deal with an ambiguous future after he enters retirement and his wife passes away. Ultimately, he finds hope as he comes to terms with his daughter’s marriage and his own life.

• A comedic portrayal of a young and broke Shakespeare who falls in love with a woman, inspiring him to write “Romeo and Juliet.”

• A journey of self-discovery by a brilliant mathematician once he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He eventually triumphs over tragedy and receives the Nobel Prize.

• An Epic tale of a 1940s New York Mafia family and their struggle to protect their empire, as the leadership switches from the father to his youngest son.

• After a twister transports a lonely Kansas farm girl to a magical land, she sets out on a dangerous journey to find a wizard with the power to send her home.

• A shy young boy discovers a stranded alien and finds the courage to defy the authorities to help it return to its home planet.

• After a high-powered surgeon is wrongly convicted of murdering his wife, he escapes custody and hunts down the real killer – a one-armed man.

• In a future where criminals are arrested before the crime occurs, a despondent cop struggles to prove his innocence for a murder he has not yet committed.

• A young farmhand on a distant planet joins the battle against the universe’s evil forces but doesn’t realise that his family’s dark secret will have serious repercussions for him and his friends.

• A highly strung mother won’t allow her children to leave the house but when three disconcerting housekeepers turn up to help her, strange events occur that suggest the house is haunted.

• A mild mannered Englishman begins to wonder if he’ll ever meet the woman of his dreams when he always attends weddings as a guest, never the groom, but when he meets a sexy American woman, he decides to pursue her as she could be the one to lead him up the aisle.

• A freewheeling cop aims to take down a long-time criminal adversary, but gets stuck with a new partner — a police dog.

• A team of commandos, on a mission in a Central American jungle, find themselves hunted by an extra-terrestrial warrior Predator.

• An archeologist must find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis get their hands on it and use it to rule the world.

The Great Escape Quiz

A Wordsearch

For more details, go to Puffin’s The Great Escape webpage

The 5 books short listed this year are:

The Great Escape by Megan Rix

BUSTER is a lively Jack Russell
TIGER is a feisty white and ginger tom
ROSE is a faithful Collie

Robert and Lucy Edwards love their pets more than anything; but the threat of the Second World War forces them to flee to Devon – leaving their animals behind. And as the air raid sirens sound over London, the frightened animals are sent to be put down.

Buster, Tiger and Rose make a daring escape but with danger at every turn, can the trio make it across the country as it prepares for battle – and cheat death for the second time?

The Messenger Bird by Ruth Eastham

Nathan’s father has been arrested. He works for the Ministry of Defence and is accused of leaking top secret information. But as he is dragged into a police car, he gives Nathan a message. It leads to a riddle, but it’s not from Dad. It’s from an ex-Bletchley Park employee, Lily Kenley, and was written in 1940. Nathan begins to follow the clues left behind by Lily. But how can this war-time story link to his father’s fate? Hope for Dad’s appeal is fading fast. He must solve the puzzle. Time is running out.

Goblins by Philip Reeve

A wild world of magical creatures and heroic adventure from the extraordinary imagination of Philip Reeve. The squabbling goblins who live in the great towers of Clovenstone spend their time fighting and looting. Only clever young Skarper understands that dark magic created by a vanquished sorcerer is rising again. From th lands of men come fortune-seekers – and trolls, giants, cloud-midens, boglins, swamp monsters, tree-warriors and bloodthirsty goblins are swept into a fabulous magical conflict to thrill all fantasy fans.

The Wizz Pop Chocolate Shop by Kate Saunders

Oz and Lily’s family have inherited an ancient chocolate shop and they’re moving in upstairs. It’s the perfect home … apart fro the small fact that it’s haunted. And then they discover some slid gold chocolate moulds – with magic powers! Soon the ghosts are joined by some evil villains determined to get their hands on the priceless secrets of the magical chocolate.

Small Change for Stuart by Lissa Evans

Stuart Horten – ten years old and small for his age – moves to the dreary town of Beeton, far away from all his friends. And then he meets his new next-door neighbours, the unbearable Kingley triplets, and things get even worse.

But in Beeton begins the strangest adventure of Stuart’s life as he is swept up in quest to find his great-uncle’s lost workshop – a workshop stuffed with trickery and magic. There are clues to follow and puzzles to solve, but what starts as fun ends up as danger, and Stuart begins to realize that he can’t finish the task by himself . . .

The short listed books and the final winner are chosen with the help of children from East Sussex schools. In May children vote for their favourite book and the winner will be announced in June – fingers crossed.

Published November 2010 in the UK, Megan’s memoir, “The Puppy That Came For Christmas…” quickly became a Sunday Times Best-Seller. It has since been translated into Portuguese, Polish and Slovakian versions 

“When Megan and Ian got married, they wanted to start a family. But their desire to be parents ended up bringing one furry bundle of fun after another into their lives. At the same time as embarking on difficult and traumatic fertility treatment, Megan and Ian became involved with a charity which provides helper dogs to people with disabilities. And into their home one day came Emma, a soft, sweet-natured puppy with whom they fell instantly in love.
However, after six months Emma had completed her training and was given to someone in need. To get over their broken hearts, Megan and Ian took in another pup: Freddy. And fell in love all over again . . . only for Freddy to move on too. Megan and Ian didn’t know if they could keep taking in these adorable puppies and giving them away later. It was getting too hard, too painful. But then, one Christmas, little Traffy came along . . .”

You can see some photos from the book on my photos page

TIGER is a feisty white and ginger tom
ROSE is a faithful CollieRobert and Lucy Edwards love their pets more than anything; but the threat of the Second World War forces them to flee to Devon – leaving their animals behind. And as the air raid sirens sound over London, the frightened animals are sent to be put down…

Buster, Tiger and Rose make a daring escape but with danger at every turn, can the trio make it across the country as it prepares for battle – and cheat death for the second time?

Read about:

• How I researched it.
• More about the character of Lucy
• launching the book