The biggest surprise in this very surprising year was to be offered a fellowship for 2021 at Otago University. I will be the University of Otago College of Education/Creative New Zealand Children's Writer in Residence from February to July 2021.

This is a huge honour and opportunity. My first reaction was one of panic! To uproot my life for six months seemed too big an ask, but the support of colleagues and family has been huge and I now understand how dispensable I am! But only for two terms, I've been told.

So I will have six months to write and, pretty much, that's it! What a treat.

But, those of you who know me know I'm a teacher at heart. To be based at the College of Education is an extra bonus. It means I'll be around people engaged in and enthused by teaching. So I hope to have lots of fruitful discussions about teaching in general, and in particular about the teaching of writing.

I'm telling you this now because one of my intentions is to try this blog writing for real and to regularly share ideas here about things both writing and teaching. This has been my dilemma in the past; which one to focus on. Now I can meld the two together.

So, as I prepare for my Dunedin Adventure and once I embark on it, I hope to see you back here.

The Robert Lord Cottage- my accomodation for 6 months in 2021.