The question I get asked more than any other is ‘Please can you make Small Blue Thing into a movie?’ Well, no, I can’t. But you can.

I would LOVE for all the books to be made into films, absolutely love it, but it’s not down to me. The people who run the film studios decide which books they are going to adapt, and they have a lot of books to choose from. Because making films is really expensive they like to make ones which they know are going to appeal to a big audience, so books like Twilight or The Hunger Games, with a lot of fans, go to the top of the pile.

And that’s where you come in. The studios have told us that they like Small Blue Thing, that they think it is very filmable, they just need to be sure of the audience. So the more of you who watch the trailer on YouTube (here) or like the Facebook page (here) as well as borrow it from the library or get your own copy, the higher up the pile we go.

So over half term why don’t we see what we can do? Tell your friends on Facebook, get them to tell their friends, recommend the video and let’s see what happens. After all, if they make the film they are going to have to cast Alex and wouldn’t you like to be her?

I was hugely excited on Friday night when a friend tweeted me to tell me that there was a picture of one of my books on the BBC Radio 2 website. Being held by Chris Evans, no less! You can see the hands on the Scattering Like Light cover in the picture above.

The website page, which you can find here, is promoting a competition to write a great story in 500 words or less. And one of my books ended up in the pile which they are using to show what you can win – Chris’s height in books! That would take a while to read.

Why don’t you enter?

Today is National Libraries Day, so I wanted to tell you a bit about the influence that libraries have had on me.

When I was young I lived in a house full of books which seemed to be mostly for adults or directed towards boys (I have two brothers). I read everything I could lay my hands on, but when I first went to my local library I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Racks and racks of books for girls, my own library cards and no-one to tell me what to pick. Every Saturday morning I took the bus into town clutching my three books, handed them in and got back my three little orange cards. I then sniffed along the shelves until I found something which caught my fancy. Half the time the three books wouldn’t last me through the weekend. I pleaded with the librarian to be allowed to take out more, but those were the rules. Even so, in a few years I must have read half the library.

When I moved up to senior school there was a small fiction library to explore, so I was able to take out books from there too. As I got older I started to get my own books and borrow from friends (there’s nothing quite like having a rummage through someone else’s bookshelf). And I also bought my own, enjoying the thrill of a nice, crisp paperback which may or may not in time turn into a soft, well-worn favourite.

One of the most exciting things about writing my own books has been knowing that they are sitting on the shelf in libraries, where a whole new generation of girls can find them, and that makes me hugely proud. Go and join your local library today!