I am Commander-in-Chief of the World.

Quite a hectic week this week, as the book tour regathered momentum and visited;

Briscoe Primary School
East Didsbury Primary School
Norris Bank Primary School
and I even had chance to re-visit Great Moor Infants, to read the HPM to the reception classes.

I have been refining my performance technique and working on voice projection, so now even when I read to a full school in the assembly hall - I know that they can hear me at the back. (Anyone who has ever tried to have a conversation with me, will know that I used to be the worlds greatest mumbler.....well not any more, its taken 40 years but at least now you know what I am saying).

From what I have noticed, Golden Arm has swiftly become more popular than the HPM with me reading the tale all the way from year 1 to year 6 ( I cant bring myself to scare the reception classes, because that would be too cruel).

I have started work on the second spooky tale called Commander-in-Chief of the World, which is about a young boy who does nothing but play video games. One day when his mother has had enough and tells him to go out for some fresh air, he meets a man who sells him a game that no-one else has ever played.

When the boy goes home to play, he finds that every hit that his spaceship takes - makes his house shudder, and it isn't long before he realises that he is playing the game for his own survival. Below are the opening verses, (which still need a bit of fine tuning)



I am Commander-in-Chief-of-the-world and I haven’t got time to tidy my room,
Alien invaders need to be stopped,
Only I can save us from doom.

If you give me five minutes, I’ll stop the attack, and send them all back into space
For I am Commander in Chief of the World, and everything else has to wait.

“Tidy your room, and take out the trash – I’ve asked you enough times already today”
“Mum – wait till I’ve won, I’ll be quick as a flash…it’s important to finish my play”

As he gripped the controls on his smart games console, The spaceship explodes with a flash and a
hiss.

He was winning the war, with a brand new high score.

Nobody, nowhere was better than this.


Then the t.v. went blank and the world wasn’t saved - somebody somewhere,
had turned off the power.

“You need some fresh air, it’s a beautiful day – I don’t want you back for an hour”

And so he went out,
without lasers or guns,
no spaceship to take him around

The Commander in chief – had to wait for a bus
While his mother drove off into town.