Bestselling children’s author Tom Palmer is set to give a talk on his work and new book that is set in Grasmere.
Tom will be appearing at Burn How Hotel’s book club, in Bowness, as part of the group’s Meet the Author sessions to speak about his work and his new novel on Wednesday September 11.
His new novel – Angel of Grasmere – is set in the village during the second world war and follows the story of a youngster coming to terms with the loss of her brother while also dealing with the chaos of the war.
The book club has previously welcomed authors including crime novelist Martin Edwards, adventurers Heather Dawe and Jo Moseley, the author of psychological thrillers, Paul Teague, and artist Liz Wakelin who recently won the prize for best illustrated book at the Lakeland Book Awards.
Organiser Vicky Robinson said: “Ours is a book club with a difference, where it’s a privilege to enjoy hearing authors talk about their books, their journeys into writing and publishing, in the lovely ambience of Burn How, the book hotel.
“We are very proud to be welcoming Tom, a remarkable award-winning writer who knows and loves the Lake District so well. He’s a great story-teller, and we’re excited to hear his stories in person.”
Tom has written over 60 children’s books, including six award-winning historical fiction titles and three Puffin football series, Football Academy, The Squad and Foul Play , which was short listed for the Blue Peter Book Award.
He describes himself as father, husband, author, football fan and reader.
He said: “In fact, it was reading about football that changed my life. I wasn’t keen on reading when I was young. My mum was worried about me because I was struggling at school. She encouraged me to read about football in newspapers, magazines and books. Gradually I came to love books.
“And from that point, my life changed. I wanted to know everything about books. I went to night school to do A levels when I was 21. Then I did a degree in European Literature when I was 24. It was brilliant!
“After I graduated, I went to work in a bookshop, then a library, then I managed book festivals. All that time I was writing: stories, poems, diaries and books for adults. Then – after a few years – I was lucky enough to have one of my football books for children accepted by Puffin.”
The book club will meet at the Burn How on Wednesday September 11 at 7pm. The talk is free to attend and no booking is required.
