In this painting of a water buffalo I used a Chinese paint brush and ink on Chinese water colour paper. The paper is very absorbant so you need to work really fast. I like working with this medium but it means you can’t make any mistakes because every brushstroke is visible. See if you can count the number of strokes I’ve used.

Three new things I did when I was in America:

Walk across a frozen stream

Visit a town where nobody locks their doors and leave the keys in their cars

Being stuck in a snow storm in an aeroplane on the runway in Boston for four hours

Have just received an advanced copy of A Ghost in My Suitcase. This is always a very exciting time for an author. Even though it is not in the bookshops yet, it has already been reprinted. The girl on the front cover is my cousin’s daughter. She is so excited to be on the cover of my book. It will be in bookshops in February.

I hope you are enjoying your summer holiday and reading lots of books.

Tell me what your favourite books have been so far.