Pip Murphy

A city at night. A lone assassin waits on a rooftop. Noodles are slurped. 夜の街。 屋上で待ち構える一人の暗殺者。 麺はすすられる。

But this is no mere noodle harassment. Chinatsu Mori, assassin extraordinaire, uses the sound of the slurping to judge distance and potential obstacles. これはヌーハラということではない。 森血夏は、スルスルという音で、距離や障害物の有無を聞き分けることができる優れた暗殺者だ。

Similarly, the antennae-like hair she has she uses to judge wind strength and direction. さらに、アンテナのような髪で風の強さや方向を把握する。

Chinatsu is fully prepared for everything. Except English. 血夏は何事にも万全の態勢で臨んでいる。 ただし英語以外は。

Assassins Want to Learn English, Too / 暗殺者も英語を習いたい
LESSON 1: Noodle harassment / ヌーハラ

#awtlet #暗殺者も英語を習いたい #森血夏 #chinatsumori

Just finished writing chapter 18…and chapter 21. 👀

Chapters 19 and 20 are sitting there looking at me and wondering what happened to the rest of their words…

Does anyone else do this??

Here’s a (free!) spooky short story I wrote, if anyone’s feeling like a period chill this evening…

pipmurphy.com/thedoppelgan...

He did tell me what the justification was but it was so dumb I forgot it. 😭

I feel a team-up with you on the narration and your husband on the character voices would be golden!

I remember a student who told me his wife didn’t want him reading to their infant child because she’d read a study that said it was bad for them. 🤯 I’ve never advocated challenging someone’s spouse faster. 😅

Niiice! So much more fun that way!

Last year we came across a copy of Sheep Pig while visiting my aunt and I read a few chapters to my wife every night before bed. It was fun for both of us, and not just because I got to do sheep voices. 🐑 We should normalise reading to family and friends no matter the age. Reading together is a joy.

I think there’s never an age to stop reading aloud to people. For various reasons (e.g. dyslexia) sometimes it’s easier and more fun to listen to it being read and discuss it with the reader. If both people are able to read some bits aloud you can switch between you, too. Shared reading is lovely.

I was hearing it in thick Glaswegian when I typed it. 🤣

You only went and won the prize for teen fiction, Ya Booker!

Ya (Auld) Booker sounds like a slang term of endearment.

I realised I can’t relisten right now because I don’t have anything that plays tapes or CDs. 🤣 I’ll have to find something.

Oh, nice! I like that. I’ve seen cafes with traditional games like Scrabble before and that’s fun too.

I spent half an hour researching travel connections (bus -> ferry -> bus) before realising that the timings won't work for the plot so the characters have to go by magical rowing boat instead. Ah well!

Waiiitttt, Sam = Charles Paris?! 😱 I... need to go and listen to it all again to confirm. (Duh duh duuuuh du duh duhhh)

Oh, it's a mobile game. I had in my head your partner was breaking out a board game at the pub, although I'm not sure why I thought that!

Nice! Reading while walking is fun, as long as there aren't many obstacles! I used to have this coat with huge pockets so any time I was walking and got stopped by traffic lights I could whip out a book. 😆 I don't know Hustle Castle. I'll have to look that up.

Ooh, look what I spotted in the latest Sweet Cherry Publishing Limited catalogue! It looks like the next two Christie and Agatha books will be published in July and September next year. It’s still a while away but I’m already excited for their return. 😁📚🔍

#KidLitUK #UKKidLit #ChristieandAgatha

Book cover for Spirit Warriors by Ashley Thorpe

Book cover for Nush and the Stolen Emerald by Jasbinder Bilan

Book cover for Nate Yu’s Blast from the Past by Maisie Chan

Book cover for Birdie by J. P. Rose

With the IBC Excluded Voices report making for sober reading this week, let’s use #KidsBooksFriday to celebrate brilliant books from global majority writers.
#KidLitUK #UKKidLit #KidLit

www.inclusivebooksforchildren.org/excluded-voi...

The book I’m currently reading is Noah’s Gold by @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social I’m a massive sucker for books with (secretly) supportive older siblings and so far Eve is not disappointing.

What is everyone else reading today? 📚

A pink-blond haired lady in pyjamas reading a book with a mainly blue-coloured cover by Frank Cottrell-Boyce

Today is #Take10ToRead day, a reminder that taking even 10 minutes a day to relax through reading can really raise your mood and decrease your stress.

My favourite places to read are on the train, in bed and when I’m eating by myself. You can maybe guess where my reading time today is taking place!

A poster of a manifesto about reading, by Loki, with 6 points on reading "bad" books, short books, comics, audioooks, webcomics and fanfic, plus not finishing bad books cos life is too short.

This is my Lokifesto #KidsConf #UKkidlit #edusky lokibooks.com/lokifesto/

A brown-haired girl in a blue school uniform with a black cat sitting on her shoulders. The cat has a white bib and yellow-green eyes.

When I was little I had a kitten-sized cat called Treacle who wanted to do everything with me. Her favourite thing was to sit on my shoulders as I walked around and did things. Perfect pirate kitty.

A Discovery Disappears covers in German, Polish and Arabic

To celebrate Christie and Agatha's adventures being translated into 10 languages (not including English!), I've made a little blog post showcasing the covers of some of the translated overseas editions of the Christie and Agatha series. 🔍📚
pipmurphy.com/feature-chri...

@sweetcherrypub.bsky.social

ああ、ありがとう！とてもかわいいですね！座った姿勢ですが、それでもダイナミックな印象を与えます。二人は本当に相性が良いですね。

The atmosphere in that two parter is just perfect.

すごいですね！おめでとう〜初めて見るんです。箱の中見たいんです〜

Not sold on this new Duolingo system! Now even if you don’t make mistakes you can barely do any lessons. 🥲

I drew on a rock. To make it look more like a rock. Success??

(First attempt! Present for aunt and uncle)

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#rockart #poscapen #ladybird