How it feels to win a Royal Mail Award...

This week our special guest blogger is Royal Mail Award winner J.A. Henderson. So Jan, how was the winning experience for you?

"I have to say that I was astonished and delighted in equal measure at winning the Royal Mail Award for Bunker 10. I think the official term is ‘freaked out’. Bunker 10 had been shortlisted for another five prizes and managed to win exactly none (well, that’s not strictly true. I still have one to go). So I sat on my seat in the Award ceremony practising my brave face and reminding myself that being shortlisted was an honour in itself!

But I won! And I got a sheet of stamps with my face on it from the Royal Mail! Result! As soon as I got out I called my six year old son Charlie and told him. He was much calmer than me and suggested that I might like to split the prize money with him. That kid will end up Prime Minister some day. Or in jail.

I have to thank the Royal Mail (especially for the stamps, right) and the Scottish Book Trust for looking after me so well. But I REALLY want to thank the kids who voted for me. I’d written a whole bunch of books in the past as Jan-Andrew Henderson, but Bunker 10 was the first one where I decided to write exactly what I wanted. And there were plenty of adults who told me it was too complicated and too dark. And you proved that’s not true.

That’s better than having my face on a coin."

Thanks to Jan, and congrats again from all of us at Scottish Book Trust! If you haven't heard it yet, check out our interview with Jan talking all about writing Bunker 10 and loads of other cool stuff.

PS - if any of you out there are looking for Christmas present ideas, check out this list - only the finest selection of books, all of which make ideal Christmas gifts. Don't say we're not good to you...