Cornwall Libraries National Year of Reading Ambassador for 2026

Exciting News! I am the Cornwall Libraries National Year of Reading Ambassador for 2026. I’ll be visiting all corners of Cornwall and hope to celebrate the National Year of Reading with your families.

My family and I are delighted to have become Cornish residents and I’ll be visiting as many schools and libraries, bookshops and festival across Cornwall as I can throughout 2026.

Meet me in person

My Cornwall Libraries Tour ...

FREE 30 mins meet the author

Sat 23 May 2026
10am Hayle 11.30am Camborne
1pm Redruth

Mon 25 May 2026
2 pm Waterstones Truro

My Cornwall Libraries Tour continues ...

Tues 26 May 2026
10am Bodmin
11.30am Wadebridge
1pm Bude 2.30pm Camelford

Wed 27 May 2026
10.30am St Columb 11.45am Newquay 1pm Perranporth
2.30pm St Agnes

Thurs 28 May 2026
10am St Just 11.30am Penzance 1pm St Ives

Fri 29 May 2026
10am Helston 11.30am Falmouth 1pm Penryn 2.30pm Truro

Sat 30 May 2026
9am Lostwithiel 10.15am Fowey 11.45am St Austell

Mon 1 June 2026
10am Looe 11.30am Liskeard 1pm Saltash 2.30pm Torpoint

Tues 2 June 2026
10am Callington 11.30am Launceston 1.30pm Par

Also …

Saturday 6 June 2027
Come and find me at the Cornwall Libraries stand at the Royal Cornwall Show, Wadebridge, PL27 7JE

Monday 3 August 2026

11.15-12.15 pm Looe Library

Family Reading Session

Book 0150326239

Introducing Cornwall Libraries National Year of Reading 2026

My 2026 Cornish Diary Highlights

January – Kicked off the national year of reading with my FREE 5 part story to readaloud based on the real wartime journal of a girl called Inga from her life first in Vienna, Austria 1937-39 and then in Falmouth, Cornwall 1939-1944. More here

Saturday 24 January 2026
Perranporth Library opening

I loved reading from my new book and meeting readers at the grand opening of their amazing new library!

I hope to be visiting all the libraries of Cornwall this summer.

February

Hosted the schools book quiz for Cornwall Libraries at Kresen Kernow. Well done to the winning school!

March

Thrilled to get my hands on an early copy of IF THE INVADER COMES, we took it to Trebah Garden(one of its inspirational Cornish settings) to celebrate. What a place!Took my first copy of If the Invader Comes to Trebah Gardens.

I was also due to visit Five Islands Academy and St Mary’s Library but was unable to fly due to the weather, but hope to go soon!

April

Visited the lovely Shrew Books, Fowey to buy some books and set up pre-order signed booksales for If the Invader Comes.

More here.

7 May 2026 NEW Cornish book

The publication date of the first book If The Invader Comes in my new Cornish Trilogy Allies for children, set in the Second World War.

“A gripping Cornish wartime story” – Cornwall Libraries

Pre-order signed books from Shew Books, Fowey here.

Follow my Cornish journey of researching & writing Allies here.

June 1940, with the spectre of a Nazi invasion looming over Britain, three Cornish children – Bobble, Cadan and Cilla – are involved in vital but top-secret war work. The unlikely trio initially struggle to trust one another, but when Cadan spots a German E-boat during a Fal River patrol and Cilla discovers a crashed Stuka on a Cornish RAF airfield, they realise the menace is closer than they thought.

More here.

Pre-order on Amazon now here

Tom says” It is my absolute honour to be the National Year of Reading ambassador for Cornwall Libraries. Cornwall is my favourite place on earth and where my family and I will be living permanently from January onwards. I also love libraries. Libraries changed my life and gave me access to the books that gave me access to the world. So this is a perfect role for me. I will do everything I can to champion Cornwall’s libraries and all the good work they do.”

Councillor Sarah Preece, Cabinet Member for Libraries and Culture at Cornwall Council, added: “This partnership is a fantastic boost for Cornwall’s National Year of Reading. With Tom’s involvement, we’ll reach young people and encourage them to connect with stories that reflect their own interests and passions. It’s wonderful to see Cornwall’s Libraries highlighting that reading can be sparked by what people love the most.”

My other stories set in Cornwall

I’ve already set a children’s book in Cornwall from my Defenders series, published by Barrington Stoke.

In Pitch Invasion, Seth and Nadiya specialise in solving ghostly hauntings at football venues, which take them to settings including an Iron Age Celtic hill fort, Cornwall. (Based on

More here