MARTA: Little circles for the- for the pupils. We can add a little bit more definition on the top of the eye for, well, a bit of, er, lashes. MARTA: So, we look at the bottom of the six, again, and a little bit over the nostrils, just to find your way...somewhere here. LAURA: Of course, the eyebrows. They give expression. Oh, and I see what you've done there. You've done it like Marcus' eyebrow.

MARTA: Oh my goodness. Er, they add massively, I think. 'Cause obviously the text is one thing but then the illustrations just basically expand, I think, the story. So, er, you illustrate what is in a story but also maybe what isn't, to a degree. So maybe, you know, some things aren't quite said in a text but you can add them, um, expand, basically. With a book that includes emphasised words in a text, how do you decide which are the important words to stand out?

About Marcus Rashford, Alex Falase-Koya

LAURA: Yeah. OK, Alex, another one for you. Do you have any tips for writing setting descriptions? How do you set the scene? And, you know, I look at that. I- I sort of think, oh, what are the good ones or the not. And usually I may have some of my own ideas, so then we have this dialogue and I suggest, oh, how about this? And then from that we have the proper solid list on to which I– MARTA: That's right. And it's a nice way because when you're using a pen like s- like this one you can't rub it off. So you just draw the line in there. ALEX: So the first thing I think about is what do I want the setting to do in- as part of the story? Um, how do I want this place to feel? Um, how do I want the audience to feel about it? And then when you can go from there, when you know what you want, um, you-, how you want the place to feel, then you- you go through your senses. Think about your smell, um, the things you can hear, the things you can see. And then just really go through there, and, um, and using that you can really craft a- a setting. LAURA: Hmm. We've got some questions about writing and illustrating books, but all we need is a writer and an illustrator. Ah! Marta! Alex! Perfect!

ALEX: Well, um, this is the type of thing where we kind of do-, it's all a real team effort. So we have loads of book designers who, um, look really hard at the text and think about what are the type of things which, um, are words that can catch the audience's eye. Um, and they kind of help, er, put that all together. MARTA: It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't even have to join together. Because, again, our eyes change all the time anyway. Thank you so much. If you've drawn Marcus Rashford then send it in because we want to have a look. Thank you, Marta and Alex, for joining us in Book Club!MARTA: Little lines underneath, because he's smiling, and when we smile we've got these little lines. And last but not least... The novel will be published in May 2022, with an illustrator to be confirmed shortly. It will be the third title to be distributed by the Marcus Rashford Book Club, after A Dinosaur Ate My Sister by Pooja Puri, illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan, and Silas and the Marvellous Misfits by Tom Percival. I wanted to create something that really captured the true spirit of breakfast club. Outside of making sure we got the best start to our days with cereal, toast and juice, it was where my friendships were made. Where we could just lose ourselves. A safe haven,” said Rashford. “Breakfast club was where some of my greatest memories were formed, where we talked about our dreams and where adventures were planned, and it was important for me that we captured that in my first fiction book. Alex is a great writer who is able to capture that brilliantly and I’m thrilled that he’s on this journey with me.”