22 June 2010

Monsters in Monaghan

At the Flat Lake Festival I managed to herd together a bemused gang of youngsters to tell them about sea monsters. Instead of chairs the audience sat on hay bales. They stayed reasonably bemused, I think. Thank you to everyone who came along.


Thanks to Niamh for this photograph

My next big day out will be a reading and a workshop at Downpatrick’s Children’s Festival on the 7th of August.

02 June 2010

Let's Get Lost

Thank you to everyone who came along to my event in No Alibis bookstore during the Belfast Children’s Festival. My next outing is to the Flat Lake Festival in county Monaghan this weekend. Visit their website to get a sense of what an unusual, varied and hay-barn style carnival it will be. Bring your wellies. I will be showing and telling in the children’s tent twice over the weekend, on Saturday and Sunday. The theme will be The Badness of Ballydog and the ideas behind it. I will also be giving a short lecture about some real sea monsters in the HURL pavilion.

Jonny Duddle has done it again with the cover for Lost Dogs. It is time to reveal his work.


This is the illustrator's portfolio.

I like the image a lot. Mr Duddle has captured May’s new look very well and, as you can see, another character has joined the trio for this book. When presented with the cover a certain Ms. S. commented that, “Ewan looks like he’s in a boy band” but that's fine by me. I think that's just right. Lost Dogs is the sequel to The Badness of Ballydog and will be out in November. I am still trying to think up a title for the third book.