Found this on Irish Publishing News. I made it onto the list of Top 100 authors borrowed in Irish libraries in 2010. For anybody who thinks that children’s books are a minor part of what is overwhelmingly an adult book market, the Top 100 list is loaded with children’s authors, with over half the Top 50 consisting of our…
One of the things about being published by a few different publishers in the same market, is that you can end up with a slightly disjointed approach to selling your work. Even within the one publisher, you can find that different types of books are sold in different ways. In some cases, this is necessary; the kind of thing…
I’m going to be appearing on Elev8, on RTE 2 at around midday on Monday (the show is airing earlier than normal because of Easter). It’s part of the promotion for the Drogheda Arts Festival. The Enchanted Exhibition, which started out in the Garter Lane Arts Centre in Waterford, has now moved to the arts centre in Drogheda, and…
I’m delighted to say to that ‘Voraces’, the French edition of ‘Ancient Appetites’, has been shortlisted in France for the ‘Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire 2011′. It’s in the category ‘Roman jeunesse étranger’, (number six on the list of categories on the award’s site). I’m up against some pretty tough competition. Here’s the full list for the category: Le Sortilège…
This post is dedicated to various aspects of not doing things the normal way. I’m going to start with a recent article in the Meath Chronicle about a class in St Fintina’s Post Primary in Longwood, County Meath. Each of the first year students has been provided with a Fizzbook Spin tablet-style laptop. The school worked with The Educational…
I’m reluctant to even post this, it’s become such a ridiculous situation, but I can’t help myself. Here’s what can happen when you respond to a review . . . and keep responding . . . and keep responding. To any other writers out there: just be glad it ain’t you.
I am reminded of that famous line from the trashy classic, ‘Robocop’: ‘You have twenty seconds to comply’. Except in this case, it’s: ‘You have twenty minutes to reply’. After that, you know that new email you’ve just received is getting knocked down the list in your inbox. I went into business for myself just a few years before…
I do sessions to promote my books – as well as a few workshops and residencies – throughout the year, but it normally doesn’t get too mad except for round October, when Ireland is overrun by the Children’s Book Festival. Lately though, I’ve taken on a lot of sessions, and with World Book Day (or at least the one…
I was delighted to hear that, in a recent poll of readers in libraries in County Offaly, I was voted Favourite Irish Author, ahead of some serious stars. The list went like this: Me! Marita Conlon-McKenna David Donohue Eoin Colfer Dolores Keaveney John Boyne Roddy Doyle Judy Curtin (Joint Place) Derek Landy, Maeve Binchy and John Connolly Of the…
On election day, I joined the mass of people who turned out to put their stroke of a pencil on the ballot paper and turf our greedy, corrupt, incompetent, hopeless excuse for a government out of Leinster House. It wasn’t what you’d normally consider a revolution, but it got the job done, and got the tossers out. Even as…