Congratulations to Niamh Sharkey, on becoming our new Children’s Laureate. The announcement was made by President Michael D Higgins at a ceremony in the headquarters of the Arts Council this morning. To my great disappointment, I couldn’t attend because I did my back in over the weekend, and am currently walking around like some lop-sided zombie, but I wish…
Here are a few really useful articles I’ve come across in the last couple of weeks, all of which have to do with developments in the business. I’ll stick them in here in the order of the events they refer to: Eoin Purcell’s written an interesting article on who he sees as the winners and losers in the ongoing…
If you do anything online, this issue needs your immediate attention. Right now, the US is poised to pass a new law that would permit US intelligence services to spy on almost everything we do online. It’s called the ‘Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act‘. This may be a US law, but it effects everyone else, because companies that…
To celebrate the release of ‘Merciless Reason’, the third book in the Wildenstern Saga, we are offering one reader the chance to make an appearance as a character in my next novel.* Like a walk-on part in a film, except you won’t have to walk. To enter, you need to do two things: 1. Simply answer this question: In…
So, I didn’t win the Mordus du Polar Award in France (goddamnit). That honour went to Marie-Aude Murail for ‘Le Tueur a la Cravate’ – congratulations Marie-Aude. While I’m on, there are a few things I thought worth spreading word about: I did a recent guest post on a blog called Pivot Dublin, which is devoted to design issues…
Well, ‘Merciless Reason’, the third Wildenstern novel, is well and truly out in the shops (and libraries, of course). There are a lot of up and coming authors out there (though I still count myself as ‘up and coming’) who focus all their efforts on getting published for the first time – which is natural enough. But I thought…
‘Ancient Appetites’ (aka ‘Voraces’) and les Mordus du Polar got us to the Paris book fair – see a transcript, in French, of the authors’ panel event here. And while the Salon du Livre was a great experience, but there was also the city, of course . . . After landing at the airport, we took a taxi to…
Maedhbh and I were in Paris for the weekend, for the massive French book fair, the Salon du Livre. I’d been invited over because ‘Voraces’ (the French edition of ‘Ancient Appetites’) has been short-listed for les Mordus du Polar which, loosely translated, means ‘Mad about Mystery’. The winner will be announced on the 7th of April, but in the…
I was invited to Dublin Zoo for World Book Day, to do a spot on the John Murray Show on RTE Radio 1. Basically, they said ‘we’re going to surround two classes of schoolchildren with snakes, elephants, and other wild animals, oh . . . and there’ll be live music from somebody from ‘The Voice’ too. ‘Then you’ll be…
In Ireland – and, I’m sure, many other places around the world – if you’re in the business of making children’s books, then schools represent an important part of your market. Obviously, this is not just because it’s where the kids are learning to read, but also because it’s where a large proportion of kids will have their first…