‘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…
I was talking to a book club in Antonia’s Bookshop in Trim (the closest thing my family has to a local bookshop) the other day, where they’d asked me to come in and talk about ‘The Harvest Tide Project’, which they’d just read. You might think this would be an easy gig, but the truth is, it had been…
Have you ever wondered about the people who sell you technology? Do you think that, maybe, they have no idea what it’s like to be someone who doesn’t work in the technology industry? Do you think that many instruction manuals are anything but user-friendly? That maybe, the person writing them might not be fully fluent in English (or whatever…
I have to admit; even after twenty-one books, I still get excited seeing my latest one fresh off the presses. I get a box of author copies when the production run’s done and they’re all being packed up for distribution, but I normally get a couple as soon as my editor can send me them, maybe one or two…
I was sent these pictures by professional book-dude Tom Donegan, showing a copy of ‘Strangled Silence’ in a bookshop in Australia. This was, I’m sure, after he had kindly put it facing out – another recruit to my team dedicated to interfering with bookshop shelves. Tom had just returned from Sydney, where he had a fine time dawdling, dossing,…
I read four books recently that really brought home a fundamental issue in fiction generally, but science fiction in particular. Over Christmas, I read ‘The Hunger Games’ trilogy, and I’ve just finished China Mieville’s ‘Embassytown’. There have been all sorts of claims made about ‘The Hunger Games’: that it’s wildly original, groundbreaking – claims I can’t say I agree…
While looking for info on a comics artist recently, I came across a site called Irish Comics Wiki . . . and then found this on it – a real blast from the past. It’s amazing what people can dig up! Back in art college, I was set on becoming a comics writer and artist. Not long after leaving,…