One of the most enjoyable parts of visiting schools is seeing the pupils take ideas and images from my books and do their own thing with them. I will often show up at a school to discover a whole wall covered in fantastic artwork, with young artists displaying their own interpretations of characters and events from my stories. That…
We’ve just come out of the cold snap, but I’ve heard reports on the radio that we could be heading right into another one this week. Some would say the weather we’ve just had is the the last thing we needed after all the crap that’s happened to our economy over the last year, and the crap that’s still…
The snow started falling while my family and I were in Wexford for Wexworlds Sci-Fi and Fantasy Festival. My events have been winding down as we head for Christmas, but since my last update, I had done an interview with Alan Stanford at 4FM and a visit to Gonzaga College in Ranelagh. Wexworlds was my last festival of the…
Bruce Schneier and information pollution, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and Hans Zimmer’s secret Inception melody.
Okay, so you know how they say never have a new baby and move house at the same time? Well, I’d go one further than that. Absolutely never move house to a place that needs a thorough renovation, when your nation’s banks are in financial meltdown and have gone completely schizo, when you’ve just had a new baby and…
I haven’t posted anything over the last while because of the arrival of our new baby daughter – I hesitate to use the word ‘bouncing’ in reference to babies, though she’s certainly pretty sturdy. As this is my second (and my wife’s third – the second coming after a long gap), there was a little more joy and less…
Here’s news of an event any reader of this blog – or someone they know – might be interested in . . . Does your child or teen love books and talking about books? Then this is the event for you – a fantastic literary lunch for young readers, with an author or illustrator at every table! Fifteen authors…
I don’t know if I’d qualify as a real petrol-head – on what most writers or illustrators earn, buying a car is a rare pleasure. But I definitely love driving, and I always grab at the chance to try a car I’ve never driven before. It’s not the speed I’m into – although that can be fun too. It’s…
Last Wednesday, I took our young football nut to the new Aviva Stadium – or the old Lansdowne Road, whichever way you want to look at it – to watch Ireland play Argentina. He was well excited to see players such as Messi, Mascherano and Rodriguez strut their stuff. He also got to see Robbie Keane celebrate his one…
Yes. Believe the hype. It’s that good. Three of the most fundamental elements of any story are character, setting and the problem that forms the basis of your plot. Having to teach this on courses (particularly to children) has really forced me to tackle the defining of these elements in simple terms. You must to able to separate them…