As some children may be aware, it is Halloween. On Saturday night, Weird-Wide News received reports of ghosts, ghouls, zombies, vampires and other vile creatures stalking the streets of Ireland. Some fairies and princesses were spotted too, though they may not have lasted too long out in that chaos, magic wands or no magic wands. Houses need protection on…
I’m listening to Patricia Cornwell’s forensic crime novel, ‘Cause of Death’ on audiobook on my phone at the moment, but I am otherwise on a nineteenth century kick, having recently finished ‘Flashman and the Redskins’, which, like other Flashman books, I read with relish. I’ve also just read the ‘The Legend of Sleepy Hollow’ by Washington Irving on my…
Despite not having any events since my two laddish sessions in Lucan library last week, I’ve still been struggling to catch up on work. The car’s had to go in for some major work. Thanks to the trucks serving the M3 roadworks, the mutant pot-holes they cause along the back-roads in Meath have torn up no less than five…
What it takes to make a living from this weird profession.
I’ve been a fan of Pixar’s films ever since I first saw ‘Luxor Junior’, ‘Knick Knack’ and ‘Tin Toy’ in college (before Pixar was bought by Disney). I think John Lasseter’s company was the first to give computer generated imagery the human touch. Since then, they have gone on to produce such varied wonders as the ‘Toy Story’ films,…
My nose is blocked, my chest is tight, I’ve been getting dizzy spells and I’m suffering a severe lack of concentration. It’s hard to hold the attention of a gang of kids when you can’t even hold our OWN attention. Every now and then I cough, but it’s not very satisfying. It’s not swine flu, because I can still…
It is the mission of the Weird-Wide News to protect the country – and young readers – from strange and supernatural threats. I will be using my network of contacts across the country to keep a watch out for news of anything out-of-the-ordinary. Not long ago, Old Mother Klepto was spotted hanging from a ceiling in Gortjordan school in…
How we’re living with technology, and how it’s evolving instead of us.
My article on life on planet Con is now online on the Sci-Fi London website, along with an interview with literary editor Robert Grant. Sci-Fi London is the UK’s biggest annual genre film festival, and there are also loads of features on this excellent site for genre fans, with no shortage of articles, interviews and other bits and pieces….
This being Children’s Book Festival, I’m out doing my variety act a lot. If you want to make a living from children’s books, it’s not enough to sit at home and write your stories; you’ve got to go back to the roots of storytelling, to the oral tradition, learning how to tell tales out loud again, so you can…