Win my book!

Rollercoaster.ie and Mercier Press are giving away copies of my book ‘Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent’ to five lucky winners. Closing date is November 7th. To win, just head over to this site and enter your details. Good luck!

School Visits – Longford Libraries, Oct 2011

Last week I had the pleasure of visiting four libraries in Longford. As well as reading from my book, I discussed story writing and then got the groups to create their own brand new Viking God and make up a story based on this character.

First up were the class from 124, St Mels College in Longford. They created a god called Tauro who could time travel, make faces melt off and had a fingernail that would shoot out to kill his enemies. Next the class from Ballymahon wrote stories about a god who was being kidnapped by a freak show. The group from Lanesboro came up with a Viking god called BillyBob. One of his special powers was the ability to eat as much Chinese food as he wanted. Finally, the class from Granard created a goddess called ‘UGLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE’ who loved giving flies electric shocks. Read the rest of this entry »

The River Poddle

For anyone who’s read my book Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent, you’ll be aware of the importance of the River Poddle in the plot. In one major scene, Arthur, Ash and Will explore the river under the city of Dublin.

Here’s a great clip from an RTE documentary a few years ago that tells you all about the Poddle, as well as giving us a glimpse of the river itself. Watch it to the end to see the grate that features in the book, too!

 

EDIT

And here’s the actual programme that inspired me to write Arthur Quinn. When I saw the Poddle in this, I just knew there had to be some sort of monster hidden there! (The Poddle part starts from the 4 minute mark.)

It’s real.

So, as you can guess from the post below, I got the first copy of my first book in the post the other day.

It’s a strange feeling, finally holding it. It’s real. I can flick through the pages, I can smell the ink, I can even crack the spine if I was so inclined. The words aren’t on a screen anymore; the characters aren’t running around my head. They’re there – on the pages of a real life book for all to read. Read the rest of this entry »