Character Art Callout

As some of you know already, book two (‘Arthur Quinn and the Fenris Wolf’) is coming out in August. To coincide with the launch, we’re going to be unleashing a brand new version of the Arthur Quinn website a few weeks before the book comes out. One of the big additions to the new site is going to be a much more in-depth look at the characters. I want to include an illustration of each character as well. And I thought that the best person to do this is… well… you!

So send in your drawings! I want to see pictures of Arthur, Ash, Will, Max, Joe, Loki – everyone! You can take a photo of the drawings or scan them in and then use the form here to send them.

I can’t wait to see what you all come up with.

More Seuss – Mad Men

I’m a big fan of Mad Men. One of my favourite characters is Ken Cosgrove. He’s often overlooked but I like him because, although he’s just a boring accounts guy at work, he secretly writes short stories at home. The creator of Mad Men has said that the series will end in the modern day and we’ll get to see what all the characters are up to. I always get the feeling that Ken will have left the advertising industry to become a full-time and very successful author.

Anyway, I read this blog and it reminded me a lot of Ken. Turns out Dr Seuss worked in advertising before becoming a children’s author.

Then and now

Back in the early nineties, my uncle who lived in America at the time brought back a book for my younger brother Paul. It was the Best Word Book Ever by Richard Scarry. Paul loved the book (mainly because it had pictures of fire-fighters!) and I remember flicking through it myself from time to time. I don’t think it was ever sold in this side of the world. I never saw it in any bookshops then and haven’t now.

Anyway, this flickr account grabbed my attention when I stumbled on it. Turns out that there are two versions of Scarry’s book. The first was released in 1963 and then his revised version came out in 1991. (We owned the revised version.) It’s interesting looking at what he decided to change nearly thirty years later and will tell you a little about how the world changed too. Have a look.

 

Superhero illustrations by Liam Brazier

I love these superhero illustrations by Liam Brazier. Lots more on his site.

Obligatory Post for Not Posting Enough – Children Save Dublin and other things

I know I haven’t posted in weeks and for that I apologise. But I honestly have been so busy since Children Save Dublin started in January that this is the first time I’ve had to write a new blog.

So as a lot of you will know by now, my book ‘Arthur Quinn and the World Serpent’ was chosen as the featured book in the first ever ‘Children Save Dublin’ reading campaign from Unesco. From January to March children in city were encouraged to read the book and engage with it through web games, discussion, acting, art and meeting me. There were so many highlights that I really wouldn’t be able to write them all down here!

I visited 25 schools, libraries and bookshops in Dublin and a further 10 around the country – nearly all in four weeks! I met hundreds of young readers, dozens of teachers, librarians, booksellers and parents. In that time, I answered countless questions, read from the book so much that I know certain passages by heart and signed a cramp-inducing number of books. I even got the pleasure of watching a play based on the first five chapters of the book! Read the rest of this entry »

Me, My Kindle and I

Back in November, I got myself a Kindle. I had been refraining for a while; pure and simply, I prefer ‘real books’. But a couple of things convinced me to part with my money. Firstly, I wanted to have unpublished short stories and future books available to me for readings without the need of bringing print-offs. Secondly, I wanted to read Stephen King’s new novel. Read the rest of this entry »

Sendak on The Colbert Report

Maurice Sendak (the curmudgeonly creator of, among other things, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’) was recently interviewed on The Colbert Report. (For anyone who hasn’t heard of the show, it’s essentially a parody of right-wing political broadcasting; Fox News etc.)

Anyway, the interview was spread across two episodes (season 9 episodes 13/14) and were a real treat. Sendak was a real match for the witty Colbert and was perftly able to give as good as he got. At one stage, Colbert quipped that  he believed that kids ”are just biding their time until we’re gone and then they get our stuff.”

Sendak quickly replied, “It’s an interesting point of view. Not interesting to me, particularly …” Read the rest of this entry »