The Great Fragola Brothers

On Thursday evening I was invited along to a launch for the new edition of ‘Mad About Books‘, the must-have guide from Dubray Books. While there I was honoured to meet Joe Prendergast and even more honoured when he presented me with copies of his books!

My copies!

My copies!

For anyone who hasn’t heard of Joe, he’s nine years old and he has TWO published books to his name with a third on the way. The proceeds of the books go to Cancer Clinical Research Trust, following the sad death of Joe’s dad. You can read a great interview with Joe here.

Joe was kind enough to sign the books for me!

Joe was kind enough to sign the books for me!

The books themselves are about The Great Fragola Brothers, Italy’s most famous magic duo who get embroiled in the kidnapping of a famous actress, secret societies and even REAL MAGIC! I flew through the first one because I loved it so much. The books are funny, exciting, thrilling and full of edge-of-your-seat action. Go and buy the books. Not only are they for a great cause, but like I said, they’re also great!

 

 

Hell’s Keeper is OUT

I’ve been very lax with blogging recently but in my defence, I have been busy.

So, the last Father of Lies books (Arthur Quinn and Hell’s Keeper) has hit the shops! I hope you all like it as much as (or even more!) than the first couple.

Here’s me opening my box of copies.

 

And here’s a sneak peek of the first page. Yes, I did dedicate the book to some of my best friends.

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And finally, below is a link to a great review of the book on Bookbag. It got 5 stars!

WARNING! There are a few spoilers in it so you might want to wait until you read the book first. But my favourite quote from the review is below…

An incredible conclusion to one of the best fantasy series you’ll ever read.

Read the full spoilery review here.

Arthur Quinn and Hell’s Keeper TEASERS (Now all in one handy post!)

Last week I posted a few teasers for ‘Arthur Quinn and Hell’s Keeper’ (aka Arthur Quinn 3) on Twitter. I figured I’d put them all here – (with the trailer!) – to give you a better chance of piecing together the clues.

You can find more info (and a couple more hints) at the rebooted Arthur Quinn website. The book hits the shelves at the start of August and you can find out what everything means then!

 

  • ‘People will whisper your name around campfires and in the dark of night. You, Hel, will be the thing they fear the most.’
  • ‘Graffiti covered the walls… One read “Burn in Hell!” and beneath it someone else had sprayed “We’re already in it!”‘
  • ‘Then, without any warning, he unhooked his seat belt, flung open the passenger door and leaped out of the speeding car.’
  • ‘Loki’s throne was a thing of wonder.’

Arthur Quinn bookmarks

Sarah – the amazing designer in Mercier Press – designed the bookmarks for each of the Arthur Quinn books. I’ve loved all of them but I have to say, I think my favourite is the one for Hell’s Keeper, which I just got a sneak peek of. And because I’m so generous, I’m going to give you a sneak peek here!

I’ll have bookmarks with me at readings and events until they run out.

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Soundtrack for Arthur (Book 3)

So, as in the previous posts (World Serpent and Fenris Wolf), here’s a little sample of the music I listened to while writing ‘Arthur Quinn and Hell’s Keeper’ and that you might like to listen to while reading it.
I don’t want to give too much away about the book so really can’t go into why this music is important. However, I’ll tell you as much as I can.

First up is:

Fuori Dal Mondo – Ludovico Einaudi
This is a really beautiful piece of piano music that I first heard in a film called ‘This is England.’ I listened to it a lot while writing the first five or six chapters of Arthur Quinn and Hell’s Keeper? Why? Well, it fits the tone of those early chapters I feel. It’s sad and melancholy but with a definite urgency.

Container Park – Chemical Brothers
You’ll notice that there’s a lot more film score this time around. I think it’s because a thumping film score like this works really well in action-driven scenes. This piece, from the movie ‘Hanna’ really suits the middle portion of the film. It’s a bit weird and creepy but it’s also got that urgency again. Chapters 9 onwards…

Omen – The Prodigy
This track kind of has lyrics but it’s still quite instrumental. I listened to it on repeat for the big finale (which lasts for about the last five chapters!) It’s really fast and kicking and I feel it perfectly reflects Arthur’s mindset at the end of the series. He’s not going to let Loki get away anymore. This time, he means business!

One Day Like This – Elbow
When I was writing the final ever chapter of Arthur Quinn, I had this song on repeat in the background. It just fits.


 

 

So that’s it! The final reading soundtrack for the final Arthur Quinn book! I hope you enjoyed listening to them as much as I enjoyed writing to them.

If there’s any music that you really like listening to while reading the books, let me know. I’d love to get some more suggestions!!

The Alan Early Boys Book Club

Recently a group of girls in my hometown of Mohill set up their own Jacqueline Wilson Girls Book Club. The boys wanted their own so an enterprising bunch established the Boys Book Club and they named it after yours truly!

I can’t stress how honored I was when I heard and I was of course delighted when the librarian Aoife invited me to speak. So I met both clubs today – (the girls also wanted to come along) – and I had a wonderful time. I gave them a sneak peek of Arthur Quinn and Hell’s Keeper and at the end, club founder Scott presented me with an application form. I promptly filled it out (co signed by a parent of course!) and am now an honorary member of a book club bad named after me. Which is slightly weird but INCREDIBLY COOL.

Thanks to Aoife and all in Mohill library for a fantastic time!

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Arthur Quinn: The Card Game

The Arthur Quinn website will be rebooted in the next couple of months in the lead-up to Hell’s Keeper. And when it is, you’ll be able to download this Trumps-style card game to print and play. These aren’t all the cards but here’s a sneak peek anyway!

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World Book Day 2013

World Book Day is just around the corner (Thurs 7 March, in fact) and I’ll be touring a few bookshops that week. I had a fantastic time last year and can’t wait for it this time.

The details are of where I am all week are below. Hope I see you somewhere and if not I hope you have a wonderful World Book Day [week]!

 

Monday – Dubray Dun Laoghaire

Tuesday – Dubray Galway

Wednesday – Eason O’Connell St

Thursday – Eason Blanchardstown

Saturday – Waterstones Drogheda