Jon Mayhew

The Woman In Black and Other Stories

2012-01-15T17:32:00.000Z

I recently re-read The Woman in Black by Susan Hill. It’s a brilliant story, cleverly delivered in a voice that could have easily been M R James or one of the other Masters. I’m waiting for the new film version to come out in February and hoping it does it justice.

But it did remind me of just how big an influence those short stories of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were on me. One story I often mention at events is The Clock by WF Harvey.

Written in 1928, The Clock is a superb example of why I love stories set in a less technical age. The whole story hinges on clockwork. The fact that a clock has wound down when it shouldn’t have. I love the way Harvey leaves so much to our imaginations. We never know what it is the heroine has encountered, we never see it, we only hear it. It is so creepy because we are left to fill in the gaps and we can all scare ourselves more easily than anyone else can.

Writing Resolutions

2012-01-02T11:49:00.002Z

It's another New Year so here are my writing resolutions:

1) Facebook and Twitter are great fun and the people I meet there are brilliant but it is not writing. I will be spending more time exploring my twisted imagination than social networking. Write more witter less...

2) I could well be wrong but I can't escape the nagging feeling that tweaking your Amazon profile, joining Linked-in, changing the colour scheme on your website is no substitute for actually visiting schools and talking to children, teachers and librarians. So I'll be starting a major school visit offensive!

3) I also need to tweak my Amazon profile and do something about my website too...

4) I'm going to get out more. Literally. The last 12 months has seen a marked decline in my running time and I reckon that I have my best ideas when I'm out in the open.

So, all achieveable, not too much. What re your resolutions?

2011-12-22T09:29:00.000Z

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year

I hope you've been good!

ANOTHER SCBWI CONFERENCE

2011-11-21T20:35:00.001Z

It's that time of year again! The SCBWI Conference held in Winchester every November is one of the highlights of my year. This was my fifth conference and it not only gives me the chance to hear from best-selling authors such as Frank Cottrell Boyce and Anthony McGowan but also to catch up with friends and acquaintances in the writing world.

I say it every year but the SCBWI Annual Conference put me on that long and winding road to publication. This year my favourite quotable quote was from Mr Cottrell Boyce and it went along the lines of, "If you plan hard, you get what you planned for. If you let go, you might get what you never imagined!" Which I kind of subscribe to at the moment as I'm making a number of leaps of faith.

Congratulations to the organising team for another superb event. If you're an aspiring or perspiring writer, you really should go.

Of course I forgot to take my camera along!

Happy Hallowe'en

2011-10-31T17:41:00.000Z

I hope it's a spooktacular one! Play this to you trick or treat visitors... they'll run screaming from the house!

Well and Truly Booked Up!

2011-10-05T22:32:00.000+01:00

I thought I ought to say a big "Hello" to everyone who has visited the site after choosing Mortlock for their Booked Up book:

HELLO!
That's all for now.

You can visit the Booked Up site here. They're truly ace!

Welcome Formby Books

2011-09-18T17:17:00.002+01:00

I popped across the mighty River Mersey yesterday to see Tony Higginson, the bookselling force of nature behind a new venture called Formby Books. Tony is a legend in and around Merseyside. He gets authors into schools, children reading books and with such energy and enthusiasm. From time to time I read on Twitter or Facebook people bemoaning the fact that they find it hard to support their local bookshop. Most will have an online presence and Formby Books is no exception. Buy your books from Tony. Simple!

I was also lucky enough to bump into Joe Delaney of Spooks fame. I've met Joe a few times now and he's a real gent. He was promoting his new book I Am Grimalkin and another short story anthology called Haunted .

I love the challenge of writing short stories, summing up a character in as few words as possible, the beauty of brevity! Last Summer, I wrote four short stories that ended up on the Mortlock website, you can shuffle over there now and read them if you haven't already. Enjoy the new game there too!

I'm mulling over a number of things at the moment, the fourth book, work and life in general and other stuff but I think I'll be writing a few short stories over the next few weeks. What'll happen to them? Who knows but they're fun to write and that's what counts right?

The Making of a Monster...

2011-09-10T18:15:00.001+01:00

"Billy is a street urchin, pickpocket and petty thief. Mister Creecher is a monstrous giant of a man who terrifies all he meets. Their relationship begins as pure convenience. But a bond swiftly develops between these two misfits as their bloody journey takes them ever northwards on the trail of their target ...Victor Frankenstein. Friendship, trust and betrayal combine to form a dangerous liaison in this moving and frightening new book from Chris Priestley."

I have to confess to being a big fan of Chris Priestley's work long before I met him at various Bloomsbury events and realised what a true gent he is too. So when I was lucky enough to get hold of a proof of Mr Creecher a few months back, you can imagine, it didn't malinger on the bookshelf for any time at all.

It's a clever, clever story with the reader fretting for Billy from the outset as he struggles to survive in the mean streets and rookeries of London in the early 1800's. Billy and Mr Creecher's relationship develops believeably, with a question mark hanging over both character's motives as they pursue Frankenstein. A gothic roadtrip with two of the most unlikely (and yet likely) travelling companions, Mr Creecher leads you to a satisfyingly tragic and chilling conclusion. You close the book in the full knowledge that things can only get worse for everyone concerned!

Mr Priestly blogs here and I preordered the book here.

Kissed by a Sealion

2011-08-30T11:48:00.000+01:00

So the Summer draws to a close and the mantra of 'Back to School' echoes beyond the high street department stores and into the aching hearts of children and teachers everywhere...

And what have I been up to this long Summer break? I always end the holiday convinced I've done nothing.

A trip to Ireland proved restorative and informative (see below for trip to Father Ted's house). I heard a really creepy ghost story which I intend to tell at up-coming festivals and events. I drank a few pints of Guinness and ate tones of seafood.

I've written somewhere in the region of 50,000 words, revised The Bonehill Curse and sentit back to the editor. I wait with trepidation! The 50,000 words all now need rethinking because half of them were for a project that I put the brakes on (20,000 words in) and the others were for The Many and Varied Deaths of Jeb Marney (my fourth book rather than Book 4). I suddenly had an even better idea for Jeb and so will be rewriting. Nothing will be wasted though, that's the joy of writing! And all with the help of a social networking 'holiday.' More about that another time!

I've been down to London to record a video for Booked Up. That was fun!

I've read tons of stuff, the highlights of which were: Haywired by Alex Keller (ace book), Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King and a glorious pile of Uncle books by JP Martin.

But truly the best day was our trip to Knowsley Safari Park courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. If you're not familiar with them, their basic mission is:

"to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy."

How cool is that? They are an awesome charity and took us to the Park in a Limo. We had a personal tour, going off road and up-close to the animals, we fed elephants and giraffes and I was kissed by a sealion!

Sometimes the medical needs of one member of a family and the dramas that surround it make 'normal' life impossible. Make A Wish made one day for our family extraordinary in the best possible way.

Irish Adventure!

2011-08-10T23:06:00.000+01:00

Just back from our adventures in Ireland. The holiday cottage was a bit draughty.

We had a word and found ourselves in a lovely house. The priests who normally lived there weren't to be seen but we were never short of a cup of tea...

There were always a few friends nearby though...

More soon...

Mars Attacks!

2011-07-24T21:09:00.000+01:00

I went to see the last Harry Potter film yesterday. I really enjoyed it, my favourite (as it was in the book) part is Neville's heroic stand! I also came out of the film with the sense that it was the end of something. The books and films have become so inextricably linked that it was the last film that had to end the era. So I felt a little sad too. But as I came out of the cinema, I noticed this and my heart leapt!

For the uninitiated, John Carter is the hero of Edgar Rice Burrough's Martian books. John Carter is a confederate officer and prospector who is mysteriously transported to the dying planet Mars. It's a planet inhabited by huge, green, six-armed martians and their more-humanoid red counterparts. These were books I devoured as a teenager and so the prospect of seeing them as a film blew me away! Especially as the story has had such a tortuous journey to our screens!

I got so excited, I dusted down my old copy of A Princess of Mars and re-read it. A Princess of Mars was written in 1912 and obviously this shows in the writing and some of the attitudes in the book but the sheer scale of Burroughs' imagination is breathtaking and I was quickly drawn into it again!

I also loved the Marvel comics based on the books and have recently purchased the full collection! Edgar Rice Burroughs is more famous for his Tarzan books so ably rebooted by the talented Andy Briggs! I wonder if he could do the same for John Carter?

The Man With No Skin

2011-07-12T18:09:00.001+01:00

I've posted a silly poem on the Trapped By Monsters blog. Enjoy.

Circus Stars- Summer Reading Challenge

2011-07-03T20:51:00.000+01:00

They didn't have Summer Reading Challenges when I were a lad. they did have libraries and I think I've told most folks how libraries are probably the reason I read and write now.

So I was so chuffed to have been asked to launch Wirral's Summer Reading Challenge on Friday. What made it doubly thrilling was that it was in Bebington library where I once met Brian Aldiss as a teenager and found out that he plotted his stories on the back of big pieces of wallpaper.

Anyway, that's another story. It was good fun, here's me throwing a crow at some children:

The children decided which kind of readers they might be: Strong men or women (Thick Books), Escape Artists (Adventure), Clowns (Comedy), Magicians (Fantasy). I had a super time and I think the children did too! So enjoy the Reading Challenge and use those libraries!

Two Awards in Two Days!

2011-06-26T17:16:00.001+01:00

Blimey, last week seemed to be a week of twos. Two birthdays (my eldest son and daughter share the same birthday but were born two years apart!) and two awards.

The first was Sefton Super Reads which is well described by the lovely Bookwitch here. This was a great event. I love meeting new readers and I even got to read some of their reviews which was brilliant. My mate Tony from Pritchards Bookshop was there as were leslie and Zoe from Sefton libraries. They've been so supportive since Mortlock first hatched! I also got to meet Mary Hooper and catch up with Ellen Renner (a SCBWI pal).

But then I had to jump on a train and zoom over to Halifax for the Calderdale Book Award. Again, if anyone doubted that children have an appetite for reading should come along to one of these events. busloads of pupils from schools all over, keen to ask questions after they've read all the books on the shortlist. I met up with authors Andrew Newbound, Chris Mould, Fiona Dunbar, Mark Wright, it was brilliant.

These prizes are so important. They highlight all the hard work that librarians and teachers put in enthusing children about books. But they also celebrate the joy of reading.

Oh, and Mortlock won both! Such good taste, these youngsters!

Fathers' Day

2011-06-19T13:10:00.010+01:00

Many moons ago, when I was a truculent teenager, my dad would tell me stuff. It would go in one ear and out the other. I see the same glazed expression in my own children when I tell them stuff. Yeah, yeah, yadda, yadda, what does he know anyway?

Of course, I'm bound to say this but I do wish I'd listened a bit more closely or asked more questions. Thinking back, he gave us some fascinating snippets of the past and he's no longer with us otherwise I'd be recording, noting down, questioning, trying to get a fuller picture.

One story he told was of his dad, my grandfather who fought in the first world war. We always think of northern europe as the main theatre of war for that time but my grandfather was shipped off to fight in the Lebanon against the forces of the Ottoman Empire who had aligned themselves with Austria Hungary. It was another world.

In one battle, so I'm told, a shell flew over from the enemy lines, exploding close to my grandfather. the blast threw him high into the air along with tons of sand. when it all settled, my father had landed miraculously unharmed but buried up to his neck. He could see the Turkish line advancing but couldn't move because of the weight of the sand. It's a great image. His friends rescued him.

Sadly, his luck ran out when he rescued a wounded comrade but was shot in the legs and had to have them amputated. He never recovered by all accounts. He returned home and died some four years later.

But there are lots of little stories that my dad told us and I didn't really listen fully. My brothers and sister will have different versions of these tales, slightly varied, slightly modified.

So whatever you think of Father's Day (and I confess to being a big fan: chocky and a cup of tea in bed won me over) take some time out to listen to the stories your fathers tell you. there could be a story in there somewhere and you'll be glad you did one day!

Do Your Homework

2011-06-12T20:50:00.001+01:00

I don't often give writing tips on this blog. There are plenty of fantastic folks around the blogospere who'll cheerfully do a better job than me. Also, I try to keep this place accessible to my readership and audience so I keep pearls of wisdom to a minimum! But for once, I'm going to make an exception because you see, I'm absolutely gutted!

Backtrack to the week before last. I went to Birmingham for a Young Readers day of events. I was well looked-after by the librarians there and as I travelled around, I had this brilliant idea for a story. Fast forward to yesterday. In little less than a week and a half, I'd written 15,000 words, fallen in love with my characters, developed a twisty plot. Everything was going great.

And then it all went... wrong.

Whilst browsing a few websites, looking for nothing in particular I came across reference to a series of books on the same theme as mine, using very similar characters, very similar creatures even. My heart sank.

Now I know that if you're writing a vampire book (I wasn't by the way) you can look on Amazon and find thousands of them but yours might have different terms of reference, another slant. The guy who wrote this series had stolen my idea, gone back in time and written MY story before me! It was the only explanation. Well either that or he's got a good imagination and beat me to it.

I always do my homework. I check titles, I read around the genre. I try my very best to make sure what I'm writing is as original as possible but this time I failed. And if you want the honest truth, I'm grieving a little for my characters who I'd just got to know so well and so quickly. I know they'll crop up somewhere else but at the moment, I'm a bit glum!

So my advice is: Check your idea is original and then do a little lateral thinking. What alternative titles might your story go under? Check them out too!

Tell me how you make sure your story is original!

Exciting News!

2011-05-04T19:45:00.000+01:00

The thing about writing is it involves a lot of waiting. I've been bursting to mention this for a while now but have held off until it's official so here it is:

May 3, 2011

International rights:

UK Children's

MORTLOCK author Jon Mayhew's THE (MANY AND VARIED) DEATHS OF JEB MARNEY, about a boy healer who, accused of murder, sets off on a quest through Victorian Britain to find the seven fragments of the Grim Reaper's scythe blade, only to discover that each piece is guarded by one of Death's multiple identities and that he has been manipulated into a mission which will lead to the hideously unpleasant deaths of all humanity, to Ele Fountain at Bloomsbury Children's UK, in a two-book deal, for publication in Spring 2013, by Sarah Davies at the Greenhouse Literary Agency.

info@rightspeople.com

I'm so lucky to be represented by Greenhouse Agency and to be writing for Bloomsbury! And to be writing some more... well... I'm more than chuffed! I'll sign off before the exclamation marks get out of hand!!!

Changing

2011-04-10T20:41:00.000+01:00

I'm writing a particular section in my latest book which will be out, all being well, next year. It's a harrowing piece because it describes someone changing into something horrible and creepy-crawly. There's something about transformation stories that give me the shivers. I think it stems from a book called "Alfred Hitchcock's Tales for After Midnight" that sat on my bookshelf for years when I was a child. It was a thick book of short stories. One of them was called The Fly by George Langelaan. It was the inspiration for the films of the same name. the description of when Andre Delambre steps out of the machine, looks at his hand and tries to scream will never leave me.

I wonder why changing is such a horrific theme; werewolves, vampires, zombies all involve the normal changing, transforming into something awful and frightening. Maybe it's because we change as we grow older and certainly go through dramatic changes during adolescence. The Fly always freaks me out though.

There are reviews...and there are reviews!

2011-03-30T20:06:00.000+01:00

Mortlock has had its fair share of good reviews and The Demon Collector is gathering a few now but this one raised the bar! Go to Spinechills now and see the weirdest trailer for a book ever!

Wonderful Warwickshire

2011-03-27T17:06:00.000+01:00

I was so chuffed that Mortlock won the Warwickshire Book Award. When I started writing it, my hope was that it would be published, maybe by some small publishing house and I'd see my name on the spine and some people would read it and like it. So for loads of children to read it, vote for it, champion it, and even perform a presentation based on it, was humbling to say the least!

Mrs M often expresses our feelings through the medium of pies and so we had a big Sunday dinner today and this was the apple pie:

If you look closely, you'll see the bear and the ragged staff in the pastry. The bear has a little 'M' on his tummy.

Just to make the point a little more, here's the poster in the background too!
I'm so grateful to everyone who championed Mortlock and can't wait to get down to see you all!

Probably the Strangest Signing!

2011-03-19T18:43:00.000Z

It all began calmly enough. A simple signing event at Waterstones Liverpool 1. What could possibly go wrong?
"You are okay, aren't you?" Adam, the children's bookseller asked. "Only someone came in the other day asking for a signed copy of Demon Collectors saying that it might be valuable now you were dead!"

Blimey!

And then I met these lovely people from the Shiverpool Ghost Tours!

I want to meet them again, I'm sure they're my kind of people!

Things began to get a little silly when a gang of girls from Weatherhead High School came in and began singing the praises of Mortlock and dragging punters in off the street to meet me. We only had to pay them in balloon demons (or was it zombie rabbits?)

Finally, I settled down to smiling at passing punters who tried not to catch my eye when who should appear but the lovely Sophie and her boyfriend. She'd bought Mortlock at my last appearance and has spent the year telling everyone who'll listen how great she thinks it is.

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head when she realised The Demon Collector was out. But she only had enough money for either the cinema or The Demon Collector.

She turned to her boyfriend with an appealing smile and said, "I can't go to the cinema tonight, d'you mind?"

If looks could kill... well maybe those signed copies of Demon Collector would be worth something!

More Devils and Demons

2011-03-12T09:28:00.001Z

I've been away.

To celebrate the official launch of Demon Collector, Bloomsbury have whisked me all over this sceptred isle, visiting schools and libraries hither and yon! I've met some brilliant children who love reading and, even better for me, love Mortlock.

Tonight we're having a little party to welcome Demon Collector into the world. A few guests arrived early but we managed to ossify them before there was any mischief!

These were officially ossified demons, so we thought we ought to make that clear.

I was also pleased to see that the third Mortlock short story has been added to the website. I love the way Bloomsbury have taken these stories and set them out just like the books, same font and everything. And the fact that they're free!

In this one Jacob Carr meets a demon who has taken over Jacob's favourite pub. Not a wise thing to do, but demons were never wise!

Adoption

2011-02-28T20:13:00.001Z

I was really thrilled when Ali Sparkes asked my good self and the rest of the Trapped By Monsters gang to Adopt a Bookshop.

"Great," I thought. "My very own bookshop. Where shall I put it? In the garden? Adjoining the East wing of my castle? (All children's authors live in castles, you know... on account of the vast riches they earn).

But no. Apparently, they stay where they are and you lot all get to use them as well!

Which is important actually. Last year, when I was still drooling over the blackened pages of Mortlock, a young man by the name of Tony Higginson took me by the lapels and dragged me round manytoomany schools and sold manytoomany books for me! He's a champion of all kinds of literature and sells books out of Pritchards in Formby. If you subscribe to their website you'll see how many events he organises to push books and reading. If you call him, he'll get you a signed copy of Mortlock or Demon Collector, with a personal message too if you want.

Booka Bookshop in Oswestry is a place of fine books and fine baking. Again, great champions of Mortlock last year!

And where would I be without Adam at Liverpool 1 Watersones and Lynda at Chester branch?

You see, ordering online is all fine and dandy but times are tough. When our local Borders sank the year before last, it struck me that it left the whole of the Ellesmere Port and Neston area without a bookshop. That's around 81,000 people, 6 High Schools, I don't know how many primaries. So on second thoughts, you can share my bookshop but I'm still adopting!

Of Devils and Demons

2011-02-20T15:02:00.000Z

As I've said before in this blog, I didn't read much as a child. But I do remember getting this book. I was on holiday. This is a 1973 edition so I would have been about 10. I remember it sitting in a holiday gift shop in one of those book stands that twirls round. I used to be fascinated by book covers even if books held little attraction. The Pan Book of Horror Stories always drew my eye. I couldn't look away from them. But wanted to!

The cover for "A book of Devils and Demons" also caught my eye. And no wonder, being drawn by Brian Froud! I didn't realise this until I picked the book up today. I've been a huge fan of Froud's illustrations and his designs on Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal.

The stories inside are from all over the world. The demons aren't always all-powerful, they are folklore devils, pompous, full of self-importance, wily and yet stupid too. Sometimes they are kind and put right injustices. Other times they are blustering bullies who get outsmarted time and again.

When I wrote the Demon Collector, it was these creatures I had in mind. So thank you Ruth Manning-Sanders.

What a week!

2011-02-14T19:01:00.000Z

Well, that was a week and a half! Down to London and Waterstones Picadilly to rub shoulders (and occassionally elbows) with the great and good of children's publishing.

It was great to meet up with my friends at Bloomsbury and with some SCBWI pals too. I really need to invest in a camera. Either that or try and keep up with Candy Gourlay as she takes better pics than I ever could!

Julia Churchill from Greenhouse Agency was there too.

After the award we went for a meal and a great time was had by all. It's so amazing to have been shortlisted by Waterstones, I'm still wondering if it all really happened.

And I got to meet Anthony Browne! Ace!

The wonderful Kathy Evans has interviewed me here and you can get to choose what kind of demon you'd be!

The Demon Collector is coming!

2011-02-06T18:45:00.001Z

I spoke to some brilliant pupils at Range High School on Friday. They were so polite and even tolerated my bad jokes and technical ineptitude!

They even marvelled as I cradled The Demon Collector in my arms and cooed like a proud new father. You see it was the first time I had seen it too. Bloomsbury shipped out some super early advance editions to sell on my school visits over the next month. It's a real treat seeing Book 2 all bound and black-edged!

And of course I took a copy home and sat it next to some of my favourite books. My twins, side by side. Brilliant!

The Fear Factor

2011-01-30T19:52:00.001Z

This is the creature from the 1957 film Night of the Demon, it's based on the MR James story 'Casting the Runes' and a variant cropped up recently called 'Drag me to Hell' I believe.

Once, when I was a fairly small child, my parents were watching Night of the Demon on TV and I knew it was on. They sent me to bed but I really wanted to watch it so I sneaked downstairs again and peeked round the living room door, desperately hoping my Mum and Dad wouldn't spot me.

The film terrified me and I'm not sure if it was my panting breath that gave me away or my whimpering. Let's just say I was packed off to bed pretty sharp!

But I still remember, with a shiver, the strange chirruping sound that heralded the arrival of the demon and I know I didn't get much sleep that night. I like to think that experiences like that stimulated my imagination!

I've always been a bit of a 'wuss' when it comes to horror films but I will make myself watch them now and then. Being scared is a natural feeling and I'm sure it's healthy to be scared every now and then.

I'm not advocating the wholesale chasing of children round darkened buildings by someone dressed as a clown and weilding an axe but a little controlled fear let's you know that you're alive.

The trouble is, you can always close the book and stop reading for a while. It's your imagination you can't control sometimes...

Inspirations: Riddles Wisely Expounded

2011-01-23T16:27:00.000Z

Riddles Wisely Expounded

‘Now answer me these questions three,

Or you shall surely go with me.
‘Now answer me these questions six,

Or you shall surely be Old Nick’s.

‘Now answer me these questions nine,

Or you shall surely all be mine.'

Riddles Wisely Expounded is a traditional ballad from the days when story, song and dance were the only forms of entertainment. The ballad has changed and 'morphed' into all kinds of shapes and sizes but the one above was the most chilling for me.

Imagine being on a lonely road as twilight falls. You meet a stranger at the crossroads and you have to guess his riddles right or you'll be carried off to the firey pits of Hell forever!

In The Demon Collector, the demons can't resist a riddle or a wager. They trade riddles and introduce themselves with riddles, testing each other, seeking out a weakness.

Nowadays, our folk songs have become fragmented, half remembered and incorporated into children's rhymes. The sinister nature of Riddles Wisely Expounded faded and was boiled down to a love song, popularised in one version by Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair."

And demons too have become celluloid monsters, tearing and rending life from limb. Some of the demons are like that in the Demon Collector but others are, I hope, a little more subtle. Others are so infected with the sin they're meant to promote that they've become weak parodies of themselves. The demons, just like the old songs are dying.

The first review is out here

Where I Write

2011-01-16T22:07:00.001Z

I've had my study redecorated! I call it a study, it's actually a small box room at the front of the house. It's so small, I had trouble taking a photograph!

I've always written all over the place but I have spent quite some time in this room too. In the past it's been full of boxes and step ladders but now we've cleared it out, given it a lick of paint and put shelves up to contain all my clutter!

Father Christmas brought me theMoominpapa and he's cool! You might just see a crow puppets beak to the left there and another crow sitting by my table lamp. A gift from the lovely Kathryn Evans, he went on a number of events with me but he's quite battered so he can rest there.

The books to my right are a mixture of dictionaries, Brewers Fable and Phrase and a trusty Thesaurus. Mayhew's Characters hides behind a couple of books about London and then there are some folklore books too. Next to Moominpapa, you can see my homemade notebooks.

On the wall is a picture of my tribe and I with the Chuckle Brothers (don't ask), a clipping from the Guardian showing a crow with a cigarette in its beak (very curious), and a lovely Green Man print from the talented Trish Campbell of Woodlandia.

Oh, and behind me is a massive white board for brainstorming on!

It all looks very orderly now but come back in three month's time and it'll be a total mess!

Incredible!

2011-01-10T20:32:00.039Z

I nearly choked on my porridge this morning when I saw the announcement from Waterstones. Mortlock is shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize 2011!

I'm so thrilled about this. It's brilliant. I've had incredible support from local independent bookshops but I have to say that the staff at my local Waterstones store have been passionate champions for Mortlock too.

And to be placed in a list with such accomplished writers. I've met Irfan Master whose book A Beautiful Lie came out this month and I know Candy Gourlay through SCBWI and Tall Story was one of my favourite books last year. It'll be a stiff competition.

But it's wonderful to be on the shortlist and I get to go to London and hopefully I'll meet Anthony Browne! All very exciting!

Something for Nothing!

2011-01-06T15:09:00.000Z

It's not often you get something for nothing but here goes. If you go to the Mortlock website www.mortlockdemon.com you can download a short story there. It's all about Mr Wiggins and a strange encounter he has.

There'll be a Mortlock story a month in the lead up to The Demon Collector. Each one will feature favourite characters from the Mortlock stories and some you've never met before. Bloomsbury have done an incredible job on them, same font and 'look' as the book. Wonderful. So go, treat yourself... have a story on me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2011-01-04T19:12:00.000Z

Well, 2011 is here and today is a special day for Mortlock as it comes out in paperback! It doesn't seem that long ago that I had the vague image in my mind of a boy, an undertaker's mute, who could raise the dead. The seeds of Mortlock as it turned out.

2011 looks to be an exciting year! With a Mortlock short story published on the website each month in the run-up to the publication of The Demon Collector in hardback in March. I'll publish a link soon.

Excitement too as Mortlock has been shortlisted for at least six regional awards so who knows what this year holds?

My writing resolutions?

For a start, I'm going to try to keep this blog more up-to-date! You wouldn't think I used to blog everyday!

To make sure that I ENJOY my writing. Publishing is a business, I know and a professional approach is essential but it ain't worth it if it becomes a chore. It can be hardwork, it can be challenging, I don't mind that but I intend to keep it...magic!

To stop using the word, 'had.' It should be banned and had been until recently... doh!

That'll do for now. What're your resolutions?

Can I borrow a book?

2010-12-03T15:39:00.001Z

I wasn't a great reader as a child and it wasn't until I was 11 or 12 that I 'discovered' books. Until that point, I enjoyed my escape into the world of the Moomins but otherwise it was the dreaded class reader in school.

And then one day a friend 'had to go to the library.'
"Boring," I thought but I decided to go along with him anyway.
I watched him searching through the books for something to read. I looked at the ceiling. I watched other people choosing books. Some old blokes were warming their toes in the reference reading room, looking at the newspapers. Boring.

The same thing happened the next week. And the week after that. And then...

One Saturday, as I stood there, I reached out and... picked... a... book... off... the... shelf...

I never looked back.

The library was Eastham library on the Wirral. Last year it was earmarked for closure. The people of Wirral and a whole load of other people saved it.

Not much to look at but I reckon if it weren't for this humble building, its contents and staff, I wouldn't be a writer now.

Next year 250 libraries are set to close.

Don't let them close your library down.

2010-11-10T09:10:00.000Z

I was talking at the SCBWI Professional Series evening last Friday a lovley evening, great folks to talk to. I mentioned that the SCBWI Winchester Conference was one of the highlights of my year. It is special to me and here's why. Below is a blog post from November 2007 when I was still on the road to publication. If you're feeling a little disgruntled, down-hearted or deflated today. Take heart. Read this. It does happen. It really does!

Well! Where have I been and what have I been up to? I hear you ask!

I've been to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators writer's day. It was brilliant. You probably guessed from my last post that I'm awaiting a decision and to be honest, it was beginning to get me down a bit. the jaundice was creeping in, bitterness and all those negative little thoughts, chipping away at me.

No Longer!!!

What a fab weekend. David Almond was the speaker and he gave some fascinating insights into his progress as a writer and about how he writes. (Very organic and brainstormy, throw all your story arcs away!) (Not sure if I can quite do that but...)

He talked a little about waiting and about the bitterness and envy that can build up and kill the fun of the game that is writing! Game? Yes...it's fun. It's meant to be fun! I'd almost forgotten that...almost...

And when he had finished talking, I realised that I was sitting next to Imogen Cooper from Chicken House. we got chatting about this and that, Victorian London and Undertakers...the usual you know...(am I glad I'd practised my 20 second pitch).

And then I met some bloggers, including Jude and Anita.

And then Candy Gourlay told everyone about the joys of using the internet. Which was ace cos I realised that I'm doing some things right!

And I chatted to someone about picture book text, which was curious.

And then David Almond did another talk, there were other workshops available but I like his work and he told us how he gets all that jumble that is in his brain into straight lines on the page. It's fun!

And then a panel of editors shared their insights into what they look for in a new writer, what makes a 'dream' novel, tips for approaching them and other publishers.

Then I drove home, four hours (long drive by UK standards...apologies to those in the New World who drive that far everyday just to get a newspaper!) and something struck me (metaphorically speaking of course, I was driving on the correct side of the road and everything)

I am going to be a writer...a published writer...

It will happen.

I'd never really thought this way before but I saw the light on the Newbury Bypass!

It may not be tomorrow or next week. Maybe not for a long while but it will happen!

And that makes me very happy!

I can't wait for this weekend and Winchester again!

Crosby Scarefest!

2010-10-30T18:05:00.000+01:00

Something for National Poetry Day

2010-10-07T17:47:00.001+01:00

Happy National Poetry day!

Old Adam, the Carrion Crow

Old Adam, the carrion crow,

The old crow of Cairo;

He sat in the shower, and let it flow

Under his tail and over his crest;

And through every feather

Leak'd the wet weather;

And the bough swung under his nest;

For his beak it was heavy with marrow.

Is that the wind dying? O no;

It's only two devils, that blow,

Through a murderer's bones, to and fro,

In the ghosts' moonshine.

Ho! Eve, my grey carrion wife,

When we have supped on king's marrow,

Where shall we drink and make merry our life?

Our nest it is queen Cleopatra's skull,

'Tis cloven and crack'd,

And batter'd and hack'd,

But with tears of blue eyes it is full:

Let us drink then, my raven of Cairo!

Is that the wind dying? O no;

It's only two devils, that blow

Through a murderer's bones, to and fro,

In the ghosts' moonshine.

Thomas Lovell Beddoes

Mind yer toes and fingers!

2010-09-13T20:26:00.002+01:00

I've always been a bit wary of chainsaws. I mean, all that whirling metal and that horrible groaning noise as the chain cuts through wood...or bone...shudder! So imagine my horror when I discovered that when I'm not being trapped By Monsters, I'll be hitched to the Chainsaw Gang.

The whositwhatsaw when? I hear you ask!

The Chainsaw Gang is the fevered brainchild of one Mr Sarwat Chadda, author of Devil's Kiss and The Dark Goddess, two thrillers and gut-spillers which I hope you have read!

The Chainsaw Gang is a loose collection of shambling, gore-soaked horror writers intent on bringing you the best in well...gore-soaked shambling horror!

Meet: Alex Bell, Sam Enthoven, Steve Feasey, William Hussey, Alex Milway, Alexander Gordon Smith.

The gang will be appearing in all manner of shapes and forms over the Hallowe'en period. Carve these dates into your forehead...
Alex Gordon Smith
13th October, 4.00, Thornton Heath Library, Croydon

14th October, 4.00, Coulsdon Library, Croydon

19th November, 4.00, Worksop Library

Steve Feasey will be at the Cheltenham Festival on Oct 10th.

Sarwat will be at the GobbledeBook Festival, Chester on Monday 25th, 2.30pm to 4.30pm.

I'll be unnerving people at:.

21st Oct: Crosby Civic Hall: Scarefest
26th: GobbledeBook Festival Chester: Teen Panel AM, Full Event PM
27th: Newport Big Read, Riverfront Theatre Newport
29th: Booka Bookshop Oswestry: A Hallowe'en Party
30th: Lancaster Castle (with Joe Delaney of Spook's Apprentice fame)
Crystal Palace Children's Book Festival on Sat 23rd October with myself, Alex Bell, Alex Gordon Smith, Sam Enthoven, Steve Feasey and Alex Milway and me. Book early, tickets are free but will soon go!
Norwich Millenium Library on Friday 29th October, 2.30pm with Alexander Gordon Smith, William Hussey, Sam Enthoven and Sarwat.
Foyles, Charing Cross Road. are hosting their big Halloween Angels and Demons extravaganza running Saturday and Sunday, 30-31st October. Look out for William Hussey, Sam Enthoven and Sarwat. Contact the store and book your place now.

So there's no excuse for not seeing at least one chainsaw-wielding author over the half-term break!

Curiosities

2010-09-05T11:41:00.003+01:00

Now here's something that wouldn't be out of place in Evenyule Scrabsnitch's EMPORIUM OF ARCHAIC ANTIQUITIES.

Apparently it's a mermaid. I encountered it at Hartlepool Museum. In Mortlock, Scrabsnitch is not above stitching together bits of deceased animal to make 'curiosities' that will draw the punters in and here is a real life example. The mummified remains of a monkey were stitched to the body of a fish to make the mermaid.

In the 1850s, people paid good money to see things like this. Many folks didn't travel beyond the boundaries of their own parish and anything like this, rather hideous but strangely interesting would have been a real draw. Even now, although it was one exhibit in a whole cabinet full of interesting artefacts, this one sticks in my mind. Maybe I should get out more often!

A Zoo... it's true!

2010-07-29T14:08:00.011+01:00

As writers, we are always being encouraged to find some point of interest in our lives to engage our readers. Something that we've done or experienced that might raise an eyebrow or draw an audience to us. Often, we play down aspects of our childhood that might seem unusual to others. We see things as commonplace things that others might find exotic or mysterious.

It occurred to me a few months back that my childhood playground was indeed quite different. We just called it Eastham Woods. We ran and fought and built dens there but infact, we were always mindful of the fact that it had once been a zoo.

In fact the Zoological gardens at Eastham boasted Exotic birds, Lions, polar, silver, black and brown bears, seals, leopards, ocelots and "all kinds of holiday amusements." It was the place to be. It was even visited by a tightrope walker by the name of Blondin, the 'King of the Niagra.'

But Eastham's fortunes as a ferrypoint faded as the railways and roads made travel to Birkenhead, a shorter crossing point, quicker. The gardens fell into neglect. Nature reasserted itself, pushing roots through the stonework, filling the seal pools with leaf mold, burying the fountains.

And for around seventy years it lay neglected. Generations of Eastham children played in the ruins, built dens from perfectly dressed blocks of sandstone, lit fires, slept rough, fought battles and looked nervously over their shoulders in case anything still lived in the dark shadows.

The animal dens must have been hellish for the poor creatures to live in but they were perfect caves for us.

In the late seventies, the local council designated the woods a country park. Newly appointed 'Country Park Rangers' pulled down our dens and sent us back to our homes. We felt like Red Indians being forced into reservations. The woods were never the same again.

It's a nice place to wander around but part of me rebels. This is the entrance to the bear pit. It was filled in but you could scrabble through the leaf mold and tunnel into this passageway. It was dangerous. It was fun.

Now it's a little sanitized, with a carved bear in it for those who might not have the wit to imagine bears of their own... Or maybe I'm just a grumpy old man!

So when I tell you that I grew up playing in the ruins of a Victorian Zoo... you know... it's true.

Awesome but you're going to have to wait!

2010-07-27T12:01:00.000+01:00

I was going to keep this dark for a bit longer but seeing as it's now on Amazon and the bloomsbury site, I thought I might as well share the cover of Book 2, The Demon Collector. I love it. Imagine it with the black edging, nestled against your gruesome green Mortlock. Lovely!

You can preorder it on Amazon already!

My Spot Blog...

2010-07-20T22:10:00.000+01:00

Last Saturday found me scribbling in books in Waterstones, Liverpool 1. Adam who heads up the Children's Section kept me well supplied with coffee and conversation.

Alfie, my son, came along as official photographer. It became apparent that I pull an amazing number of faces while I'm talking...

I also got to meet one of my heroes... Spot. I even sang him a song and he danced for me! He got a bit over excited at that point and had to be removed from the shop.

Apparently we were the second highest seller in the shop that sunny scouse afternoon... Peter Mandelson pipped me at the post... Bet he's never met Spot though...

Astro-antics and Scream Streets!

2010-07-05T19:58:00.001+01:00

On Friday, I met two true gents from the world of Children's writing. Tommy Donbavand writes the Scream Street series amongst other things. He's given me invaluable advice and even pushed a couple of events my way when he couldn't do them. That's a vote of confidence and a real honour.

Steve Cole was there too. he writes Astrosaurs, Cows In Action, Slime Squad, Dr Who books, Z-Rex, Thieves Like Us... well everything really. When I told him what a huge fan my youngest son Frankie was, he only dedicated "Astrosaurs Academy: Volcano Invaders" to him! You can imagine Frankie's face when he opened the book...amazing! It's the kind of memory you'll always carry with you.

They were both signing books at Pritchard's in Formby, a fantastic hub of bookselling fun! So thanks guys!

Steve's website is here. Tommy's is here. Trapped by Monsters is here!

Caught in a Trap

2010-06-15T20:58:00.000+01:00

It all seemed so simple then. I replied to an e-mail from Sam Enthoven, egged on by Tommy Donbavand and with a smug smile, agreed to join their merry band of children's horror writers.
"It'll be fun," Sam beamed down at me (he's very tall, you know).
"We can do events and all kinds of stuff," Tommy grinned, clapping his hands.
"Free beer, probably," Sam nodded.
"So...why's it called Trapped By Monsters?" I asked. Sam's knuckles were just a little bit too white as he gripped my shoulder.
"Oooh, just a name...y'know, readers love it," Tommy's smile was tight, his eyes wide, almost pleading.
"Don't ask too many questions, just follow us."
I lagged behind them, wondering at Tommy's unusual profile in the dark. Did he always have four arms? And why did Sam's cheek seem so...scaly?
"Er...hey guys...this is a wind-up, right?" I called after them.
"Nothing to worry about," hissed Sam, pushing on the huge Iron gate that shuttered the cave entrance we had arrived at.
"So what happens in here?" I croaked. The gates clanged shut behind us.
But darkness filled my eyes and hideous laughter echoed around the rocky walls. Sam and Tommy had gone, replaced by the most hideous, slime green blobs ever.

I knew what it was to be Trapped By Monsters.
But don't worry. I'm digging an escape tunnel with a sharpened stick even as we speak... I'll be out...soon... Maybe there are other authors here I can team up with...

Another Event

2010-06-07T20:32:00.000+01:00

I'm a bit nervous about this one. Normally, I'll wander in front of a group of children and talk gore with them but on Wednesday 9th June at Chester Library, it's grown ups.

And talking about writing.

Which is scary cos what do I know?

But I'll be with two very clever and talented people... Caroline Smailes and Nik Perring...

So it should be an interesting evening. I didn't expect a huge turnout but apparently...there's a huge turnout! Tickets left though for what looks to be an interesting and informative evening... and I'll be there too! Chester Library, Wednesday, 9th June, 7-9pm...

My Favourite Monsters. Number 1: The Groke

2010-06-01T21:53:00.003+01:00

The Groke is the creation of Tove Jansson and appears in her Moomintroll stories. All inhabitants of the Moomin's world fear the Groke. She stares at you with cold, malevolent eyes. Grins, humorlessly with white, shining teeth. A misty chill follows her wherever she goes and wherever she sits freezes in a thick patch of ice. Allegedly, she has a habit of eating people and her name often crops up in popular curses. "May the Groke take you."

In fact, the Groke does little more than stare from the shadows but everyone fears her. Ace!

What I really love about the Groke, however, is the fact that she may be misunderstood. In Moominland Midwinter, she is drawn by the midwinter bonfire and sits on it in an attempt to get warm. Everyone flees from her in terror. She is lonely, cold and isolated. In the end Moomintroll feels sorry for her.

A truly three dimensional villian...in fact, maybe not a villain at all!

A Special Day

2010-05-20T08:37:00.000+01:00

Today is the launch of Like Bees To Honey by Caroline Smailes. Caroline is a good friend of mine. She and Gary, her husband gave me sound advice when I first started out on the road to publication. I've shared some of the trials and tribulations on her own travels too.
She really is a star. Generous and helpful with a wicked sense of humour.

So this evening I'm off to Waterstones, Liverpool 1 for the official launch party. It's exciting! I can't help thinking of the launch of her first book back in June 2007 and how much has changed since then. That's exciting too!

Even more exciting is the very clever blog tour that Caroline has embarked on. The entire book is being serialized across 32 blogs and Harper Collins have asked me to host chapter four of Bees. So I've posted it above. The first installment is on Caroline's blog here and the chapters after this one can be found at L-plate Author here! And of course you can buy it here.

Happy reading.

Random Observations

2010-05-03T22:18:00.000+01:00

If you go here and scroll down, you'll notice I'm busy getting out to as many schools as I can. This is a tad frustrating because I only have one day per week to do this.

Mortlock has an advantage in that it spans the years that cover upper Juniors and lower high school. This means I can approach primaries and high schools for possible visits. I've enjoyed all the visits so far and they've all been different. And of course, I've sold lots of books along the way.

I haven't put them all in yet, but June is filling up nicely. I've also got some valuable library links too, so hopefully, the Summer holidays won't mean a lull in the Mortlock onslaught!

Of course, the downside to all this promotion is that it eats into my writing time but I reckon I did much of my writing whilst working full time so what's the difference? In fact, having made this realisation, I've written more recently and even started a new project...

Good experiences on school visits:

1) Children enthusing over books!
2) People laughing at my jokes (a funny, nervous kind of laugh...hmmm...)
3) Some really good questions (but somebody needs to persuade the children that all writers aren't incredibly rich)
4) Selling out of books (good and not good. Note to self keep own box in back of car well stocked)

5) Some very tasty (and free) dinners... I'm a basic sort of chap really.

So it's all good so far. And the lovely Bookwitch has posted her interview with me too. I talk a little bit about my work with children with autistic spectrum conditions. I may blog about that one day.

Martin Carthy & Eliza Carthy - Bows of London

2010-04-18T19:50:00.000+01:00

Thursday found me in the back room of a pub listening to Martin Carthy. Martin is one the (if not THE) most influential figures in English traditional music. He's an incredible guitar player too.

In various interviews recently, I've prattled on about the influence of traditional songs on my imagination. Sitting there listening to Martin sing Sir Patrick Spens, Jim Jones, Prince Heathen and so many others, it struck me just how important these songs are to my stories.

The video is six minutes long. Listen to the story, you won't notice them pass.

Quite a Weekend!

2010-04-12T21:33:00.002+01:00

This weekend was another of those rather special ones. Having launched Mortlock in London, it only seemed right and proper to have a more Northerly event. I call it a 'Northern Launch' but there's a lot more North to the North of us...if you see what I mean!

Anyway, we kicked off with a Book signing at Waterstones in Chester. I'd decided that I'd like some traditional tunes playing whilst I sat there so my good friend Richard from the Two Left Feet barndance band duly obliged. I couldn't let him scrape away on his own so I brought my mandolin too!

I didn't get carried away and forget to sign books though! Loads of people came. some I knew and some I didn't. Fellow Greenhouse Author, the lovely Harriet Goodwin brought her tribe down from darkest Staffs and it was lovely to see her! And the ever-supportive Gary and Caroline Smailes brought a crowd too!

Then it was all back to Mayhew Mansions for some butties (sandwiches to the rest you) and some beer! I'd love to have shown you pictures of the house heaving with happy guests but my Official Photographer mainly focused on the beer fest that his mates were having on the trampoline in the garden! We did play more music though!

It was great to have such a full house and the raffle of Mortlock merchandise raised £155 for Epilepsy Action.

I awoke the following morning with something of a headache... to find that Mortlock had been reviewed in the Observer Review and had been made their Children's Book of the Month! Stunning! A perfect end to a fortnight that I will never forget!

More interviews and reviews:
At Nik's
At Nicky's
And at the wonderful Caroline's

THE MORTLOCK WEBSITE IS HERE!!!

2010-04-07T19:10:00.000+01:00

I'm very excited. Things keep happening. I'm becoming a "things-keep-happening" addict! Bloomsbury's new Mortlock website is up and running! I was shown roughs of it when I visited last week and there's more to go up on it. It's brilliant! You can find out how to recognise a ghul, what to do if one attacks you, there's author Q&A, a playscript to perform, all sorts! It's here!

And then there's the Northern Launch on Saturday and a bit of a knees up afterwards at my house. Lin has got some exclusive merchandise (including a cartoon she had secretly drawn by family friend Albert Rusling, Punch cartoonist and all round good egg!). This will be raffled to raise money for Epilepsy Action (a cause dear to our hearts and close to home as many will know).

AND more great reviews keep rolling in. There's a link list at the side. The latest is at Love reading 4 kids by Julia Eccleshare of the Guardian. I'm going to lie down in a darkened room and listen to crows...

Book Birthday

2010-04-05T10:50:00.000+01:00

So today is Monday April 5th. Mortlock's official publication day. There were times when this day seemed so far off, I thought it would never arrive.

After all the fuss of the launch party and the trip down to London, it could all seem to be something of an anticlimax.

But I'm thinking of when I first wrote Mortlock, in its rawest form. Shaped it through Cornerstones, submitted it it to publishers and agents who told me it 'left them cold' or 'wasn't their cup of tea.' I'm thinking of the excitement of that first bite of interest, of the long waiting and the final validation.

So today is a day for a smile of satisfaction and maybe a trip to a bookshop somewhere to scan the shelves and introduce myself to a bookseller...

Oh, and then getting ready for a knees-up on Saturday. You've gotta have a Northern launch! I'll be signing books again at Waterstones in Chester on Saturday April 10th between 11:30 am and 3pm. Don't worry we'll have you back home in time for the Grand National!

A Night to Remember!

2010-04-02T10:47:00.000+01:00

My Blogging ground to a halt mid March largely because I was so busy promoting Mortlock, visiting schools and generally being excited. But then came the launch.

Bloomsbury had chosen The Waterpoet pub in Shoreditch as the location. A downstairs room had been decked out with lights and candles to create a creepy atmosphere. I had been asked to write a couple of scenes for actors to perform, giving a flavour of the book and its themes. They did a fantastic job!

I was asked to talk for a little bit about what inspired me to write Mortlock and I suspect, as ever, that I might have rambled on a little!

My family all came down and virtually took over the place!

The SCBWI crowd were out in force and the lovely Kathy Evans even brought me my very own crow!

Which Sarwat Chadda then tried to eat!

Candy took loads of pictures (which I have shamelessly stolen here) then curled up with a copy of Mortlock and began to read (there is a photo of that somewhere but I'm not sure who has it!)

It was just such a joy to be with so many friends and family to welcome Mortlock into the world. Thanks to Ian Lamb and everyone else at Bloomsbury involved in making it possible!

Other eye-witness accounts can be read here and here and here!

Another Event!

2010-03-14T22:43:00.000Z

For some reason, maybe it's my age or something , but I have very jumbled and hazy memories of Junior School. Classroom memories, playtime, school dinners, all the bad stuff like being told off, but I have one very clear and distinct memory of a white-haired man reading to us in assembly.

The man was H E Todd, author of the Bobby Brewster series of books. I can remember being very impressed and buying a book and taking it to him to sign. It wasn't a pivotal moment in my life. I wasn't inspired to go off and write flowery prose. I read the book. Can't remember much about it. There was a policeman but Bobby ended the day eating his favourite sardine sandwiches and all was well with the world. But it was a memory, lodging in my mind forever.

An author visit.

It was curious to be at Chesterfield High School in Crosby, signing books for people. My book. By me. In other people's hands. Will I be a memory in someone's mind? That would be nice.

Very curious.

But a great feeling.

My Bookshelves

2010-03-12T18:34:00.000Z

Let's go over to Unbound to look at my bookshelves!

Journey's End?

2010-03-09T20:23:00.001Z

A big box arrived today and in it were twelve copies of Mortlock looking all gruesome green, black-edged and menacing.

My mind is a right tangle.

It's taken three and a half years to get here. Not a huge amount of time by any stretch of the imagination. I don't like using the word 'journey' but a lot has happened leading up to this moment. I lost my mum and dad while writing Mortlock, tomorrow is the second anniversary of my father's funeral. We've had a family illness that has changed the way we live and run our lives.

Paradoxically, for the Mayhew family, Mortlock (a pretty dark story) has become a little beacon of light in what could otherwise be a very bleak world. So forgive us if we coo over it and carry it round for a while and show everyone we meet and smile inanely. We think its ace!

Thanks Sarah Davies. Thanks Bloomsbury! And no apologies for the gormless expression on my face in the picture below, this is a dream come true.

Making Notes

2010-03-03T22:29:00.001Z

I'm waiting for the Demon Collector to be sliced and diced by the lovely editor at Bloomsbury. This gives me time to focus on all things Mortlock, considering there are only four weeks left until launch! I've contacted local press and radio and organised a few school visits around the time too. Mortlock actually comes out slap bang in the middle of the Easter break which has pros and cons.

Amazingly, I also find myself with the time to think. Like many writers, I use a notebook to jot down ideas. I'm not as fastidious about carrying it with me at all times.

When I get an idea for a book, I quite like to dedicate a single notebook to that project. Nothing else must sully its pages! I also like to make my own notebooks. I try to vary the pages size, colour, texture. Something about this seems to improve my thought processes. It's a bit of a ritual. I like to find images that are relevant to the project and stick them on the cover in a collage. The rougher the notebook, the better. I even bind the pages together with garden twine.

Maybe the notebook seems more like an extension of my thoughts, or maybe I just like the simple task of cutting and gluing. The beauty of the notebook then is I can rearrange the pages into an order later but scribble as thoughts come to me.

It works for me.

Do you use notebooks? Anyone else make their own? Or is it just me?

Kernow Capers!

2010-02-17T20:28:00.004Z

Just back from the North Cornwall Word Explosion and as usual all my worries were unfounded. My workshop was entitled 'Gory stories and Spooky Ballads,' no further explanation needed, really. The first session was in Bude Castle with a select bunch of cultured children and their pet adults. We had a great time and came up with some memorable gory and gruesome passages (I do worry about the children of Cornwall... such hideous imaginations!) They even agreed to appear in a photograph with me!

In the afternoon, they threw me in Bodmin Jail! Fortunately, it was only to run the same workshop but what was this? Twenty five children? Twenty seven? Thirty? And their pet adults too! In all there were forty punters all scribing away to deadly and chilling effect! And Bodmin Jail is such a spooky setting. We were treated to a tour of the cells later: freezing cold, sinister and very atmospheric! See below for the wild children of Bodmin!

Fantastic! I've asked the children to send me their finished pieces and I'll be posting them up on Gory Stories (there's a link at the side).
I had such a great time, I just hope they invite me back! And Michelle and Andy surpassed themselves in their hospitality. Here's a shot of my room...

Okay, I confess, it's another shot of Bodmin Jail. In truth I was wined, dined, fed with clotted cream scones and generally well looked after! Thanks to all concerned and especially to the brilliant kids I met!

Word Explosion

2010-02-11T17:19:00.001Z

The picture is from an 1835 text call The Death of Cock Robin. It has nothing to do with anything apart from I use some extracts from it in Mortlock.

Anyway!Thanks to the wonderful Mickmouse I am appearing in darkest Bude and Bodmin next Tuesday! It's the Word Explosion a new children's literary festival. I'll be leading some young souls through the more gory and spooky of this island's ballads and shamelessly promoting Mortlock into the bargain.It's a new experience and obviously, I'm quite nervous as well as excited by the prospect. Do I take my mandolin? Will they understand my 'plazzy-scouse' accent? Are there really werewolves in Bodmin as Sarwat asserts?

Another thing that struck me, though was the power of the internet. You see, this particular booking came about because of my blog. I wouldn't have had contact with the aforementioned Mickmouse were it not for the fact that we both blog. It's a truly wonderful thing!

The Final Proof?

2010-01-29T17:05:00.001Z

I've been busy today.

These should be the final proofs of Mortlock. Those of you who have glimpsed it, know that each chapter of Mortlock starts with an extract from a traditional ballad. There was some confusion over certain verses as to whether permissions would have to be sought. You would think that songs sung by eighty year olds in 1903 would be out of any kind of copyright and well in the public domain. Well, think again.

So I went back to the drawing board, Cecil Sharp House and some very old ballad collections and actually, I found some brilliant new verses that fitted the themes of each chapter brilliantly. I've been checking them on this set of proofs today.

Uncorrected proofs went out to a whole variety of folks this week, some in spooky black packaging. Things are on the move, plans being drawn up and yet there are still two months before actual publication day! Waiting. What authors do... badly I would imagine if they're anything like me!

Good interviews here and here!

My first review here!

I'm slipping into a whole new world...

Cowardy Custard!

2010-01-24T12:33:00.002Z

I confess. For a "man with a dark imagination," I'm a total coward. The picture above amply illustrates my default position for watching anything that may be slightly scary. I think I've discussed this before but I'm the kind of chap who totally buys into anything I'm watching. Maybe it's because I have got a 'dark imagination.'

So to be honest, I tend to avoid anything that I think might frighten me!

Imagine my joy, then, when after a few beers and a curry, my old friend, who has popped up for a brief visit, brings out a DVD saying, "I've got this vampire film, it's an 18 but you'll be okay..."

It was called "30 Days of Night." It came out in 2007 so I suppose most vampire fans will have seen it but it was new to me and I thought it was a great premise. The small town of Barrow, deep in the Artctic Circle experiences 30 days of night every winter. What a great place for a band of vampires to go on holiday! "Why didn't we think of this before?" says one vampire in its strange, gutteral language. Gory and nerve-wracking for me to watch, it did make me ponder.

I like my vampires ugly and brutal. I'm no great fan of air-brushed, 'pretty-boy' bloodsuckers. So The "30 Days of Night" vampires were right up my street:

However, on reflection I also quite like a little complexity. In my next book The Demon Collector, I wanted the demons to be more than just ugly monsters. Demons must be so much more than that. I wanted them to be quite complex, weak even, more afflicted by neuroses than their human victims. And I wondered if the vampires in this film could have been just a little more than predatory killing machines. I expect that in the comic books that inspired the film, they are. Maybe I'll have to go back to the source and read them. Although my friend told me they gave him nightmares...

How do you like yours?

Impulse Power (and where it might take you)

2010-01-10T14:29:00.006Z

These are my Icebug running shoes. They're great for this kind of weather, offering good traction and scant excuse for not running. I've had them for a few years now as they don't come out too often, nor do they get prolonged use. You can run in usual, non-icy conditions in them but the sound of the spikes on tarmac is like a whole army is chasing you in hobnail boots.

So why am I telling you this? Well... if it weren't for these shoes, I strongly suspect Mortlock may never have been written.

I love thinking back on pivotal moments in life and what might, or might not have been. The Icebug shoes are a case in point. They were an impulse buy in 2005 at the Chester Half Marathon. I had a hankering to try running up mountains and wanted something that would act as a good compromise between trail shoes and road runners. Stupidly, I tested them out on grass so I couldn't hear the scrunch and grind of steel spikes that would stop me wearing them in anything but the most glassy conditions.

Of course once I got them home and took them out for their first run I realised they were not fit for the purpose I had in mind. The clattering and scraping that followed me around my normally serene route gave me a headache and had the local Teritorial Army division fearing a mass invasion of invisible soldiers.

And so the shoes languished in the boot box by the front door, a home to spiders for months. Until February 2006 when the snow began to fall.

I was training for the London Marathon and didn't see why a bit of snow should interrupt my training. I felt so fit, had completed the Snowdonia Marathon in my best time and relished the chance to get out in the cold.

And I had just the shoes to do it in!
Out came the Ice bugs.

If I hadn't had them in all likelihood, I would have elected to stay in by the fire.

But I did have them and so out I ran.

The first 7 miles were fine but then my foot vanished into a snowdrift, my ankle twisted on the kerb beneath with a crack. The sound was quite sickening. I had to limp back 3 miles through thick snow.

I spent the next six weeks with my foot up, sat in front of a laptop. The inevitable happened and I wrote... well it was something. It was pretty awful but it had the seeds of many stories in there and Mortlock was one of them.

So, an impulse buy, led to a disaster which led to... well, this:

Oh, did I mention, that the chaps at Bloomsbury had been 'tweaking' the cover? It's going to look awesome!

Happy New Year

2010-01-02T17:21:00.002Z

Apologies for my absence. Family illness has meant that 2009 ended pretty horribly and 2010 began in much the same way.

But we look to the future and what should be a memorable year for more positive reasons.

This year I become a published author.
Mortlock will hit the book shelves on April 5th.

If it's okay with you I'll just hug that warm, cozy thought and let it fuel my smiles. I'll soon be into thinking about launch parties and such. I have a few ideas already!

My resolutions? Well I always set myself achieveable goals so how about:

To run more. My running has ground to a halt this year so I need to get back out there and work off the pounds that inevitably crept back on during my inactivity! So half an hour a day?

To get a little more discipline into my writing schedule. I have one writing day per week and December saw it used up in various fun but non-productive ways! I want to use it for writing!

To assume good intent. I always do this one every year and, by and large, manage to keep to it but I assume in the first instance, that everyone I meet is reasonable, well-meaning and not trying to do me down, rob me or make my life a misery. It's worked so far so I'll keep that one too.

So Happy New Year to everyone who reads this blog. Let's hope it's kind to us and make it the best we can!

And your resolutions are?

How Cool Is This?

2009-12-07T17:26:00.004Z

Being a veteran of one school visit and not having a book to sell, my mind turned to the prospect of turning up at schools when I do have a book to sell but some of the darlings mightn't have the readies for a book.

A book plate to stick in the front of a book was one idea. But I also liked the idea of a stamp.

Who hasn't wanted to work in a post office and slam down one of those important, chunky-looking stampers?

Admit it. The first time they passed your library books through a barcode reader and it gave off a pathetic beep, you felt the slight sag of disappointment. What happened to the 'Kerchunk!' of the librarian's date stamp?

The truth is, we all love a stamp. So I indulged myself. All my children now carry the Mortlock brand...

Winchester Wonderland

2009-11-24T21:22:00.007Z

The SCBWI Winchester Weekend Conference. Ah! What a treat. I met the charming and very funny Mr Philip Ardagh...

He's also very tall. Thanks to Kathy who is as short as I and had to stand on fifteen milk crates to get this perspective.

But then he tried to drive me into the ground with one blow of his mighty fist. Philip's after dinner speech was very illuminating and left us with a lot to ponder on... not least the wisdom of reading to the public from one's own book.

And then I met up with the lovely Karen Ball, ace writer and all-round good egg. I had spoken to Karen on the phone but not met her so it was great to catch up.

As well as the socialising, there were lots of opportunities to sharpen the writing craft, meet real authors (not imaginary ones) and get books signed (which is fast becoming something of a fetish). Cliff McNish's session on story archetypes particularly set me thinking about my current draft of Book 2!

But I have a confession... during that weekend I fell in love. It was during a workshop about school visits. Our eyes just met across the room, over a sea of heads...

I never managed to get to see Woofy close-up, his minders hustled him away before I had chance but what an inspiration. My life has changed.

My First Author Visit!

2009-11-18T20:03:00.003Z

Last Friday found me visiting Birkenhead High School Academy, a high school for girls in Birkenhead. My first author visit!

I'd been approached by their librarian Marilyn Hogan who had organised a literary festival within the school. A whole week of events under the banner of "Reading Between The Lines."

The pupils were very welcoming and polite. They asked lots of questions and took to my workshop enthusiastically.

I decided to look at the ballads that punctuate every chapter. Mortlock was partly inspired by The Twa Corbies, so I got the pupils to look at two variants of the ballad. I showed them the trailer and read an extract of the book.

At one point the projector was misbehaving, leaving me defenceless in front of 25 year eight pupils. While the technician wrestled with the machinery, I zipped round them asking names and favourite books. Fortunately, I didn't have to resort to a game of any description to keep them occupied but I guess I could have done.

The aim of the workshop was to create some kind of performance based on different (but all very gory) ballads that I had distributed. We had tableaux, readings of key lines, mimes of the events of the ballads. It was great fun. I only wish I'd had a few books to sell!

I really enjoyed my visit to Birkenhead High. It reminded me of all the reasons I went into teaching twenty years ago. I think I'll go back again. If they'll have me!

But now I'm looking forward to the weekend and the SCBWI conference at Winchester. Can't wait!

Under Cover...

2009-11-11T21:21:00.004Z

First I have to thank everyone who voted for Mortlock in Mr Ripley's Bookcover Wars. It was so exciting rallying the troops, watching The Unravellers charge into the lead and then seeing my vote count creep up! My kids were texting friends until their fingers bled! They refused to go to bed! Number three son wanted to stay up until 6am to see if we had won! So a bit of fun but quite humbling again the way all my friends near home and on Facebook, abroad and on Twitter all joined to bring Mortlock to the finish line first. Just brilliant.

Also very interesting, on a small scale, to note the power of networking or maybe internetworking?

The Fabulous Return of Five Things What Are Good!

2009-11-01T22:00:00.006Z

The nights are drawing in, the half-term holiday drawing to a close and for other reasons I find myself on the glum side.

So.

We pick our selves up and think of five things that are good!

1) The Lion King. This week we were lucky enough to go to The Lyceum in London to see it. I've always loved old LK and the story is soooo Shakespearean and good. The kids loved it too and at times I wasn't sure which was best, watching them or the show!

2) Chessington World of Anticipation, sorry Adventure! Queue for 45 minutes to experience 2 minutes of sheer terror/ nausea/ paranoia and that was just the Merry-go-Round (I am such a wuss when it comes to scary rides).

3) Deals with Russian Publishers! Whilst in the aquarium at Chessington, surrounded by clown fish and conger eels, I receive a call from my wonderful agent telling me that Mortlock has been sold to the Russian Olma Media Group. Incredible. Bewildering. Fantastic! I wonder if I'll ever get to go over there?

4) Hallowe'en. I always love Hallowe'en. We duck for apples, carve out a pumpkin (We used to carve out turnip lanterns, tough!) and generally get a bit spooky.

5) Meeting up with friends. We've been lucky enough to impose on the hospitality of two old friends this week, eating and drinking them out of house and home! We also caught up with the mighty Sarwat Chadda for a cup of tea and a biscuit. Brilliant.

Cover Story

2009-10-25T15:30:00.002Z

Thanks to everyone who voted for my book cover in Mr Ripley's Book Wars. It was an interesting exercise in galvanising support and a humbling experience when so many people voted for me! Some exciting twists and turns too as Tommy Donbavand's Scream Street cover inched into the lead and I had to send out a plea for help! (I would have voted for Tommy's if my book hadn't been up there!)

The first draft of Book Two (The Demon Collector) is complete and now comes the difficult task of leaving it for as long as possible before rereading and (inevitably) rewriting it. I almost prefer the revision process to the original writing process, having material to shift around and redraft seems so much easier. I'm quite looking forward to that but I have to hold off. Launching straight into it will mean that it's still too fresh in my mind. A bit of distance is what's needed.

I'll start thinking about Book 3 while I'm waiting!

I Ain't Superstitious...

2009-10-11T21:11:00.003+01:00

Now I'm not a superstitious kind of chap really. I only count Magpies because of some strange OCD that overcomes me every now and then. And I certainly don't address single Magpies verbally so that any ill-fortune does wing itself my way. Honest!

Nor do I read horoscopes obsessively, looking for any grain of encouragement, although apparently Librans are always fascinated by their horoscopes (and themselves) and Libra cups, signs, books are always first to sell out. Russell Grant tells me that 2009 is an ideal year to indulge in creative pastimes. He said that if I wrote a book I would experience 'wild success.'

Rabbit's feet, horseshoes and four leaf clover mean nothing to me (although, come to think of it, I do have quite a clover collection pressed between the pages of various thick books around the house).

I remember a great night in a pub in a village in County Cork, Ireland. The previous weekend, I'd been to The Grand national at Aintree racecource (not too far from me). I mentioned to someone that I'd bet on every race and won (not big money, a couple of quid each time). I didn't have to buy a pint again that evening as virtually everyone in the pub bought me one 'for luck.'

Someone once told me that lucky people are those who say 'yes' to opportunities that come their way and I think I subscribe to that but I wonder if sometimes you have to put yourself in the way of those chances. I've written for years but once I decided to go for publication, I set about finding out the 'hows', 'whos' and 'wheres.' And it worked.

And now I'm working towards the 'hows, whos and wheres' of selling the book...touch wood...

Are you superstitious?

Darren Shan Tries to Strangle The Opposition!

2009-10-04T16:04:00.004+01:00

It all started out so nicely. Mr Shan was signing books at our local Borders store so I thought, "Where's the harm in taking a selection of kids down to get their books signed?"

You have to wait a while to meet Darren Shan. He's very popular. My own theory is that part of his success (apart from writing cracking horror) is that he's so approachable and takes time with every punter who comes up with a book (or in my son's case eight books) to sign. Basically he's an all-round good guy.

So imagine my horror at his reaction when I told him about Mortlock...

I just about escaped with my life!

A Few Cuts Here and There

2009-09-27T20:18:00.005+01:00

A brief post... I am sorely wounded and may never recover...
Friends of mine on Facebook will know that I ended up seeing a specialist about a small bump or nodule on my forehead. I was quite taken aback at his enthusiasm for removing it. Which he did, duly stitching me up and sending me on my way, saying I was a brave soldier!

So all week I've had people peering at me and saying:

1) Nothing because they're too polite and grown up.

OR

2) "What happened to your head Mister?" because they're not grown up and need to know the truth.

My stock reply was that I was attacked by a woodpecker. Most folks would grin, appreciate the joke and move on. Apart from one (grown up) person who actually said: "It always happens to you doesn't it?" As if I'm beset by woodland creatures every day. Squirrels pelting me with acorns, hedgehogs stabbing me with pointed spine, a kind of reverse Snow White in which I have to bear the brunt of forestry fulmination!

Anyway the upshot is that the stitches come out tomorrow, it's nothing life-threatening and so things are good.

Another form of surgery looms large soon. My writing of Book 2 moves on apace and I'm into the exciting bit. Well, it's all exciting but I'm onto the bit where you can see the finish line, it's almost complete! I've nearly done it... and then I can rip it up and start again (which I love actually).

Greenhouse Author

2009-09-20T15:21:00.006+01:00

I was asked recently where I write and my response was that I am a guerrilla writer, moving around, writing when I can, where I can.
I can be quite fussy about my writing conditions and until recently, thought of myself as the writing equivalent of the Princess and the Pea but I think I've narrowed them down to:

1) Warmth
2) Freedom from disturbance

I do have a small room to write in but when it gets cold, I just can't concentrate. A little electric fire solves that problem, turning it into a sauna in minutes.

Sometimes writing in the house isn't productive, especially with family about making unreasonable requests for food, affection, general nurturing.

I once couldn't concentrate because the dog was looking at me. I swear she was.
Staring.
Giving me that, 'we haven't been for a walk yet' look.

Today, because the weather proved so shiny and bright, I dug-in where any author with the Greenhouse Agency would... the greenhouse! You can just see my little netbook on my lap.

Where do you write?

Weddings and Launches

2009-09-13T21:02:00.003+01:00

I haven't really passed comment on the amazing trailer that the marvellously clever Adrian at Bloomsbury has created for Mortlock. Or the wonderful cover. These things thrill me and bewilder me in equal measure. Just brilliant.

It was also the weekend of the Northern launch of The boy Who Fell Down Exit 43 and as I couldn't get to the London one, I decided to trundle down to Eccleshall Library in darkest Staffordshire and get the lovely Harriet Goodwin to sign my copy. Of course I forgot my camera, as usual.

There were crowds of people there and they sold out of books. Fortunately, I had remembered to buy one before hand. As I stood in the queue, I felt a bit odd really. One: because I hadn't warned Harriet that I was coming down to see her and we hadn't actually met before. Two: because I was watching the whole thing and thinking, "this'll be me next year!"

The Greenhouse Agency has quite a close family feel to it and so I wasn't surprised to be greeted like a long-lost friend. I was so glad I took myself down there!

The next leg of my journey took me South West a bit to a village in Worcestershire where I was playing at a wedding.

As we played, I watched the bride settle herself on a bale of straw. She in turn watched the dancers. So content, so happy. A perfect day and it started me thinking about Harriet's launch and book launches in general.

Are they like weddings? or christenings? What kind of celebration are they? Goodwife reckoned they're more akin to weddings and the author is the father of the bride, giving away his prized possession. What d'you reckon?

We All Need A Monster!

2009-09-06T12:04:00.006+01:00

Loch Ness has two 'Official Monster Centres.' One is very slick and has audio visual displays that you walk around, but leaves you in no doubt that there is no Loch Ness Monster, there never was and there couldn't possibly be. Apparently, the bottom of the loch is as deep as the sea in some parts but because of the peaty, acidic water, it is dark and supports little life. Interesting geology and natural history, fascinating place.

But no monster. The kids enjoyed it but I'm not sure they needed this message hammering home quite so firmly.

The other centre is perhaps a little less polished. A narrow corridor lined with display boards leads you to a small cinema that screens a film about the history of the Loch and the various monster sightings. You leave the place with the sense that maybe, just maybe, a monster may exist.

I loved both exhibitions for different reasons but I came away thinking that we all need a monster of some kind. Rationality is all very well and good but it doesn't allow us to plumb the darker depths of our own subconscious. The stories, myths and legends we are told as children feed our imagination and build our creativity.

There have been earlier sightings of the monster but apparently 1933 saw a wave of 'monster-mania.' One of the most famous photographs was the surgeons photo:

Personally, I don't need photographic evidence because I'm a firm believer in the importance of myths, fairy tales, Father Christmas, tooth fairies, gnomes, dwarves etc... Our world would be a duller place without them.

Besides, a strange thing happened whilst we viewed the Loch from our cottage. I'm not saying it was the monster... but we saw something... something that needed explanation... My daughter was fortunate to have her camera with her so we can share this mysterious sighting...

Dark Deeds

2009-08-31T16:47:00.007+01:00

I'm back from my holidays in Scotland. A whole week on the banks of Loch Ness and an interesting place it was too.

Aside from the good food and ale that was available across the land (the Scots don't live on deep-fried Mars bars and Irn Bru, although I'm rather partial to the latter), the scenery was incredible. Craggy lochs over-looked by dizzying mountains, ruined castles and towering pines.

A backdrop to some dark deeds and shocking massacres. We found ourselves at Culloden Moor, the scene of the last stand of the Jacobite Clans against government forces. The fierce, feared highlanders employed medieval tactics against a highly trained, modern army and lost. Badly. I wandered the battlefield with my satellite-controlled commentary unit, headphones warming my ears. Flags denote the battle lines and I was struck by the closeness of the enemies but also thinking that something of the atmosphere of the place had been lost.

Until I came to the Well of the Dead.

A small scrubby hollow in the middle of the moor, a spring and little else.

Here, the highlanders became bogged down, quite literally in the moss and mire. The bodies piled four deep as the older clansmen fought to the death, shielding the younger sons who had accompanied them on the adventure.

All those shared moments and family ties: arguments, feuds, laughter, dancing, drinking, hangovers, weddings, births and bereavements all culminating in a bloody ten minutes in which four hundred died by shot and bayonet.

And in that massacre lay the roots of much greater slaughter. Apparently, after Culloden, the redcoats adopted and adapted the Highland Charge, only with fixed bayonets. It became feared across Europe and beyond.

Until the machine guns of the Somme and Paschendale halted it in its stride.

It's Only Good Manners to Ask

2009-08-18T10:02:00.006+01:00

So, having been snuck up on by my own presence on the Bloomsbury site, I decided to put myself about a bit. Go and see some local book store managers. I did this too because I needed to complete an author questionnaire for my publishers and one of the questions went as follows:

Are there any retail outlets in your locality willing to display the book?

Well. It's only good manners to ask. This is what I have discovered from this experience:

Bookstore managers will give you the time of day.
They only have one head and do not devour debut children's authors for breakfast, dinner or tea.
The word 'Bloomsbury' has a magical effect on them, making them sit up and smile excitedly.
It is very strange telling a bookstore manager the name of your book, them typing it into their computer and saying, "You'll be Jon Mayhew, then..."
I underestimate my ability to present myself as a rational and intelligent human being with not a trace of weirdness.

This all very encouraging.

Why I Flinched

2009-08-11T21:46:00.004+01:00

Talk about talking your eye off the ball! I've been so wrapped up in the finer points of Mortlock and whether line 14 on page 175 needs an indetation and writing book 2 that this one passed me by and someone else pointed it out to me!

Have a look here.

I was rather impressed to say the least! But it did make me flinch too and I'll tell you why...

There will be a point at which Mortlock will be on shelves in bookshops across the country, and other countries besides. And I won't be there to sell it personally.

When I pitched Mortlock to editors or agents before meeting Sarah Davies last year, I was there, smiling, being nice and not weird (honest).

If I could, next April, I would be standing in every bookshop in every town all over the country, smiling, being nice and not weird (really). Selling my book.

But I can't. I'll try my level best to be in as many bookshops in as many places as possible but I can't be omnipresent. And so Mortlock has to sell itself. Well almost (and this is why I flinched).
Because it really brought home the truth in the fact that, yes writing is part of the job, here, and what fun it is. But promotion and awareness of markets, of what's going on with your work and grabbing opportunities when they arise are all part of it too.

So here we go for a bit of gratuitous self-promotion:

Go here and search for Mortlock. I'm sure it'll come up on some stats somewhere and make an impression.

And I'll try not to flinch again. Funny word that... flinch.

Website Envy

2009-08-04T11:22:00.008+01:00

Lots of things have been going with Mortlock on behind the scenes but if I told you then I'd have to kill you, as the saying goes. All hush hush. Suffice to say that, at the moment the word excited does not cover the range of emotions that accompany opening e-mails and ordinary envelopes at the moment!

And I've been preoccupied so I missed the arrival of fellow Greenhouse author Harriet Goodwin's new website. Harriet was in the Greenhouse at the start having been scooped up from the SCBWI Undiscovered Voices Anthology competition.

I love the new website. I love the green tones (a welcome change from the black that accompanies many websites- mine included!). It just feels so professional and established. I want one like that!

Harriet's book The Boy Who Fell Down Exit 43 sounds right up my street, "Finn Oliver will never accept his father’s death, but he finds a few minutes of forgetting as he joy-rides over the moors in the beat-up family car. Then the accident happens – and Finn hurtles through the wafer-thin divide between the living and the dead. As he falls, he collides with a spirit-girl, Jessie Sherratt, who is on her way up to the surface to visit the local graveyard.

Together, Finn and Jessie must save the Underworld from destruction by releasing the ancient Firepearl from its elemental enchantments at the centre of the Earth. But can they reach it before their evil adversary gets there first…and is the Firepearl quite what it seems?"

It's out September 7th and you can preorder it here.

On a different note altogether Tracy has awarded me a Superior Scribbler Award which I was rather chuffed with to be honest, geiven my rubbish blogging track record recently! Thanks Tracy!

Yeep

2009-07-29T19:47:00.001+01:00

Yeep, yeeeep, YeeeeeeEpp.

These are the sounds I make when going through my manuscript page by page on the phone with a copy editor.

She was very nice.

Yeep.

Harry

2009-07-28T21:32:00.004+01:00

The trouble with Harry is, he's always in the background.
Hovering on his Nimbus 2000.
"You're writing a book?" They say. "The next Harry Potter?"

I remember resisting the urge (only just)
to rip someone's head off when they said,
"We should write a children's book, like Harry Potter, can't be that hard can it?"
The respectable way to dream of making a fortune rather
than doing the lottery
or a good old honest flutter on the nags.
There he is... on his Nimbus... just out of reach...

He's always there, hovering.
Just in the corners of people's imagination.
A"hint of Harry."
Can't define it or pin it down.
Maybe it's me but he's there... hovering.

Toto scurries back to his kennel.
Harry's still there.
Lyra to Oxford,
Artemis Fowl to his Manor.
But Harry hovers... on his Nimbus...2000.

Sorry for the doggrel everyone. I'm not 'having a go. I've always enjoyed Harry Potter and admired JK Rowling's success. I've just been to see Half Blood Prince which I loved. I enjoyed the book too but it left me musing how much of an 'elephant in the room' old Harry is whenever children's writing is mentioned. What d'you think?

Planning

2009-07-12T22:30:00.007+01:00

I should be blogging more often. There's nothing worse than a neglected Blog.

I'm forging ahead with Book 2 which is taking shape nicely. Mortlock kind of grew organically then was taken by the scruff on a number of occasions and given a good shaking. Book 2 is being written to a deadline.

There's a qualitative difference between writing a book in the hope it might one day be published and writing a book that someone likes the sound of and will have a first peek early next year, thank you very much.

The difference is the phrase 'might one day.' Within those words is hidden the luxury of time. Time to think, to change your mind, time to make mistakes and start over again.

Don't think for one moment that I'm courting any sympathy here cos I'm not. It's just a difference I've observed. So I've been more precise with this one. It's mapped out in a way that Mortlock never was. I have copious notes on characters, societies, buildings, devices, things that might never make it into the book but I know they are there. I sent this rationale to my editor along with the synopsis and she almost wanted to publish the rationale too. So it was detailed.

The old adage in teaching (and elsewhere I suppose) is fail to plan, plan to fail. This doesn't hold true with writing I believe. Some writers let their work grow as they write, I've done that before and it's worked but with the luxury of time. Maybe I'll try that next time!

Thankyou to Everyone!

2009-07-04T09:58:00.004+01:00

The money has been collected and counted. My brother and I raised £2553.20 in the end. So thankyou to everyone who donated and especially to my cousin Angela (who I know reads this blog). She set to on fund raising with military precision and determination, rallying the large and sprawling family to which I belong.

Just to put the amount in context, £1ooo covers the cost of a hospice night nurse for two weeks. He or she will provide vital care and support for many terminally ill patients and their families during that time.

I'm really proud to have run for Help the Hospices and proud of everyone who gave so generously in these financially tight times.

You are stars!

And just being cheeky, our Just Giving site is active for another couple of weeks I suspect, so if you've just read this and felt a pang of regret at not donating at the time... you still can!

Writing news?

Contracts have been signed (after lengthy negotiations... my agent is wonderful!) and work recommences on Book2... I'm off to write. I confess to having a fuzzy head today after drinking champagne and eating chocolate cake with the lovely Smailes clan to celebrate!

Writing Holiday

2009-06-28T16:07:00.003+01:00

I'm waiting again... all part of the job and I'm not complaining (honest). Folks at Bloomsbury could never be described as slow!

Apparently, the next stage of this whole process is the Copyeditor. It fascinates me, this world of publishing and each step brings something new for me to marvel at. This poor woman has to plough through my work looking at grammar, spelling all the technical stuff and putting it into a format that is more 'book-like.' All very exciting! Someone else is looking at my outline for Book 2 so I'm at a bit of a pause.

So I'm... reading! There's FE Higgins and 'The Eyeball Collector' which I enjoyed immensely. And now I'm reading 'Season of Secrets' by Sally Nicholls. I'm bracing myself...I think it's going to be a tear-jerker.

And a writer never stops working so my thoughts have been turning to ideas for Book 3 and ways to promote Mortlock. never too early to start planning...

Be Careful What You Wish For...

2009-06-14T11:23:00.003+01:00

The Monkey's Paw by WW Jacobs is one of my favourite short stories. Musing the other day, it dawned on me that this tale sparked me into writing children's novels. And supernatural ones at that! It has seeped into popular culture, even the Simpsons, all the way from 1902 and, although the language can be difficult, kids in my classes used to love to hear it.

It's one of those 'be careful what you wish for' stories and provoked all manner of lively debates, not to mention some excellent stories by the pupils.

I love the fact that, in the story, all the horror is hinted at. Everything is left to the reader's imagination. we never see mangled corpses rising from graves. We never learn what the last owner of the paw, Sergeant Major Morris wished for. When he is asked if he has made three wishes, he shivers and says, 'I have.'

The tension builds beautifully and what Mr White, the main protagonist, has to wish for in the end is truly tragic and horrific.

Speaking of being careful what you wish for, I've now had back the second edited manuscript of Mortlock. It needs a few (well two actually) tweaks. I often hear writers bemoan the revision process but I have to confess, I quite enjoy it. It never ceases to amaze me how a few changes, rearranging a paragraph, modifying a sentence, can transform a scene and take your work to another level. It's brilliant!

But I haven't been stuck inside all of this sunny, shiny weekend. The chicks hatched about three weeks ago are getting feisty and adventurous so we moved them out into a nursery run in the garden.

And today I'm going to a SCBWI crit group in Chester which, if I remember my camera, I will tell you all about next time!

But for now, here's some music for you! It's called the Teetotaller, which I'm not.

Midnight Dance

2009-06-10T22:19:00.001+01:00

Danse Macabre has to be on my playlist for when I write. This film by award winning animator John McCloskey is stunning. What more can I say?

Hindsight is a Great Thing

2009-06-04T22:25:00.008+01:00

My first Blog post on this blogsite was exactly two years ago today.

Has much changed???

Goodness.

I read through those early posts trying to find myself in them but it seems like another person. So much has happened. Some of it quite sad but some amazingly uplifting and validating.

Hindsight is a great thing, they say and I agree. Hindsight is great, it's brilliant!

I look with hindsight at the post about Cornerstones and give a little shiver, look where it's brought me.

I look with hindsight at the post about the first SCBWI Winchester conference when, inspired by David Almond's keynote speech, I realised that one day I would be a published author and smile.

I look with hindsight at the post about joining the Greenhouse Agency and grin. The right decision.

And now I look at my e-mail inbox, with messages from Bloomsbury discussing my latest revisions to Mortlock.

Mortlock, the book I started two and a half years ago. Stuck a few samples online to see if anyone could give me a few tips or pointers about improving it! My first post says, "teaching and writing. Both require endless optimism!"

Vesper commented that my blog 'voice' seems more confident. She's right. The last two years have changed me, there's no denying it and so the Blog has to change too. I can't be Writing in a Vacuum anymore, because I'm not. I wasn't the moment I started the Blog, really because you guys are so supportive. It can't be a 'wannabe' blog anymore.

But it does raise a valid point. What do we read blogs for? I suspect that we like the connection we make with others and the glimpse of their lives it affords us. We don't want to be sold something everytime we visit, that's why corporate blogs are usually so dull.

Oh and the picture at the top is just a random one of Highgate, for gothic, Victorian creepiness you understand!

Why do you read blogs?

Britain's Got Lovely Weather!

2009-05-30T21:15:00.010+01:00

It's been a glorious week here in the UK, well, it has on the sunny Wirral Peninsula (we have our own little micro-climate thanks to the Welsh mountains). So what have I been up to? I hear you ask...

Well...

Earlier in the week we went as a family to Knowsley Safari Park. This is a wonderful place to go if you like having your car vandalized by baboons! And hey! Who doesn't?

Then on Thursday, I went to the launch of Wordscapes. This is an anthology of short stories that won or were runner-up in the Cheshire Prize for Literature. If you recall, I was a runner-up, so off I went.

The lovely jan from Jan's Writing Journal was there too and I finally got to meet her!

And the High Sherrif of Cheshire was there (not like the Sherrif of Nottingham at all... I've heard bad things about him!) and gave me a free copy of the book!

Oh and here's the actual anthology, I think ultimately it'll be available from Chester Academic Press and Amazon, I'll keep you posted...

Finally I've been revising and rewriting the last quarter of Mortlock. My super editor at Bloomsbury had described it as a 'light edit' but I ended up writing an extra 14,000 words. So cue the sound of grinding gears as I slam into reverse and go back, hacking, slicing, nipping and tucking. The resultant (I'll not say finished or final) MS is a bit lighter than it was but I'm pleased with it... for now.

But d'you know what? I really enjoyed it! Sitting in the sun with my little net book tapping away, I could do this for a living, y'know!

Hatching

2009-05-23T21:28:00.005+01:00

Those of you who know me will be aware of the chickens I keep at the bottom of my garden. I can't claim to be any great nurturer of flower, fish or fowl but I do like life to surround me.

Since the arrival of Sexy Sam last year, we reckoned that the eggs would probably be fertilized and so we slipped a few under a broody bantam. The process is amazing. for three or four weeks, the hen barely moves, barely eats or drinks. It generates huge amounts of heat for such a small bird. It rolls the eggs around to ensure they keep warm throughout. Inside each egg an embryo grows into a chick.

After three to four weeks, the chick pecks and wriggles and forces its way through the solid shell to the outside world. It's a struggle and there are no guarantees at the end of it.

It's a slow, precarious process. Miraculous and natural.

I think most things worth having take time to grow and come to fruition. As writers we spend so much time waiting for decisions, eager for the chance to move on t the next stage.

Each advance (no pun intended) brings you back to where you started. You finish your manuscript after many months or even years of graft and send it out. If you are lucky you get some constructive criticism back. You revise your work and send it out. You get your agent who suggests some revisions. You revise your work. It gets sent out. You get your book deal. Your editor suggests some revisions before it is published...

But each revision is a tap at the shell. Something cracking the barriers. Something breaking out into the big, wide world.

Keep your dream safe and warm. Nuture it.

Hatch it.

Actually, what I wanted to say was, "Look at these keeeyoot wickle chicky-wickies, aren't they all fluffy and wuverwy?"

but that would have been unseemly for a thoughtful chap like myself.

A weekend and a half!

2009-05-20T18:51:00.004+01:00

I've been a rubbish blogger recently. I apologise. But things have been going on!

Last weekend I finally got down to London to meet the lovely Ele Fountain, my editor from Bloomsbury. They fed me pasta and chocolate ice cream, what a joy! Oh and we talked about Mortlock and went back to the office and met some of the team who were lovely too. Being a total mollusc when it comes to personal organisation, I forgot to take my camera! Ho hum.

Then it was on to the launch party for The Devils Kiss. Such a brilliant event, children in fancy dress, crusader re-enactments, sword fights, book signings and booze! It was a great chance to meet up with everyone.

The only pic I managed to get was of Stevyn Colgan and I looking intelligent... hmmm.

Then after that I zoomed up to Pendrell Hall for the SCBWI writer's retreat. Loads done, brilliant but lots more to go.

Time for a blog break methinks...revisions galore!

Writer's Weaknesses # 1: Imagination.

2009-05-05T17:33:00.008+01:00

There are many blogs that will tell you the strengths a writer needs so I decided, being contrary, to consider the weaknesses a writer may have.

Imagination was my first thought. Writing for children compels you to delve back into your own experience when young. A strong memory for me is watching Hammer Horror films late on a Friday night.

There's a theory that with any performance, the audience enters into a contract with the actors. They suspend their disbelief. My problem was that I kept to every word of that contract, even the small print. I still do.

Having watched the film, I then had to run (I had to run, believe me) a full 300 yards from my friend's front door to my own. Sometimes, my father, knowing what I had been watching would lay in wait and jump out, frightening the living daylights out of me.

Too much imagination, see. I still find it hard to watch horror or suspense films. My mind works on each scene all night. If they made a film of Mortlock, I probably wouldn't be able to watch it.

I've often thought those T-shirts with 'No Fear' written on them should be rebranded: 'No Imagination.' There was a phase in my life when I loved mountain-biking but they didn't call me 'Mr squeaky brakes' for nothing. You could hear me a mile away wearing the rims off my wheels as I squealed down hairpin single track imagining every possible break and contusion lurking in the rocks and ruts.

It's the same quality that leads us to submit work to agents and publishers. All writers are, by definition I suppose, total fantasists.

But some fantasies are worth chasing...

A Bit Of A Marathon...

2009-04-27T19:52:00.003+01:00

When I was a youngish kind of boy, there was a playground craze of giving each other a 'dead leg.' This was achieved by simply whacking one's knee sharply against a friend's thigh. The resultant pain was numbing and lasted for an age afterwards.

At the moment, I have two 'dead legs,' not to mention dead hips, shoulders and ankles. I am not quite a 'dead body' yet though!

Yesterday's London Marathon was a treat, absolute hell, a joy and a nightmare all in one. That's probably what makes it so special.

35,000 runners each with a story that brought them there. Charity vests of all shapes, colours and sizes. Messages in memory of relatives lost to every kind of human fragility. And yet all those strong people weaving their memories, hopes and ambitions around the streets of London. Amazing too, the thousands of people who line the streets, play in bands, cheer you on, hand you sweets and put out their hands for a 'high five.' It's truly uplifting to be amongst such people.

Comparisons are inevitable and I've often been caught linking writing and running. But I did consider this. I finished in Four hours eleven minutes, my brother in three hours forty. I'm pleased with my time but for a whole host of reasons, I missed out on crucial training whereas he put the hours in on road and hill. That's the simple answer.

But it was more than that. He also looked into the technicalities, splitting his time down into pace per mile. Working out a game plan. Taking advice from other runners and using it. Making sure he ate the right food and took hydration seriously.

Me? I point myself at the finishline and run. That isn't quite true, I try to prepare but it's not scientific. My training regime could be described as 'sloppy' if we were being unkind.

In writing, we sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that because we've put the hours in we'll be rewarded with the deal. It's just as important here to look into the 'technicalities.'

Be scientific. You can only write your own story just like you can only run your own race but know which agent is more likely to read it. Which publisher has titles in the same genre? What are the submission requirements? How can you make your work look as professional as it has to be?

Will I run another marathon? Well, I used to write short stories and run long races but for a while, I think it'll be a case of longer stories, shorter races.

Doing Anything At The Weekend?

2009-04-23T20:14:00.003+01:00

1. Running the London Marathon. I had a huge pasta dinner tonight. The last week of training is always the best. More eating than running!

I'm still on the prowl for sponsors. We've raised over £700 pounds so far and that doesn't include money that Other Brother has raised.

http://www.justgiving.com/mayhewrunners is where to go to donate.

Many of my blog friends from beyond the shores of this Sceptred Isle have asked how they can contribute too. Advice is here.

It's a massive address but shows that it is simple to donate from overseas.

This may be my last marathon, given that training properly requires a huge investment of time. The charity is one close to my heart. If you can spare a few quid, I'd be eternally chuffed!

2. Visiting friends! Including Sarwat Chadda at the Crystal Palace Book Festival. More details here.

3. Collapsing in the back of the car and being driven back up North on Sunday Evening!

Ceriog Blog 2

2009-04-16T21:05:00.006+01:00

It being the Easter break over here in the UK, we decided to venture down to lovely Welsh Wales were other brother resides deep in the Ceriog Valley. Other Brother and his wife are blessed with a beautiful, rustic cottage set in acres of woodland which clings to the steep valley sides. Amazing. I've described before how he rides horses, tames the woodland, climbs trees and generally has a ripping time out here.

I stood watching as other brother set up a zip wire for the kids to zoom down the hill and through the trees. It didn't go quite according to plan but nobody got killed and we had fun. The woods this time of year are lush green and heavy with the scent of wild garlic.

This is said brother retrieving the rope for the seventeenth time.

We're often advised to write what we know, characters we know but to disguise them so as to avoid offence. I'm certain that all I know of Ceriog and other brother's escapades will slip into a story one day. It has to but I don't think he'll mind. he'll probably be some kind of heroic woodcutter!

Flaybrick

2009-04-09T19:51:00.007+01:00

"So what are we doing today, Dad?" Lastborn child asks at breakfast.

"Well," I say, enthusiastically through a mouthful of porridge. "I thought we could go to Flaybrick Cemetery and have a good look around..."

I can tell by their faces that the children are not amused, nor surprised. They're used to it. Whilst writing an early draft of Mortlock a year or so ago, I came across a Victorian funeral carriage at Bamburgh castle and spent ages playing with the doors and coffin rollers. Research you see.

I love cemeteries for their history and the stories, that every headstone tells, each individual, some heart-breaking. Flaybrick was built during the 1860s when it became clear that burial sites within towns were inadequate, choked with bodies and liable to be a serious health threat to the living population. It is a gothic and atmospheric site, ruined and gradually being reclaimed by Nature:

One tomb caught my imagination, that of Isaac and Dorothea Roberts. Both Isaac and Dorothea were atronomers and I can't do their lives justice here. But it's story would make fascinating research and quite possibly a good book too. In 1888, Isaac photographed the andomeda galaxy M31, the first clear picture of an object outside our galaxy. Dorothea was awarded the Legione Du Honneur for her services to French astronomy.

The tomb is quirky and unusual. Lots of stars and nebula on it, not much mention of God. Dorothea fully intended to rest here too but died in SanFrancisco. I wonder what twist of their story took her there.

At the back is an inscription that struck such a chord with me that I thought I'd share it:

"Heaven is within us and we have the power to dwell in it all the days of our lives
Or we may decline and make ourselves miserable."

Well it made me think...maybe I should smile more often in photographs...

Riddle Me This

2009-04-05T15:56:00.007+01:00

"I watched four curious creatures
travelling together; their tracks were swart,
each imprint very black. The birds’ support
moved swiftly; it flew in the air,
dived under the wave. The toiling warrior
worked without pause, pointing the paths
to all four over beaten gold."

The Exeter Book Riddles (translated by Kevin Crossley-Holland)

I am wrestling with riddles. The ultimate obscure metaphors. Ancient and largely forgotten by most but children love them.
I am researching riddles for my next book, whilst waiting for my editor to get back to me about Mortlock (those of you who think the waiting ends once the deal is made take note). When I opened ‘A World Treasury of Riddles’ by Phil Cousineau and read:

‘What goes up a mountain and down a mountain but never moves?’

My second son snapped the answer out straight away: A path.
Riddles are old, very old. Oedipus staked his life on a riddle. There are riddles in the Rig Veda, the Bible, and the Koran. There are hundreds of Riddle Songs, purported to be love songs but as you travel in time through the collections from Alan Lomax, back through Vaughan Williams, and Child, you find them twisting into their original form: tales of innocent children pitting their wits against demons they meet on the highway. A slip of the tongue, one wrong answer will see them in Hell.

They come from an age before instant feedback, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, mobile phones. A time when people waited. For the seasons, for a story to unfold, for a song to finish.

Our children pounce on these echoes of older times, the riddles the songs and stories, and devour them hungrily but too often we adults dismiss or misunderstand them. We see them as children’s pastimes when in truth, they are for everyone.

These are the inspiration for my stories. Mortlock came from The Twa Corbies, the Second Book, The Demon Collector, from Riddles Wisely Expounded.

And the answer to the above riddle? Apparently it is a hand writing with a feather quill on a parchment.

Take ten minutes out, mull it over.

Curious

2009-04-02T21:48:00.003+01:00

Today is World Autism Awareness Day. I work with children who are on the autistic spectrum. I spend a lot of time working with teachers to give them the skills and knowledge to teach children with Autistic Spectrum Condition. It’s a fascinating and frustrating job.

Fascinating because I am privileged to hear first-hand accounts of the children, their fears and joys as they work so hard to ‘fit in.’

Frustrating because there’s never enough resource or goodwill to go round and because these kids shouldn’t have to ‘fit in.’ They should be accepted.

When I’m introducing the topic of autism or raising awareness in a school, I often recommend ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time’ by Mark Haddon. Firstly because it is a brilliantly written book, tightly plotted with painstakingly observed characters. I love this book; I wish I had written it.

Secondly, it gives the reader a good insight into the experience of one individual with ASC.

Christopher Boone is 15. He is brilliant at Maths and Science but finds other people difficult to fathom. He has good days and bad days, he dislikes anything brown and likes yellow. He observes minute detail but not the whole picture.

When he finds his neighbours dog lying dead on the lawn he decides to investigate. But his investigations unravel so much more. The final plot twist is heart-breaking but so plausible.

My only gripe? Well, it’s not with the book. The only problem might be that some people treat it as a textbook and think that Christopher Boone represents all children on the spectrum. They are all individuals.

It's quiet...Too quiet...

2009-03-18T20:39:00.005Z

So after the excitement, there's another kind of waiting...everyone goes off to Bologna and then things get moving. The desire is to get things moving straight away. I want to launch into book 2 (actually I'm 22,000 words in but all of them might be redundant) but we wait. And that's okay because it gives me chance to do other things.

So what have I done? How did I celebrate?

Well, I've played some music. If you listen hard, you can hear a nice Irish tune under Goodwife's critique of her camera skills. I am hitting (notice I don't say playing) the bodhran.

I also played my mandolin.

I've written a short story for my Wirral Writers group on Friday too. So I haven't been idle. And I've been reading.

I also confess to wandering round Borders last weekend smiling benignly at Bloomsbury books! I reserve the right to do this at any time.

Deal or No Deal?

2009-03-13T15:42:00.002Z

Regulars to my blog will know how long I’ve been working on Mortlock. Some of you guys helped to crit it very early on. But a few months ago, I met Sarah Davies some months ago and we set about reshaping Mortlock.

And finally, it came to the point at which the book was ready to roll. I thought Sarah was amazing because of her insight into what makes a book truly ‘grab yer guts’ so to speak. But witnessing her selling the book was jaw dropping.

It’s an exciting but circuitous process, this business of getting a children's book written and sold. Someone should mention it to the United Nations, I’m sure it’s a form of torture.

You get e-mail after phonecall after e-mail…this house likes it, that one doesn’t, these people are in these are out. And then slowly, slowly a list forms…publishers who MIGHT like your book…who MAY take it further…

And then…another publisher takes it to their acquisitions meeting…

Someone else drops out because of that…

And then…finally your agent tells you that we have an offer!

A THREE BOOK DEAL FROM BLOOMSBURY!

I’m pretty monosyllabic on the phone at the best of times but this news left me gibbering incoherently. But Sarah got the message that I felt it prudent to accept...

Anything I say will be a cliche. Dreams come true. Opening up new possibilities. Needless to say I am a little more than very very pleased. It’s exciting, it’s a little bit scary. I can’t wait to get going but…

Consider the economic climate,
Consider the gloom that seems to surround publishing at the moment,
Consider the competition out there vying for deals.

And then I find that another deal was made too!
You have marvel at the force of nature that is the Greenhouse Literary Agency!

“You’ll probably want to lie down in a darkened room after all this,” I said to her last night.
“Good Lord, No,” She replied. “I’m off to make someone else’s dream come true, now!”

****

A year ago, to the day, it was my dad’s funeral. A poor boy brought up in one of the roughest parts of Hull, he valued our education and would have been so immensely proud of this achievement. I know it.

Devil's Kiss

2009-02-24T21:18:00.005Z

I don't often review books, probably never, certainly seldom. People might get the impression that this is a writing blog and that would never do! However, the gentlemanly Mr Sarwat Chadda did me the great favour of sending me an advance copy of Devil's Kiss.

"Once the Knights Templar were the greatest military organization in Christendom. Popes, kings and princes knelt under their gauntleted hands. But now they are few, just nine warriors lurking in the shadows, fighting their secret and eternal war. They survive, but only just. All it would take to wipe them out is One Bad Day. That day has come."

Billi SanGreal is the only girl to be initiated into the Knights Templar, a teenager struggling to come to terms with her father's brutal obsession with battling the forces of evil. Whilst helping him to battle the forces of evil. Cope with school. She longs for a normal life. And this as a backdrop to a struggle of epic proportions.

I have to admit to a little trepidation on opening the book. What if I didn't enjoy it? Would I struggle to finish it? I find it hard to finish books I don't enjoy, I'd sooner ditch them than waste my time.

I needn't have worried. The opening scene hooked me and dragged me deep into Billi's dilemma. The ensuing tensions and revelations propelled me through each chapter...I couldn't put it down!

Plenty of action and gore. Plenty of plot twists and character tensions to keep you guessing. Some of the scenes are mind-boggling!

It's a little while since I opened a book in the morning, missed the passing of the hours and closed it as the darkness gathers with a sense of awe. But that's what happened with Devil's Kiss.

A real treat from start to finish. It's flying round the family now, you never know a real teenager might get to read it one day!

My only gripe? The sequel isn't out yet!

Due out in May 2009 in the UK, and Fall 2009 in the US.

http://www.devilskiss.co.uk/