Thursday 29 January 2009

Bits and Pieces

Interview - Wayhay: following the announcement that Dell were shedding 1,900 jobs locally, I was contacted by a journalist who was doing an article on ex-Dell employees who had made a career change or done something with themselves after leaving. Having a book published this year clearly qualified so we had an interesting chat and I had the opportunity to talk about The Third Pig Detective Agency. Hopefully I'll be included in the finished article. Does this qualify as my first official interview. Probably!

Book Update: Final proofs were signed off earlier this week. Apart from gasoline being misspelt, I didn't see anything else odd so anything wrong that appears in the published book is now my fault. Oh the pressure.
The cover will be signed off tomorrow so I'll hopefully be able to reveal all (ooh er missus etc) here in the next few days.
The Friday Project have come up with some interesting ideas for marketing the book (which also ties in to their recent announcement). More to follow but a consequence is that publication has been put back to August - which is a bit disappointing.
Still looking for an agent!

Another Success: Justine Windsor (who was the winner of the 2007 YouWriteOn Children's Book of the Year) has been shortlisted for the Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction Competition. You go Justine, we're rooting for you!

Me and My Sony: I like reading and I read a lot so I was delighted to get a Sony e-book reader from Santa (very nice of him when you consider what I'm doing to him in the latest Harry Pigg book, The Ho-Ho-Ho Mystery). Despite all the brouhaha about readers and the death of physical books, I don't see them as the enemy of books but as a complement to them. I'm using it a lot (40 books downloaded) but I'm still reading as many physical books. For someone who reads as much as I do, the reader is an absolute godsend. I'll give a full review in the next week. or so.

6 comments:

Caroline said...

Oooooh can't wait to see your cover!

And if you could let me know what I need to do to get on Santa's good list, that would be fabulous x

BB said...

Thanks Caroline, Hopefully it won't be much longer.
I suspect criteria for ensuring you're on his good list would certainly not include writing a story in which he gets kidnapped by person or persons unknown while the investigating detective isn't even sure that he actually exists!

TARguy said...

Hi Bob

V. exciting news!

Sorry not to have been in contact recently, things are mad here trying to finish TAR. Shld be done in the next few weeks... proper email to follow then.

Best, Guy

Welshcake said...

Only just seen your post - thanks for mentioning me!

Great to see Harry is now so close. I can't wait to see the finished product.

Welshcake said...

Oh, PS. Have you tried Greenhouse literary agency - I think they may be worh a shot.

word verification - noe rear!! I wish!!!

BB said...

Hi Justine, I had a good dialogue with Sarah in Greenhouse a few months back. Although it didn't work out at the time (and it wasn't a Harry book), the door is most definitely left open for another approach.