The Ego has Landed

What a crazy few weeks it's been! Two frenetic weeks holiday in Orlando for the theme-park junkies (recommend Manta, Kraken, Hulk and Simpsons rides) followed by a jet-lagged return to Ireland to discover The Third Pig Detective Agency had already gone on sale. I was so out of it I walked past the local bookshop, saw something in the window that struck a chord in my befuddled mind and went back for a second look. The (badly-taken with phone camera by tired jet-lagged individual) is below.



In the window I'm (not literally) sitting beside John Connolly (a huge fave) and in the shop itself I'm sitting alongside Darren Shan (another fave). Very exalted company indeed.

My son had blagged copies of the book for his school class when we visited The Friday Project in May, and these arrived the following day. I was asked to visit the school and say a few words. Two hours later I came out after a fantastic reading, Q&A sesssion and my first set of autographs (followed by tea and chocolate with the teaching staff). A great day was (apparently) had by all.

Late last night I got a request to revisit Clare FM and do some PR (including a quick reading from the book) on their morning show. After a quick straw poll, consensus was that the poo section was the most appropriate extract to read (which says something about the readers, but I'm not sure what). The show and reading seemed to go ok and feedback was good.

Two local newspapers have expressed an interest in doing an interview also so I'm waiting to hear back from them too.

All in all, a hectic few weeks where I've been making it up as I go along.

I need a holiday.

Normal Service Will Be Resumed

As I'm on hols right at the mo, opportunities for blogging will, I suspect, be limited - especially when they're up against all the attractions Florida has to offer.

That having been said, I got to read (The Artist formerly known as Colin) Bateman's latest, Mystery Man, while waiting in airports, waiting on planes etc. I'l stick up a proper review in due course but in the interim, it was an hysterically funny detetctive story with the fictional owner of a real-life Belfast bookshop (No Alibis) as the protagonist (hero would be stretching it a bit!). I got many strange looks as I giggled, guffawed and laughed quite a bit as I made my way through it. Definitely a huge improvement on his last, Orpheus Rising

How Bateman can write such funny stuff and, balance it with a clever and engaging plot I have no idea (and can only look on enviously) but I'll have whatever he's having.

Bateman back on form again is no bad thing at all.

You Vill Answer Ze Questions

Crime Always Pays, brainchild of renaissance man and criminal mastermind Declan Burke (no relation) keeps tabs on all aspects of Irish crime writing. Occasionally, Dec will strap someone into a chair, attach electrodes to sensitive areas, beat them with some rubber tubing and shine bright lights in their eyes while brutally interrogating them about their writing*.

I was lucky to survive such an inquisition recently and, from my hospital bed, I can the reveal the results here.

Thanks Dec, the medical bills are in the post and you'll be hearing from The Boys sometime soon, just when you least expect it.


*Some of this may be untrue or slightly exaggerated.

More Blood, More Sweat and Another Cup of Tea

The sequel to Tom Reynolds Blood, Sweat and Tea, his memoir of his experiences as an inner-city ambulance driver is now available. Friday Books are also making it available to read here:

Open publication - Free publishing - More tea

Do have a look, bet you'll like it.

And the hits just keep on coming....

Following on the school visit yesterday, I got a call from Scott at The Friday Project this morning. He told me that the advance copies of The Third Pig Detective Agency had arrived in the office and that they looked fab. More importantly, a copy of the book was winging its way to me through the miracle of the postal system as we spoke.

As news goes, this was as exciting as it gets. Hopefully I'll have it in my sweaty hand before I head off on holidays next Tuesday.

I Am Harry, Hear Me Waffle

Yesterday I got an opportunity to talk to a class of 9-10 year olds at a local Gaelscoil (for the benefit of those of you watching in black and white, a gaelscoil is a school where education is carried out via the Irish language). The school itself is very forward-thinking and the original plan was to talk to a group of students about how to add flavour and characters to virtual worlds that they were developing but when we arrived one of the teachers asked would I mind talking to her class.



The talk itself went fine. There were lots of questions following my on-the-fly delivery of bits about me, the book and how I came to write it. Apart from one boy who seemed to have an obsession with films in which people are dismembered via the skilful method of chainsaw, the class seemed interested in the book and the process around how it came into existence.

After we were done, I got to talk to the boys devloping the virtual world - which in itself was quite impressive - and hopefully gave them a few ideas about how to embroider their creations to give them both a distinctive look and feel.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable day, especially as it was my first time in front of a group of children to talk about my book. Thanks to James and Keith of daynuv for setting it up.

Support Your Local Bookstore

The more I read about the publishig industry, the more I've become aware that regardless of how the publisher works, when it comes to selling and marketing the book a lot of the heavy lifting is going to have to be done by the writer. With that in mind (and not being the 'cold calling' type of individual) I approached my biggest local independent bookshop with some degree of trepidation to see if they'd be interested in stocking The Third Pig Detective Agency.


To my surprise and delight, not only had they a small number already on order but, when they heard I was a local writer, they promptly went back to Harper Collins to increase the order. They've also asked me to get in touch formally next week to see what else - if anything - can be done.

Result!

Now that I've got one out of the way, I won't be as nervous about approaching others, though I'm fully aware that not all will be as accommodating as O'Mahony's.

All We Hear Is...

Well the radio chat went reasonably well - according to those who listened in. As it was a morning show, the chat was short and snappy but I didn't screw up (to the best of my knowledge) and answered what I was asked without getting tongue-tied or saying any rude words.

Rumour has it I might even get asked back for a more detailed chat around the book's release date.

I should have a copy of what went on fairly soon and I'll post it here once it's available.

All the News That's Fit to Print

Well there have been some developments on the Harry front over the past while...

Waterstone's are quite enamoured of our porcine detective, so much so that they want to include TPDA in one of their summer promotions. As a result, publication has been brought forward to 25th June. From what I'm hearing, it's going to be part of the Crime section. Does that mean I have to change my job description to Crime Writer now???

TPDA is going to print first week in May (finally) so it won't be long before I get to hold a copy in my grubby little fist.

As part of my ongoing quest for domination of the world's literary scene, I'll be on Clare FM radio tomorrow morning. As it's based in my home town of Ennis, I'm delighted to be going back and getting the opportunity to waffle at great length on whatever arises! Although the station is only available in the mid-West region, it can be streamed for anyone with a passing interest. Drawback (for me as well) is that I'm on at 8am so it looks like an early start.

And finally we enter the realms of fantasy. 20th Century Fox have taken away a copy of The Third Pig to have a look at. This, of course, means absolutely nothing in real terms other than that it gives them first dibs should they decide they like it. They may say 'no thanks', they may option it, they may even come back and decide thay like it so much they want to make it into film. Either way, I've been around the block enough times to not start spending my 10% of the backend just yet. There's a long way between someone saying 'can we have a look' to seeing the famous Fox logo on the screen. It does make things a little more interesting though.

Things I've Learned (following my trip to London)

Scott Pack and the rest of The Friday Project Team are nice people - but then you knew that didn't you. And Scott makes a great cup of tea. Bonus points for including my son (11yo) in the conversation. He enjoyed the trip to Harper Collins as a result. More news on developments on Third Pig to follow soon.




Madame Tussauds is outrageously overpriced and distinctly underwhelming. We were both very disappointed with the experience.

Contrast that to the Sherlock Holmes Museum just around the corner. For a quarter of the cost we were treated to a genuine and enjoyable replica of what 221b Baker Street would have looked like based on Conan Doyle's writing. It's not flashy; it's not hi-tec but it's a treat for any Holmes fan (and we both are). The actor that played Dr Watson and acted as our guide was a top bloke. N2S was hugely impressed with our visit there.

Russ Abbot was a fantatsic Fagin. He more than made up for our disappointment at missing out on Rowan Atkinson. Abbot gave a masterclass in comic timing and stage presence. If RA is only half as good in the role, he's very good indeed. The show itself was slick, well presented and thoroughly entertaining and all this from someone who views Musicals the same way he views Country & Western music, Harry Hill and Manchester United (things to be avoided where at all possible).

The London Eye is good fun.

News (sort of and a bit cryptic)

Things are beginning to happen as a result of recent developments.

Publication date has changed once more - but this time it's been brought forward to June 25th. This is as result of major interest by a well-known bookstore chain. Hopefully I'll be able to be a tad less cryptic after I meet Scott (my publisher) in the flesh (so to speak) next Monday morning.

In other news, I finished the first draft of The Ho Ho Ho Mystery earlier this week and gave myself a well earned clap on the back. I'm putting it away for a while before starting second draft/rewrite but already I'm thinking of ways to make it better. The strange but welcome thing is I'm not consciously doing so, these ideas are coming to me as I work on other stuff.



Now I'm off with Number 2 son for a four day break in London. I know the city well so am looking forward to being a tourist and showing him around. Highlight of his trip will, I suspect, be seeing Oliver - 'tho I've just discovered Rowan Atkinson will not be Fagin-ing again until 25th April as he's undergoing surgey so N2S going to have to make do with Russ Abbot. Bah!

Dublin, Dracula and One City, One Book

Dublin: One City, One Book is an initiative designed to encourage everyone in the city to read the same book during the month of April each year.

This year's book is one of my favourites, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and there are a host of events designed to support the initiative including tours, readings, exhibitions, and films.



I think this is a fantastic idea and the organisers deserve much credit for developing the idea with imagination (one of this year's sponsors is the Blood Transfusion Service!) and enthusiasm.

I hope to get to some of the events if I can manage a trip to Dublin during the month but, if not, I can gaze enviously from afar at what's going on.

Irish Book Awards 2009

The nominations for the Irish Book Awards 2009 were announced this morning. The full list of categories and nominees can be found here.

I'll be watching the Childrens and Crime Awards with interest and, if there's any justice, Mr. S and the Secrets of Andorra's Box will romp home in the popular fiction award.

There are a lot of "obvious" nominations (Netherland, Secret Scripture, Mr. Whicher, White Tiger) but there some welcome inclusions in Tana French's The Likeness,David Park's The Truth Commissioner and Kevin Power's Bad Day in Blackrock among others.

Winners will be announced on May 6th.

Big in Jap...I Mean Canada

Scott, my publisher, tells me that HarperCollins Canada are showing an interest in The Third Pig, so much so they even have it in their catalogue. What that means in real terms I have absolutely no idea but it's exciting all the same.

I see they have a publication date of 15th April which I suspect is incorrect. Hmm, must investigate further.

Failblog

The stuff in this blog is so wrong on so many levels I can't even begin to describe the fun to be had therein.

This is a blog for dipping into when you need a spot of light relief or cheering up.