Archive for the ‘appearances’ Category

Posted on October 23, 2008 - by MG

Just Write for Kids

Back from Australia and it was straight down the A34 to Chichester for a reunion from Mia and Joss, the two kids who appeared with me on BBC Radio 4’s go4it.

Becky, (Mia and Joss’s mum) runs Just Write for Kids, a children’s weekend writing club. Cool, huh? What a terrific idea.

About fifty budding young authors aged 6-14 packed into a cute little nursery school to talk Joshua Files with me. I hope I didn’t come across too dazed after the lengthy plane flights of the day before!

Posted on September 7, 2008 - by MG

Hanging with the Scribes

Mark Robson, Sarah Singleton and moi in Waterstones Witney.

Saturday morning down in the Oxfordshire market town of Witney - with a surprisingly literary crowd thanks to Waterstone’s Witney Book Festival. It’s a new mini-festival. Julia Golding and I shared an event in the local Corn Exchange. We quizzed each other on outdoor survival (Julia passed with colours) and the world of diplomacy (I was clueless), and about writing and our latest books. Julia’s latest is EMPTY QUARTER, the second in the Darcie Lock series about a teenage girl whose family business happens to be spying and not, after all, working innocuously in an embassy. My daughter and I are reading it now. I had to skip ahead because it became rather too exciting to read in short bedtime chunks…

Then it was on to the small-but-perfectly-formed and jam-packed Waterstone’s Witney, where a <insert collective noun> of children’s authors hovered in the children’s section signing books and watching a master bookseller in action - Mark Robson. (Here’s Mark’s account of the morning.)

Mark is the author of an admirable number of books - including the DRAGON ORB and IMPERIAL series (he’s also one of those rare self-publishing success stories). Julia too is prolific…they both publish 2 or 3 books a year (see what a slacker I am?). Mark also spends many a Saturday signing in bookshops, where he can handsell a whole stack of books - and not just his own!

Sarah Singleton, author of gothic fantasy novels for teens (including the award-winning CENTURY) was also there. I must admit to being rather impressed by all these authors as they stood by their stacked up books.

I’ve so far resisted the temptation to stop reading books for adults and throw myself gleefully and exclusively into the richly imaginative worlds of YA fiction. But having met the authors and heard about their books makes that sooo difficult.

Yes, I know I still haven’t finished “The Feast of the Goat” by Mario Vargas Llosa. But first I want to read “The Amethyst Child” by Sarah, “Imperial Spy” by Mark and “The Diamond of Drury Lane” by Julia.

Posted on August 25, 2008 - by MG

MG and Editor

MG and EditorOriginally uploaded by mgharris

Here she is, Elv Moody of Scholastic, editor of INVISIBLE CITY and ICE SHOCK.

We’re in the bookshop tent at the Edinburgh book festival, a little while after my event. Hopefully I’ll receive copies of photos taken at the signing by Don the Headteacher at the Aberdeen-based International school whose pupils queued so politely.

I don’t think we look too bad considering that I was tired and hung-over from the partying of the night before. And Elv had a poorly eye.

Anywho. I enjoyed Edinburgh so much, esp hanging out with the Scholastic crew.

Ooh and I was able to tell the audience that finally, the title of Joshua 2 is indeed ICE SHOCK (sorry Es, but it will make sense when you read it and it’s inspired by a famous Doctor Who adventure - EARTHSHOCK).

And the glowy slipcover will be neon yellow…!
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Posted on August 20, 2008 - by MG

MG and Keith Gray

MG and Keith Gray

Originally uploaded by mgharris

So yeah….me and Keith Gray (author of ‘The Ostrich Boys’) hanging out being Fabulous Children’s Authors together, hanging out with our publishers at the Edinburgh Book Festival.

It’s a right laugh. We were just at a party for the Teen Titles magazine where lots of Scots teens got merry on Irn Bru while we swigged fizzy wine and signed autographs.

Hurrah. Let’s hope I don’t oversleep tomorrow and miss my event. Keith is on before me….
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Posted on August 16, 2008 - by MG

Aching for salsa…Edinburgh bound…and maybe Oz too?

I’ve been getting ready for the Edinburgh Book Festival, much excitement, yay!

My event is on Wed 21st - sold out, I’m surprised and impressed to see. It’s a heck of a marketing machine, the Edinburgh Festival. Most of the Schools Events are sold out.

I have been getting my multimedia stuff up to scratch, cutting DVDs of my videos and rejigging my Powerpoint slideshow with one new slide - all about 2012. Apart from that, I have now booked my schedule solid between seeing friends who are visiting the Festival and hanging out at parties and lunches with my lovely publishers.

And I’m flying there! I will feel rather fabulous…

Meanwhile my sister has made us all very proud by giving birth to a bouncy boy, Benedict. I’m seriously thinking of going to his christening, all the way in Australia. Since we all live so many squillions of miles away from each other, my brother and sisters, these sorts of events are starting to be the kinds of excuses we can use to justify the increasingly terrifying expense of meeting up.

But maybe Scholastic Australia would like me to do some book events and schools visits….

That makes it much more justifiable, doesn’t it?

Meanwhile despite some very good news (apart from a new nephew) - which I’ll share in the next few weeks - I’m feeling rather melancholic. It’s been far too long since I went dancing - not since the Oscar D’Leon concert on July 12th. I think the doctor may order a trip to Mambocity soon. Damn salsa for being so addictive! I’m good and hooked.

Listened to BBC Radio 4 last night; Grevel Lindop reading from his book Travels On the Dance Floor - also on listen again. For a UK-based salsera like me his experiences are very familiar. It made me think nostalgically of Cuba. Especially when he played a song which played often when we were in Cuba. Whenever I hear it I feel a kind of desperate, romantic ache for Havana.

Well I listened to the lyrics, searched for the first line on Google and found this video: it’s the late guajiro Polo Montanez singing “Un Monton de Estrellas“.

Very romantic song. And turns out he’s dead - in a traffic accident in 2002, when he was 47. *sob*

I NEED TO DANCE TO THIS SONG SOON OR I WILL BURST!