Friday 27 February 2015

World Book Day Teen Fest Twitter Takeover!

I'm looking forward to lots of events over the next couple of weeks, as schools up and down the country celebrate World Book Week. This year the World Book Day organisers are holding a special WBD Teen Fest on Wednesday 4th and Thursday 5th of March, with lots of special online events—have a look at the website for full details. 


Over the course of the two evenings, the @WDBTeenFest Twitter account will be taken over by eight authors (see schedule above for times). Readers will be able to tweet questions, and chat to the authors directly while they're online. 

I was delighted to be invited to take part, and will be online on Thursday, between 19:35 and 19:55 (UK/GMT)

Simply tweet @WBDTeenFest with the hashtag #askDC9000 to ask me a question. You can tweet questions in advance and I'll answer then during my takeover slot, or tweet me live on Thursday night. 

Should be fun—hope to see you there!

Monday 9 February 2015

German Visit Photo Diary!

On Tuesday of last week, I left the slightly snowy shores of England and headed East to Frankfurt in Germany.


I had been invited to talk to students at two European Schools in Frankfurt and nearby Bad Vilbel. 
I arrived at my hotel in the dark, and was somewhat surprised to find a frozen lake outside the window next morning!

 
Some of the students at ES Frankfurt had been writing stories based on 15 Days Without a Head. It was fascinating to see the different directions in which they had taken the story. There were some great ideas here that I wish I'd had when I was writing the book!

In action at ES Frankfurt being watched over by my old bandmates including my younger hirsute self!

photo Bärbel McWilliams

Signing postcards and chatting to the students at ES Frankfurt.

photo Bärbel McWilliams

Next, a short trip north to Bad Vilbel, to talk to students at ES RheinMain.

photo by Ute Arias

photo by Ute Arias

photo by Ute Arias

photo by Ute Arias

Reading (and acting out!) a scene from
15 Days Without a Head.

photo by Ute Arias

Shining an imaginary torch onto my copy of
Waiting for Gonzo.

photo by Ute Arias

Signing postcards and books for students at ES RheinMain. 
(Note the special pencil case!)

photo by Ute Arias

I couldn't go home without visiting a local café for tea and cake! Thanks to Elizabeth for her time and company on a very cold but enjoyable whistle-stop tour of Frankfurt before I headed to the airport and my flight home.



Huge thanks to all the staff and students at Europäische Schule Frankfurt and Europäische Schule RheinMain for making me so welcome. Special thanks to Renate Kirmse, Bärbel McWilliams, Ute Arias, Samantha Malmberg, Elizabeth and Silke Scrivener for their company, and to Peter, Rene and Samantha for driving me to and from schools, airports and hotels!

Thanks to Bärbel McWilliams and Ute Arias for the photos. Used with permission.