Edinburgh International Book Festival & Inheritance Books on Radio 4 Extra

Well—it's all happening this week!

On Thursday I'll be on the radio. The 4 O'Clock Show on BBC Radio 4 Extra invited me along to talk about Charlie Merrick's Misfits and some of my favourite stories, as part of their Inheritance Books series. Of course, I made it as difficult as possible, and decided to talk about a comic strip and a graphic novel—not the ideal medium for radio! If you want to find out how I got on, you can catch the broadcast at 4pm (Thurs 21 Aug) or Listen Again here. 

Next, I'm off to Scotland for the Edinburgh International Book Festival. On Friday I'll be visiting libraries in Dundee to meet students from local schools as part of the EIBF Schools Outreach Programme. Then, on Saturday, I'll be back in Edinburgh for a 1:30 event at the festival site. Maybe see you there! 

St Saviour's School Dream Football Kit Designs

The Charlie Merrick's Misfits tour kicked off with two fixtures in East London yesterday. Berger Primary in E9 hosted the morning event for years  3 to 6, who came up with some fantastic questions that got us talking about writing, our favourite books, and football! 

A quick trip on the Docklands Light Railway and we arrived in E14 for the afternoon session at St. Saviour's. After the talk, year six downloaded the Charlie Merrick Activity Pack and designed some great dream football kits. They kindly allowed me to share them here.

BY ANNA, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY BOBBY, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY COUTHEY, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY HARRY, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY JAHNI, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY JULIAN, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY KENZIE, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY NATHAN, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY NIMAT, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY ROAONIN, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY SACHA, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY SHANAZ, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY WAFEE, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

BY ZAC, YR6, ST. SAVIOUR'S SCHOOL

Thanks to all the staff and students at Berger Primary and St. Saviour's for a very enjoyable and entertaining start to the tour. Also, huge thanks to Joanna at Victoria Park Books for supplying copies of Charlie Merrick, and to Rose for her book selling, AV skills, and company on the road!

If you would like to design your own dream kit, make a comic or some stat cards for your football team, you can download the pack for FREE here.

Charlie Merrick's World Cup wallchart—FREE download!

Love it or loathe it, the football World Cup is here! Why not join in the fun and download the FREE Charlie Merrick World Cup wallchart? 

If you're wondering who Charlie Merrick is, and why you would want his wallchart—all is revealed over on my website. 

Now, what time's kick-off …

On the Edge at Hemel Hempstead Library for Herts Lit Fest

A couple of weeks ago I joined fellow Edge Author Sara Grant at Hemel Hempstead Library, for a morning of book-inspired edginess as part of the Hertfordshire Literary Festival. Sixty year seven students and staff from The Hemel Hempstead School made it through a Spring downpour to spend the morning at the library.

With Sara Grant and Hemel Hempstead School students at Herts Lit Fest.
Thanks to Tom for the photo.

Read the full story here …

Charlie Merrick's Misfits in Fouls, Friends & Football

A nice surprise this morning when a final printed copy of my new book landed on the mat.

A tale of friendship amidst the highs and lows of the beautiful game.

It's always a special moment when you hold the finished book in your hands. I'm not ashamed to admit there may have been some celebratory dancing!

Charlie Merrick's Misfits in Fouls, Friends & Football will be stampeding into book shops and libraries on May 1st. You'd be most welcome to read it.

Lots of laughs, action and even a bit of romance in this one! Pictures too!!

Thanks to everyone at Oxford University Press for their hard work and enthusiasm in bringing this story to life, with special mention for Clare, Claire and Molly.

Around the World in 15 Days!

My debut novel 15 Days Without a Head was published by Oxford University Press in the UK in January 2012. It has since been published across the world in many different languages. 

The Polish edition—15 DNI BEZ GLOWY—came out today!

I'm always fascinated to see the different artwork and titles used. 

One of my favourites is the edition that came out recently in Taiwan (above bottom row, middle). The jacket illustrates characters and elements from the story, and even has silver endpapers! (below)

Great illustration of Mina in her RAMONES T-Shirt!

There are more character illustrations inside.

artwork: CommonWealth Magazine, Taiwan

I recently blogged about the fantastic animated trailer Penguin Random House produced for the Mexican Spanish Edition. Watch the video here.

With these and further editions scheduled for publication, every so often a new copy arrives in the post. The arrival of one of these always gives me a huge buzz, knowing that a story I wrote in my attic is now being read by people thousands of miles away in countries I have never been able to visit myself.

I did however get the opportunity to visit Italy last year, when Quindici Giorni Senza Testa, was awarded the Premio Andersen. 

With my award at the beautiful Luzzati Museum, Genova

My Italian publisher San Paolo kindly invited me to Italy for the ceremony. I had a wonderful couple of days in Genova, and managed to deliver my award acceptance speech in 'very broken' Italian! Huge thanks to everyone at San Paolo, plus Barbara Schiaffino, Paolo Rinaldi, Marco Albonico, Alessandra Grasso, Giuseppe Trapani and the rights team at OUP, and most of all Giulia Guasco who translated the story into Italian and clearly did a very good job!

With Marco from San Paolo, and Giulia who did
such a great job translating the story into Italian

None of this would have been possible without the Rights Team at OUP. It is due to their dedication and hard work that my stories have found their way to readers all over the world. Here's a report from their recent trip to the Bologna Book Fair, see if you can spot the display for my new book Charlie Merrick's Misfits.

Finally, thanks to all the publishing houses across the globe for giving my stories a life beyond the attic.

Thanks to Jennie Younger for the photos and her company on my Italian adventure.

15 DÍAS SIN CABEZA Book Trailer (15 Days in Mexico)

I'm delighted to announce that 15 Days Without a Head was published in Mexico this week by Penguin Random House, who also produced this great animated book trailer to launch it! 



I find it slightly surreal, but very exciting, to think that a story I wrote in my attic is now in the hands of readers in a country so far away!

Thanks to everyone at Penguin Random House in Mexico, and the rights team at Oxford University Press, for making it possible for this story to reach so many new readers and be better travelled than its author!

Click here for more info or to buy a copy