Season's Greetings!

Thanks for all your support this year folks!

Enjoy the holiday, and all the best for a happy, healthy 2016.

Charlie Merrick's Misfits at The Book Nut Bookshop, Billericay

I've been invited along to the Book Nut Bookshop in Billericay on Saturday (28th November 2015). 

At 1pm I'll be under the Story Tree to talk a bit about Charlie Merrick's Misfits, before reading a couple of extracts, answering questions and signing books. 

The event is FREE and open to the public. Do come along and say hello if you're in the area.

The Book Nut can be found in Studio 54, Barleylands Craft Village, Billericay, Essex CM11 2UD.

For further information visit the Book Nut website.

#fridayreads: Phil Earle and Hounslow 2016 Teen Reads Book Award Shortlist

A veritable shelf load of book recommendations this week!

On Tuesday I was invited to speak at the Hounslow 2016 Teen Reads Book Award launch event at the Paul Robeson Theatre. I had a great morning chatting with staff and students from six local secondary schools before the shortlist was announced.

Hounslow 2016 Teen Reads Book Award Shortlist

Between now and March, students will read and discuss the six shortlisted books before casting their votes to decide the winner. All the books are standalone titles, written by UK authors, a couple of which I've already read and enjoyed. There's lots of variety on the list and a couple in particular with a really interesting premise. I'm hoping to head down to my local library this weekend to see if I can get copies.

This weeks #fridayreads — Phil Earle!

I've been travelling a fair bit during the past two weeks, doing events up and down the country—lots of fun and also a good opportunity to catch up on some reading. Saving Daisy by Phil Earle kept me company for most of last week and, to be honest, the miles flew by. I'm a huge fan of Phil's stuff, he manages to tackle difficult subjects with honesty and great warmth. Check out any of the titles in the picture—you won't regret it.

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Happy reading!

Cheers, Dave.

Gosforth Book Festival and Beyond!

I'm looking forward to heading out on the road again for a number of events up and down the country—stopping off in Cambridge, Newcastle, Corby, Wellingborough and London. 

On Saturday (17th October) I'll be taking part in the Gosforth Community Book Festival. The event runs from 10am to 3pm, and is being hosted by Newcastle School for Boys in Gosforth, NE3. 

As well as a great line up of authors giving talks and book signings, there will be arts and crafts activities, Flowing Tales creative writing workshops, plus the chance to purchase books from the Seven Stories book shop, and—most important of all—a cafe running throughout the day! 

All events are OPEN TO THE PUBLIC and Admission is FREE! So, if you're in the area, please come along—it would be great to see you!

Here's a quick outline of the programme of events:

AUTHORS (Times listed are the start of each session)
Hannah Russell—all day (The Hall)
Tom Palmer—10.30 & 12.30 (Room 6)
Simon Bartram—10.30 & 12.30 (Room 18)
Jason Beresford—11.30 & 1.30 (Room 18)
Dave Cousins—11.30 & 1.30 (Room 6)
Dan Smith—2.00 (Room 5)

ACTIVITIES (open all day)
Seven Stories Bookshop and Book Signing (The Hall)
Flowing Tales Writing Workshop (I.T. Room)
Arts & Crafts (The Hall)
Coffee Shop (The Hall)

For more information please 
email: enquiries@newcastleschool.co.uk 
or telephone 0191 255 9300.

Hope to see you there!

Lunchboox Reading Group Goes Wild!

This bundle of Charlie Merrick style Go!Wild profiles from the LUNCHBOOX Reading Group at St. Christopher's School in Oxford really made my day. 

Great work guys—thanks very much!

I'll get my answers to your questions back to you as quickly as I can. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy finding out how Charlie and the gang cope with surviving all alone in the wild!

Best wishes, Dave

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Charlie Merrick's Misfits in I'm a Nobody, Get Me Out of Here! is out now, published by Oxford University Press.

Grampian Children's Book Award 2015 & Aberdeenshire Schools Tour

Self portrait on Stonehaven beach.

Back in the attic after a fantastic week in Scotland for the Grampian Children's Book Award, plus a tour of schools in and around Aberdeenshire. It's the third year I've been lucky enough to be shortlisted for the award (last year Waiting for Gonzo actually won!) and my third Scottish tour. I always have a great time visiting 'The Shire' and this year was one of the best yet.

GCBA posters by students at Bridge of Don Academy.

The GCBA award ceremony at Aberdeen University on Wednesday was attended by nearly six hundred staff and students from schools all over the region, some of whom had travelled long distances to be there. Cathy MacPhail was a great host, and I was honoured to be sharing the stage with her, and fellow shortlisted authors, Kevin Brooks and James Dawson. 

The students had all read the books, written reviews, drawn posters (see pic above) and made book trailers for the shortlisted titles. Congratulations to James Dawson, whose chiller thriller Say Her Name was voted the winner. 

As always at these events, it was really inspiring to be in a room with so many enthusiastic young readers (and writers). Respect and thanks to the students and staff at all the schools, and to the GCBA team for making it all possible.

My GCBA books haul, including the winning title "Say Her Name".

I'd also like to take the opportunity to say a few thank yous to the staff and students at the schools I visited on my tour. S1, Gill and Liz at Bridge of Don Academy, who kicked things off on Tuesday morning; Jan, Kerry and Linda, and S1 students at Torry; Mandy, Karen, Jenny, Sarah and S2 students—who produced some great work during our workshop—at Northfield Academy. Thanks to Mandy and S3 at Ellon Academy; Katie, Kerry and S1 at The Gordon Schools, and Jackie at Alford. Finally, thanks to Jill and her team at Mearns in Laurencekirk, plus a special thanks to Daniel who was at the workshop I ran during my first visit to Mearns in 2013. (see pic) I was really chuffed that he took the time to stop by in the library to say hello.

Daniel (far left), me, and Mearns' students in our younger days!

At the risk of the thanks being longer than the tour, much appreciation also to Marion for organising EVERYTHING, and to Liz, Jan, Katrina, Marion, Katie, Jackie and Jill for taking turns to drive the tour bus—thanks all for your company. Apologies if I've missed anyone.

When visiting places, I like to sample the local cuisine.
I didn't actually try the deep fried Mars, but the fish supper was grand!

As was this ROWIE. Thanks to Jan at Torry for
treating me to this traditional Aberdeenshire delicacy.

North Herts Book Award 2015

Great morning at the North Herts Book Award yesterday. Students from nine schools across North Herts met for a discussion day and voting at Nobel School, and I was invited along to give a talk and announce the winners. It was great to meet so many enthusiastic readers and hear them argue—sorry, discuss—the merits of their favourite books on the two shortlists!

Nikki Sheehan's excellent WHO FRAMED KLARIS CLIFF? won the younger category, while James Dawson's SAY HER NAME fought off strong competition to win the older section. 

Thanks to the staff and students from all the schools for making me so welcome. Special thanks to Ros and her team at Nobel, and to Linda for inviting me.

I then spent a very enjoyable afternoon with year 9 students at nearby St. Christopher School, taking about books, music and football! Thanks again to Linda and everyone at the school.

Now, it's back to some serious word wrangling . . . 

On the Edge with Herts Lit Fest at Rickmansworth Library!

Me and my shadow getting edgy down at the library …

Earlier this week I joined fellow Edge author Sara Grant for a Herts Lit Fest event at Rickmansworth Library with year 7 pupils from nearby St. Joan of Arc School. Here are a few photos from the day …

Karen Stephens introduces the students to all the
amazing FREE services on offer at the library.

Sara reading from her brilliant dystopian thriller HALF LIVES.

Thanks to Judi for this great graffiti wall.

After Sara and I had given the students a brief introduction to our books and a couple of readings, we reconvened for the Edge Graffiti Wall Panel. We were joined by librarians Judi and Melanie, and St Joan of Arc students Ella and Arfred to answer questions from the wall and the audience. 

We started by asking each panelist for a book recommendation. It was such an interesting and varied list, I thought I'd share it here:

Arfred: Russian Roulette (Alex Rider) by Anthony Horowitz 

Dave: Riot by Sara Mussi

Ella: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Sara: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Melanie: Jane, the Fox and Me by Fanny Britt

Judi: Trash by Andy Mulligan

The panel was a lot of fun, with some tricky questions and unexpected answers. Huge thanks to everyone involved, especially Ella and Arfred—it's always great (and valuable to us as writers) to hear young readers' opinions, especially their thoughts on books. 

Thanks also to Miss Turner and Miss Ryan for bringing the students to the library for the event; Karen Stephens for making it all happen; librarians Diane, Judi and Melanie, and Rickmansworth Library for being such welcoming hosts.

Finally, a special thank you to Melanie and the TRG (Teenage Reading Group) at the library who have been reading my novel Waiting for Gonzo and made these fantastic bookmarks. 

For more information, or to book The Edge for an event, please visit the Edge blog.

Look Hoo's Talking … About Books!

The Marquee at Luton Hoo Walled Garden, the venue for the event.

Author Jon Mayhew and I had a great time at the Hoo's Kids Book Fest "Look Hoo's Talking … about Books" Award event on Friday. 

Students from eight local schools spent the day discussing (and arguing!) the merits of each book on the shortlist, before settling down for a workshop by Jon, and a talk from me.

Congratulations to Phil Earle whose excellent book The Bubble Wrap Boy was chosen by the students as the winner. It was a real privilege to be in a room full of young people so passionate about books, and to hear their presentations for each of the shortlisted titles. 

Thanks to all the staff and students from Parmiter's School, Icknield High, Stopsley High, Hemel Hempstead School, Francis Combe Academy, Sacred Heart Primary and Tennyson Road Primary. 

Huge thanks also to Charlotte Cassella, Jayne Truran, Charmian Allwright, Liz Stratton, Bela Brown, Ellen Krajewski and Chorleywood Bookshop for making it all happen!

UKYA Easter Egg Hunt!

Welcome to the UKYA Easter Egg Hunt—your chance to win a great bundle of signed books by over thirty Young Adult authors who write and live in the UK. 

All you have to do is read this post, count up the UKYA branded Easter eggs like this one (yes, this counts as number one!), and follow the link at the end to the next author. Keep going until you get back to the blog where you started, and add up how many eggs you’ve seen along the way. 

Email your answer to: UKYA2015egghunt@gmail.com. A winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries, and contacted by email. The competition closes at noon (UK time) on Sunday, 5th April, and is open internationally. 

My contribution to the prize bundle will be a signed copy of my debut YA novel 15 Days Without a Head, plus a very limited edition, handmade, signed CD of the Waiting for Gonzo soundtrack! 

Now, I’d like to make it clear from the start that I’m a big fan of some of the excellent books from the States that are currently dominating the YA market. Unfortunately though, the huge amount of attention given to these titles in the media can somewhat overshadow publications from the UK. As a result, many great books fail to receive the recognition and readership they deserve. 

In an effort to redress the balance a little, I’d like to offer a few names to drop into your egg hunting basket alongside those chocolate treats. The list below is an incomplete and very personal UKYA roll of honour—books and writers who have enriched my life; offered companionship; new perspectives and ideas; helped me navigate a path through the turbulent teenage years and well beyond. Without these books I certainly wouldn't be a published author today.

Bog Child — Siobhan Dowd

Creepers — Keith Gray

Empty World — John Christopher

Exodus — Julie Bertagna

Fat Boy Swim — Catherine Forde

Fathom Five — Robert Westall

Geekhood — Andy Robb

Grinny — Nicholas Fisk

Henry Tumour — Anthony McGowan

Heroic — Phil Earle

Keeper — Mal Peet

Kill All Enemies — Melvin Burgess

Noughts & Crosses — Malorie Blackman

Riot — Sarah Mussi

The Road of the Dead — Kevin Brooks

Rowan the Strange — Julie Hearn

Storm Catchers — Tim Bowler

Thunder and Lightnings — Jan Mark

Wasted — Nicola Morgan

Sadly, a few of these books are now out of print, and their authors no longer with us, but there are many fantastic writers continuing their legacy, many of them included in this Easter Egg Hunt blog trail. I’m honoured to be among them and hope that my stories will play their own part in continuing the great tradition of UKYA. So, please go and count those eggs, but more importantly, I’m hoping you’ll pick up a few new favourite authors on the way.

Click here to go directly to Sita Brahmachari's blog—the next stop on the UKYA Easter Egg Hunt.

Good luck and thanks for visiting.

Dave Cousins is the author of two award winning books for young adults—15 Days without a Head and Waiting for Gonzo have both been published worldwide in over 19 different languages. Dave is currently writing his third YA novel, due for publication by Oxford University Press in May 2016.

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!

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.

Celebrating Rock Cake Day and the Great Readers in Our Lives!

In our house, January 16th is Rock Cake Day!

My nan would have been ninety-four today, and each year we mark her birthday by baking a batch of Rock Cakes, using the closely guarded secret recipe (don't even ask!) she developed and passed on to us.

At this point some of you may be thinking—“Hang on a minute! I thought this blog was about books and writing and stuff? Why’s this bloke babbling on about buns?” 

Let me explain …

Apart from her legendary baking skills, my Nan was also a great reader. (She is the only person I have ever met who managed to read the entire works of Charles Dickens—twice!) Her love of books started when she caught whooping cough as a child and had to spend long periods of time in hospital. Her dad was a big reader and, worried that his daughter might be missing out, took books in for her. When she got home, my nan still wasn’t strong enough to play outside, but found plenty of adventure and excitement in the stories she'd discovered.

Her first job, aged 16, was as a seamstress with a small firm in Birmingham in the 1930s. Keen that her workforce of young, sometimes poorly-educated, girls should find further enrichment, the owner started a tradition of reading aloud during the lunch break. My nan told me how they worked their way through the Old and New Testament of the Bible, before moving onto Dickens and Shakespeare—a bit different to Radio One blasting away in the staff canteen!

As I little kid, I remember Nan as always having a book on the go. It made me think that there might be something in this reading business—so I copied her, and started carrying A Bear Called Paddington around with me! I’ll admit that to begin with I didn’t open it that often, but after a while I gave it a go—and of course, I was hooked.

As I got older, I began recommending what I was reading to her. I’m not sure how much she actually enjoyed The Three Investigators series, but she read them, and we talked about how great they were. In turn, she lent me The Wind in the Willows and Watership Down (the first book to make me cry, sitting up in bed at 2am, sobbing by torchlight!) But the greatest passion we shared was Robert Westall. We were on a mission to collect and read his entire works. Sadly, my Nan died before we could complete the quest, but we did a pretty good job. I am now keeper of the collection—still guarded by the pig bookends she used to keep them in place.

Readers need each other—just as much as writers need readers, and readers need writers! I suspect that human beings have an innate need to share the things we like. (Have a quick look at Facebook or Twitter if you don't believe me.) We see a fantastic film, hear a great record or read a brilliant book, but it’s as though the process isn’t complete until we can tell somebody about it—and stories are meant for sharing.  

So, to all the great readers I have known and talked books with—but especially my nan—Happy Rock Cake Day! And if there is one special person who first introduced you to this wonderful world of books, why not give them a call—find out what they're reading, or meet up and share stories over a brew and a rock cake! You know it makes sense.

"Waiting for Gonzo" — The Music Videos! Part Two: Sunglasses.

When I was making up fictional bands for Oz – the narrator of Waiting for Gonzo – I was simply having fun, trying to build a fully three-dimensional character. I never imagined that one of those imaginary songs by a band that didn't exist would be released as a single …

If you like the song, you can download it here and help raise money for Bliss – the charity that provides care and support for premature babies and their families. The track costs 79p on iTunes, but you can download it from most online music sites. (Prices may vary, but all proceeds go to Bliss.)

Click here, to find out more about how and why Cyclops Dog and the rest of Oz's favourite bands were brought to life.

Waiting for Gonzo is out now in the United States and Canada, published by Flux.

A UK edition (published by Oxford University Press) and audiobook are also available.

To read the story in Italian or Polish, please click on the links for San Paolo, Italy and YA! Poland. A German edition will be coming out in November.

"Waiting for Gonzo" — The Music Videos! Part One: Cigarette UFO.

I know, I know … How do you start by writing a book, then end up making a soundtrack album and accompanying music videos? Well, you know how you get an idea and think "that'll be fun, shouldn't take too long"? Then thirty-six hours later you find yourself up at 3am clutching a torch and a fishing rod while attempting to animate a tin-foil alien spaceship? 
No? 
Just me then. 
OK, well … if you've ever wondered what a writer does on his weekends off, here is the result of one of mine. I hope you enjoy it.

You can DOWNLOAD the full Waiting for Gonzo soundtrack album (including Cigarette UFO)
HERE for FREE!

To find out how (and perhaps, more importantly, why) we ended up writing and recording an album of imaginary songs by bands that don't exist, just so you could listen to Oz's favourite music, I attempt an explanation here.

If you enjoyed the video you may want to check back here on Wednesday …

Waiting for Gonzo—the book that started all of this—is out now in the US and Canada, published by Flux.

A UK edition (published by Oxford University Press) and audiobook are also available.

To read the story in Italian or Polish, please click on the links for San Paolo, Italy and YA! Poland. A German edition will be coming out in November.