Charlie Merrick's Misfits and more at Brentwood Children's Literary Festival

Hey folks! If anyone lives near Brentwood and is looking for summer holiday activities for the youngsters, check out what's on at the Brentwood Children's Literary Festival (22-30 July). Full details here.

If you're really stuck for something to do, I'll be at Brentwood Theatre on Thursday 28th, to talk about writing, drawing and how to survive should you meet a bear! 

The event starts at 3pm and tickets are only £3 per person. 

Click here for more info and tickets.

It would be great to see you there!

Cheers

Dave

Nower Hill and Northwood School Tour with The New Leaf Bookshop, Pinner.

 I had a great time visiting two secondary schools in Pinner today, with Martin and Judy from The New Leaf Bookshop. 

Martin, Judy and Emily at the shop

Before setting off for our first event, I was invited to add my name to the wall of honour!

As usual, Tim Bowler puts the right words in the right order.

Cathy Cassidy added cake and stars!

Brilliant! If only I'd thought to draw Jay as a dog …

Then it was off to Nower Hill School for two sessions with Year Nine to talk about 15 Days Without a Head and my journey to becoming an author. Big thanks to all the staff and students for making us so welcome and not complaining they lost half of break because of my talk!

Action shot – talking so fast, I'm blurred!

We arrived at Northwood to fantastic welcome – Jaffa Cakes and a series of posters advertising the event. Thanks again to all the staff and students at the school, especially Louise and the artists who made the posters.

I particularly like this one as it shows me with hair!

In action – acting out the comic book I drew when I was 11.

If you're ever in Pinner, make sure you visit.

Find the New Leaf Bookshop on Facebook

or visit their website.

15 Days at Number One!

A big thanks to everyone who came down to my book signing event at Waterstones in Hemel Hempstead on Saturday. I'm delighted that 15 Days Without a Head is now at Number One in the store's kids' chart.

I've always dreamed of being at number one …

This lofty position is due to the sales of 15 Days Without a Head on Saturday and during my visit to The Hemel Hempstead School on Thursday. It was great to see some of the students from Hemel and South Hill Primary again on Saturday. I was pleased to hear that some of you are writers yourselves. Good luck with the words! Keep reading and keep writing!

Action shot: the serious business of book signing.
Note shameless self-promotional T-shirt, useful for those moments of panic when I forget who I am.
(Thanks to Mel Walker for the photo)

I had some interesting entries in my best/worst day of the week competition, and it was hard to choose a winner. But the entry from Joe made me laugh out loud, so in the end the prize had to go to him. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Me in the big chair, flanked by Clare and Tina from Waterstones

Finally, I'd like express my appreciation to all the staff at Waterstones Hemel Hempstead for looking after me on the day and for their fantastic support for the book since it came out in January. You don't get that from an online bookstore folks … 

Book signing at Waterstones, Hemel Hempstead, Saturday 10 March.

I'll be at my local branch of Waterstones in Hemel Hempstead this Saturday, signing copies of 15 Days Without a Head.

I'll be in-store from 11am, so if you're in the area do stop by and say hello. As well as signing books, I'll be chatting to customers, giving away postcards and running a competition. Plus FREE Scooby Snacks (all the way from the US) for everyone who gets a book signed (while stocks last!) 

Hope to see you there.

Cheers, Dave.

Celebrating World Book Day 2012 at Hove Library

World Book Day is a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and is marked in over 100 countries around the globe. I'll be taking part in the celebrations at Hove Library, reading and talking to pupils from two local secondary schools.

Hove Library – lending books for over a hundred years

I'm hoping there'll be time to visit The Book Nook before catching my train home. I've been informed they serve tea and homemade cakes and have a pirate ship, not to mention the books …

World Book Day aims to encourage children to explore the pleasure of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own. School children receive a World Book Day £1 Book Token (or equivalent 1.50 euro in Ireland) which can be exchanged for one of eight specially published World Book Day £1 Books, or redeemed against any book or audio book of their choice costing £2.99 or more at a participating bookshop or book club.

Visit www.worldbookday.com for full details and a host of other World Book Day stuff.

Keep up with World Book Day on 

Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

15 Days Without a Head in bookshops now!

I'm not sure I'll ever get lose the thrill of seeing my book in a bookshop. More than any other part of the process, finding a copy on the shelves makes it finally feel real. 
I was delighted to walk into my local branch of Waterstones and find 15 Days Without a Head at number six in the Kids' Chart!

And number ten in the store paperback chart!

Huge thanks to the staff at Waterstones and to everyone who has been in to buy a copy.

During my recent schools tour, I spent a day with Nigel French from Cole's Books in Bicester. After a great morning with students from years 7 and 8 at The Cooper School, we managed to find time to grab half an hour to browse his fantastic bookshop.

I was extremely chuffed to find myself next to Phil Earle on the display. Cole's are selling signed copies of 15 Days Without a Head through their website, with free postage and packing to UK addresses. (see the link in the sidebar)

It was also a pleasant surprise to walk into my local Empire cinema to find 15 Days postcards on the racks, next to Sky Hawk (a superb book by fellow OUP author, Gill Lewis)

But possibly the best thing about the past few weeks has been going into schools and having the opportunity to meet students, and talk to them about books, writing and wanting to be an astronaut! The response to 15 Days Without a Head has been fantastic. So a big thanks to the staff and students at The Broxbourne School*, St Gregory the Great and King Alfred's Academy in Oxford, The Cooper School in Bicester and Bruern Abbey, Oxfordshire – for their time, enthusiasm and cake!*

Independent Booksellers' Week

Today sees the start of Independent Booksellers' Week. Throughout the next seven days, independent book shops all over the UK will be holding special events involving authors, readers and booksellers. The initiative is part of the IndieBound campaign to promote independent bookshops and the role they play in developing strong reading communities, as well as the idea of shopping locally and sustainably.


I was at an event recently where the an indie bookshop owner described how they try to buy books that reflect their local area. They get to know their readers' tastes and see themselves very much as serving the community. Of course there are certain bestselling titles they have to stock, but they will consider any book, however niche or unusual, if they think it has merit and will appeal to their customers. This for me has always been the beauty of the indie shops – they are places to browse and talk to the staff, and their shelves are filled with potential gems.

Imagine a world with no bookshops – a climate where publishers refused to take a risk on new talent unless they could guarantee bestseller status. How many great stories would we lose as a result?

So in the spirit of Independent Bookseller Week, why not buy a book from your local bookshop this week. Visit the Indiebound indie bookstore locator to find your nearest shop hosting an IBW event. Or the Booksellers Association to search for all booksellers in your local area by postcode.


Here are a few of my favourites (send me links to yours):
Victoria Park Books, Hackney
The Owl Bookshop, Kentish Town
The Lion & Unicorn, Richmond
Tales On Moon Lane, Herne Hill