15 Days Telephone Box Bingo!

A telephone box is featured on the front cover of 15 Days Without a Head and plays an important role in the story. As a result I've found myself taking pictures of red phone boxes I see on my travels. 

Join me in a game of Telephone Box Bingo and send me your photos* – extra points will be awarded if you're pictured inside the box! (Don't forget to include the location.) 

See if you can find any of the telephone boxes I've been to so far:

Llaneglwys, Wales

St. Peters Place, Brighton

Powys, Wales

Moor Street Station, Birmingham

Crickadarn, Wales

Pelham Square, Brighton

Westfields, Talgarth

Grand Avenue, Hove

Powys, Wales

* Email your photos to dave(AT)davecousins(DOT)net or upload to my Facebook page.

7 Days Without a Book! Countdown to Publication #9: 15 Days in Pictures

15 Days Without a Head will be in bookshops in 7 days time. By way of celebration, I will be publishing a new post here every day, leading up to publication on January 5th. The idea is to provide a few bonus items, such as you'd expect to find on the extras disc of a DVD – except these will be available before the main feature of course. 

It's over three years since I started writing 15 Days Without a Head. Here's a diary of sorts – in pictures …

This is a 'cover' treatment I produced as a promo postcard to hand out at a SCBWI Agents Party I attended at the end of 2009. Dylan and Ptol agreed to pose as Jay and Laurence, but I had to mess about with the scaling to make Ptol look taller. The high-key treatment gave the photo a desolate feel that I thought suited the story. It was well received by the agents who saw it, but in hindsight focused far too much on the darker elements of the book. Even the strap line is menacing … not to mention the dead cockroach! 

Dylan drew this one for me. I like it a lot, especially Nosy Nelly with the hooked nose peeking out from her flat.

Then he did another version and made it into a mug. Naturally this became my lucky writing mug and had to be used during each evening's writing session. Which reminds me, I must ask him to do one for the book I'm working on now!

My wife sketched this on a napkin in a café. In the book, Mina draws a picture of Laurence and Jay, and I always imagined it would have looked something like this.

The first published extract of 15 Days Without a Head appeared in the SCBWI Undiscovered Voices Anthology in 2010. I'm very fond of this book; it changed my life as an author!

The Sherbet Lemon Special Edition Bound Proofs for 15 Days. The first time I saw the story as a book; a special moment. Nick Cross said you could see them from space.

The final cover for 15 Days Without a Head. The team at Oxford University Press went to a lot of effort to get this right, and I think they did a great job.

My favourite bit of the cover though is the quote from Keith Gray, one of my all time writing heroes.

Only two days left to enter the draw to win a signed copy of 15 Days Without a Head. Click here for details.

Tomorrow: What every writer needs …

Oxford University Press Bloggers' Evening

On Wednesday I was out and about again, this time in London, for the OUP Bloggers' Evening.

The entrance to the Charlotte Street Hotel is flanked by a pair of Narnia-esque lamp posts, and there's a flag hanging over the doorway; I wasn't sure they'd let me in. Luckily I had best selling author, Joss Stirling with me. As the doorman held open the doors and bowed low to welcome Joss into the building, I took the opportunity to sneak in while nobody was looking.
The room OUP were using was downstairs, and it felt like strolling into a sitting room at the Diogenes Club. I wouldn't have been surprised had Mycroft Holmes risen from one of the armchairs and offered me a brandy. 

The Story Chairs, ready and waiting …

Sherlock's brother may not have been there, but I had an equally warm welcome from the OUP publicity team, who were putting the finishing touches the room – which included this mountain of hot chocolate.

OUP Children's Publicity Manager, Harriet Bayly with the hot chocolate mountain.

Joss started the evening by explaining that she'd written Stealing Phoenix, the follow up to the best selling, Finding Sky, for her teenage daughter. This definitely means I'm not in the target audience for the book. Having said that, at the time of writing, I'm over halfway through Stealing Phoenix and completely hooked. It's a paranormal romance/thriller, but feels very real. Phoenix is a great protagonist and there are some truly evil characters in this book, who I'm hoping will meet a suitably gruesome end.   

Red books in the red room – waiting to be read. (sorry, about that …)

It was great to hear Joss talk about her inspiration and writing process. Then it was my turn in the chair. I attempted to relate my journey to becoming a published author and the inspiration for 15 Days Without a Head, before giving a short reading, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Nobody threw anything at me or went to sleep, so I think it went OK.

Joss Stirling and I, with our editor, Jasmine Richards.
Here I'm proving the fact that somebody will always pull a stupid face and ruin a perfectly good picture.

Afterwards we had a chance to mingle and talk about books, writing, and Dr. Who – amongst other things. It was a great night and over all too soon. So, a big thanks to everyone who came (some, quite a distance) – to OUP for putting on the event, and the staff at the hotel for making us so welcome and letting me have this hooped pencil to take home as a souvenir.

Yes, I know it's just a pencil – but it's kinda cool. 

These pictures were all taken while we waited for the bloggers to arrive. I was so engrossed talking to people afterwards that I forgot to take any more. However, just to prove there were other people there, check out some of the links below to find out what the guests themselves thought of the evening.

www.paulashx-bookreviews.com

www.feelingfictional.com

Calvin and Hobbes Christmas Cake

This year's Christmas Cake – lovingly created six weeks ago by my youngest and I. This is our third attempt at making our own cake, with varying degrees of success it must be admitted. This time we're trying the Halsey School 1972 House Craft Christmas Cake recipe – copied from her original school exercise book by a friend of mine. We've been administering a fortnightly double tablespoon of brandy – so fingers crossed it will be a good one. 

My lad's favourite part of the process is the always the decoration, and this year he wanted to pay homage to Bill Watterson's brilliant Calvin and Hobbes. 

Seems a shame to cut into really …
Merry Christmas.

Municipal Darwinism strikes Norfolk!

On a recent trip to the east coast I found this – an entire city on wheels! Not quite a traction city of Mortal Engines proportions I admit, but it did remind me of the great quartet of books by Philip Reeve. For a glimpse into the original notes that sparked the birth of a new world, check out Philip Reeve's blog. There's also a good interview with the man himself on Thirst for Fiction. (Thanks to Jabberworks for the nod.) More photos of the strange and beautiful to follow … I expect.