15 Days at the Hay Festival

I'm delighted to announce that I'll be doing an event at this year's Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts. 15 DAYS WITHOUT A BLOG! is part of the Hay Fever programme and takes place on Tuesday 5th June at 2.30pm on the Starlight Stage.

 

For 25 years Hay Festival has brought together writers from around the world to debate and share stories at its festival in the staggering beauty of the Welsh Borders. Hay celebrates great writing from poets and scientists, lyricists and comedians, novelists and environmentalists, and the power of great ideas to transform our way of thinking. Hay is, in Bill Clinton's phrase, 'The Woodstock of the mind'. (from the Hay Festival website)

15 DAYS WITHOUT A BLOG! is open to anybody aged 12 and over, but will be of particular interest to those currently writing a blog, or thinking of starting. Blogging can provide a great platform for writers to hone their skills and find an audience. I'll be giving tips on how to set-up, write and publicise a blog, as well as a glimpse into my journey to publication as children's author, via eight years as a minor rock star!

It would be great to see you there.

Visit the Hay Festival website to book tickets and for details of all the fantastic events taking place.

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.

William Hussey's Essential Six: Author Interview with Dave Cousins

Huge thanks to the brilliant William Hussey for featuring me in his Essential Six author interview series. If you've not read any of the Witchfinder books yet, you're missing a treat. I had to sleep with the light on after the reading the first one! Superbly scary stuff!

William Hussey

Welcome to the first in an occasional series of interviews with some of my favourite authors! I’ve called this series ‘The Essential Six’ for two reasons: first, writers need to write! I love the work of these authors so much I don’t want to take up too much of their precious scribing time. Secondly, I wanted to narrow down my questions to a core half dozen so that we could get down to the real nuts and bolts of their life and work.

What follows is an interview with debut author Dave Cousins. Last year, I was lucky enough to get hold of a proof copy of his moving and laugh-out-loud funny novel 15 Days Without A Head - the finest Young Adult book I read in 2011 …

Read the full interview here

NACOA Children of Alcoholics Week

15 Days Without a Head is a work of fiction, but many young people live with problems similar to those faced by Laurence and Jay in the story. In fact, there are an estimated one million children affected by parental alcohol problems in the UK.

Children of Alcoholics Week aims to raise awareness of the problems faced by alcohol-dependent parents, and let children and adults know there is support and advice available.

The campaign is led by the National Association for Children of Alcoholics who provide a Free Confidential Telephone Helpline 0800 358 3456, plus advice for children, parents and teachers on their website, or you can email helpline@nacoa.org.uk

Here's a short video from NACOA explaining some of the important work they do.

The single, A Change is Gonna Come was specially recorded by Maria McAteer, Bjorn Dahlberg and the Stanford Quartet for Children of Alcoholics Week in February 2011. The video below was produced by Sean Caveille. You can download the single here from iTunes, and help support NACOA.

Please visit the Children of Alcoholics Week website, to find out more.

Thanks.

National Libraries Day – Why are libraries so important?

Saturday 4th February is National Libraries Day in the UK. A day to show support and solidarity for our public library service – a day to visit your local library and take out some books. It doesn’t matter if you’re no longer a member or have lost your card. Go down and rejoin – it’s free! Take the family and friends and see what your local library has to offer, you could well be pleasantly surprised.

There are over two hundred events being held at libraries across the country. Click here to find out what's happening near you.

In the last twelve months my local library opening hours have been reduced. It's a trend affecting branches across the country. In addition many libraries have been closed and many more are under threat. So what? You might say. In the current times of austerity, everyone is feeling the pinch. Funding is being taken from the police service, hospitals and schools. Why are libraries so important?

Is a fair question. Voices for the Library provide some answers here.

But I thought I’d ask my fellow authors at the Edge, what libraries mean to them. Click here to read what they said.

For further information, please visit the following:

Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals
Voices for the Library
Alan Gibbons' Campaign for the Book
The Bookseller Fight for Libraries Facebook page
The Reading Agency

You can tweet your support using the #NLD12 hashtag.

See you down the library!
Cheers, Dave.