(aka Ruth forgot to post his until it was all happening very soon…)
After all the fun we had last year, I’m heading back to Titancon in Belfast this weekend.
There’s Literature night, with readings from all the amazing authors participating, and panels all day on Saturday, including the YA panel. And the Great Author Booksigning.
Thrills galore.
If you’re around say hello.
Starting on 24th June, it’s Independent Bookshop week. As everyone knows my love affair with bookshops has lasted my whole life. I grew up visiting the now legendary Exchange Bookshop in Dalkey, full of pokey corners and floor to ceiling bookshelves of wonder. I cried when I found out it was closing because my first book was due out shortly afterwards and I’d never see it on those shelves. Books, and bookshops, have been so important to me.
On Saturday I’ll be teaming up with Carmel Harrington (writer extraordinaire, @HappyMrsH) to bookshop crawl up the east coast to Dublin. We’re meeting up in Wicklow at Bridge Street Books around 11am, heading for Dubray in Bray and Magpie Books in Enniskerry. Then on to the spiritual sucressor of The Exhange in Dalkey, the lovely Gutter Bookshop. After that we head for Dubray Dun Laoghaire, Blackrock, Raven Books (any others we can think of?) and on into the city centre for Chapters, Books Upstairs and Dubray on Grafton Street where we will be meeting Hazel Gaynor and Catherine Ryan Howard. They will have done their own book crawl from the west in. We’ll all collapse over coffee.
We don’t know if we’ll make all the shops and we don’t know what times we’ll be arriving at them. But we will be updating online as we go. If anyone is arround, say hi! The hashtags are #bookshopcrawl & #IBW2017
And because one event in a day isn’t enough I’ll also be taking part in Hodges Figgis Great Harry Potter Read – reading Chapter 16 of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s at 4.30pm. Second last chapter, where all the action is.
And THEN I’m off to a Barbecue at the Zoo.
Can I fit all this into one day? There’s only one way to find out. Stay tuned.
I can’t believe it’s May already. And with May comes Wexworlds!
I’m going to be there on the Saturday (13th) from 12.30 to 1.30pm, talking with the fabulous Celine Kiernan about fantasy, YA, Writing, and using folklore and history in modern Irish fantasy. I’m also planning to hang around, chat and sign some books.
Come and join us in the Talbot Hotel, Wexford.
It’s that time of year again. World Book Day is almost upon us. It’s more like World Book Month though if you’re an author doing school visits. Not that I would change that for a moment.
There is nothing so exhilarating(and/or terrifying) than a room full of teenagers gathered to hear you talk about writing. Like a grown up. Like you know something about it. Like a real author.
You know what I mean.
But while not my natural habitat, I find school visits to be a whirlwind of excitement. I love talking to readers and hopefully future readers. And of course writers or hopefully future writers. There are a lot out there. We always need more.
So while it is nerve racking (seriously, I’ll shake like a leaf beforehand and collapse in a heap afterwards) there is also nothing so worthwhile for an author than getting out there and directly connecting with your readership.
And the questions… oh my, the questions…
This week I’ll be going to Drogheda Grammar School on Wednesday 1st March and on World Book Day itself, Thursday 2nd March, I’ll be in Dubray Bookshop in Bray talking to local students. The following week I’m going to Coláiste Chillian in Clondalkin and High School in Rathgar. All this and work too.
*gazes longingly at bed and promises self I’ll sleep in April*
I had such a wonderful time at Octocon including the somewhat surreal experience of meeting one of my own characters! Fantastic Magpie cosplay, including threats of violence, weapons and menace.
A writer’s dream come true. Or possibly a nightmare…
Hoping for a relatively quiet Halloween weekend but next weekend I’m up in Ardagh for the Frightfest! Here’s hoping I don’t get followed!
It’s that time of year again and this weekend it’ll be Octocon, in the Camden Court Hotel, Dublin. Here are the panels I’ll be taking part in over the weekend. I’ll have copies of my books on sale in the tradehall as well and I’ll be happy to sign them for you. I’ll also be hanging out and going to some of the amazing other panels. Really looking forward to it. The full schedule is available here.
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who helped to celebrate the launch of A Darkness at the End the other night, both on the group and in a virtual space as well. It was a fantastic night and I couldn’t have asked for more.
Particular thanks to Sarah Rees Brennan who, despite threats, didn’t shame me at all 😉
(Next time, Sarah, next time).
Bob has signed copies in the Gutter Bookshop, and so too do our friends as the National Leprechaun Museum. There will be more popping up in various bookshops as and when I get there (I’m on a mission).
Failing that I’ll be at Titancon at the end of the month, and at Octocon in October. Signing pen will be at the ready. All three books are available from all good bookshops, on and offline, now. Keep a lookout for the very rare, collector’s item that is the wings badge!
The weekend is almost here (ok, it’s Wednesday, but I can dream, can’t I?) and with it comes the Focal Wexford Literary Festival in Enniscorthy.
To say I’m looking forward to this one is kind of a massive understatement. Not least because I’ll be there with the wonderful Claire Hennessy and Elizabeth Rose Murray. We have a panel on YA fiction together at 2pm and I am absolutely certain there will be shenanigans.
I’ll also be at the open mic on Friday night, once Claire and I have completed our Thelma and Louise Roadtrip down there.
In the meantime may I point out that Claire’s wonderful book Nothing Tastes As Good launches tonight in Dublin and Elizabeth’s equally marvelous Caramel Hearts is out now and has its Dublin launch next week. Rush out and buy both of them right away!
As some of you know, 
we adopted our lurcher, Amelia, from Dog’s Trust three years ago now. For me, a confirmed cat-lover, this was a big step. But there was this gangly, stripy baby with huge brown eyes and floppy little ears and I was smitten. I didn’t stand a chance. (And if I’d argued with the rest of the family, I might have been left behind instead of the dog).
Smitten or not I had also done some research (because I’m a writer and a librarian so it’s all about the research). Sighthounds – and lurchers and greyhounds in particular – do not have a high adoption rate, which is very strange because they are truly a perfect family dog. They are sweet-tempered, gentle creatures, elegant and beautiful, almost deerlike. They need only a little exercise compared to other breeds, as they are sprinters by nature and prefer to sleep on the sofa in the sunshine.
Ours grew up with a fearsome tom-cat to show her the ropes, and when he passed away we got a new kitten. Amelia adopted her as surrogate baby. They sleep together, play together and miss each other when apart. And with the kids, our Diva Doggy is a dream. At school pick up I’ve seen her stand stock still, patient and calm, while the junior infants come over to pet her and fuss over her. She loves the attention.
If anyone is sad or upset, she cuddles up beside them, offering comfort and companionship. She even attempts to help me when I’m writing. They may look big, but they curl up to the size of a cushion. Ours is sometimes known as the donut dog.
I keep wondering if perhaps we got the fluke perfect dog from the litter. But no, every sighthound owner I’ve known says the same thing. By turns, elegant and goofy, affectionate and soulful, they are empathy personified.
Adopt a lurcher, greyhound, or some other gorgeous pointy dog today. They need your help and love and they will return that love a hundredfold. The only danger is that you will lose at least one sofa, probably the one that gets the most sunlight.
I fully support the work of the Greyhound Rescue Association Ireland. Amelia and I hope to meet many pointy dogs and their owners at the 2016 Walk for Greyhounds taking place in Farmleigh, Phoenix Park, Dublin, on Sunday, June 19th.
#Grá4Greyhounds
As A Hollow in the Hills is set at Hallowe’en, and here we are at Hallowe’en, I thought I’d share an excerpt –
“Mist curled around the grass, freezing it where it touched. Dylan pressed against the shadows of the hunting lodge, trying to hide himself and Clodagh. That was how he found the bonfire, a stack of old pallets and bits of furniture, odds and ends gathered together to make an as yet unlit Halloween bonfire.
But it should have been lit by now, shouldn’t it? Like the thousands blazing in the city below them. Bonfires were as ancient as the land, an old tradition of harvest and spring. A celebration. A sacrifice.
With a screech like a demon a firework went up, bursting in a shower of scarlet and yellow. Others followed, the city of Dublin throwing fire into the sky. A terrible feeling of dread swept over him and he knew he shouldn’t be here, that he shouldn’t be on this hillside, that they should never have split up. Holly was here. It was a trap.”
The photo was taken at the Hellfire Club on Montpelier Hill in Dublin, where Dylan and Clodagh are about to find themselves in a lot of trouble. It’s dark and creepy and has the most terrifying stories associated with it. A Hollow in the Hills is the sequel to the award winning A Crack in Everything and is available now from all good bookshops, real and virtual (maybe even imaginary).