I had an action packed day yesterday, reading in my local Dubray Bookshop in Bray in the morning and in the Rathmines branch in the afternoon. Groups from the local schools came along and were of course brilliant and lovely. As were all the staff. I think we had a ball. I did, anyway! I read from A Crack in Everything. We talked about writing, books, movies, and even my horror of Wuthering Heights being billed as a romance.

Below are some pictures to give you an idea of the day.

(many thanks to Avril Cannon for the Bray Reading Photo and to Martin Shannon for the Rathmines one)

“A Crack in Everything” by Ruth Frances Long. Giveaway and feature.

I’ve been taking part in Irish Fiction Fortnight.

Today you can find out about Dublin as the setting for A Crack in Everything and enter to win a signed copy

So lots of new things coming up this year including the sequel to A Crack in Everything. More news when I have it.

On the 12th January I’m part of Paranormal Road Trips at From the Shadows telling you about my Top 5 spooky places in Dublin and their stories. Thanks so much to E. J. Stevens for inviting me to do this. I loved every minute. And as Dublin is old, it has a load of spooky stories associated with it. I only scratched the surface. You can RSVP on Goodreads if you’d like to get a reminder.

I’m going to plug A Crack in Everything as a prezzie one last time. Angels, demons and scary fairies in Dublin

I say one last time because I’ll be going dark for Xmas after today. So I might plug it again tonight. But after that I’ll shut up. Maybe.

Of course if you haven’t read The Treachery of Beautiful things you should totally get that too. Or any of my books really. #Buymybooks

That gratuitous self promotion was brought to you by commercialism and the need to pay for my Xmas shopping. No really.

So happy Winter Solstice , Christmas and New Year to everyone. See you all in 2015 for another exciting year and A Hollow in the Hills, where Izzy, Jinx, Dylan and friends (?) will be back to cause mayhem in Dublin again.

Photo from Newgrange.com

Thanks to the wonderful people at O’Brien Press, here are some photos from the launch of A Crack in Everything on the 4th.

A wonderful time was had by all.

Anyone in Ireland and UK, there’s just a few days left to enter to win A Crack in Everything on Goodreads

Just popping in for a few moments over a cup of tea.

Mmmm tea. Irish tea.

I haven’t had time to do a write up of Worldcon as yet, or our trip to London, but it was all amazing and wonderful. A great time was had by all.

I’m about to run out the door and go to Shamrokon where, this evening we’re having a special preview launch of A Crack in Everything, followed by all the cake. No really. C. E. Murphy is having a cake party. She’s also launching my book. So, if you want cake, come to the book launch first in case we’ve eaten it all by the time you ramble in. You’ve been warned! 😀

Also, thanks to a conversation on twitter last night with Kate Johnson (@k8johnson), when I said I would be at Shamrokon today “with Bells ON” I now have bells on. Well, a bell.

No really.

Photos and chaos and stuff to come.

I promised book launch news and here it is. We will be officially launching A CRACK IN EVERYTHING, the first in my new YA trilogy on the 4th of September in the Gutter Bookshop, Cow’s Lane, Dublin 2. There’s a facebook page here, if you’re on facebook. Or comment below if you’re able to come.

But that’s not all!

There’s a special preview book launch for the same book on the 22nd August at Shamrokon. You have to be a Shamrokon member to come along, but if you are, please do.

Fab author C. E. Murphy will be doing the launching.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get to the Romantic Novelists Conference due to personal circumstances. Ah well, next year…

In other news my Loncon3 schedule has changed slightly and is now as follows:

Autographing 6 – Ruth Long

Saturday 12:00 – 13:30, Autographing Space (ExCeL)

Better make sure I have some books! If you’re there, please come or I will feel all alone!!!

Writing 101: Young Adult and Middle Grade Fiction

Saturday 18:00 – 19:00, Capital Suite 5 (ExCeL)

Young adult and middle grade genres are booming. Still, there’s confusion around these genre categories. Moreover, how are these genres related to children’s and juvenile fiction? Panelists discuss the ins and outs of young adult and middle grade fiction from reading age to diversity, content, characters, and more. How far can you go with language, violence, and sex without crossing the line? What about series, such as Harry Potter, that jump categories mid-stream? How do all of these element affect what we write and publish for middle grade and young adult readers?

What does Ireland have to offer?

Sunday 11:00 – 12:00, Capital Suite 2 (ExCeL)

Ireland is disticntly different as a nation and it’s people posses a unique identity. How does this work through the craetive fiction of modern times? Has the mighty weight of Irish Mythology that have permeated fantasy had an impact on modern writers in Ireland? Where is the new fiction coming from, and what issues of interest are explored?

Shamrokon is still on target and I will have news about the launch of A CRACK IN EVERYTHING soon. It’s only 45 days to go. And it’s now up on Goodreads so please go and say you’re going to read it!

It’s St Patrick’s Day, which generally means a weekend of rain. Luckily we didn’t get that (though there was a bit of drizzle through which we persevered). Instead there’s something of a feeling of spring out and about.

Yesterday we took ourselves off on a scavenger hunt with the Native Woodland Trust to Blessington, spotting wild primroses, frogspawn and learning about various native tree species, along with some which we thought were native but aren’t (looking at you Sycamore, Horse Chestnut and Beech). I’d never heard of the Wych Elm, for example, but now fully intend to put it in a book. And I was never sure which flowered first, the Hawthorn or the Blackthorn, but now I do — the Blackthorn flowers before its leaves come out, the Hawthorn the other way around. The Hawthorn waits for May. The Blackthorns are out now — pretty splashes of white against the bare branches. Who knows why they have such a dark reputation?

The first round of edits for A Crack in Everything have gone back so I took a week off and now can start looking at the next book until the next round come in. I think the Blackthorn is going to make an appearance now.

Perhaps you’ll see the first stirrings of Spring around you as well. It’s so heartening.

In the meantime, happy St. Patrick’s Day to one and all.