Happy Christmas !

BEDLAM LONGLISTED FOR 2010 CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL

Very excited about this! I just heard today... This annual children's book award is the bees knees. It's a pretty strong longlist though, there are some meaty authors with mighty pens...
Delighted and not surprised that Elen Caldecott's fabulous 'How Kirsty Jenkins Stole The Elephant' (Bloomsbury) is also there...The shortlist won't be announced until the spring.

LONGLIST

Agard, John The Young InfernoPublisher: Frances Lincoln ISBN: 9781845077693
Allen-Gray, Alison LifegamePublisher: OUP ISBN: 9780192728432
Almond, David Jackdaw SummerPublisher: Hodder ISBN: 9780340881989
Anderson, Laurie Halse ChainsPublisher: Bloomsbury ISBN: 9780747598077
Anderson, R J KnifePublisher: Orchard ISBN: 9781408303122
Ashley, Bernard SolitairePublisher: Usborne ISBN: 9780746081372
Bowler, Tim BloodchildPublisher: OUP ISBN: 9780192719805
Brennan, Sarah Rees The DemonÕs LexiconPublisher: Simon & Schuster ISBN: 9781847382894
Brooks, Kevin Killing GodPublisher: Puffin ISBN: 9780141319124
Burgess, Melvin Nicholas DanePublisher: Andersen Press ISBN: 9781842701812
Caldecott, Elen How Kirsty Jenkins stole the elephantPublisher: Bloomsbury ISBN: 9780747599197
Cassidy, Anne The Dead HousePublisher: Hodder ISBN: 9780340932285
Chancellor, Henry The Remarkable Adventures of Tom Scatterhorn: The MuseumÕs SecretPublisher: OUP ISBN: 9780192720832
Christopher, Lucy Stolen Publisher: Chicken House ISBN: 9781906427139
Creech, Sharon Hate That CatPublisher: Bloomsbury ISBN: 9780747595298
Crossley-Holland, Kevin Waterslain AngelsPublisher: Orion ISBN: 9781842556917
Dogar, Sharon FallingPublisher: Chicken House ISBN: 9781905294695
Donaldson, Julia Running on the cracksPublisher: Egmont ISBN: 9781405222334
Dowd, Siobhan Solace of the RoadPublisher: David Fickling ISBN: 9780385609715
Dowswell, Paul AuslanderPublisher: Bloomsbury ISBN: 9780747589099
Finn, Daniel Two Good ThievesPublisher: Macmillan ISBN: 9780230737761
Fisk, Pauline Flying for FrankiePublisher: Faber ISBN: 9780571236190
Forman, Gayle If I StayPublisher: Doubleday ISBN: 9780385616201
Gaiman, Neil The Graveyard BookPublisher: Bloomsbury ISBN: 9780747569015
Golding, Julia Wolf CryPublisher: OUP ISBN: 9780192727619
Grant, Helen The Vanishing of Katharina LindenPublisher: Puffin ISBN: 9780141325736
Hardinge, Frances Gullstruck IslandPublisher: Macmillan ISBN: 9781405055383
Hearn, Julie Rowan the StrangePublisher: OUP ISBN: 9780192792150
Higgins, F E The Eyeball CollectorPublisher: Macmillan ISBN: 9780230532281
Hoffman, Mary TroubadourPublisher: Bloomsbury ISBN: 9780747592518
Kennen, Ally BedlamPublisher: Marion Lloyd Books ISBN: 9781407103853
LaFleur, Suzanne Love, AubreyPublisher: Puffin ISBN: 9780141326870
Laird, Elizabeth The Witching HourPublisher: Macmillan ISBN: 9780230736795
Manning, Mick & Granstrom, Brita Tail-End CharliePublisher: Frances Lincoln ISBN: 9781845076511
Muchamore, Robert Brigands M.C.Publisher: Hodder ISBN: 9780340989036
Ness, Patrick The Ask and the AnswerPublisher: Walker ISBN: 9781406310269
Newbery, Linda The SandfatherPublisher: Orion ISBN: 9781842555484
Patterson, James MaxPublisher: Doubleday ISBN: 9780385614528
Peet, Mal ExposurePublisher: Walker ISBN: 9781406306491
Perera, Anna Guantanamo BoyPublisher: Puffin ISBN: 9780141326078
Philip, Gillian Crossing the LinePublisher: Bloomsbury ISBN: 9780747599937
Pratchett, Terry NationPublisher: Doubleday ISBN: 9780385613705
Rai, Bali City of GhostsPublisher: Doubleday ISBN: 9780385611695
Reeve, Philip Fever CrumbPublisher: Scholastic ISBN: 9781407102429
Riordan, James The SniperPublisher: Frances Lincoln ISBN: 9781845078850
Riordan, Rick Percy Jackson and the Last OlympianPublisher: Puffin ISBN: 9780141382944
Sedgwick, Marcus The Kiss of DeathPublisher: Orion ISBN: 9781842551851
Sedgwick, Marcus RevolverPublisher: Orion ISBN: 9781842551868
Strangolov, Lazlo Feather and BonePublisher: Walker ISBN: 9781406316605
Stroud, Jonathan Heroes of the ValleyPublisher: Doubleday ISBN: 9780385614016
Valentine, Jenny The Ant ColonyPublisher: HarperCollins ISBN: 9780007283590
Ward, Rachel NumbersPublisher: Chicken House ISBN: 9781905294930
Whitley, David The Midnight CharterPublisher: Puffin ISBN: 9780141323718
Wilson, Leslie Saving RafaelPublisher: Andersen ISBN: 9781842709184

QUARRY

Work on QUARRY continues...

RITES V Nanowrimo

Nanowrimo starts tomorrow, but this year I will not be attempting to write a 50,000 word novel in a month (booo) as I'm working on RITES which I need to get ship shape before Christmas. It's about a boy who lives in a scrapyard who is getting weird annoymous challenges...Next year I'll be back to Nano madness. check out http://www.nanowrimo.org/ if you fancy a bizarre challenge of your own.. quick!

Sparks are flying

I've just recieved the proofs for my book 'Sparks' due out next spring. It's beginning to look like a book, yippee! I'm now working on my new teen novel 'Rites'...

Leicester Teen Readers Expo

Lovely to meet you all !Sorry to the ones who had to read out chocolate fudge recipes/ perculiar lists
and thanks to my PA for the day, Abdee!

Visit to Stanchester Community School

I had a very enjoyable visit to this school last week. We had a good session, with some excellent creative writing coming out of my rather haphazard workshop.. (who won the prize??) Also, thanks chaps for the suggestions for the title of my new book. I'll post on here if one is used instead of 'SPARKS'

Keep reading! And I hope you enjoy the Carnegie Shadowing.

SPRING WORD FRENZY

I'm about to attempt to write 50,000 words in a month again. The idea is to get a first draft nice and quickly, and hopefully create a few ideas worth saving, and get lots of dead ends out of the way early on. Personally inspired by NANOWRIMO, I'm doing this with a small community of like minded lunatics I mean writers... Starting tomorrow....oh no, not again....

SPARKS

I have just delivered a book SPARKS for ages 8+ to my publishers. If they like it I think it might be published in April '10... Now to crack on planning the next one before the editing begins.. next event SLG Conference in Peterborough on 4th April

LAUNCH PARTY

I'm very late posting this... but we had a launch party in Bristol at the Folk House in January to launch BEDLAM and my mate, Elen Caldecott's HOW KIRSTY JENKINS STOLE THE ELEPHANT.

We had the fabulous Phantom Limb play for us http://www.myspace.com/phantomlimbrobot

They are awesome! I would have been very happy to forget the rest of the launch and just listen to them... however, next we had a question and answer session, where I asked Elen questions and vice versa, we read from our new books and took questions from the floor.

Thanks to everyone who came and supported us. Foolishly I forgot about photographs, so there are only one or two....

Bedlam news

BEDLAM was reviewed by Mal Peet in last Saturday's Guardian
See review below.
http://www.achuka.co.uk/achockablog/archives/2009/01/guardian-review-11.html

And also in the latest Waterstone's Books Quarterly by John Lloyd.


Bedlam is currently being translated into Norweigen by Stian Omland, who also translated Beast and Berserk.

Fact for the day: Kos in Norweigen means 'Cuddle...'

Oh yes, finished the second draft of 'Sparks'....

BEDLAM OUT TODAY!!!! BEDLAM OUT TODAY!!!

Bedlam is published today in the UK and should be in all good book shops.
I'm having a launch party this Thursday in Bristol, together with my mate, the highly talented Elen Caldecott - author of 'How Kirsty Jenkins Stole the Elephant' also out today!

I shall be lurking in bookshops, re-positioning the book to the front of the best seller charts and turning it face out on the shelves, heh heh heh

I've also finished the first draft of my new book... working title... Sparks...due to be published April 2010...