Thanks, Castleview P7, for this snappy drawing of a mouse who looks like a certain super-famous pop singer!
After showing examples of my children’s book illustrations, I read out excerpts from The Blackhope Enigma
Thanks to the organisers of the Festival and to all the staff and pupils!
I had a very funny ‘Aha!’ moment when I found the doll, because when I tell people about the stories I write, I often describe my plots as being like Matryoshka dolls. Just like my paintings, which I often build up with layers of pigment, I like to write stories within stories. The Blackhope Enigma
So I find myself with a new two-inch tall ‘writing talisman’, or lucky charm. The little Matryoshka doll, with her half-smile and otherworldly half-eyes, is a powerful reminder to me of where I am going with my stories – and where I have come from. A few years ago I would never have imagined writing a novel, and yet here I am with my creative life transformed and a new moniker: author-illustrator.
The other big news is that The Blackhope Enigma is now available for pre-order here at the Templar website, along with a free download sample from the book.
We have some really exciting things planned in the lead up to publication, and I’ll be telling you more about the story and how I wrote it as we count down to July 1!
Photo by Teresa Flavin
There was something primal about sitting with other spectators, watching the sky and the spine of hills in the east. Luckily, there was no piped-in soundtrack, or laid-on entertainment other than the stunning landscape and gatherings of people all watching together. When the first pinprick of light appeared, the atmosphere was thrilling. It can’t replicate the feeling of being there, but the pictures and video here might give you an inkling of what it was like.
I’d like to think I don’t get complacent, but I do. I forget the wonders in my own back yard – in this case, Glasgow. That thing about tourists seeing more of a place than the locals do is true. I guess I am kind of a local in Glasgow now, and it has taken a group of students from my old art school, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, to make me realize I have missed a few of this town’s gems lately.
The MassArt crew gave me a mandate to arrange some visits with Glasgow designers, animators and illustrators – and I have to say, it was a great exercise. It pried me out of my comfort zone (the studio) and, as is usually the case when you depart the comfort zone, I had some eye-opening experiences and met some fantastic people.
It was excellent to visit Glasgow School of Art, check out what the Visual Communication students are up to (which involves some truly amazing multimedia work) and, for the first time ever, tour around the Mackintosh Building. Next we visited the Necropolis, Glasgow’s famous hilltop cemetery. It’s an atmospheric, strange place with fabulous views all around Glasgow.
The next day we visited the very entertaining animation company Once Were Farmers, who spared us time for a show-and-tell of their work even though they were working toward a huge deadline. Freight Design, a graphic design consultancy, let us traipse through their studio too, and look at their classy publishing projects.
The highlight was sitting around a big table that evening with Tom Green from Dangerous Ink magazine, comic artist Vincent Deighan, aka Frank Quitely, comic colorist Jamie Grant and comic artists Nulsh and Rob, looking at stunning original art and magazines.
I am still feeling inspired by all this, as I get back to my own work feeling refreshed and a bit more connected into Glasgow’s creative scene.
I have had so many emails from all over the world about The Blackhope Enigma
Here’s a further article from today’s Bookseller…and thanks to Maggi and Rachel for alerting me to it!
Several people have asked me for more definitive info about the publication date. It’s July for the UK edition- which feels like it’s just around the corner. I’ll keep you updated as we trundle along!
That’s me on the right of the photo, with the wonderful duo of Anne Finnis, Consulting Editor, and Emily Hawkins, Senior Editor. If I look at all starry-eyed, it’s because I was certainly feeling that way! I had just seen the advance review copies of my book, with its very classy cover, and it began to sink in that after years of hard work, The Blackhope Enigma is on its way.
I feel honored to have my book on the Templar 2010 Fiction List with a host of excellent authors and illustrators: Not Bad for a Bad Lad by Michael Morpurgo, former UK Children’s Laureate, and illustrated by the multi-talented Michael Foreman; A Right Royal Disaster by fabulous author-illustrator Simon Bartram; and the much anticipated The Dragonology Chronicles: The Dragon Diary by Dugald Steer.
There is already online buzz about Australian Richard Harland’s steampunk novel Worldshaker and Stephanie Burgis’s A Most Improper Magick. (If you visit Stephanie’s website, you can watch a neat book trailer and enter a competition to win an advance review copy.)
I am intrigued by Kate de Goldi’s The Ten O’Clock Question, which was an award-winning bestseller in her native New Zealand. The same goes for Johnny O’Brien’s Jack Christie books. I met Johnny at the launch – you could not meet a nicer man, and he’s a history buff to boot. Read more about Day of the Assassins and Day of Deliverance at his very cool site.
Last, but not least, is the beguiling story of Eric from one of my heroes of contemporary illustration, Shaun Tan. You can reread my blog about Tales from Outer Suburbia here.
What illustrious company I find myself in! As I type, I am eyeing the pile of advance copies I was given at the launch and wondering which I should read first. It’s going to be a difficult but pleasurable choice.