Hester's Theme

It's always good to find that one of my stories or characters has inspired somebody to create something of their own.  A while ago, Ray Clark sent me the link to a piece of music he's written based on Hester Shaw in the Predator Cities books.  I've already put it up on my Facebook page, so apologies for taking so long to post it here too.

The picture above is Julia Zhuravleva's portrait of Hester, (she's eleth89  on DeviantArt and made the lovely animated opening sequence which I posted here last year).  And here's another Hester picture I just discovered, also on DeviantArt, this time by Ronaldo Santa...

Don't forget, if you're in or near Torquay in South Devon, I'll be talking about Hester and the rest of the Predator Cities/ Fever Crumb universe at Torquay Library this coming Thursday, 5th July...

Forthcoming Appearances in Torquay & Edinburgh

I'll be at Torquay Library on 5th July, talking about my books in an event scheduled to tie-in with the opening of a Science Fiction exhibition at Torbay Museum...  Which I guess means I'll be focusing on Larklight, Mortal Engines and the Fever Crumb books, though I expect Goblins will also get a mention.

And on 12th August I'll be doing two events at the Edinburgh International Book Festival: a talk focusing mainly on Goblins, and a panel event about tackling 'writer's block'.  Tickets for the festival go on sale on 29th June.

Brecon Beacons to BGS

Well, the Hay Festival went well, and here's a link to Sarah McIntyre's account of the events we did together. there didn't seem much point in me blogging about them because I didn't get back to my computer until a week after the festival finished, having stayed on for a holiday with Sam and Sarah in the nearby Brecon Beacons.  We had a great time, avoided the rain that seemed to be lashing the rest of the British isles, and got Sam up his first two mountains, Carn Du and its near-neighbour Pen y Fan - a bit of a cheat, since the route we took starts from a car park half way up, but still a good long walk.

The conquest of Pen y Fan

We also visited some fine Welsh castles, and had a lovely evening with Jasper Fforde and his wife Mari, who live near Hay (I'm currently reading Jasper's novel Shades of Grey, which is very strange and ingenious and extremely good).  And on the way home we stopped off at Caerleon to look at the Roman remains.  There is a well-preserved amphitheatre there, as well as a small but fascinating Roman Legions museum, and a Roman baths, very beautifully displayed and far more atmospheric than the ones at Bath (also free!).

This week I've been (very briefly) in Bristol, as a guest of the wonderful Bristol Grammar School.  You can read about my visit here.

Goblins at Hay, 2012

If you're in or around Hay-on-Wye at the end of this week, I'll be appearing at two events in the Hay Festival, one on Friday evening (8th May) and one on Saturday 9th.  The Friday night one will be a draw-off featuring me, Horrible Histories illustrator Martin Brown, Cathy Brett and Sarah McIntyre, and on Saturday Sarah will be my interviewer/ Glamorous Assistant for a Goblins event, as well as doing an event of her own in the morning.

If you're interested, more details can be found here.

Predator Cities sighting, Harvard MA.

Those nice people at the Harvard Book Store kindly sent me this picture of their 'Airship Paradise' section, featuring the new US editions of Mortal Engines etc.  Since I've not seen the actual books yet, just the covers, it's interesting to get a glimpse of the spines, and the size of them - they look good, I think.

Hiding behind that copy of Fever Crumb is Fiona, and you can read her review of it here.

Lucky old North Americans, with lovely new books to read. All we Brits have to look forward to is the Diamond Jubilee weekend.  Mind you, Sarah McIntyre is going to be on the telly with Rolf Harris on Tuesday, so that should cheer us up.