Stocking Fillers

Dartmoor gets ready for Christmas...

I try not to spam readers of this blog too much - I assume that if you're reading, you probably already know about my books. But I guess part of its purpose is as a shop window, and it's that time of year when I should spray fake snow all over it and fill it with my latest wares - which will, of course, make PERFECT presents for your nearest and dearest. If they like this sort of thing.

GOBLIN QUEST is my latest novel, and completes the Goblins trilogy (there may be more one day, but for the moment the goblins of Clovenstone are taking a well-earned rest). I hope these books will appeal to children of about 8 and upwards, and anyone who likes fantasy, or poo. (If you're in the USA, only the first Goblins book is available - I presume the others will follow at some point). They make a colourful set, as you can see - like a selection pack of capsicum peppers. Cover illustrations by the great Dave Semple.

CAKES IN SPACE, my new book with Sarah McIntyre, is aimed a slightly younger audience - it's shorter than Goblins and has way more pictures.

It's the story of Astra, and her one-girl struggle against the mutant cakes which threaten to take over her ship during a long space voyage. It was a lot of fun to cook up, and the end result is a thing of beauty - Sarah and our designers at OUP have worked wonders with it. It's full of cakes and silliness, and, oddly, it's the closest thing to real Science Fiction I've ever written.  If you're in London in the next few weeks you could keep an eye out for these great Cakes in Space posters on the underground...

Photo: Sally-Anne Hickman

The previous Reeve and McIntyre book, OLIVER AND THE SEAWIGS, is now out in paperback in the UK, though if you want to spend a few extra £s the hardback is still around, and has two-colour illustrations (in the paperback the blue has been replaced with grey, which works just fine - the pictures were always designed to work in monotone too - but I'm fond of the hardback).

If you're after a bookish present for an even younger child, don't forget JAMPIRES, a lovely new picture book by Sarah McIntyre and David O'Connell, more details here...

All of these titles are available from your local bookshops or via the usual online places. Happy shopping!

Two Interviews

Just back from a few days in Manchester, where Sarah McIntyre and I were guests of the very wonderful Manchester Children's Book Festival. We met lots of wonderful people, some of them knitted by Ann Lam, who has been turning out sea monkeys by the dozen. Here's Sarah posing with Zombie Sea Monkey and French Sea Monkey...

While I was away, a couple of recent interviews have appeared online. Here's a Q&A I did with Dan Metcalf for StoryWorld, in which I talk about Goblins, Cakes in Space and how working with SM has revived my enthusiasm for writing. He asks a very good question which I've never been asked before: 'Do you actually like writing?'








And I discuss similar topics here, in an interview with Natasha Ngan, author of The Elites and also the forthcoming The Memory Keepers.  I also get to recommend a few favourite reads. You can check out the interview here.

Events, dear boy, events...

Just a reminder about two forthcoming events for anyone who is interested and in the right bits of the country...

First, next Saturday (21st June) I shall be at Exeter Library, talking about the Goblins books (and specifically about the new one, Goblin Quest).  Kick off is at 2pm and I shall burble on for about an hour, with signing afterwards. I don't think I have any other events scheduled for Goblin Quest, so I guess this counts as the OFFICIAL LAUNCH too! Tickets are free, but can be reserved if you want to make sure of a seat -  at time of writing, there are 37 left.

And at the end of the month I shall be joining Sarah McIntyre in Manchester for a big Oliver and the Seawigs event on Saturday 28th June. This year's Manchester Children's Book Festival has been overrun by our Sea Monkeys; to the point where one of the little critters is even writing the MCBF official blog (he's a much better typist than the goblins).

Looking forward to both of these - and hoping to meet some of you there!

We'er All OfF to SuNy SPaNE...

...ElviVa EsPAnA! 

HeLo SofFtlinGs, the GoBBlinS of CloVenstOne heRe.  SoRry wee havs noTt bloGged for a longg tIme,  wee havs beEn busy doin a DIFFIKULT POO.

AnnywAy, here wee iz, to letT you kNo thatT GOBLINNS havs been pubBlisshed in suny SPANE, which is a skware countRy stUck on to tHe side of FRANCE. It is famUrse for GondoLas, BLue Fighting, and the Eiffefel TOWER, aNd nOw the soFftlinGs whoO livEs thEr caN reAd GOBBLINS tOo.  LoOk at thIs FaTNAstiCk coVer by Monica ArmiñO. 

WeE doN't whY shE havs put thOse soFftlinGs on itt whEn she could haVs bEen draWing hanDsom GOBbLINS, butT sHe havs doNe a LoVelTY paWtrate of KInG KnOBBlER On the BACK so wee wil LetT her oFf.

WeE hOpes yoO enjoYS the StoRy, SpAnish sofFtlinGs. Wee haVs notT redd it oursElfvs becos fraNkly weE could noTt be BOVVERED, buTt wee havs hErd iTt is VERRY GOoD.

And in OTHER NOOWS, thEr is a noo GoBBliNS burk cOmin out in tHe UK tOo!  ITt is calLed GObBLIN KWEST an itT wil be puBlishisHed in JOON. LoOk: itT is YELLO.

2013 - the Year of the Seawigs

Sarah McIntyre & friend at the Edinburgh Festival

Almost the end of another year, and, looking back, it feels as if it's been a fairly productive one. I spent last January writing short stories which are both available in anthologies now - The Roots of Evil for the Dr Who 50th Anniversary anthology, and We Know Where We're Goin for The End of the Road. And in March the Goblins of Clovenstone returned for Goblins vs Dwarves, which wasn't a book I'd intended to write (I thought Goblins was a stand alone when I was working on it) but which turned out to be enjoyable to do, and better than its predecessor, I think.

But from then on it was the Year of the Seawigs. Oliver and the Seawigs was another book I never planned to write, but it turned out that working with Sarah McIntyre is the best decision I ever made, and certainly ...Seawigs is the most fun I've ever had writing, and the publicity campaign has been amazing. I never imagined that I'd end up as one half of a double act after all those years of solo writing. And I certainly never imagined that I'd be performing sea monkey singalongs on the Golden Hinde next to a six-foot-tall illustrator in a six-foot-tall wig, or that our book would be advertised on the London underground, but look...

Photo: Blast

Photo: Stuart Pyle

Photo: Lauren O'Farrell

So in the coming year I shall be writing the third Reeve and McIntyre Adventure (Sarah is already hard at work on final artwork for the second, Cakes in Space, which will be out next September).  In April the third Goblins book will be published - it's called Goblin Quest, and I dare say the goblins will be taking over this blog to let you know all the details nearer the time. And I shall also be returning to illustration, for a new series by Kjartan Poskitt called Borgon the Axeboy (who may or not be a relation of our old friend Urgum the Axeman).

Anyway, if you've been reading my stuff in 2013 (or even if you've just been reading this blog) thank you!

And if you're still feeling festive, or if you've read Oliver and the Seawigs and are wondering what became of Stacey de Lacey and his army of Sea Monkeys, here's a short story which we posted on Sarah's blog while I was away in Ireland before Christmas.

And here's a lovely SONG, recorded for posteriority at Daunt's Books by the wonderful Candy Gourlay.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Goblins in the U.S.A.

Yay! We is goingg ter TAkE AMErICA BY STorM just like tHe BEATLEs. That burk corLed GOBLINnS is out now in the U.S, with an all-new cover. 

Framnkly we dus notT undersTtand itt, whOo is the laDy wivth the sworD ment to bee? And iz thoze othver fiNgs supPosed ter be GOBLINGS? Evryone who haz red GOBLInNS knoWS that weE is actUlally devlilishly handsome and tuoghf, we duz nott look like thatT bUnch of weierdoes. Butt that is the Americnans for yOu they also likE DownTon Abbie an thinK HersheY Bars tasTe like Choclolate. Who is wee to argoo?

AnyWay, iff yoo is an American GoBblins iz nott a bad burk an maKes verry goOd BUMWIPE. (We haz nott red it ourselves we iz wating fer the MOOVIE).

The Trainee Goblins of Greengate

Helo adoRing fAns thatts right itt is USS, the GObBlins of ClOVENSToNe, taking over thiss BOLG again to add a bitt of WITT and sophtiStikatoin stophistsicashun soffisti STUFF.  

Ther has been toO much talk about rubBish sofFtling DOCTER WHOO on heer recenTly and NOT ENUGH GObBLINS.

So three chairs cheEers foR MIss ElenOR Chetwynd-KnAgg at GreengaTe Junior scHkOOl in BarRow in CumbRia.  We is nott sure whAt a Junior Sckool is butt it looKs from the phfotos she has seNt as iff itt is a sort of JAOL or PRISSON where the sofFtlings keep their hatChlings locked up uNtil they iss old enugh to stopp bein so annoying. (Here at Clovenstone when hatchlings is annoying we just catapult them off the topp of the tower but thatt soLution does nott seem to hav ocCured to Miss ChetWynd-KnaGg perHaps shee is nott very bright. Or mayBe they does nott have any tall enugh towers in Barrow in Cumbria.)

Anyway, Miss Chetwynd-Knagg has deCided that the hAtchlings she is looKing after neEd proper ROLE MODDELS so she has frorced them to reed GOBbLINS, the well-known betstsellin brilliunt burk about  US. And she has made themm do stuFf called 'WORK' aboutt it.  

Heer is a bitt of their 'WORK' itt is a verry gOod likEness of King KnObBler cor istnt he handsOme? (The gloWy bitts are cos of the SUNN shinin out of his BotTom)

Heer is some more 'WORK'. Cann you thinK of woRds and Phfrases to describe gobblins? (Yes We cann: BRILLIUNT BRAVE FANTNASTIC aNd STRANGELELY ATTRACTIVE are amung the ones which spriNgg to mind...)

Here is some moar pictures an a load of leaves an bitts of oLd bumwipe with worms wriTten all over them dont ask uss what itt is all about...

An finaLly heer is a piCture which may be too DISTRUBING for reeders of a deLickate dispisishun for itt shoWs the sofFtling hatchlinggs at 'work' and as you cann see they are HIDEEUS (MisS Chetwynd-KnaGg has nott sent a pikture of herrself we expec she is even WORSE). Butt it is nice to sEe how haRd they is 'working' and to thiNk they is lerning how to be as TOUGH an COoL as GOBbLINS! (Hopefuly in the neXt lessen Miss C-K wilL get out the CLUBbS an BatTleaXes and they can all start walLopin each other.)

So THReE CHAIRS CHEEERS FOR GREENGATE JUNIOR SCHKOOL IN BARROW IN CUMBRIA aN ALL ITs HORRID HATCHLINGS! THe GOBbLINS of CLOVENSTONE SALoOT YOU!

PS: A Note On Punchtuation.  PrinceSs Ned read this and said we shOuld try puttin in some commas an apophstrophopes so heer they are '''''''''''''',,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Radio Devon Interview & Dartmoor photos

Here's a link to the live interview I did this morning with Judi Spiers for her popular show BBC Radio Devon. We talked for about twenty minutes, about Goblins, The Exeter Riddles, Oliver and the Seawigs, Animated Exeter and last weekend's Chagword festival - which was a huge success, by the way. Many thanks to all the people who turned up to my event! And many thanks too to Sarah McIntyre for posting this morning's interview on YouTube.




Staying with matters Devonian, my wife, Sarah Reeve, is planning to post a photo each day all this year. They're mostly pictures of the Dartmoor landscape near our house, and they're lovely. You can follow her on Instagram (where she goes by the name of moorland) or on Twitter for updates.

COpING WItH DWARVeS

TheRe now flollows is a PUBELIC INFNORMATION ANNOUNCEMINT by the GOBBLINGNS OF CLOVENSTONE.

3 TELL-TALE SIGNS THAT YOU IS BEIN INVADED BY DWARVES

1. MYSTERIUS CHIMBLEYS

Here (abuv) is a place that some dwarves invaded earlier. As you can see, dwarf mines needs air for the dwarfs to breathe so they builds big tAll VENTITILLATION CHIMBLEYS. If you look out in yore gaRden one day anD see a crop of tall stOne chimBleys, YOU HAS BIN INVADED BY DWARVES and they has probibly tunnilled unDer yore hoUse alreddy and is buzy diggin minEs in yore CellaR you is SO DOOOMED.

2. MOLEHILLS.

If yore molehills is about as high as yOur knees, they is made by plane ordnirary MOLES and you has got noThingk to wurry about: moles is HARMLISS and FARELY TASTY (don't miNd iff I do nom nom yum burp etc).  

Butt if yore molehills toWers above you to about the hiTe of a thrEe-story bilDing then they haS bin made by the dreAded gignantick DIREMOLES what the Dwarves have hArnissed to dig their mines and tunnils for them: YOU HAS BIN INVADED BY DWARVES quick Run Awaey!

3. LODES OF BLIMMIN DWARVES ALL OVER THE PLACE.

(This oNe is pritty mUch self eXplaNatory, reely.)

WHATT TO DO.

1. Do nott PICNIC.  

2. Do nott PANIC.  (To be oNnest this miGht be what nummber 1 was surPosed to say, we goTt a bit confused.)

3. Go to yoRe neereSt BUMWIPE SELLER and purChase a koPy of GOBLINNS VS DWARVES, the new WONDER BURK. 

It tels the GRIPING TALE of the DWARVISH INVASUN OF CLOVENSTONE an contanes lodes of INFNORMATION about DWAVRES AN THERE WAYS an many usefull tricks an scheMes fer fightinG them.

Iff thoze doN't wOrk, at leest itt will wHile awAy the Time whil you Wate for the tiTchy gRumbleRs to undErminE yore fOundatIons an bRing yoRe houSe tumblin down in ROOINS on tOpp of yoo.

Good luck, sofFtlings, an remeMememBeR: WaTCH thE GROUND! EVReYWhERE! KeEP LOOKIN! KEEP WATChING THE GrOUND!

PS: We nicked the dwArves pichcter off of thatt HObtiT Movie they is just sum soFtlings dressed up (Reel dwarves HATE haviN there photos takeN.)

An Announcemint from the GOBBLINS

Greetings, Pathethtick Sofftlings!

Yes, it is yore old frennds the CLOVENSTONE GOBBLINS here, with anothver top-notch GUEST POST. Thiss time we has bin arsked to alurt you to the PERRIL posed by DWARVES.

Menny people fthink thatt DWArVES is NICE. They wotches rubish films like SNO WHITE AN THE SEVEN SAMURAI and THE HObBBIT AN UNEXPECTORATED JOURNEY and they getts the idea thatt Dwarves is all joly an brave an hard wokring an such.

This is NOTT TROO.

Iff you read the ace new burk GOBLINS VS DWARVES (available NOW from all good sofftling bumwipe sellers) you wil learn about the trubble we had when a bunch of the stumpy-legged beard-faces decided to staRt mining up Clovenstone, where we live, an draniNg our precious lava lake from hoo's mystic depths (that's litterature) all GOBBLINGS is hatched.

Nott only thatt, but we had even MORE trubble when Skarper and HeNwyn tried to persuade the sofftlings to help us fight oFf the Dwarvish mennis.  An why? Because the sofftlings had all been reading Sno White an The Hobbtit or simliliar  unlilkely tales an so the beleeved thatt Dwarves is brave hard workling etc and that Gobblins is all EVIL and SMEL.

(Acshually we DO smel, so maybe they was right about thatt. But we digress...)

All this trubble what we hadd has made us reelise thatt most Sofftlings does not know their arras from their elbow when it cOmes to Dwarves. (CLUE: an ARRAS is a sort of tapestry, and ELBOW is a boRing softliNg band.)

In our next Blogg post wee will be tellin you THREE WAYS TO TELL IF YOU HAS GOTT AN INFNESTATION OF DWARVES an whatt you cann do aboUt the little bliters. In the meentime:

KEEP CARM AND BUY GOBLINNS VS DWARVES.

Ps:  Here is wott one nice sofftling bumwipe reviewer said about it, an all the others will be sayin nice thinggs too IF THEY KNOWS WHATT IS GOOD FOR THEM.

PPS: sOry some of this bloGg is a bit faded: GutgUst did a wee all over it.  

PPpS: PriNceSs Ned says yoo should probibly wash Yore haNds aFter yoU hav read it.

First editions & original artwork for sale - in a Good Cause!

If you saw my post about Excalibur a couple of weeks ago you'll already that I've been trying to help drum up some funding for Mossy Hare Productions and their documentary film Behind the Sword in the Stone.

Like many other people (but not enough yet) I've made a donation on their Indiegogo page. But while the rewards they're offering contributors all look highly desirable to a dyed-in-the-wool fan like me, I thought it might be worth adding some of my own. So if a signed photo of Clive Swift isn't enough to get you hitting the 'Contribute Now' button, you can claim signed editions of my books or a piece of my original artwork as well.

All you need to do is make a contribution via the aforementioned Indiegogo page, then forward a copy of your receipt to me at thesolitarybee@gmail.com.  I'll then get the item to you as quickly as possible by standard post (air mail if you're outside the UK).

I do realise that this a bad time of year to be running this - I can't guarantee posting anything in time for Christmas now, and if you're anything like me your credit card has just melted from prezzie-buying - but the Indiegogo campaign runs till the 15th January, so hopefully there will be some takers.

I have four items on offer, and they'll be dished out on a strictly first-come, first-served basis.

UPDATE: All these items have now been sold. Thanks very much to all the generous people who donated to Mossy Hare.  I'll be doodling, signing and mailing the books early in the New Year.

1. Sorry: SOLD!
 Goblins and Goblins vs Dwarves, signed and doodled in. 

You may have to wait a while for delivery, because my new book Goblins vs Dwarves is so new that it isn't actually out until next spring (I'd hope to have copies by March). I'll sign them, dedicate them if you like, and draw an original Reeve goblin (or dwarf) on the title pages.

It's yours for a donation of  $25 or more. 

 2. Sorry - SOLD!

The Mortal Engines Quartet (AKA Predator Cities), US editions, signed and doodled in.

Unfortunately the only spare copies I have of the UK edition are the new ones with the sub-X-Box covers which nobody likes. But the US paperbacks are lovely (though UK readers should be warned that the spellings have been Americanised, and they call Shrike 'Grike').

 These four are the only signed copies currently in existence, and if you like I'll do a quick doodle of a character of your choice in each book.

Minimum donation of $50

3.   Sorry - SOLD!  Fever Crumb 1st Edition hardback, signed and doodled in.

As with the books above, I'll draw a character of your choice on the title page. Unlike the ones above it's a hardback, with a fantastic David Wyatt cover complete with peek-a-boo hole which opens to reveal a huge landscape on the endpapers. It's also a first edition. It's therefore quite collectable, and a bit more expensive.


Minimum donation $100

4. Sorry - SOLD! 
A pen-and-ink drawing of London

Last year Scholastic asked myself and Jeremy Levett to write a short guide to the world of Mortal Engines, which we called The Traction Codex.  I think you can find it attached as a sort of appendix to the ends of the current UK e-book editions, and I'm assured that it will eventually be available as a separate e-book (although it seems to be taking a bizarrely long time and there is still no firm publication date as yet).

Anyway, I did some illustrations for this project, and this is one of them: the only time I've managed to draw the Traction City of London and make it look even remotely like the thing that was in my mind's eye when I wrote the book.  It measures approximately 24.5 x 18.5 cm, and it took flippin' ages, so I don't part with it lightly.  I had planned to have it on my office wall, but I'd rather see Behind the Sword in the Stone finished, so I'll exchange it for a whoppingly generous donation of $800 (about 500 of your British Pounds).



LATE EXTRA: Sorry: SOLD
For $75 you can have Four Rusty Knights, a very old picture by me. Details here.

Please don't approach the Mossy Hare people with queries about these - this is my own initiative, and I'm sure they have enough on their minds already! All queries should be e-mailed to thesolitarybee@gmail.com. I try to check messages there at least once a day, and will reply as soon as possible.  

My Next Big Thing

I've been seeing a lot of  'My Next Big Thing' blogs around lately, but I'd somehow assumed this relay or cascade of blogs was for new authors, who could legitimately claim to have a chance of being the Next Big Thing - that's not me; I was just a medium-sized thing, ten years ago.

But it turns out that the titular NBT doesn't refer to the author but just to the book they're working on, so established writers get to have a go as well, and I'm very grateful to Andy Robb for 'tagging' me at the end of his NBT blog.  I met Andy earlier this year; he's a lovely chap, and his book Geekhood is a treat, though slightly cringe-making if, like me, you were of a geeky persuasion when young. (The hero of Geekhood is much like I was as a teenager, only he meets an ACTUAL GIRL.)

Anyway, enough about him, I have important questions about ME to answer...

What is the working title of your next book?

 Well, I have a whole bunch of things in the pipeline. There's the McIntyre-tastic illustrated adventure Oliver and the Seawigs, there's its outer-space based follow up, and at the moment I'm busy with my Massive Untitled Space Opera.  But the next one of my books to actually hit the shops will be Goblins vs Dwarves, and that's its actual title, not a working title. It's the sequel to Goblins, it will be published in April, and it's going to look like this:

(Artwork by the brilliant Dave Semple, as before.)

Where did the idea for the book come from?

Goblins was pretty obviously inspired by The Lord of the Rings; I read it to my son a few years back and it made me think a)This is still the best fantasy world ever, and b)Why are all the orcs and goblins EVIL?  Aren't there any nice ones? Maybe they're just getting a bad press...  So I set out to write a fantasy where goblins were the heroes, and Goblins vs Dwarves continues to explore the same theme.  And just as everybody knows that goblins are bad, everybody knows that dwarves are good, right?  Well, not exactly...

Also, when I started pondering sequels for Goblins I thought of the well-worn plot of The Seven Samurai (remade as The Magnificent Seven, Hawk the Slayer, Battle Beyond The Stars, etc...) in which the inhabitants of a beleaguered settlement have to go off and find some heroes to help defend them from the bad guys. So I started writing a Clovenstone-based version of that. It quickly escaped and found its own path, but that was the seed of it.


What genre does your book fall under?

It's a fantasy adventure (but I hope it's a funny fantasy adventure).

How long did it take you to write the first draft?

This was quite a quick book to write. All the world-building had been done in the first book, and I knew what I was after, so I sat down to start work in the first week of January and was finished in mid March. Most of my books take a LOT longer.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I can't always think of actors I'd match to particular characters. I have no idea who would play my fresh-faced and accident-prone hero Henwyn, though I think Jenny Agutter would be a good Princess Ned.  As for the goblins and other creatures, they were partly inspired by 1970s illustrations by Brian Froud (right) who went on to design the films Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, and there's definitely something quite muppet-y about them.  (At the moment the movie rights for Goblins are with LAIKA, makers of Coraline and ParaNorman, so if that goes ahead all the parts will end up being played by stop-motion puppets anyway. Which is fine by me!)

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Goblins vs Dwarves! (The clue is in the title.)


Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

As with most of my books to date, it will be published by Scholastic.


What other books would you compare this story to in your genre?

It's about goblins vs dwarves, so I suppose there's a clear comparison with The Hobbit, though it features no giant spiders and 100% less golf.

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

I don't want to give away too much but there is an oracular bathtub, and some giant moles, and ghosts. WHAT MORE COULD YOU POSSIBLY WANT?

So there you have it, and it only remains for me to tag some other writers who can tell us about their Next Big Thing. I nominate...

...Gary Northfield, whose Gary's Garden strip in The Phoenix is always a highlight of the week here, and who I happen to know has a fantastic looking book on the way...

...and Natasha Ngan, who may well be the actual Next Big Thing.