David O'Connell's Blog

Another busy, strange year. This is the only post I’ve made to my blog this year and it might well be the last. I tend to use my Instagram account for news these days. However, here’s a summary of what happened in 2022.

February:

The Naughtiest Unicorn On A Treasure Hunt came out – the TENTH book in the Naughtiest Unicorn series.  It introduced the poo cart, a necessary piece of equipment when Dave the Unicorn’s around.

On the very same day, Grandpa Frank’s Great Big Bucket List by Jenny Pearson was published! I don’t think I’ve had two books that I’ve illustrated out on the same day.

Grandpa Frank was a lovely book to work on – very funny and full of heart. Jenny is a brilliant writer, and the book was deservedly The Sunday Times children’s book of the week. Here’s one of the illos –  where Grandpa Frank and Frank Jr join a geriatric synchronised swimming squad!

Also in February, the second book in Dr Ranj’s non-fiction series was published: Brain Power! It’s a really informative read, all about the brain’s workings and how we each use it in very different ways. As ever, it’s told in the good doctor’s warm, reassuring style.

The previous book I illustrated for Dr Ranj – How to Grow Up – was nominated for the award for children’s non-fiction book of the year in the British Book Awards.

March:

March means World Book Day, and that means people dressing up as characters from your books. The Naughtiest Unicorn  has been the inspiration for a number of excellent and inventive costumes over the years, and 2022 was no exception, including a reproduction of one of the book covers!

@davidoconnell My daughter Esme is the wonderful Dave today! We love him” x pic.twitter.com/7BxsJCl04r

— Claire Davies (@CDConservation) March 3, 2022

Happy #WorldBookDay! Dave, The Naughtiest Unicorn (At Sports Day) will be burping, napping and munching doughnuts at @HayfieldLanePri today @PipBirdAuthor @davidoconnell pic.twitter.com/v5PmbLrj0N

— Ruth Varley (@RuthVarley4) March 4, 2022

April:

The second book of The Smidgens series came out: The Smidgens Crash-Land. In this book Gafferty meets the fearsome Burrow clan, hidden under the 13th hole of the golf course! Plus the villainous Claudia Slymark returns … all drawn in Seb Burnett’s unmistakably brilliant style. Here’s my favourite illustration: how to make sticky shoes from jelly chunks. Handy for climbing walls!

June:

The big publishing parties returned after a break during the pandemic. I drew a portrait of myself at the biggest – the HarperCollins party at the V&A museum.

Here are some snaps:

L-R: Paul Howard, Guy Parker-Rees, Jack Noel and Sarah Horne.

L-R: Sarah Horne, Leigh Hodgkinson and Sarah Massini.

August:

The Case of the Runaway Brain by Nick Sheridan was published. A clever and funny mystery with the bonus of added sausage dogs. A lot of fun for me to draw.

September:

My final book of the year was published! The eleventh Naughtiest Unicorn book – The Naughtiest Unicorn & the Firework Festival. This one had a firework night/Diwali theme, perfect for reading on dark autumnal evenings.

That’s six books published in one year – my best year to date!

2023 will be my tenth year as a published author/illustrator. As it begins I’m looking forward to a whole new set of challenges and perhaps some new directions too.

It’s been another tough year – perhaps tougher than the last one. Endlessly waiting for things to go back to ‘normal’ and slowly realising that might not (ever) happen, and not been able to establish a new ‘normal’ because the situation continues to change. The only option is to keep going!

Thankfully, I’ve had plenty of work to distract me. I illustrated six books during 2021, wrote one book and had five books published (one of which I wrote, the rest I illustrated). I had some great press and publicity, and am set up with work for next year – I can’t ask for much more than that.

My last update was in April. Here’s what’s happened since:

July:  The first of two Naughtiest Unicorn books  came out.  In The Naughtiest Unicorn on Holiday, Dave and friends go on a camping trip. Making friends with beavers, foraging for marshmallows and wiping your bum with leaves – all the ingredients for a classic vacation!

September: It was swiftly followed by the second! September is when all the Christmas-themed books get released. The Naughtiest Unicorn in a Winter Wonderland is a suitably snowy addition to the series, with the Unicorn School gang off on a winter sports holiday which includes a yeti encounter! Dave the unicorn isn’t the keenest sportsman but it doesn’t stop him getting involved.

There are two more Naughtiest Unicorn books on the way next year (one of which I illustrated this year) which will bring the series to eleven books so far! I’m astonished as just how popular this series has been and love seeing the reaction whenever a new book comes out.

During the spring and summer I also finished writing the second book of the Smidgens series (out in April ’22) and illustrated a new book for TV doctor Dr Ranj Singh (Feb ’22) and a book by author Jenny Pearson (Feb ’22). More on those in the future.

December: Finally, the remaining book I illustrated comes out right at the end of 2021. Breaking News: How to Tell What’s Real from What’s Rubbish is a non-fiction book written by BBC TV journalist Nick Sheridan.

Aimed at 8-12 years olds, it covers the history of journalism and newspapers, describes how news stories are gathered by news organisations, and helps young people to find the real stories amongst all the fake news that is as much a plague of the times as COVID. It’s also very funny! The Times listed it as its children’s book of the week just yesterday (11/12) which was brilliant to see!

Nick is unsurprisingly a great writer and I’m illustrating some more books by him next year. The book is out on December 23rd which is a bit of an odd date, but I expect it will be in shops before then for any last minute Christmas shopping.

Merry Christmas and keep for fingers crossed for a happy, healthy 2022!

 

The last twelve months have been very busy for me, possibly the busiest I’ve had, which makes me feel very lucky considering how tough it’s been for others recently. I think I’m right in saying there will be a total of five books with my name on published in 2021 – a personal record – and I’ve five books still to illustrate before the end of the year, as well as another one to write. And that doesn’t include ideas in development that have to be slotted in somewhere.

Additionally, we moved house just before Christmas, leaving London behind for the seaside town of Brighton. Everywhere was shut because of the the country being in lockdown, so it’s been a slightly odd experience. Even though we’ve lived in Brighton for four months, lockdown has meant we haven’t really had the chance to properly explore it, aside from the sea front, so I don’t feel quite settled in yet. The house needs some renovation work so there’s been plenty to occupy the weekends, however.

Here’s what’s happened since the summer:

October: The Naughtiest Unicorn & the Spooky Surprise, book seven of The Naughtiest Unicorn series came out. It was a Halloween-themed book with plenty of pumpkins, scary stories and dressing up fun. There are two more books in the series out in 2021, the next in July.

February: The book I illustrated for TV doctor and paediatrician Dr Ranj Singh was published. How to Grow Up and Feel Amazing went straight to number two in The Sunday Times children’s books bestsellers list, and has been a stunning success for Dr Ranj. He worked really hard during the build up to publication day – there wasn’t a TV or radio show where he wasn’t plugging the book! I had a nice message from him, thanking me for my efforts, as well as an acknowledgement in the book itself, which I’m really grateful for.

How to Grow Up is aimed at boys aged 10+ and covers every aspect of being a teenager, from body changes, to mental health and relationships. It’s very well written, warm and engaging, and while aimed at boys would be useful for any family with a teen asking those awkward questions. There’ll be more Dr Ranj news soon…

March: I did my first ever virtual event for the Oundle Festival of Literature, a live webinar on World Book Day talking about my work and how I get my ideas. There were about 400 children watching, some at home and some in school. I’d been a bit unsure about virtual events, as some of my author friends have had mixed experiences. Talking to a silent camera is not quite same as talking to a room full of excited children, but I think it went well and was certainly expertly organised by Helen Shair. You can judge for yourself as the event was recorded and you can watch along here:

Behind me you can see my new workspace, up in the attic of our home. It’s a cosy, well-lit spot, and although I can’t see the sea, I enjoy spending time there.

Speaking of World Book Day, there were plenty of Naughtiest Unicorns running around as part of the festivities. It’s always brilliant to see people dressed up as characters from books you’ve worked on, and Mira and her friend Dave the Unicorn appear to be real favourites. Here are some of them I spotted on Twitter:

@PipBirdAuthor Jorja is ‘Dave’ inspired by the Naughtiest Unicorn books. #WorldBookDay2021 #lovethis pic.twitter.com/cUtqQ1dld9

— Rhian hughes (@rhianhughesNICU) March 4, 2021

Isla couldn’t wait to dress up as Mira from her favourite book series this year – the Naughtiest Unicorn by @PipBirdAuthor for #WorldBookDay

I’m not sure who’s cheekier – Isla or Dave the unicorn pic.twitter.com/AG22ljDegy

— Mel (@little_melios) March 4, 2021

Happy #WorldBookDay
Just dropped Mira & Dave off at Unicorn School @PipBirdAuthor Hope everyone has a lovely donut filled day! pic.twitter.com/hf0xJz2NbB

— Sarah_NealRM (she/her) (@SNealrm) March 4, 2021

World book Day

Today we have a naughtiest unicorn and one of the world’s worst children! #worldbookday #books #read #readabook #davidwalliams #davidwalliamsbooks #theworldsworstchildren #worldsworstchildren #thenaughtiestunicorn #unicorn #children #readingisfun pic.twitter.com/Al4nzNC0zu

— Clandy (@ClaireSmith383) March 4, 2021

@lindfieldpri #WorldBookDay @PipBirdAuthor Tilly as “Dave the Naughtiest Unicorn” pic.twitter.com/X5lAEfiCL3

— Ellen White (@thelovelyellen) March 4, 2021

#FrodshamCEBookedPotato@FrodshamCE
Favourite book – The Naughtiest Unicorn
Dressed as – Mira
Booked Potato – Dave the Unicorn
She’s also re-read the whole first book today

@WorldBookDayUK #naughtiestunicorn @egmontbooksuk pic.twitter.com/f8tNzgGxhD

— Lady Sandbach (@LMSandbach) March 4, 2021

@EcclestonPS Last minute entry for the #bakeoff competition. Biscuits inspired by our lockdown favourites! The Naughtiest Unicorn series by @PipBirdAuthor pic.twitter.com/DRK1HM6DBF

— Caroline Parr (@CarolineJParr) March 7, 2021

@PipBirdAuthor my daughter loves your books so it was always going to be Mira and Dave for #worldbookday ! She even wrote and illustrated her own The Naughtiest Unicorn story to go with her costume! Thank you for writing such a funny and fabulous series! pic.twitter.com/tiY3V59VPq

— Sarah (@sbay10) March 4, 2021

April: Bringing things up to date, April saw the launch of The Smidgens, the start of a new series written by me and illustrated by Seb Burnett. It’s set in the same universe as my Dundoodle Mysteries series but is a separate story, and has a slightly different tone – still fun and filled with adventure but slightly more thoughtful, as I delve into the characters thoughts and feelings a bit more than previous books.

Smidgens are tiny people who live amongst us, the Big Folk,  but we can never spot them as they disguise themselves as insects and other creepy crawlies. Gafferty Sprout and her family think they’re the last Smidgens in the world until Gafferty discovers clues that there might be other Smidgens out there, and then she’ll stop at nothing to find them, even if it means a perilous journey into Big Folk territory… It’s a story about loneliness and finding your place in the world, and the responsibility that goes with it. I’m really looking forward to seeing what people think about it.

I should mention I absolutely love Seb’s illustrations, they’ve really brought the world of the Smidgens to life. Here is the Roost, the home of one of the Smidgen clans who all disguise themselves as birds:

And here are the villainous ghosts, Totherbligh, Hinchsniff and Peggy Gums. They’re so creepy!

I was completely delighted and honoured to discover that Blackwell’s Books have chosen The Smidgens as their children’s book of the month for April. It means such a lot when a bookseller gets behind a book and I’m really grateful – and as bookshops are finally about to reopen, it will hopefully be a big boost for The Smidgens too. Thank you, Blackwell’s!

I’ve created some activities to go with the book – a PDF containing story-making ideas, games and puzzles. It can be downloaded here. You can find all the buying information here.

Back for another update later in the year!

Today is the official launch day of the UK arm of Bookshop.org, a platform designed to be an alternative to Amazon but with the added benefit of helping independent book shops.

With its cheap prices and fast delivery, there’s no denying Amazon’s appeal. But as far as books are concerned, this comes at a cost to book publishers and authors as Amazon demands large discounts from publishers who want Amazon to stock their books. Amazon often sells at a loss, just to get customers to come back to their site and continue buying. This means book publishing has become less and less profitable – and that hits authors’ earnings. Additionally, as online shopping becomes more and more popular – or even a necessity just now – smaller retailers struggle to compete and perhaps don’t have the resources to manage an online store of their own.

Started in the US, Bookshop.org works in collaboration with independent book shops and the book distributor Gardners, to sell books straight from the warehouse – but independent book shops get the benefit. Bookshop.org manage the sales, with the shop getting a cut of the income.

There’s more info here but essentially there are a couple of ways to buy from Bookshop.org:

Search for your local shop on the Bookshop.org site (over 130 shops have signed up so far). Use their store page to buy books, and the shop gets 30% sales commission.
Search for the book you want and buy direct from Bookshop.org. 10% of sales goes into an earnings pool that is split between all the shops.
Buy from an affiliate shop (like mine!) and I get commission too. Anyone can set up an affiliate – eg. book clubs.

Please give Bookshop.org a go if you’re buying book presents in the run up to Christmas, or check whether your local shop is already doing online sales – I know many will be working behind closed doors to fulfil orders in the coming England lockdown. And don’t forget Waterstones, Foyles, Blackwells, WHSmiths and others who are all facing challenges right now, and were even before the pandemic. Just avoid Amazon, if you can!

Check out this article in the Guardian on Bookshop.org for the thinking behind the scheme.

I’ve been itching to tell everyone about this and finally I can! Today, my lovely publisher Bloomsbury revealed the cover of the first book in my new book series: The Smidgens, illustrated by Finnish artist Teemu Juhani, and designed by Juliette Rechatin.

I’ll post more details about the book closer to publication date (April 1st 2021) but for now, let’s just admire this beautiful piece of artwork! I absolutely love it: delicious cakes and mischievous tiny people against a backdrop of gold and blue. You can’t miss it! I’ve been a follower of Teemu’s art for a while – you can find him on Instagram here. I’m particularly a fan of the series of Inktober illustrations he created last year – funny but spooky, the perfect look for The Smidgens.

You can find more about the book here (still a work-in-progress at the moment) including some pre-order links (it’s never too early!).

I’d almost forgotten I had a blog! So much has changed in the last seven months since my last update, mainly involving the world being turned on its head, that my own little bits of news seem unimportant. But it’s helpful for me to record things, otherwise I’m bound to forget what’s happened – and a lot of it was good, so that would be a shame.

I hope my readers have managed to get through the epidemic (at least this first wave of it) unscathed. I know a few people who have suffered from COVID-19 and it sounds absolutely horrific, with recovery almost as troublesome as the disease itself.

Lockdown has been quite productive for me despite my brain being full of worrying distractions, just like everyone else. I illustrated a couple of books and signed up for some more, and some books have appeared in shops (see below for details).

I’ve also been working on editing the text for the first book of my new series. It’s changed quite a lot – I mentioned in my last post that it’s a spin-off from my Dundoodle Mysteries series but I’m playing down that idea as it’s become much more of its own beast, and I’m looking forward to seeing what people think of it. I’ve seen some artwork by the illustrator and have been blown away by how he draws the world I’ve created in words. It’s very exciting and I’ll share more information when I can.

Here are some of the happenings since the beginning of the year.

January: I spent some time updating my portfolio with some new art. Above is a favourite pic, which is on my welcome page, and you can see the rest here. I think it’s time I gave my website a major overhaul, although I probably won’t get time to do that until Christmas!

March: The fifth Naughtiest Unicorn book came out – The Naughtiest Unicorn on a School Trip! School trips always involve a visit to the gift shop and I had a lot of fun drawing this – here’s a snapshot.

The book came out on World Book Day, when children are encouraged to go to school dressed as their favourite book characters. I was thrilled to see a few Naughty Unicorns dotted around social media. Here’s my favourite:

Hilarious! She’s dressed as Dave the Unicorn in his sports kit and looks like she’s loving every second.

Here’s a tweet from Blake Harrison, the actor best known from the TV comedy The Inbetweeners:

My daughter went to school today dressed as Dave The Naughtiest Unicorn. Basically a unicorn who farts and poos at inappropriate moments. I couldn’t be prouder. Love my little legend so much #WorldBookDay

Also she’s a method actor so the teachers are in for a tough day.

— blake harrison (@blakeharrison23) March 5, 2020

Archie McBudge from The Chocolate Factory Ghost didn’t miss out:

@davidoconnell check out our own Archie Mcbudge with his honey dragon, fizzfires and mcbudge fudge. #WorldBookDay2020 #excited @KeithHarding9 pic.twitter.com/XhhSIGZ8e1

— Paula Harding (@polly2123) March 5, 2020

Lockdown came into force in the UK in the middle of March. I was very pleased to discover my book activities were being put to good use by home schoolers. You can find all my activities, including ideas for drawing, making comics and creating stories, as well as colouring-in sheets, puzzles and teaching resources here.

Finley Epps let me know he’s been inspired by my Dundoodle books. I love to see readers’ art:

@davidoconnell hi David o’Connell! I have made a book of wyrdiness and drawn a pookiecrag castle! Do you like them?!

It’s cold and frosty in these parts, so a good time to stay indoors and update on what’s been going on since the summer. It’s not been that eventful, but I have been very busy with writing and illustrating, so a productive time all in all.

The fourth book in The Naughtiest Unicorn series (The Naughtiest Unicorn at Christmas) should be on the shelves of a bookshop near you right now. It’s filled with snowy, tinsel-themed antics – including the search for the perfect Christmas tree and the traditional school play, The Legend of the Snow Unicorn. As ever, I drew the pictures for Pip Bird’s story (life’s a lot easier for illustrators when everything is covered in snow!). Find out more about this fun series for younger readers here.

Meanwhile, I’m in the middle of writing a new book at this very moment. I’m really excited about it! Whilst I’m not allowed to divulge too many secrets, it’s part of a new series that takes place in Dundoodle, the setting for The Chocolate Factory Ghost, but involves a new set of characters – effectively it’s a spin-off of The Dundoodle Mysteries.

Archie McBudge and his friends may well feature in the books, but I’m using the stories to explore the different aspects of the magic that infuses the town of Dundoodle. It turns out that the Wyrdie Tree is not the only source of enchantment around. The first book in the series won’t be out until 2021, but I’ll keep this blog updated with as much detail as I’m permitted.

Speaking of Dundoodle, here’s the colourful cover of The Revenge of the Invisible Giant, the last of The Dundoodle Mysteries, brilliantly created by Claire Powell (I expect there’ll be an official social media reveal at some point but I’m too impatient for that!).

The book is in shops next April and I can’t wait to see what people think. The story involves the quest for a mysterious object that takes Archie, Fliss and Billy to parts of the magical world rarely seen, where they encounter many fantastical creatures of the Wyrd.

Druids, giants, warlocks, selkies and mermaids all feature — it’s a bonanza of information for Billy and his wyrdiological research and a lot of fun for me to write!

You can find out more at my web page for the book here.

The Polish version of The Chocolate Factory Ghost (Duch z fabryki krówek) came out in August and appears to have gone down well, judging from the reviews. I’ve been making a list of the different versions of Archie’s name taken from the foreign editions I’ve seen so far:

English: Archie McBudge

Danish: Archie McBudge

Dutch: Arthur McBell

German: Archie McEllen

Polish: Archie McKarmelek

Persian: Archie Maccabee

Who would have thought Archibald was such an international name?

Finally, The Chocolate Factory Ghost has been nominated for a number of awards and I’m pleased to add another to the list: it’s among the twenty books up for The Fantastic Books Awards, run by Lancashire Library Service. It’s lovely to have this kind of recognition and have my fingers crossed for the announcement in the Spring.

I hope you have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

The year is whizzing by in a rather startling way and I’m very behind with my blog. I could blame my disorganisation or I could blame this guy, who happens to be my namesake:

This is Dave the Unicorn who, along with his BFF Mira, is the star of The Naughtiest Unicorn, a series of books written by Pip Bird that I’m currently illustrating. Dave and Mira meet at Unicorn School and have a bunch of silly adventures, mostly involving glitter, doughnuts and trouble!

There’s an interview with Mira and Dave here! Dave spends most of his time scowling, eating and farting. I’ve no idea why I was given this illustration job…

There are SEVEN books in the series, and they’re all out in the next year or so – that means lots of drawings of unicorns and rainbows which is keeping me very busy indeed! The first and second books are out already and the third appears in shops in September – you can’t miss them as they’ve all got very shiny covers. Perfect early reads for unicorn fans aged 6 and upwards.

But what’s happening in Dundoodle?

Meanwhile, The Dentist of Darkness had been out in the world for a few of months and appears to be going down well. I did some launch events at a few schools in north London, that coincided with World Book Day, that were exhausting but a lot of fun.

The story centres around Unquiet Night which happens to be very soon (the first Tuesday of the school holidays, as every Dundoodledonian knows)! It’s the night when tree-spooks, bog-people and other wyrdi-folk appear and dance their wyrdi-dance through the darkness of the forest.

Everyone in the town will be baking Gingerbread Dragons, amongst other goodies, to celebrate in the Unquiet Night festival held in Dundoodle’s main square. And they’ll have their own dance around the streets, as so brilliantly illustrated by Claire Powell:

You can make your own Gingerbread Dragons with the recipe from my DoD activity pack, available to download from here. As well as the recipe, there are puzzles and story-making ideas – ideal for keeping bored minds busy during the school holidays. If you need more things to do the CFG activity pack is here. I’m going to expand on the activities section of my website, to include more creative writing advice, so keep an eye on that if you know any budding writers.

I’ve also had to do some travelling and events back in May, thanks to the award nominations that The Chocolate Factory Ghost has received. I didn’t win anything (apart from the runner-up sparkly glass thing that’s the size of an egg from the Leeds Book Awards!) but it was great to meet all the children from the local schools who’d participated and sign all their books. I got more reviews than anyone else on the Leeds Book Awards website (not all of them good, mind you – young reviewers have very firm ideas about what they like!) and it was wonderful to know that my story had got into the hands of so many enthusiastic readers. Here’s a couple of photos taken at the ceremony:

https://twitter.com/o_rory/status/113...

Then in Surrey, I went on some school visits for the Surrey Children’s Book Awards, as well as popping into the wonderful brand new library at Horley:

https://twitter.com/HorleyLibrary/sta...

Finally, the third Dundoodle Mystery is on the long road to publication – the text was signed off back in April and the illustrations are underway. And I can reveal its title: The Revenge of the Invisible Giant! Ta-daaa! Here’s the official blurb:

When a batch of his experimental sweets goes wrong at the McBudge Confectionery Company, Archie needs a distraction. And when he hears about a book of magical wisdom lost in a tunnel beneath the mountains, Archie is determined to find it. It’s DEFINITELY so he can be the best magical guardian of Dundoodle that he can be and DEFINITELY NOT so he can turn tree branches into flying surfboards. Only trouble is, the key to open the tunnel was broken into four pieces hundreds of years ago and hidden.

Archie, Fliss and Billy set out to find the pieces of the key, but why was the tunnel sealed off in the first place? And what is the deep, sinister, MOUNTAINOUS voice Archie keeps hearing on the wind?

This is a fast-paced, action-packed story that I’ve stuffed with magic and fun, and has a huge cast of mermaids, selkies, warlocks, golems, gods, druids and, of course, giants. It’s not out until next April but it’s already available for pre-order now from the usual places, but please do use your local bookshop if you have one. All the info on ROTIG can be found here, which I’ll keep updated as best as I can.

I’ll finish with the bittersweet news that this will be the last of the Dundoodle Mysteries books, but…. it’s not the last of the tales of Dundoodle! I’m not allowed to say more just yet – something tantalising for the future…

The second book of The Dundoodle Mysteries finally came out in Thursday – World Book Day in the UK! Once again, it feels like I’ve been talking about a book for ages and then, suddenly, it’s actually in shops and in people’s hands. It’s always exciting when a new book comes out, and this was no exception.

Here’s the fabulous animated trailer – made by illustrator Claire Powell.

The trouble with talking about the same book over and over again is that it’s difficult to find something new to say each time. But I don’t think I’ve written before that I think The Dentist of Darkness is my favourite of the the Dundoodle books. It has the fun and sweets and the mystery of The Chocolate Factory Ghost, but it also has a atmosphere of magic and darkness all of its own. It goes deeper into the mythology of the town and Archie’s own family history.

I’ve loved getting lost in the world, and particularly loved creating Unquiet Night, the Dundoodle version of Halloween, as Archie learns from his friends over a hot chocolate in Clootie Dumpling’s cafe:

‘Dundoodle doesn’t have Halloween,’ explained Fliss. ‘Halloween is at the end of October, and in Dundoodle that means icy wind and horizontal rain. The weather’s so miserable even the undead stay in and watch TV! So we have Unquiet Night in the summer instead…’

‘Unquiet Night is when the dead and undead walk, and the spirits and ghouls rise,’ said Billy. ‘Legends say the magical folk come out of hiding for the night and dance the Dance of the Wyrd.’

Archie frowned. ‘That sounds like Halloween to me,’ he said.

From The Dentist of Darkness

Whilst Unquiet Night does sound a lot like Halloween, it has its own special Dundoodle flavour. Festive food such as Coffin Cake, Witchberry Buns, Spellcaster Sugarbeer, Wyrdie-pudding, Spooky Pie and Corpse Rolls are consumed in great quantities. But the favourite treats are Gingerbread Dragons, which prove to be central to the story as Archie discovers more about his magical heritage…

All the info for The Dentist of Darkness can be found here. I’m really looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks about it. I’ve been doing some events as part of the launch for the book, and will post some photos once I get hold of them.

Of course, World Book Day also means people dressing up as their favourite book characters. There’s a bit of a debate as to whether this is a good thing, as it puts parents under a lot of pressure, but I know that authors are delighted if their characters are chosen, me included. Sarah McIntyre and I regularly see a Jampire out and about:

@jabberworks happy #worldbookday. Addie is loving being a #Jampire today (and I was loving how easy her costume was to make- thanks for that

A busy afternoon for me yesterday, but away from the desk for a change.

Firstly, a trip to community arts radio station Resonance FM as a guest of the superb Down The Rabbit Hole show, devoted to children’s books. Sita Brahmachari and I reviewed three very different books, along with our warm and welcoming hosts, journalist Imogen Russell Williams, literary agent Louise Lamont and publisher Melissa Cox – there was lots to talk about and the half-hour flew past. You can listen in to the chat here:

All previous episodes of DTRH are available on Mixcloud or via iTunes.

The books we reviewed were:

Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of the Species – adapted by Sabina RadevaCharlie Changes into a Chicken – by Sam Copeland, illustrated by Sarah HorneThe Burning – by Laura Bates

Thank you for having me, DTRH!

Karl Newson

Then straight from the studio to Waterstones Covent Garden for the launch of my book buddy Karl Newson‘s new picture book, illustrated by Chiaki Okada. For All the Stars Across the Sky is a beautiful book, perfect for bedtimes. The artwork is stunning, and Karl knows just how to strike the right note with his text. It was so nice to see a launch so well-attended, and it was great to catch up with various other book chums too.

Chloe Douglass, Steven Wood, Samantha Meredith, Tim Budgen, Jamie Littler & Laura Ellen Anderson.