Categories
getting published ice shock raves salsa

ICE SHOCK – proofs are here!

ice-shock-ms.jpg
Well here it is, the final proofs of ICE SHOCK, waiting for me to check through the line edits and maybe add a line or two here or there…

A brilliant end to a wonderful week, which began on Monday with some wonderful news from my agent re JAGUAR’S REALM…can’t be more specific just yet. And a totally cool party at the London Transport Museum to launch the WOW 366 book. Have you bought it yet? Go and buy it, it’s terrific bedtime story material! My daughter and I are reading three per night. My fellow writer, our lead developer for the Alternate Reality Game we are making for  ICE SHOCK and Litopian, Richard Howse was there and blogged about the evening, including a nice photo of my agent, me and Rich.

After the party I went off to the Afro-Cuban Lounge at Buffalo Bar. Word on the street is that this is no longer the top Cuban club night in London (and therefore the UK) – rumour has it that there’s a place on Wednesdays that’s better. But I’m telling ya, this Monday night the Buffalo Bar was swinging. Lots of hunky guys and sexy latino women, all terrific dancers, a friendly buzz. I was even invited to join a rueda. God, how I love salsa.

Then on Tuesday, St Giles Fair – it being the first Monday and Tuesday following St Giles’ Day. I was feeling queazy,  a bit hung-over after my night of drinking and dancing in London until the small hours. So I had to say no to the Waltzer, usually the highlight of the fair for my little girl. Still managed the barbequed corn-on-the-cob at the Jamaican food stand, the fresh cotton candy and hot donuts… And I stood for a few minutes letting the atmosphere of the fair wash over me. Some years it has struck me as grubby, crass, loud and mercenary. This year, however, I felt nothing but the lurve; for carnie folk and good times, memories of being there as a student, with my first daughter and now my second.

Tradition. You can’t beat it.

Then I dropped by the office of our IT company and met no less than five new employees who have joined since I last happened by…wow! See how well they’re doing without me? Also had a good morning talking to Rich about the ARG, putting together a project plan and coming up with neat ideas. This game…is going to be so fun.

Hung out with Susie Day and talked about Blake’s 7, one of the great loves of my life, and probably something to which I owe my writing career, since that’s how I got started – writing Blake’s 7 fan fiction. Hung out with Julia Golding and talked about writing crime fiction for kids. Muhahaha. More on that anon…

This is what I have always enjoyed about work. Hanging out with top practioners and talking about how to get better. In the end it doesn’t matter if the work is science, business or writing. So long as you work with the best in the world, work is heaven. You can’t ask for more.

Went to sleep last night listening to stuff about the Large Hadron Collider, for which, major kudos!

Categories
appearances getting published ice shock

MG and Editor

MG and EditorOriginally uploaded by mgharris


Here she is, Elv Moody of Scholastic, editor of INVISIBLE CITY and ICE SHOCK.

We’re in the bookshop tent at the Edinburgh book festival, a little while after my event. Hopefully I’ll receive copies of photos taken at the signing by Don the Headteacher at the Aberdeen-based International school whose pupils queued so politely.

I don’t think we look too bad considering that I was tired and hung-over from the partying of the night before. And Elv had a poorly eye.

Anywho. I enjoyed Edinburgh so much, esp hanging out with the Scholastic crew.

Ooh and I was able to tell the audience that finally, the title of Joshua 2 is indeed ICE SHOCK (sorry Es, but it will make sense when you read it and it’s inspired by a famous Doctor Who adventure – EARTHSHOCK).

And the glowy slipcover will be neon yellow…!
Emailed from my BlackBerry®

Categories
getting published Joshua Files translations

Coolness from Dressler – get ready for ‘Geheimakte Joshua’

dressler-webplayer.JPG

I’ve been waiting with great excitement to let you all see the coolness that is in store from the German publisher of “Joshua Files” – Cecile Dressler Verlag.

Number one is this awesome Webplayer for “Geheimakte Joshua“. Btw the German title is actually cooler than the English one – because ‘Geheimakte’ translates as ‘secret files’ not just ‘files’. Oooh, mysterious – good choice, Frank! See the advantages of a fusional language?

The ‘Geheimakte Joshua’ webplayer features an interview with me – dubbed by me auf Deutsch (someone else translated the words), a sample chapter and a terrific little book trailer. I show this to kids when I do book visits – they love it!

The second thing is a lovely little online tool you can use to customise a bookmark of ‘Geheimakte Joshua’ and print it out!

gj-bookmark-small.JPGHere’s a bookmark I made earlier – with a little message from me and the Ek Naab hieroglyph stamp.

dressler-herbst-2008-shot.JPG
Finally, if you are seriously keen – the Dressler autumn 2008 catalogue, Joshua themed and with four pages devoted to our little book.

Crumbs I’m excited.

Categories
appearances getting published Joshua Files readers

“The Joshua Files – Invisible City” Summer Book Tour


Well, today was the last date of my summer book tour. In honour of the tour’s end I’ve compiled some of the best photos with Animoto.

We (Kirstie from Scholastic and I) visited Borders Milton Keynes, which is a beast of a store – huge! You could spend hours there. Very interesting, intelligent questions from students at four different secondary schools in the MK area. Including two I’ve never been asked before – “How did you set about writing about Josh losing his dad?” and “Are you going to be a series writer.” (I thought for a moment the questioner had said ‘Are you going to be a serious writer?’ – a question which I’d have had no idea how to answer!

Some tour stats – 9 towns/cities, 9 bookstores, children from 23 schools, over 1000 school children…phew. Including my old primary school Beaver Road in Didsbury, Manchester. Thanks to the teachers, librarians, booksellers and children who made it all possible. Thanks also to the publicity department at Scholastic Children’s Books!

Thank goodness it was spread out…I’m a teeny bit tired now. Tomorrow it’s back to the manuscripts. Two now…the second draft of Book 2 (with helpful notes from Editor) and beginning Act 2 of Book 3.

Next stop Edinburgh Book Festival at the end of August. No rest for the wicked and luckily I’m a workaholic so I’m bloody mad for it, like.

Categories
appearances getting published Joshua Files readers

Author Tour Report 3: Gorgeous Thing – the cover of ‘Invisible City’

Author Tour Report 3: Gorgeous Thing – the cover of ‘Invisible City’Originally uploaded by mgharris
My editor Elv said it best, I believe…it is a gorgeous thing. And nothing to do with me…except very indirectly as the author of the story which inspired this artistic vision of Andrew Briscombe from Scholastic.
I’ve visited a school every day for the past three days of my author tour…photos to follow when I get home. A big talking point is always the cover, which the young readers adore, but also teachers including one Headteacher and an award-winning librarian…Now a couple of reviewers have been a bit sniffy about the cover, whilst being perfectly lovely about the novel itself. That’s okay…its success in attracting readers might lend the impression that it’s what such reviewers have decided is simply a ‘marketing gimmick’. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…to quote a famous Seinfeld episode…

But in fact, as I’ve discussed with almost 400 school students in the past three days…the jacket of Joshua Files is a genius tactile intrepretation of some key facets of the story.

Allow me, Umberto Eco-like, to offer a semiotic analysis of this remarkable piece of packaging:

1. ‘Invisible City’ features a mysterious ancient Mayan book whose cover is deadly to touch…hence the removable cover in dangerous-looking neon orange.
2. The J symbol denotes the Maya…in a highly subtle way. Mayan ruins impress immediately with their terraced temples of stone rising from the jungle…the parallel lines of architecture. Hence the lines of the J symbol. And when you slide the slipcover across the J, white lines appear next to the black ones…steps in shade and light.
3. The J also represents hieroglyphic writing. It is in fact a glyph – symbolizing Josh.
Umberto would have had said something much cleverer and brought in some eclectic references from art history and maybe quoted Deleuze…but, yanno.

At a school in Romiley, Stockport today, a year 11 boy showed me up for the slow-witted, former Rubiks wannabe I am. He finished the cube 60 seconds before me, in true Rubiks-kid fashion, hardly even glancing at the cube as he whooshed the pieces into place. By comparison I was staring at the cube, slowly turning it much as a caveman might handle a one-for-all TV remote.

Nice going pal, but as we say in Mexico…’Como me ves, te veras.’ (as I am, you one day will be)
Emailed from my BlackBerry®