Just back from a terrific four days in Ireland.  I met lots of fantastic booksellers and librarians and teachers and journalists...  Ireland has been particularly great about The Knife of Never Letting Go and The Ask and the Answer, and I was delighted to get over there and say thanks.

I did a really fun event with the excellent students at Wesley College, Dublin (a special thank you to the "endlessly fascinating" Sam for being a good sport) with their equally excellent headteacer Niall MacMonagle.  Really good stuff.

And then on Saturday, I gave a speech at the Children's Books Ireland conference, where I was extremely nervous, but they laughed at my jokes, which is always nice (and not guaranteed!).  The best audience I could have hoped for, really, warm and encouraging and really passionate about books.  Who could ask for more?  I was so pleased to be invited and everyone was really great to me, so a huge thank you is on offer in perpetuity. 

Can you tell I had a good time?  Even Eurovision (where I was emphatically rooting for the goth twins from Armenia). 

And finally, a personal thank you (in case he reads this) to David from Easons for Firefly.  And you do know he's done it again with Dollhouse, don't you?  Nathan Fillion on Buffy, Gina Torres on Angel, who could that be lurking in the shadows...?