December 2011 Archives

Hey, all, quick hit before the new year to say that, in addition to the Foyles London event on 1 February (more details soon), I'll also be appearing at the Cologne Literature Festival on 21 March.  Details and tickets here (auf Deutsch).

Greetings to the tons of new commenters!  Yes, I do read them all, and it's great to hear from you.  Remember to follow me on Twitter @Patrick_Ness (where I ramble on about nothing much), and a Happy New Year to everyone!  See you in 2012.

Not a lot of details yet, but save 1 February in your diaries.  I'll finally be doing a London event!  It'll be at Foyle's Bookstore on Charing Cross Road, and it'll include Jim Kay, illustrator extraordinaire of A Monster Calls.  It'll be free but ticketed, and I'll put up all details as soon as I have them.  Hope to see you there.

I was on Radio 4 this afternoon on Last Word, talking about the great Russell Hoban.  You can listen to it on iPlayer.

And in very nice news, A Monster Calls has been named Best Children's Book of the Year by Booklist, and has also been included in year-end Best Of lists by the Independent, the Chicago Sun Times and the Qatar Tribune, so a nice spread around the world, eh?  Really pleasing.

Greetings to the new commenters, and a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday season for everyone.

Today is the last day to vote for A Monster Calls for the Galaxy National Book Awards Book of the Year.  It's for UK and Irish residents, and you can do it here.  Come on, let's take down Dawn French!

A Monster Calls was also in the Wall Street Journal over the weekend as one of their Best Books of 2011, which is really cool.

Greetings to the new commenters, and just to say that movies take a long time and I promise that when there's any news (including any chances to audition), I'll shout it here and on twitter (@patrick_ness). 

One of my very favourite writers died this week, the amazing, amazing, amazing Russell Hoban.  His Riddley Walker is a big influence on the trilogy, and one of the most incredible books of the last fifty years.  I had the honour to contribute a note to his obituary in the Guardian.  He's someone you might want to seek out.

I've also realised that I haven't heard much from you guys about the A Monster Calls audiobook.  It's read by Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy from the Harry Potter films), and it's really good!  If you like audiobooks, and I know a few of you do, check it out.

Greetings to the new commenters.  More soon.

It turns out A Monster Calls was discussed very nicely on Front Row on Radio 4 last night.  You can listen to it here; it's the Meryl Streep episode.  Meryl (can I call her Meryl?) is on until about the 17 minute mark, and then children's books get discussed.  Nice.

Also, lots of comments and twitter queries about the Chaos Walking movies, particularly about casting!  Yes, I know, I know, I do, and if and when there are auditions, trust me, I will let everyone know.

NEWLY ADDED TO THIS ENTRY!  Just saw an unexpected and really lovely review of A Monster Calls in the Telegraph today, and also for Portuguese speakers, an interview I did for Folha de Sao Paulo is up!

Greetings to all the other new commenters.  More soon!

Well, it's not exactly my TV show, but you can watch the Booked program I was on yesterday online now on 4-on-demand.  There are a surprisingly large number of ads to wait through, but be patient!  My bit starts at the 14.30 mark.

And if you watch it and would like to vote for A Monster Calls for Galaxy Book of the Year, well, I'm not going to stop you...

Greetings to the new commenter!  So many from so many places.  I do read every single one (I have to; I weed out spoilers!) and in answer to a query, best place to write me a letter is care of the publisher in whichever country you live.  I get them all.

I'm going to be on TV this Sunday, on Booked on More4 at 4.40pm.  They'll be talking to me about A Monster Calls and the Galaxy Book Award.  Check it out!  See if the concealer worked... 

And then when it's all over, you can vote for A Monster Calls to win overall book of the year, too, if you so choose.

Also, some really nice press as well, with A Monster Calls getting a great review in the Express AND (and I really like this one) it got picked as Best Young Adult book of the year by the Kansas City Star.  Nice.

Let me know what you think about me on telly, greetings to the new commenter, and don't forget to follow me on Twitter on @patrick_ness