Tuesday 30 August 2011

The Great Explorer Picture book


My second picture book 'The Great Explorer' is finally finished and winging it's way to the printers! It will be published on 2nd February 2012 by Andersen Press and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. This is the cover!
 'The Great Explorer' tells the story of a young boy named Tom, whose Dad is a famous explorer. His Dad goes missing in the North Pole so Tom decides that he must go and find him and sets out on a perilous journey across Oceans, snow and ice, braving dizzying heights in a hot air balloon and helicopter. He also crosses the path of some scary large animals!
For my second book I wanted to make a fast paced rollicking adventure so I arrived at Tom as the main character to battle the elements. I am a huge fan of the great arctic explorers like Shackleton and Scott and of all the astounding feats of bravery they achieved at the turn of the century but the character that I hold dearest to me is of course the great Tom Crean. I have a mild obsession with him, as do many Irish people, so this story is a tip of the hat to the great man. My story is set in the North Pole as opposed to the South Pole, mainly because the animals are better :-)
I'll post more images and info from the story closer to the release date of the book! Also I'll post here about the launch for it which will be some time in February.


Saturday 27 August 2011

The Beast at Edinburgh Book Festival

 
Very excited to be doing some book readings at the Edinburgh book festival tomorrow afternoon. Do drop in if you're in the vicinity! Click here for info.
Any recommendations for shows on over the weekend?

The Lonely Beast in New York Times

I was delighted and very surprised to have The Lonely Beast included in the New York Times Sunday Book Review in last Sunday's book review section ahead of its release on September 1st in the U.S. Hooray!
You can read the review here.