David Maybury | Blog

I can hardly sleep with the excitement this week – it’s like Christmas around here these days!

Dave McKean is coming to town next week (along with Oliver Jeffers, PJ Lynch, Chip Kidd and so many others…)

That’s right, the man behind the pages of Wolves in the Walls, Crazy Hair, Coraline and The Day I Swapped my Dad for a Goldfish will be in Dublin – for a whole weekend. For anyone who hasn’t managed to wrestle a ticket for Offset, Dave McKean will be in Easons on O’Connell Street, Dublin at 6.30pm to sign, talk and maybe dance… (maybe)

Who knows? I might see ye there!

The folks at Mercier Press were in touch yesterday to talk covers – what might work, what might not and what covers I really liked. I came up with a pile of options including the eerie Chris Priestley covers, the power house that is Skullduggery Pleasant, the subtle Thing with Finn and the outstanding The Wild Things novelisation cover.

After a chat with Jenny in CBI and the VHC I’m leaning more and more towards something visually text based rather than a character representation. (I really love Skullduggery’s font) Excited and nervous to see what the designers come back with in a few weeks time!

So – what are your favourite covers? Cover elements?

The loverly Sophie McKenzie was in Dublin last week and I managed to corner her long enough to sign a copy of her new book The Set-Up (the first of great series the Medusa Project).

Fancy getting your hands on a signed copy? Or know someone else who would? Drop your name in the comments before Friday evening and our independent adjudicator will choose a winner (ie – a name will be pulled out of a hat).

this story is a crazy rampaging teen adventure involving doing what’s right in the adversity of wrong-doing. It has great action moments, super goodies and evil doing baddies. – Mr Ripley

But wait… there’s more! The nice people over at scamp.ie have a golden ticket! To OFFSET! (The amazing sold-out 3 day conference with national/international artists, illustrators, designers and generally visual folk). Fancy getting your hands on one? Head on over and get hunting.

UPDATE:
We have a winner! This one goes to….. >drum roll< Claire Hennessy.

A bit late after the bank holiday weekend but plenty of links to make up for it! The movies have taken over the papers – with plenty of reviews of Fantastic Mr Fox, Where the Wild Things Are, Astro Boy and The Vampire Assistant (Cirque du Freak).

Darren Shan hits the Afternoon Show, a very unspooky place for the master of horror… Donald Clarke lands the Fantastic Mr Fox with a 4 start rating…. and then wonders why kids movies is where Hollywoods hippest writers are heading?

Okay, Wild Things and Mr Fox may look superficially like kids’ entertainments, but Eggers-reading, Deerhunter-listening grown-ups no longer feel ashamed at dabbling in those waters. After all, if manure like Love Happens or Couples Retreat is now the adult alternative, then any sane person is going to go with the talking foxes and the cuddly monsters. Quite right, too. – Donald Clarke, Irish Times.

Paul Lynch talks Mr Fox while the Sunday Business Post picks up on Maurice Sendak’s ‘go to hell’ comments… and review Vampire Assistant and Fantastic Mr Fox. RTÉ reports that Ronan Keating has taken up flame and has promised to finish Stephen Gately’s children’s book The Tree of Seasons.

Harry Ritchie reviews Terry Pratchett’s 37th Discworld tome while Mal Peet reads BR Collins’ A Trick of the Dark. Bagpuss refuses a CGI remake, Katie Mitchell is throwing on a hat and a cat suit and Sarah Ferguson’s Tea for Ruby is to hit the small screen.

Collins is one hell of a writer. “Contains strong language,” the cover warns, because the Randalls say “fuck” a lot. Actually, the really strong language in this book is Collins’s daring and muscular prose. She tests the lexicons of darkness and light to their limits and beyond. Reading A Trick of the Dark is like watching a tightrope-walker feeling her way to the far stanchion. And she gets there. Just. She’ll be a truly great writer one of these days. This is a faltering yet confident step along the way. – Mal Peet, The Guardian.

Somewhere in the last few weeks I managed to miss the Times UK’s A day with David Almond – a great insight into the world of a master.

Asterix turns 50! (and gets Guardian Passnoted) and Francesca Simon (of Horrid Henry fame) chooses her top 10 anti-heroes. Publishers Weekly has a huge list of new reviews and Julia Donaldson’s Running on the Cracks won the ‘Inclusive Children’s Book’ prize at the nasen awards.

Maurice Sendak and Where the Wild Things Are takes centre stage. And rightly so! With more movie news – Dave Eggers meets the Guardian Books Podcast and introduces an extract of his new Where the Wild Things Are novel – while Patrick Ness throws in his own tuppenceworth. Fantastic Mr Fox hits the Independent UK, Vampires Assistant (Cirque Du Freak) reaches 3 stars in the Times UK, Philip French talks Mr Fox, Astro Boy fails to impress…

Meiji University are planning a library – the world’s largest manga library! The Independent UK has their now regular feature – new US comic releases – and a list of some of the new movie heavy hitters while Misfits gets the Channel 4 treatment.

The bank holiday weekend is in full swing – complete with mandatory rice krispie cakes, jelly tots and colourful sprinkles. I’m knee deep in the Cathy’s trilogy today – Cathy’s Book, Cathy’s Key and Cathy’s Ring – in the wake of reading The Amanda Project a few weeks ago. (I’m getting very comfortable with the pink covers these days!)

I can’t decide if interactive books with online storylines are exceptional or if they are modern versions of the role play Dungeons and Dragons books from the 80’s… So far it is a little of both.

Back tomorrow with a paper review and newsie bits.

Midnight has come and gone and the names have all been thrown into the hat. There can only be one winner though – so congratulations to Eolaí!

It might be the spring board for yer own book!!

Who doesn’t love Maurice Sendak? And I’m loving him even more in the wake of his ‘go to hell’ piece!

It’s not just the BBC who are making waves about political correctness and what kids should be reading, hearing and seeing… There has been a few quibbles and questions about Where the Wild Things Are being too scary for kids.

And Sendak’s reply? In a chat with Newsweek, he, Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers make it pretty clear:

Sendak: I would tell them to go to hell. That’s a question I will not tolerate. If they can’t handle it, go home. Or wet your pants. Do whatever you like. But it’s not a question that can be answered.

Eggers: The part about kids wetting their pants? Should kids wear diapers when they go to the movies? I think adults should wear diapers going to it, too. I think everyone should be prepared for any eventuality.

Sendak: I think you’re right. This concentration on kids being scared, as though we as adults can’t be scared. Of course we’re scared. I’m scared of watching a TV show about vampires. I can’t fall asleep. It never stops. We’re grown-ups; we know better, but we’re afraid.

For reasons known only to themselves the nice folks on the Sean Moncrieff show at Newstalk have asked me to pay them a visit this afternoon. Where? In the window of M&S on Grafton Street no less! (aka the busiest street in Dublin)

So from about 3.30pm later I’ll be talking fairytales, Humpty Dumpty and ‘creative reasons’. Tune in or drop down to heckle – I’ll be the one wearing glass slippers and following the trail of breadcrumbs!

Sitting down to lunch today was a treat!

It wasn’t planned (well, lunch is planned most days around 2) but sitting at a table opposite Jacqueline Wilson isn’t.

The intial  shock was followed by some hot flushes (on my part). A little stuttering (on my part). And a very gracious lady letting me say hello and take her picture.

Ms Wilson was signing yesterday at Hughes and Hughes, Dun Laoghaire and is in Dublin signing books today for wholesalers and appearing on Newstalk this afternoon.

Of course all I managed to say was… ‘I’m a BIG fan.’

Shame on me.

Chapters are at it again.

First it was Neil Gaiman. Then Dacre Stoker. And there was the HWCH last weekend… and now they’re back. This time with Gerry Hunt, the man behind Blood Upon the Rose – O’Brien Press’ new graphic novel.

Gerry will be in Chapters (Parnell St, Dublin) on Saturday 24 from 3pm signing copies of the new book. (Heartily recommended that ye tag along!)

But wait! There’s more… The clever people at O’Brien Press have given me a free copy – and it could be yours! Leave a comment below, before midnight Friday 23, and your name goes in the hat.

Update: Midnight has come and gone and the names have all been thrown into the hat. There can only be one winner though – so congratulations to Eolaí!

It might be the spring board for yer own book!!

Two link posts in one day? Why?!

Who are your favourite book characters? Harry Potter is still top of the list according to Booktrust.

Word on the street, or at least according to Harry Pigg, is that Margaret Keane at Giftedkids.ie won a Social Entrepreneur Ireland Award. Excellent news!

Stories to touch are releasing another iPhone friendly book… just in time for Christmas.

An alphabet story competition with Francesca Simon (the brains behind Horrid Henry) and Innocent Smoothies… Lots of goodies to be won!

ITV are closing their Arts Department. /gulp

Cally Taylor has not one, but two competitions! Find out more, g’wan.

Mercier Press are letting slip some trade secrets… Nice!

And finally – the pic at the top is from one of the new Invincible Ironman issues. Pretty or what?! (Click for another)

I’m finally putting my rss feeds back together after 6 months of neglect – and I’m looking for your essential reads… old favourites and new spots I haven’t discovered yet.

No one asked for it, but here are some of my own essentials (taken from a list of 376+ feeds and in no particular order):

Very Hungry Caterpillar Blog (CBI’s own Mags Walsh)
Book Witch (The one and only)
Scamp (The Illustrators Guild)
Spinebreakers (Puffin’s phenomenal site)
Forbidden Planet Blog (Should need no introduction)
Renee French (Unforgettable)
Pub Rants (Super agent… or so I’m told)
Vulpes Libris (Those devilish book wolves)
Fidra Blog (Selling a book? Fidra knows the business)
Eoin Purcell (One man publishing encyclopaedia)
Sarah Webb (The lady who knows everything. And everyone!)
Book Smugglers (Where do they find the time to read so much?!)
Achockablog (Michael Thorn’s head is chockablock)
It Had Better Be Good (Yvonne makes the rest of us look bad)
Barry Hutchison (Proving that hard work pays off)
Crime Always Pays (One man, a whole lot of crime and a little lady)
First Three Chapters (Keeping me in touch with my fashionable side)
Carousel (News that goes round and round and round and round)

I know I’ve missed a load of great blogs on the list – a post for another day. So who do you read?

It’s Monday again (already!?) The weekend papers at home were packed with best-sellers and heart throbs… Darren Shan got up close and spooktacular with Brian O’Connell while John Connolly has praise heaped upon him in the Irish Independent. On the topic of Irish papers and heart throbs… Fiona McCann talks longingly to Aidan Turner and ‘his Heathcliff hair and eyes the colour of mahogany.’

My latest book, Hell’s Heroes , has been my strongest in the UK and Ireland for 10 years, so I am still picking up steam here. It’s a word of mouth process,” he says, “Certain things break the mould suddenly, like Harry Potter, but for the rest of us it is a longer process. I mean it took Roald Dahl 10 or 15 years to get established. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was released in the US almost 10 years before it was published in the UK. – Darren Shan, Irish Times

Lucy Mangan reads Judy Blume’s Are you there God and likens it to the Gossip Girl of her generation. Josh Lacey gives Carl Hiaasen’s Scat the once over while Amanda Craig tackles two younger readers -  Lucy Cousins’ Yummy and Judith Kerr’s One Night in the Zoo. Will Self talks Roald Dahl, Wolverine gets dark  and Asterix turns fifty! In the New Yorker, Daniel Zalewski collides the world of picturebooks and parenting and Alison Flood investigates why parents are reading less and less to children.

Like the novel or the sitcom, the picture book records shifts in domestic life: newspaper-burrowing fathers have been replaced by eager, if bumbling, diaper-changers – Daniel Zalewski, New Yorker.

There were some large PR stories this week too – Eoin Colfer’s And Another Thing has been released into the wild (reviews in the Guardian, Times UK) And then there are the impending film adaptations of The Fantastic Mr Fox (Gdn, Times), Cirque Du Freak and Where the Wild Things Are – Gdn,  Times UK, Independent and the guardian again).

Colfer has achieved a perfectly calculated adaptation: a novel which serves as a fitting memorial but also has a life of its own. – Mark Lawson, Guardian.

Now… deep breath for the finish line:

Enid Blython writers from the grave, Toy Story 3 goes on the chopping block, Logicomix gets the third degree, Super Thursday fails to get up upand away, book awards have the curtains pulled open, New York Review of Books gets blogging, Chinese comics see sales surge – just no sex or separatism thanks, life is a fairytale – and who could forget the Cheltenham Festival?!

Long suffering readers will know that I like to brag. The chances are rare and this is just one opportunity I couldn’t pass up…

I’m off to see a sneaky screening of Mr Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox later today – and the rest of ye have to wait till later next week. (Unless of course, you have tickets too and then I’ll be seeing ye in a bit.)

But fear not! I’m not one to leave ye staring at your screen in the cold, miserable, non-cinema going reality. Have a look at the Times UK’s exclusive peak at the set and puppets from the movie. Go and have a look (I promise I’ll let ye know what I thought of the movie on Monday).

Here’s a sneaky look inside Istvan Banyai’s Zoom – from all the way back in 1998. A great take on perspective…that gets from a rooster all the way to space without an ounce of text.

Enjoy! (And of course ye can pick the book up on amazon)

Today sees the start of the 2009 MS Readathon – a sponsored month-long read to raise money for MS  Ireland that features thousands of readers from all over the place. From today until 16 November teachers, libraries and parents will be encouraging, sponsoring, suggestingand even buying books for everyone taking part.

And if reading wasn’t a decent enough incentive – check out the thank-you-gifts that MS Ireland have for everyone raising funds for ‘em… (hint: if you raise more than €1000 you get a Wii and a touch screen MP4)

Best of luck to everyone getting involved!

Twitter gets mentioned around these parts quite often. And along the way I’ve mentioned the great twittertales that Melvin Burgess has been writing these days. (You really should have a read of those shorts at melvinburgess.net)

And not ones to be outdone, the BBC and Neil Gaiman have come up with #bbcawdio. Where the clever boffins of BBC Audiobooks America want twitter to write a real, coherrent,  narrative that will be scripted and produced as a free audiobook. The story started with:

Sam was brushing her hair when the girl in the mirror put down the hairbrush, smiled & said, “We don’t love you anymore.

So if you think you know where this could go – check out the twitter stream and join in. I’m looking forward to hearing the end result – this could be great!

Somewhere in the tangle of last week I managed to miss out on the Irish Pen event, New Kids on the Block. A night with agents, publishers and authors including – Svetlana (of Author Rights Agency fame), Siobhan Parkinson, (children’s editor at Little Island, New Island’s imprint for children and teens), and Paddy O’Doherty (children’s editor at Puffin Ireland).

Luckily, a roving reporter (aka Sarah Webb) was on hand to record all the details (Sarah was one organisers of the night). There has been the promise of a full write up of the night but to tide ye all over she has put up some of the important tid bits.

Go and have a read. G’wan.

Those clever clogs at CBI Chambers have been in touch. They have 75 pairs (that’s 150 tickets) to give away for a preview screening of Fantastic Mr Fox! If ye fancy seeing the movie before all of your mates - then get clicking! (Deadline is today at 3pm)

Of course, if you were nice you’d tell your mates too so that they could go along with ye… just saying.

The Guardian are running a competition, all based around Terry Pratchett’s tome Nation. They want YOU, yes you sitting at the back scratching your name into the desk. They want you to make a video inspired by the book… and here they are to tell ye about it.

But wait! There’s more. Mark Ravenhill spills more about the bits and pieces of the competition here. So if you know your ‘wherefore art thous’ from your ‘alas poors’ then this might be for you. Or, like me, you’re more of a Goonies, Rambo and Ironman fan this could be your chance to shine… Philip Pullman and Michael Morpurgo both have some sage words for any budding script writers.

Finally – it’s here. October the 13th! I’ve been counting the days until I can let the cat (dog?) out of the bag on the new adventures of Greg Heffley, the Wimpy Kid himself.

The fourth of the Wimpy Kid series, for those who want to know such things, sees Greg get a pet, in fact he gets 2 (the clue is in the title). Dog Days is as funny as its predecessors with Greg spending his holiday living it up. Then down. Before coming out in one piece sort of…

There are embarrassing Mom moments and arguments with Dad. A more sedate Rodrick and Manny – and the unfortunate Rowley and the rest of the Jeffersons who all get get caught in the crossfire of Greg’s scheming.

The emphasis is far more on family this time around, as the Heffley’s try to spend some quality holiday time together. And of course – in the manner of this particular household – things don’t quite go to plan.

If all of that wasn’t enough… I’ve just spotted that Easons are offering 3 for 2 on all of the series! You can pick up the entire series for far less than the cost of family therapy – just live all of the hilarity through Greg!!

I’ve entered the recovery position in the wake of Darklight and the Irish Web Awards over the weekend (congrats to Dance Ireland on the best Arts gong!) But there was plenty happening in the papers over the weekend – so take a deep breath and maybe make a cuppa, there is a lot if reading this week:

Starting at home in the Irish Times, Anna Carey (who’s own teen novel is out next year with O’Brien Press) continues her rake of decent interviews and articles – this time with Eoin Colfer. (Eoin makes plenty more appearances with interviews in the Guardian and Times and he’ll be popping up on the radio waves during the week to boot)

I’m starting to worry about it now because the publication’s coming up and I keep meeting people who say, ‘Oh, you’re a brave man’. And now I see what they mean, because when I was writing it in a shed in Wexford, the publication was all very far away and I really didn’t care about it. I just thought, ‘I’ll write a book that I like and if 60 per cent of readers like it, then that’s fine’. But now I’m thinking, ‘Oh Christ, why did I cut his head off?’ ”
- Eoin Colfer on writing And Another Thing

Fiona McCann details her demise into twitter while Emmet Ryan looks at the rise and rise of tweeting businesses. (Patience, this is leading somewhere) Declan Cashin in the Irish Independent has a piece on the Dublin Twook Club – a book club based around twitter.

In the Irish Examiner Mary Arrigan (of Etsy’s Gold fame) has a few recommended reads. While elsewhere in the Irish Times, Ferdia MacAnna has a read of the ‘inexcusably shallow, vulgar, puerile and offensive’ Ross O’Carroll-Kelly and managed to raise a giggle.

Nicolette Jones in the Times UK has a read of Return to the Hundred Acre Wood by David Bendictus and Mark Burgess while the Independent UK has a non-review of the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid. (The embargo ends tomorrow folks – lots to tell ye. Lots!) Kate Kellaway in the Observer reads Jacqueline Wilson’s first historical novel, Hetty Feater.

In the Guardian Craig Taylor reviews Ian Rankin and Werther Dell’edera’s foray into graphic novels, Dark Entries – starring John Constantine – and the Independent features some new comicbook releases. Lynne Truss reviews The Princess and the Curdie, from the excellent George MacDonald

The great twist Rankin produces for Constantine to confront leads in an interesting but aimless direction. Rankin should get back into the skin of Constantine – the character is resilient enough to handle one misstep – and next time he should stick with real darkness and real horror, and leave the celebrities and their trappings for someone else to taunt. – Craig Taylor on Dark Entries.

The Times UK features the winning list of ‘The best 60 books of the past 60 years’ poll – with the legendary To Kill a Mockingbird coming out on top. The Independent UK takes a look at the manga legend, Astro Boy. The Guardian features Mal Peet – on winning the Children’s Fiction Prize – and the young critics have their say on how the prize went.

Maddy Costa remembers the melodic sounds of Oliver Postgate’s televison – and wonders are new shows missing something? And Anthony Horowitz and Charlie Higson have lunch.

I wrote my first children’s story when I was 22 and to this day I still don’t know why I did it. But it’s fantastic that it has become honorable to be a children’s writer, thanks to J.K.Rowling. When I first started writing, I would do anything in my power to avoid telling people I wrote for children. It felt slightly shameful, slightly shabby. Now, of course, no one thinks twice about it. It’s almost the next rock’n'roll. Also, children choose the books they want to read. Children’s books belong to children; they’re not something that your auntie picks out for you at Christmas any more. – Anthony Horowitz

And in other news:

David McKie on comic book vernacular – Alison Flood on the new UK library scheme – Disney goes digital via the NYT – JK Rowling misses out on an award because of magic – David Yelland (of The Sun fame) is writing for teenagers now – a little on movie heads rolling – the Independent UK really liked UP and looks at what is next for gamers – Maurice Sendak gets the Radio 4 treatment – Fan movies get the once over -

And last but not least, the famous youff has already started his media career – the artist known as TOM hit the airwaves this week to talk books. (As always, if I’ve managed to miss anything just let me know!)

Urgent update from Philip McBeardy Ardagh:

Have you seen this young person? Known on the street as ‘TOM’ – understood to mean ‘Terrestrial Organic Matter’. Needed urgently for auditions.

(Apologies to any innocent parties caught in the cross fire. You know who you are.)

I begged, pleaded and hounded the folks at Puffin. I even tried crying on the phone. And it worked, sort of…

I’ve had to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (a very fancy contract that means I can’t tell you what the book is, or anything about it really). But it did work, and I may, or may not, have a copy of a non-disclosed but very funny book at this particular moment.

What I can tell you is that I am DOG tired toDAY, far too tired to keep a DIARY, say. I will tell ye more about my WIMPish attempts after the weekend! (Wipes away tears of laughter).

Anyone else looking forward to reading Debbie Thomas‘ first book? Yeah? Me too! And if you fancy a sneak peak into the world of Thomas check out the most recent update on cb info. Debbie talks about being an aspiring writer. About being uncertain. About rejection. About signing book contracts. About her love of chocolate covered labradoodles… no wait, scratch that last bit.

Real writers have contracts and aspiring ones don’t. Then I signed one. And there was no rocketing. Not even a plane trip. Just a wonderful, affirming ticket to an adventure park down the road.

Go have a read – it will cheer ye up no end! (Anyone who throws a cyber-tomato will have to face me)

It really is award season at the minute (Nobel Prize earlier today, the Rooney Prize yesterday) and now the announcement of the Guardian Children’ Fiction Prize 2009.

Mal Peet’s Exposure has seen down the stiff competition of Terry Pratchett’s Nation, Siobhan Dowd’s Solace of the Road, and Morris Gleitzman’s Then to scoop the top prize.

The short list was terrifically strong, I had my heart on Nation but am delighted that Mal Peet has won! Coming to that desicison couldn’t have been easy for the judges. Last year’s award winner Patrick Ness reckoned that Exposure is…

…really exciting and meaty and ambitious. Terrifically told and put together.

If you haven’t read it – now is as good a time as any. And I can’t recommend the others shortlisted high enough!

How long has it been since I managed to throw some links up…? A while anyway. So here ye go folks – all that is with it on the interwebs.

Fiona Gartland reports this morning that:

ONLY 8 PER cent of Irish secondary school pupils learn two or more languages compared to a European average of more than 60 per cent, according to statistics released by the European Union. (Does Irish count??)

Think you could be the next Picasso? Monet? Jeff Kinney? Oliver Jeffers? Well you should go to Specsavers because yer blind! Okay, joking… but Sightsavers (the charity not the specs factory) are running the Junior Painter of the Year award.

Did anyone else know that Hanna Barbara master and well rounded, socially adjusted  legend John Kricfalusi was on the internets? Mr Ren and Stimpy!

Paddy Lynch features on the cover le cool. It’s well eh… cool!

Anyone else curious to see how vooks work out? (Anyone tried one yet?)

Eoin, of ideas and South Dublin fame, has lots of book newsie links of a more serious kind on his aptly named Eoin Purcell’s Blog.

And finally… the Gremlins 2/Where the Wild Things Are mashup (thanks Ned)

From the desk of Sinead Cochrane comes news that muggles can now have their own magic clock… those clever clogs in the Microsoft Research lab are working on The Whereabouts Clock.

It works just like the Weasley’s kitchen clock – with each family member appearing on the clockface with updates on what they are up to. (Well, almost the same… less magic more text messages)

Click to find out more… No home should be without one!

Okay folks – I have a Public Service Announcement from the Irish Copyright Licensing Agency and Irish Writers’ Union so if ye could put your serious caps on briefly.

ICLA are conducting a survey of authors’ incomes (from writing) similar to the research completed in the UK by the ALCS. The finding of the UK survey was that ‘writing is shown to be a very risky profession with median earnings of less than one quarter of the typical wage of a UK employee.’ (You can see the full results here)

From today, ICLA are inviting any/everyone to get involved and make the research as accurate as possible. If you’re an author and have 5 minutes to spare (who doesn’t have 5 minutes?) then head over and answer a few easy questions.

Also, please keep your arms and legs inside the website at all times.

In the mix of everything else going on with Bookfest this month I managed to miss one particularly exciting tid-bit. Those clever folks in CBI Chambers have cooked up a scheme to bring the festival’s residency programme online and talking to the world.

Enter the Write Stuff blog.

Where writers Celine Kiernan, David Donohue and Mary Melvin Geoghegan will be introducing you to some of creative minds in Monaghan, Sligo and Longford. There are plenty of plans a-foot for videos, songs and who knows what else so keep an eye on site for more endeavours into the interwebs.

On the pitch of my face
bikes are roaring around,
Valentino Rossi swerves round my mouth
as quick as a tongue.

- Ryan Forde out in Ballinamuck N.S., Longford