Requiem Ball with Derek Landy

I had the greatest night ever on Thursday night. I got invited to an exclusive party in London with Derek Landy to celebrate the launch of the FINAL Skulduggery Pleasant book.

The Requiem Ball

This was the first notice I saw about the Ball, and I knew that I had to try my hardest to win tickets. I was desperate to be there so I started to watch the blog and Facebook.

I got an email about a competition, the Requiem Ball was to be a Masked Ball, and in order to win a ticket you had to design a mask that you could wear.

If you know anything about the world of Skulduggery Pleasant, you will know that in order to protect yourself from magic and being controlled you have to 'take a name', this taken name acts like a bubble of protection over your real name. I decided that my taken name would be Catherine (Cat) Calamity, so I made a mask shaped like a cat.

It was completely home made and I was quite proud of it. However I didn't win the competition. Luckily for me my friend Kirsty also made a mask (she makes jewellery and did a beautiful wire mask) and she did win tickets. Luckily the prize was for 2 tickets so she agreed to take me with her.

The location of the party was a secret so we eagerly awaited the tickets arrival to tell us where it was.

This was the best Birthday present ever though, my Birthday was the 29th and the Ball was to be held on the 28th! So awesome.

So we found out that the Ball was to be held in 'The Crypt' on Bleeding Heart Yard near Greville Street in Farringdon. Luckily Kirsty knew where that was and we planned our trip.

We made it there in plenty of time, dressed up and in our masks and waited to go in.

As we entered we were given Wrist Bands, one black that said 'Bad to the Bone' on it and one orange that said 'Good at Heart', and we also got a badge. The location was perfect, it was like an old converted Church, really atmospheric.

We got given drinks as we arrived (non alcoholic of course) I had Strawberry Cordial with Cola it was yummy. There were professional waiters there, mostly french and very charming handing out the drinks and also mini burgers and cones with fish pieces and chips in.

We went around the hall and took photos

The Awesome Cake - painted with the book cover

Then we got an announcement that Derek Landy was about to arrive so we all headed back outside to greet him. He pulled up in a cool car and was met with cheers, which he loved!

We then headed back inside and queued up for photos with Derek

 There was a lovely lady there doing airbrush tattoos for everyone. you could either have the Skulduggery Pleasant logo, or a Skulduggery silhouette. I got the logo on the back of my right shoulder.

Yes, those are skulls on my tights!!!

Kirsty got a Skulduggery on her wrist

At 7pm they were going to do a Live Stream to all those that couldn't be there in person. Only 120 tickets were given out so a lot of fans missed out. During the live stream Derek Landy did a talk and a quiz. The 3 contestants for his quiz were Summer, Ellen and Lucas who run the Facebook Fan Page I believe. 

It had to be interrupted at one point because the Live Stream link crashed - so many people world wide tried to log on that it broke the system. 

It was good fun, I knew about half the answers to the questions and then hearing Derek tell us about his journey with Skulduggery and what it has all come to was incredible. I am so pleased to call myself one of his 'minions' (fans), he's a really nice guy and a very talented writer and he really appreciates all of his fans and the community that has built up around the books. 

After the talk, there was dancing and we each got a slice of the cake which was delicious.

Then they set up a table outside and we all got given a FREE copy of the brand new, final book 'The Dying of the Light' and to our surprise, Derek was going to sign them!

So we joined the queue and waited to get our copies.

It was an awesome night and he wrote 'To Becky' in my book and drew a little balloon with '26' inside, as it was my Birthday, he said he wanted me to remember when I got the book. It was so cool. We also got given a poster for the new book.

We smiled and thanked Derek and the helpers then made our way back. The train journey only took an hour and went smoothly.

It really was an incredible night and I feel so fortunate that I got to be there, it was a once in a lifetime moment and I would have been devestated if I had missed it.

I now have the final book to read and I know it will be Bittersweet - totally awesome and incredible and full of everything I could ever want it to be, but it really is the end and I have to come to terms with that fact. I have been following this series for years so it will be weird not waiting for the next installment.

Look out for my review, coming soon.

And by the slimmmest chance- Derek if you ever see this, I just want to say thank you! Thank you for your amazing stories and for being such a cool guy. 

 

I will be seeing Derek again next weekend anyway as he is doing a book signing in my local WH Smiths so I am going to go and get books 7 and 8 signed as he didn't come round here when they were released. If I get those signed I will have a full set of signed books!!!

 

Book Adventures in London

So on Tuesday night (22nd) I had reserved places at the "Worlds of Tomorrow Event" at Foyles bookshop on Charring Cross Road.

**If you want to get straight to the actual event, skip down to the orange picture**


With my new work timetable I wasn't allowed to leave until 5.15 and the event started at 7. I spent a lot of my breaks at work that day checking train times and praying that traffic wouldn't be too heavy, as from 5 to about 7 is rush hour traffic, and I had to get right into the center of town to get to the train station. The train to London then takes 50 minutes (if it's a fast train) or 1 hour fifteen ish if not.  Then I would have to get the underground, walk to the store. It was going to be tight. Plus I got an email from the Foyles event team saying that if you weren't there by 6.45 they would start to give tickets away to other people who showed up. - Mild panic mode!


My colleague Joyce came to collect me from work and luckily we seemed to be just ahead of the rush, we sailed to the edge of town, got caught briefly down one of the busier roads, but soon zoomed again. We found a parking space almost straight off and there was no queue at teh ticket booth. Luck was on our side - hooray!.

We then realized that we had 2 minutes spare to catch the fast train so we ran for the overpass and got onto the right platform and thank the Lord, we made the train. I could not believe it. We literally left the library and got on our train within about 6 minutes. Unheard of for my parts. :D

We have recently done a promotion at work based on a TV show by the BBC called 'My Life in Books', where they have celebrities on and they pick 4 adult books and 1 children's book, and they discuss how this book has affected their life, or why it means something to them. So at the library we have hard cards out for people to fill in with their choices and then we request their books and display them, giving other people the chance to take them out.

It's quite hard though, just picking 4 books, especially since I read so many. So Joyce and I spent the train ride discussing which books we would choose and why. I added most of Joyce's picks to my 'To Be Read' pile. She has great taste.


My picks were:
- A Place Called Here by Cecelia Ahern
- The Complete Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
- Study Series by Maria V Snyder



- Mrs Frisby & The Rats of Nimh by Robert C O'Brien was my choice for the children's book.

Comment below with what your picks would be.

Anyway, we arrived smoothly and headed straight to the Underground, one arrived within minutes and we were speeding off towards Leicester Square. (My goodness was it crowded on that tube train, Literally people piling in and squashing against you, so hot in there too) Luckily we were only in there for 4 stops.


We got off and climbed up the stairs, got our bearings and headed off for Foyles. to my intense surprise ( I expected to be late and sprinting towards the event) we had 15 minutes spare with which to find somewhere to eat. Cafe Rouge would take too long, McDonald's was in the opposite Direction, Subway had no seating, we started to get annoyed, everywhere was either busy, too far or not my taste. At last a couple of doors away from Foyles we found a little cafe that looked clean and friendly and we ordered.
After the quick sandwich and with about 1 minute spare we paid and left and made our way into Foyles.


Now for the excitement.


I love walking into Foyles, it's so big and it smells of knowledge and paper and adventure and, well, books!

Picture taken from Foyles website, drawn by Sarah McIntyre (I think). 

Click on picture to go to Foyles website. Image belongs to them.

We found a lift and went up to the 3rd Floor to the gallery, it was already buzzing with people and very hot. Joyce and I edged into the room, not sure where we had to 'sign in' but there were spaces free so they just waved us in without taking our names.


As I walked in I spotted Sarah McIntyre, (as you may know I met her at an event at my library back in February, I wrote a post about it here) but she was talking to someone, I then turned and spotted Steve Cole (again met him in Feb) he was also talking to someone so I slid in the room, however within seconds Steve had spotted me and called me over. *Fan Girl moment* he remembered me!!! How cool is that, I hoped he would, but I know he meets a lot of people so I was like "wicked", and it was so good to see him again. He gave me a big hug and I introduced him to Joyce and we got chatting. He was wearing a very cool T-Shirt too!


I then found a seat and got settled in. Minutes later Sarah spotted me and came over to say hi, again it was good to see her and we had a little chat. I was really looking forward to the event and could feel the buzz in the room.


Everyone soon got seated and the panel began.
Here is the description of teh evening from the website:

"In conjunction with the Society of Authors and the Kitschies Awards, this evening's panel celebrates progressive, intelligent and entertaining science fiction for readers of all ages. Travel with us into the world of tomorrow with authors Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre as your hosts, discussing the phenomenal rise of science fiction in Children's and Young Adult fiction, with special guests including Costa Children's Book Award-winning-author Moira Young, Steve Cole and Kim Lakin-Smith."

 I wasn't really sure what to expect but I knew it would be good. The authors were introduced, of course I knew Steve but Kim and Moira were knew to me, until I realized I had just requested Moira's book as this months read for my Teen Book Group - how cool is that!

I got a seat to the side, this was Philip Reeve introducing everyone. Sarah is the one nearest in the white boots, the Steve, then Kim, then Moira, then Philip.


The discussion was really interesting. All about he rise and fall of Sci-Fi, different trends and different ways Science Fiction has been branded to fit it. For example quite a bit of Dystopian has sci-fi tendencies, Steam-punk can be quite sci-fi orientated. They also looked at why Sci-Fi films were so popular but the books seemed to be a no go.
there were many aspects to the discussion and some great answers from the panel.
The discussion lasted about 45 minutes and then the floor was open for questions.

During this time I found out some of the other people in the audience - Patrick Ness was there (though I didn't get to say hello), and then Candy Gourlay (author of Tall Story) and Teri Terry author of Slated) were also there (they are members of SCBWI and I have spoken to them on Facebook.) They were both really nice, plus Joyce is a huge fan of Tall Story so she was in heaven there. It is nice to meet so many down to earth, helpful and friendly authors. so thanks ladies for making us feel welcome.

After the session, the authors left the room to go and get set up in another room to do book signings.



We then went out to look at the books so we could get some signed. I had promised myself I would just get one book, no more, but somehow I ended up with one for each author.
I got 'Blood Red Road' by Moira Young, 'Cyber Circus' by Kim Lakin-Smith, 'Queen Rat' by Kim Lakin-Smith (see I was caught up in the excitement I ended up with two by her, but never mind :P), 'Here Lies Arthur' by Philip Reeve, and a Astrosaurs book by Steve Cole as a present for my friend's children (slight nightmare that I wasn't sure how to spell their names, but yay I got it right in the end)

Philip and Moira together were a laugh and so easy to chat to, I had just started reading "Mortal Engines' by Reeve and told him how much I loved it, he seemed genuinely surprised - he's so modest. So everyone, let him know how awesome his books are!
Steve of course was fab, always have a laugh with him and Kim was a sweetheart too. Sarah did an awesome drawing of a pirate in Joyce's book and took some pictures of us. (hope she uploads them soon)



I got all my books signed and handed out some business cards with my blog details on, so hopefully you might see some of them featured on this blog in the future.


It was a great night and I managed to get some pictures taken.

Philip Reeve & Moira Young. :D they take a great pic!

This was me with Steve, Kim & Sarah. Steve said something to make me laugh just as the picture was taken hence my weird expression, but it was great. (see - I told you he had a cool t-shirt on!)

We then left the authors to finish their signing, we heard they had a restaurant booked for when they were done, so i didn't want to hold them up too long, possible the pub was calling too, I know that's where some of the other guests were going.

Joyce and I then had a quick mooch around the bookshop then headed for home. We didn't have to wait too long for a train (about 15 minutes) but it was a fast one so I was home by about 10:30.

It was a fab night. The discussion was awesome and I got a lot from it, I came away inspired and intrigued. To be honest i never considered myself as a 'Sci-Fi' fan, as they said during the night 'gadgets and gizmo's' are a common feature, but it can be so much more.

Thanks to Philip and Sarah for hosting such a great night, and to them and all the guests for taking so much time to talk to all their fans.  

If you made it through all that, well done. Think I may have woffled a bit there but never mind.

And if you just skimmed and looked at the pictures, I won't tell or be offended - promise! :D

 The only downside to all this was that I woke up on Wednesday and was really sick for most of the day, I don't know if it was food poisoning form the cafe we went to, or just a bug that seems to be going around. I don't suppose I will ever know. I hope if it was a bug that I didn't spread it to anyone else. 

That's why this write up is so late. But better late than never right.

Look out for my next 'Stacking the Shelves' video as I will show all the books and the autographs in them ;D

Author Signing - Louise Rennison 14/4/2012

I am going to try and right this post in the style of the awesome Louise Rennison / Georgia Nicolson ( a mix)


8:40 - Woken up by mother leaving for work, struggle for a minute to remember what day it is. Then it comes to me. Today is the day I get to meet the fabbity-fab author Louise Rennison, excellent, this is going to be marvy! I better get up and get ready.

8:42 - five more minutes in bed won't hurt.

9:00 - Now I'm running behind, why can I never find anything when I want it. "Flip, Flipper and Flipping hell!"

9:20 -  Crisis diverted, I am now dressed, fed and ready to go.

9:22 - too early to leave, maybe I should sit and read for five minutes.

9:35 - Oh for goodness sake, now I'm late again. My dad knew what time I had to leave but he didn't nudge me and my brother is still in bed, so he's no use. I'm gonna have to run for it.

9:40 - no queue at the petrol station - SCORE! fill up ready for the journey I'm getting all excited now.

9:45 - pick up my mate and right hand woman Sue, I'm early again. Ever feel it's gonna be one of those days?

9:55 - We are on our way! Cannot wait, gonna be Double cool with knobs on! (whatever that means? lol)

11:00 - Ladies and Gentlemen, We have ARRIVED! *thank you, thank you* I'll be here all day.

11:02 - the lovely Louise isn't due here for another hour, time for some delisch Hot Choccy methinks. Wow this cafe is posh looking.

11:45 - I'm circling the room, there is a table covered in black cloth and a chair that looks like a Throne behind it, must be Louise's spot. Lots of her funky books too. I must stay near and get near the front of the queue.

11:47 - other people are arriving with books, I'm sizing them up. Rennison fans unite!

11:55 - got my copy of her newest book 'Withering Tights: A Midsummer Nights Dream", I know it will make me laugh like a loon on loon tablets. :D

12:00 - we have been assembled into an orderly queue, you can feel the excitement rising.

12:05 - no sign yet, I bet Louise is doing something fabulous and witty, she'll be here any minute.

12:10 - Sue just said she was hungry, I had to agree, my stomach is growling like an angry bear, but it's gonna be worth the wait.

12:15 - OMG!!! Squeal, Louise Rennison just walked in. I think I've gone all jelloid!. :D

12:17 - she's talking to the girl in front of me. I'm eavesdropping on their conversation. She seems really nice. ooh my legs are shaking like wobble sticks.

12:20 - It's my turn, I was 2nd in the queue so it's me! I can't believe I'm meeting the marvy Miss Rennison.

12:27 - My gosh that was better than I thought it would be. Louise Rennison is definitely fabbity-fab and Double cool. We talked about the books, the movie, her stage-show that's coming up and she asked me about my life. She was super nice and funny. I told her I see a lot of myself in Tallulah and Georgia as I'm a bit loopy too. She asked if I ever say something then regret it? Well, I'd have to say - yes a lot. I will say random things and then think 'What on earth made me say that, it wasn't funny or clever and no one knows what I'm talking about' oh dear.

I got 2 books signed!!! :D

This was my first signed book, it says 'Really groovy and marv to hear about your life'
It goes onto a second page:

'Loads of Luurve - Louise R. xx'

How cool is that. She also did my new book:

"To the Marvy Becky, really groovy to meet you! Louise R xxxx"

How awesome is that. She then signed Sue's book whilst I stood by, still smiling like a loon!

12:45 - we have now left the bookshop and said goodbye to Louise Rennison, time for food and shopping. wooooo! So glad I could come and get my books signed. Bit disappointed I forgot to ask for a photo, oh well, maybe I can see her again next time she does a signing.  I bet you're all jealous.
I'm not going to write anymore, just know I will have a wicked day shopping and eat cake! but the highlight will always be meeting LR. :D


Louise Rennison is the best-selling author of the 'Georgia Nicolson series':

and now her latest series 'Withering Tights' Featuring Tallulah Casey;


Visit Louise's Goodreads page here

Visit the Official Georgia Nicolson Website here

Children's Book Day!

Today was Children's Book Day. This is a special event that happens every year for Bedfordshire Libraries.
We are given a list of books to read and then on the day we all come together, Library Assistants and Librarians and discuss the books, then vote for our favourite.

This year we were given 7 Children's Fiction books and 8 Picture books. Here's the list of what they were: (click on the title to go to my review)

Children's Fiction:
- The Memory Cage by Ruth Eastham
- Tall Story by Candy Gourlay
- For The Record by Ellie Irving
- A Year Without Autumn by Liz Kessler
- Zac & The Dream Pirates by Ross MacKenzie
- The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon
- Monkey Business by Anna Wilson

The Picture Books:
- Mine! by Rachel Bright
- Millicent & Meer by Richard Byrne
- When Titus Took The Train by Anne Cottringer
- First Week At Cow School by Andy Cutbill
- Norman the Slug With The Silly Shell by Sue Hendra
- When I Woke Up I Was A Hippopotamus by Tom MacRae
- Don't Worry Douglas! by David Melling
- Bedtime For Monsters by Ed Vere

Quite an odd selection compared to other years but I was looking forward to some good discussions.

The day was hosted in one of the libraries as it has quite a bit meeting room. We got there for a 9.30 start and all found a seat. After a quick intro from one of the Children's librarians we had 'Steve May' in for a talk.
Steve May is an illustrator of many books including the 'Buster Bayliss' series. He talked to us about his work and a bit of his background, then introduced some ideas for the Summer Reading Challenge - which he is designing for this year. It was interesting and good to see lots of different designs.

We then had a quick break then broke up into small groups to discuss the children's fiction books. There were about 8 of us in each group. We did a quick summary of each book then discussed what we thought about each one. I tried to push my favourite and really sell it. The discussion was good, we didn't all agree about everything but we did on some things. And I started to look at some of the books differently after the discussions.

We then had another talk, this time the wonderful Liz Pichon came in. (Yes her book is on our list, but we had already voted by that point and we weren't to let it sway our vote)

 Here's a picture of Liz when she was younger.

Liz Pichon of course wrote the 'Brilliant World of Tom Gates'. She started off by telling us how she got into Illustrating, and her love of design and drawing from a very early age.
Liz has illustrated some great picture books such as 'The Ugly Bug', "Bored Bill' and 'Spinderella'.

We had a fun game of 'Drawing consequences' - we had to design a monster but one body area at a time, starting with the head then the body then the legs & feet. Our monster had an egg shaped head with horns and hairy ears, with a triangular eye and warts, then 7 arms and a hairy chest covered with tattoos then a tutu with clown pants and platform shoes with fish in them. It looked fab when put all together, if not very odd.

She was very nice and funny and engaging and I really enjoyed her talk. I did enjoy her book anyway and it was one of my favourites and I am going to read the next parts in the series. :D

I was disappointed at the end though, as apparently an email had been sent round the libraries saying that we could bring one of Liz's books with us and she would sign it, but I never got the email and so didn't know which meant I missed out on a signed book (anyone who knows me, knows I love to collect signed books.) But never mind, at least I met her.

We then broke for lunch before coming back to our groups for the picture book discussion. We all agreed on one firm favourite, but the rest we all debated on, none of us could agree on what we liked/disliked. So it was great!
We put our individual votes in again and then went back to our seats ready for our afternoon talk. This time it was David Melling who has illustrated over 60 picture books! (yes his book was on the list too)

Picture taken from 'David Mellings' website which can be found here.

David was great, full of life and funny. He again told us about his childhood and how he got into illustrating. His slideshows/presentations were packed full with cool pictures and funny situations.

We did some drawing ourselves with David, he did a step by step talk through of how to do a Goblin. Everyone's came out slightly different but they all looked great. We all had to add extras to our goblins to make them personalised. I gave mine a crown and diamonds so he was a King Goblin, but a cute one. :D


David Melling then told us about his newest book called 'Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep' which continues in the series of 'Don't Worry Douglas which we had all read of course.
This new one isn't due out until April but he read it to us and then we had the chance to buy a copy.

I was first in the queue and David agreed to sign everyone's books, he told me that mine was the first copy of this book that he had signed, I felt so special and privileged. Here is a pic of his signing:

In case you can't see it properly it says:
'To Becky, Big Hugs, David Melling' then he drew a cute little sheep underneath. :D
He was so cool and I love my book. Douglas is adorable!

We then broke for another tea break, after tea we had our last guest speaker, his name was Tom and he was from a company called 'Nosy Crow' who specialise in 'interactive books' they also publish picture books and a bit of children's fiction.
He gave us a demonstration of some of the 'interactive books' they can be bought on iTunes and work on iPads. They are stories that are read out to you with all different voices, have music and sound effects and you can help the characters for example on the '3 little pigs' story, if you blow in the microphone you help the wolf blow the house down.

It was very cool and great to have a play with and the talk was interesting. I had heard of some of the picture books they had published and will be looking up some of the others. Tome struggled to get his iPad back at the end, we were all too fascinated by it!

We were then told the results of the book votes. With the Children's Fiction, there was only one point between first and second, second and third, third and fourth. So it was a really close call.

The Winner was: 'The Memory Cage' by Ruth Eastham.

The Picture book Winner was: 'Don't Worry Douglas! by David Melling, it was a clear winner.

We finished the day on a high and I really enjoyed it.
Although my choice didn't win it was a fab day and I enjoyed the discussions. It is great to just be able to sit for a whole day and talk about books, books, books. What more could anyone want.

If you have made it through all of that, well done. I salute you! Go eat a cookie as a reward.

Meeting Steve Cole

Today was the last day of our 'Children's Book Festival' but what an ending it was, we certainly know how to go out with a bang.

I got to the library this morning and furniture was once again being moved out of the way, and chairs set out, and cupboards were checked for tea and coffee supplies.
Today was going to be our busiest yet, but it was going to be awesome.

Author Steve Cole (pictured above) was due to arrive at 9.45, but I wouldn't be there to see him arrive. I had another Maisy Mouse event at a local Nursery group and had to leave at 9.15. I was gutted I was going to miss Steve and wondered if I could get back in time to see the last half, but it wasn't possible. I knew he had more sessions with us that day but I was convinced they were all out at local schools, so imagine my delight when I was told that his next session was actually in the library again. YAY!

The nursery event was great, there were 23 children there and only 1 was scared of Maisy. I arrived back at the library to see the class finishing up. I had missed Steve Cole's first session. :(  But it was OK, I had the next one to look forward to.

I wasn't down to be on the desk counter in the library for the next couple of hours, but I had some stock work that I could do at the desk so I carried a stack of books and barcodes and book jackets out the front and set up. This way I could still do my work but watch Steve at the same time.

Steve Cole is the author of many books from his 'Cows In Action' series, 'Astrosaurs' series, 'Slime Squad' series, Z.Rex, Doctor Who books and many more.

The kids filed in just after 11, it was a fairly small group but Steve made them very welcome and immediately lit the room up. Whoever said Libraries were quiet places clearly hadn't met Steve but we loved it. It's a great feeling to hear laughter and see the smiles of kids enjoying themselves and being interested in books.

During the next hour I hardly stopped laughing. Steve could be on stage, he is a great entertainer.
 I inwardly groaned every time someone came to the desk with books as it meant I had to divert my attention away from Steve to serve them. (should I admit that?) oh well.
Anyway, the kids had a great time and so did all the staff. I have never seen anyone with so much energy and a real spark for life and books. Some photos were taken but we haven't uploaded them yet. I am next in on Saturday so will do them then and see if I can use any on here and update it.

Anyway, he agreed to give autographs to the kids and I left for lunch with a smile on my face, but one regret was that I didn't get my picture taken with him. I couldn't stick around though as I had to eat so i could get back and get ready for the final Maisy Mouse event in the afternoon, there were 22 kids at that group, one of which kept holding my 'paw', think I made a friend. :D The kids all decorated mouse ears and attached them with a band round their head, so we ended up with our own group of mice. 

Steve had another session in the afternoon but this one was out at a school, to my delight he came back afterwards and asked for a group photo of the staff, three of us crowded under the display board with Steve and had our photo taken. It was done on his camera so I have to wait for him to upload it before I can get a copy, so I will be stalking his blog, which is here, if you want to read it too. (you should, go on!
UPDATE: here is the picture, and Steve's blog post featuring our library is here

Smiles all round!

I spent nearly all of today smiling. The furniture has now been put back and normality has returned, but we were all left on such a high of excitement, such great memories made. So overall it was a manic but very enjoyable day.
It's clear how much the kids enjoyed it when later in the afternoon we had some of them come back in with their parents to borrow his books to read. What a success!!!


So here ends our Library Festival fortnight and I can say it was a cracker, Magic Shows, Zoolab, Manga Workshops, Maisy Mouse on tour, Authors Knife & Packer, the wonderful Sarah McIntyre (see yesterday's post) and of course Steve Cole. Thanks to them all.
We even got to keep the picture Sarah Mcintyre did and one from authors Knife & Packer who visited earlier in the week, so we are going to get them specially laminated and displayed. 

Meeting Sarah McIntyre! & Maisy Mouse

For the last fortnight we have been working hard at the library for our 'Children's Book Festival', it's been a lot of preparation but my goodness it's worth it!!!

Today we had the lovely Sarah McIntyre, illustrator extraordinaire.

Look what she drew for us:

How awesome is that.
Sarah did two class visits in the library with some 5 year olds, reading from the book 'You Can't Scare A Princess' by Gillian Rogerson (which Sarah of course illustrated)

This book has princesses and Pirates, so there were lots of "Arrrgh's". My goodness I love a good Pirate story.

Sarah was absolutely brilliant, the kids and staff loved her visit. She is also one of the nicest, coolest and funny people I have met. (Thanks for all the advice and help in writing Sarah, I'll let you know how I get on, if you're reading this. :D)

I had to miss one of the sessions to go to a local playgroup to do a Maisy Mouse storytime. We have hired a Maisy costume and are going 'on tour' with it to various groups, today was stop number two.
My colleague read them stories whilst I got dressed in costume and she sang some nursery rhymes, then I walked in:

(this picture is actually from yesterday in the library, but I wanted to show the full costume.)

I shook hands, waved, danced and wiggled my tail then got changed into normal human being and came back out to help the kids make their own mouse ears. 

Was fun, but my goodness that costume gets hot! :D

Strangely though I find it fun, got two more events tomorrow.

I got back to the library in time for a photo, unfortunately Sarah was taking the picture so I didn't get one of her, but look how happy all us Library people are!

That's it folks. My I love my job!!! 

If you haven't read/seen one of the books Sarah has illustrated, she also wrote 'Vern & Lettuce, then be sure to check them out. You're never too old!

Here is a link to her blog:

http://jabberworks.livejournal.com/

and Twitter:

https://twitter.com/#!/jabberworks

Stop by and say hi! :D

Author Signing Derek Landy 9/9/2011

Derek Landy, as you may know, is the author of the Skulduggery Pleasant series. He is a LEGEND. These books will have you laughing out loud, your jaw will drop, your eyes will pop, you will grip the edge of your seat, they are pure awesomeness.

I follow Derek Landy's blog - 'Derek Landy Blogs Under Duress' and he is just as funny and friendly on there as he is in his books. When he announced his tour dates for this year I got excited. he wasn't coming to my local book stores but he was visiting Cambridge - this is about an hour away from me but do-able. I set about planning.

"Death Bringer" book 6 in the series was released on the 1st September 2011. I hurried out on the 3rd September and brought my copy. I could not wait to get stuck in. If you want to read my review of this book click here. Let's just say it is Pure AWESOMENESS. I read it in a couple of hours and was even more eager to see him at the signing today.

I met Derek Landy last year at Milton Keynes when he was signing copies of book 5 - 'Mortal Coil'. You can read about that day here.

As I had attended the visit last year, I was more aware about how these would work and the queue sizes. Although the signing didn't start until 3.30, my friend and I set out at 11.30 this morning. I drove to Cambridge Park & Ride, and arrived in the centre by 12.30, I was surprised we had made such good time.
We walked down the main street and looked in a few shops. Once we got to Waterstones we went in and were instantly greeted with piles of his book and a poster advertising the signing. My friend bought her copy of the book ready, and then we made our way to the store cafe for lunch.

After eating lunch we were still about 2 hours early. We had a look round the entire shop (it's 4 floors and really big) and then made our way to the first floor. It was now 2 o'clock. There were a few teenagers walking around with books but they soon disappeared. My friend and I found some chairs and settled in to wait. We picked a great spot as soon staff were setting up Derek's table and it was literally right next to where we were sitting.

At about 2.15 a young boy turned up with his mum and sat in the middle of the floor, desperate to be the front of the queue, he had to keep moving out the way as they set up but he was firm in his place. We sat and watched the magic unfold and laughed at the determination of such a fan. Then at about 3.00, a small group came up and the queue started, we leapt to our feet and joined. Ending up 7th & 8th in the queue.

It was getting so close we could almost taste it. I had carried out all of the books in the series (except book 5 of course having got that last year) My friend couldn't quite believe I had carried them all round, doubtful that I would be allowed to get them signed. We were discussing this as the young lad in front of us put his bag down and promptly lifted out all 6 books. I then looked down the queue and saw many others doing the same. It brought a smile to my face. The sore arms and aching back was worth it.
We got talking to the people both in front and behind us. The feeling in the air was of general excitement and friendliness. I heard a staff member say that Derek had arrived and was ready to start. I looked at my watch, it was only 3.20, but he was willing to start early. As Derek walked in a hush spread over the crowd, everyone seemed awed by his presence, I pointed out the stunned silence to my friend and we decided he needed a more enthusiastic greeting so we let out a fairly loud 'wooooooo'. No one else joined in though - we just got some strange looks.

By this time my arm was shaking from holding the books for so long but I was also trembling with excitement. I watched as the determined young boy got his books signed and a photo taken, then the next few people. I laughed at camera malfunctions and could hear Derek Landy talking to them - there was a lot of laughter and good humour. Then suddenly I was next, then  it was my turn. I approached the desk and gently lowered my stack.






Derek greeted me with a beaming smile and a friendly hello, while I replied with a fan girl 'hi' in a shy voice. Derek then asked what was in my hand. I then handed it over. I had made Derek a present - a collage of pictures from his books. Here's a picture (sorry it's a bit blurry my phone camera isn't the best. - )
He said he loved it and he put it safely in his bag.

He then looked at me and my friend and said 'I've seen you before haven't I?' my heart leapt out of my chest - HE REMEMBERED ME!!!! This made my day, no my week, no my MONTH! (I know it's only the 9th but I doubt anything will top that) I said yes and mentioned Milton Keynes last year and smiled. How totally awesome is that. Maybe craziness like I possess is hard to forget :D




I then asked him for a photo, he said yes but only if I did the 'pose'. Everyone that had approached the desk had to do the same 'pose'. There must be loads of photos out there, all slightly different but still awesome, I love my picture, I'm pulling a slightly funny face but it's great.
Don't we look cool!
I then asked Derek for a hug, as if you read his blog you will know he likes hugs. He said yes and we hugged - it was so awesome, some people in the queue went 'ahh'.
I was shaking with excitement and watched as he signed my books.  my hands literally trembling.
He then asked me if I had any questions I wanted to ask him. Before I got there I thought of some, and now I'm home again I can think of loads, but at that moment I stood there looking like a dazed fish going 'erm, er, well, er,...'
What an idiot! I should have written the questions down. My friend chimed in with one about movies, saving me from looking like a complete prat, he's looking at writing the movie script btw - how amazing is that - you know it will turn out fabulous if he writes the script. :D
I then stepped aside so my friend could get her book signed. We laughed a bit more but I can't remember what we were talking about. I tried to take a picture of them but my hand was still shaking, I got one on the 3rd attempt. (not posting here as I don't have her permission)
I then thanked him and told him about my blog. I hope he checks it out. If you have and you're reading this Derek - YOU ROCK! THANK YOU. :D

We then left, assuring Derek we will see him next year on his next book tour, shaking hands and waving at both Derek and the new people we had met in the line. Minions united for an afternoon!!!

We had actually got through and were leaving by 3.35, in reality it was quick but it felt longer at the time and was such a great experience. I thank Derek for starting early as it meant I had more time to get home just ahead of the traffic and according to the news, just ahead of an accident, saving me from being stuck in even worse traffic for hours!

On the drive home, we discussed our visit and the things we should have said and going over the things we did say, laughing at some of the memories. I got home and lovingly unpacked my book, looking over the signatures, showing them to my parents then lovingly placing them on their designated shelf. They look so pretty!

That's it, the summary of my day. If you read through all of that well done. Can you sense my excitement  - I'm still smiling. Derek was just so friendly and funny and I have a complete set of signed Skulduggery books! :D

His tour is still going, so if you're in the UK and want to meet him and get a book signed - even if it is the first book and you haven't read it yet, it's still worth it. Look up his tour dates here. I know he is in London tomorrow then Dublin after that, but check the details for times etc.
If you do go, tell him Becky aka. Barmy_Bex sent you!