Celine Kiernan's Blog, page 25

The fantastic book trailer for the Aussie edition of the...

The fantastic book trailer for the Aussie edition of the ghostbook. Squeeeeeee.

I love Allen and Unwin.

Just to say…

I'm very gratified to see Moorehawke listed on megwrites recent #buyabiggaynovelforscottcardday Hash Tag 

That's all… carry on…

Competition winners

Sorry for the delay in getting back re the competition, folks, but it was SO HARD TO CHOSE A WINNER! We had so many terrific entries that every time we decided, yeah, this is the one, we'd think – wait, what about this one, and wince, and start all over again. But we finally came a decision… kind of.

You remember how there was only meant to be one winner who would get a copy of the Irish edition of the book and a flat of the Aus cover? Well in the end, we decided to pick two winners, one of whom will win a copy of the Irish edition and one a copy of the AUS

And those winners are…

Mollie Sullivan, who (being Australian!) wins an Irish edition of the book. Here is Mollie's terrific description of what it might feel like to be a ghost:

It was like holding your breath but never being able to experience the relief of releasing it again. The crawling of your skin was like a million tiny bugs that took pleasure in sending chills through your nervous system when someone swept past. You were as insignificant and as unnoticeable as dust sitting on a window sill; you had to accept that never again would you have the influence to change even the smallest of things that so many humans took for granted. You could only sit, and like a shadow, watch as people made decisions, took paths and journeyed into their future.  Never again could I make that choice, that decision or live in that moment because I was now a ghost; with only memories and no future. 

And Shoko Tomita. Shoko, I'm not sure where you are from, but you have won an Australian version of the book, with the following evocative mini story:

So it's true! Nobody can see me or touch me. I was almost giddy when I realised I don't have to follow any of the rules of the universe anymore. Yes I was no longer alive, but I was content with the life lived with so much love. Yes I was young when 'it' happened, but I wasn't a kind of girl who took every day for granted. And I knew, or so I'd thought, my parents would be okay with me gone because I had been happy and lived with no regrets. With the thought of my parents I decided to go visit them and hurriedly teleported to their house. Whatever had made me think they would be okay, I don't know, but what I saw there was devastating. With all the 'advantages' I've thought I had as a ghost now worked against me. I couldn't touch my sobbing mother's shoulders or do anything for her.  I was helpless. So helpless! My desperation to get anyone to recognise me grew over the following months, which turned into obsession. Then over the years it lost the original meaning.  That was the start of my new life as a haunting ghost.

Congratulations Mollie and Shoko! Please do get back in touch with your postal addresses and I will make certain you get your books as soon as possible

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Some of the crowd at launch.

In other news, thanks so much to everyone who turned up to the Dublin Launch of Into the Grey on Tuesday 6th of September. It was incredible to see so many folks there. I hope you had a good time (apologies to those in the anti room who had to stand! I can't believe we ran out of chairs)

I haven't had time to write up a post of the night but the lovely Marleen Kennedy did a great job of describing the warmth and happiness of the occasion.

Thanks to the O'Brien Press for hosting the night. And thanks too, to the great Robert Dunbar for his incredible introduction to the book. I am a huge admirer of Robert Dunbar as a critic, and to have heard him speak of my work like that was breathtaking to say the least. If you are interested in reading his full introduction to the book, you can find it here.

I'm not sure which moved me more, the comparison of my work to that of Wilfred Owen, or the way in which Robert Dunbar just totally got the work. As I said on the night, I try first and foremost to tell a good story which I hope folks will enjoy and follow along for the ride. If someone 'gets' the rest' (all the deeper themes, undercurrents, and histories of meaning) then I consider that jam. For Robert Dunbar to have so eloquently and explicitly pinpointed these other aspects of the piece … well, like I said, it left me almost speechless.

Thank you, Robert. Your support means far far more than you can know.

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It may be a little quiet around here for a while now, folks. September/October are children's literary festival season here in Ireland and I have a very packed calendar for the next eight weeks or so. But I will try hard to stay in touch and I will also try to keep posting the Moorehawke graphic novel pages as often as possible

I'll put a little calender up in the next couple of days, so you know where I will be and when. Maybe we can meet up at one event or another over the next couple of weeks. In the mean time, thank you for your patience and I'll be back soon!

Into the Grey competition

Australia cover for Taken Away.

It's almost September folks! And that means we're nearing the release date for Into the Grey (aka Taken Away)

To celebrate, I'm hosting a little competition, the prize being a signed copy of the Irish edition (seen to the left of screen) along with a signed flat of the sumptuous Australian cover (seen lurking creepily to the right)

All you need do is write me a small description of what it might feel like to be a ghost. It can be as short as you like – haiku me! – or any length up to 200 words. Try and be as evocative, as atmospheric and as personal as you can.

E-mail your entries to celineATcelinekiernanDOTcom with the subject line 'ghost' (if you don't use the proper subject line your entry will be eaten by spambots. So do be careful) The competition runs until September 4th and the winner will be announced on Sept 6th. I can't wait to see what you come up with!

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*Might I add, Argh, I spent the weekend making a little swf to celebrate, but unfortunately wordpress won't let me embed it (why, wordpress? WHY?) So as not to completely waste all the time I took making it,I've posted it here.) Here it is in gif form, but alas, no sound

Grrr

Hi Guys, I'm sorry to be so late with last week's comic page. But the damned headaches are back and they're forcing me to take it easy. I have it completely bluesketched, so just to keep you going here is the rough of the centre panels. I'll be in Dublin tomorrow at the OBP launch of their autumn children's catalogue, but I do intend to get the pencil cleanups done tomorrow morning, and maybe a little of the colour so you'll at least have this full page by Friday.

Planning the Into The Grey launch

Hi guys, I'm chatting away with my Irish publishers at the moment about their plans for the Into the Grey launch. Nothing is set in stone yet but the sixth of September in Dublin seems the likely date. I mentioned this on my personal FB page and one of my fans said she wished she could get an invite. THIS HAD NEVER CROSSED MY MIND!!!! All my last launches have been private invite only and that is how I had expected this one to go too, but now I'm wondering would any of you guys like a chance to come along and meet me? Maybe get a book signed? I don't want to mess up any plans that the venue may have and I would need to square things with the organisers first, but if folks wanted to come along I'd certainly do my best to arrange it.

Tell you what, if you live in Ireland and feel you'd like to come along, send me an e-mail at celineATcelinekiernanDOTcom and I'll get in touch with the organisers see what can be done about opening things up a little? OK?

Page 10&11: Title Page

Another double page spread of the Moorehawke comic. The rough title page of the comic itself, which will act as a gateway between the flashbacks and the story.

You can see a high res copies of each of these two pages HERE

You can find all the webcomic pages HERE.

Next week – The Pack.

Pages 8 & 9

Double page spread of the Moorehawke comic. Sorry this was so late coming folks, ongoing headaches have cut down my computer time in the last couple of weeks.

You can see individual high res copies of each of these two pages HERE (page 8 ) and HERE (page 9) You can find all the webcomic pages HERE.

Next week – Christopher now.

*wind whistling through empty space*

It's a double page of Moorehawke webcomic this week folks, so it won't be ready for posting til Sunday.

Page seven: Left Behind

Find all pages here.

Aidan Garron gets left behind.

Only two more pages of flashback and then we're in the present story. Next page next Friday

See high-res version on DA