Jonathan Stroud's Blog, page 49
September 10, 2015
A quick rest earlier while signing the HOLLOW BOY. Hardbacks...
A quick rest earlier while signing the HOLLOW BOY. Hardbacks come in useful… #Lockwood
September 2, 2015
US Tour Coming Up!
Exciting times! It’s not long to go until The Hollow Boy is published in the US (15th Sept) and the UK (24th Sept), and I can’t wait to see it on the shelves. I’m doing a UK tour later in the year, but in 10 short days’ time I’m off to America for a week of public events with the fabulous Eoin Colfer, whose WARP 3: The Forever Man is published at the same time. Not only that, at our first event, in Boston, we’re joined by none other than the great Rick Riordan, and later, in St Louis, the marvelous Ridley Pearson will be with us on stage. During the course of the tour Eoin and I will be visiting Boston, Rochester, Washington DC, St Louis, Chicago and Houston, and if you’re anywhere near any of those cities, it would be a DELIGHT to see you.
Here’s the latest run-down of the public events of our tour, with contact details. As more info comes in, I’ll add it on my EVENTS page.
The Hollow Boy - US Tour
Boston – Sunday,
September 13, 2015 at 14.30
Tenacre Country Day School, 78 Benvenue Street Wellesley, MA
02482-5714
“Mega Awesome: London Calling -
Rick Riordan, Jonathan Stroud & Eoin Colfer, organised by the Wellesley
Bookstore”
Book tickets
here: http://store.wellesleybooks.com/event/mega-awesome-london-calling-rick-riordan-jonathan-stroud-eoin-colfer
Rochester –
Monday, September 14, 2015 at 19.00 - 21.00
Irondequoit Public Library, 1290 Titus Avenue, Irondequoit,
NY
Greater Rochester Teen Read Week:
Let’s All Meet Eoin Colfer and Jonathan Stroud!
For tickets
call: 585-336-6060
Rochester – Tuesday,
September 15, 2015 at 10.00 - 12.00 noon
Brighton Memorial Library, 2300 Elmwood Avenue, Rochester,
NY
Greater Rochester Teen Read Week:
Let’s All Meet Eoin Colfer and Jonathan Stroud!
For tickets
call: 585-784- 5300
Washington DC -
Tuesday, September 15, 2015 at 19.00
Event at Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington
DC 20008
Eoin Colfer and Jonathan Stroud
present their new books at Politics and Prose
For tickets
call: 202-362-2408
St Louis - Wednesday,
September 16, 2015 at 19.00
St. Louis County Library Headquarters Auditorium,1640 S Lindbergh
Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63131
“Young Readers Showcase with Eoin
Colfer, Ridley Pearson and Jonathan Stroud”
Call for more
details: 314-994-3300
https://www.evensi.com/young-readers-showcase-featuring-eoin-colfer-ridley-pearson/158540626
Chicago - Thursday,
September 17, 2015 at 19.00
Cossitt School, La Grange, Chicago, IL 60525,
‘An Evening with Eoin Colfer and
Jonathan Stroud” organised by Anderson’s bookstore
For tickets call Anderson’s La Grange store: 708-582-6353
http://andersonsbkshp.tumblr.com
Texas - Friday,
September 18, 2015 at 17.00
Blue Willow Bookshop, 14532 Memorial Drive, Houston, TX
77079
Eoin Colfer and Jonathan Stroud
will discuss and sign THE FOREVER MAN and THE HOLLOW BOY, their new books for
kids.
http://www.bluewillowbookshop.com/event/eoin-colfer-and-jonathan-stroud
For more information call: 281-497-8675
August 10, 2015
Look at this! The beautiful US edition of The Hollow Boy has...
Look at this! The beautiful US edition of The Hollow Boy has arrived!
August 4, 2015
The Hollow Boy: US Tour!
Here’s the first word on what I’ll be doing and where I’ll be going on my US Tour this fall. I’ve got the great good fortune to be doing my events with the mighty Eoin Colfer, of Artemis Fowl and WARP fame. Eoin and I will be visiting several states in mid-September, so if we pass anywhere near you - come along and see us! We’re particularly excited about the first event, on September 13th in Wellesley, MA, where we’ll be joined by none other than Rick Riordan, who’ll be acting as MC!
Here’s what I know so far. Details are still being finalised, and I’ll flag up more definite information, including times, as soon as I can.
Sunday September 13: Wellesley MA, afternoon event via Wellesley Bookstore, with Rick Riordan as MC.
Monday September 14: Fairport Public Library, Fairport, NY. Evening event.
Tuesday September 15: School visits via Fairport Public Library (morning)
Tuesday September 15: Washington DC: evening event at Politics and Prose Bookstore.
Wednesday September 16: Possible event in St Louis - unconfirmed
Thursday September 17: Chicago: evening event at Anderson’s Bookstore in Naperville.
Friday September 18: Houston, TX: School events and in-store event at Blue Willow Bookshop.
Can’t wait!
July 18, 2015
Cricket in the grounds of Holkham Hall today. Could you get more...
Cricket in the grounds of Holkham Hall today. Could you get more English?
July 9, 2015
When is the third Lockwood and Co book coming out? I am eagerly awaiting for it.
Hi! It’s being published in September, in both the US and UK! Other territories will follow after that…. :)
July 3, 2015
Final edits done - Lockwood 3 is finished and off at the...
Final edits done - Lockwood 3 is finished and off at the printers now!
July 1, 2015
Freedom to Think
Hello everyone! Wow, it’s been ages since I
wrote anything here. That’s because I’ve had a hectic few months – with two big things keeping me from blogging
for a while.
The first thing is the arrival of my new
son, Louis, who was born at the end of May. Suddenly life’s become a whirlwind
of nappy changing, high-pitched squeaks, and being kept awake at 3 a.m. – all
of which is surprisingly good fun.
The second thing is that I’ve been busy
finishing the new Lockwood book, The
Hollow Boy. I’m really excited about it, and am delighted to say it’s off
at the printers now. It’ll be out in the UK and US in September this year.
Now everything’s settling down, and it’s
time to do some blogging again. It feels great to be back.
And I’m back with something very special –
a new campaign that I’m launching
this summer. It’s close to my heart and is (I think) very important: and I need
your help to spread the word.
It’s called Freedom to Think, and it’s all about promoting free time for young
people everywhere. Why is this important? Because free time is an essential
component for developing creativity and independent thought. And not enough
kids have that luxury today.
As a father of two (now three!), I’ve
noticed that many children have very little free time. After getting home from
school, their hours are filled with homework, clubs, sports, music lessons, and
many other organised activities. Of course it’s great to do all these things,
but having ‘empty’ time is vital too, time when they’re just left to
themselves. Why? Because it’s in moments like this that kids learn to be bored,
and – crucially – when they learn what to do
with that boredom.
Having nothing to do is the perfect
starting point for inventing something to fill that gap. It’s only then that
you start improvising and messing about… which is precisely when the creative
spark ignites. If that isn’t exciting enough, this creativity leads to greater
self-knowledge too. By following your nose, by doing what excites and interests
you, you begin to uncover who you actually are.
It worked for me, anyhow. When I was a kid
I spent countless hours doing all kinds of weird stuff, mainly involving lots
of drawing and writing. I tried making comics, stories and board-games, some of
which were good, and some of which weren’t. Steadily, over many years, I began
homing in on the kinds of things that I liked inventing. Looking back on it,
there’s a direct line from these childhood scribblings to Bartimaeus and
Lockwood – genies and ghosts featured often in those early days.
But my trajectory – towards becoming a
writer – is only one of countless routes that kids can take. Engineers,
musicians, scientists… there’s no limit to what each child might be… but they
need free time to figure it out for themselves.
To remind us of the importance of free
time, I’m launching the Freedom to Think
campaign. The idea is to encourage parents to make space – at least once a week
– for their child to have a real period of free time. There’s no agenda
regarding what they DO in this gap – that’s the point! – but on the Freedom to Think website, we’re posting
monthly suggestions of possible freewheeling activities that might get things
started. We’ll also toss in other ideas for things to do, and will be making
links to other sites that promote freedom of thought and action.
So why not visit us at www.freedomtothinksite.tumblr.com
and follow us on twitter at @iamfree2think, and let us know your ideas and
thoughts. Did free time help inspire YOU? Is it still an important part of your
life? Let us know! Meanwhile I’ll also update you on the progress of the
campaign here.
April 6, 2015
Look! Here’s the beautiful two-volume Japanese edition of...
Look! Here’s the beautiful two-volume Japanese edition of The Screaming Staircase!
March 25, 2015
Looking up into the tower of St Albans abbey.
Looking up into the tower of St Albans abbey.
