Jonathan Stroud's Blog, page 83

London MCM ComicCon

I had a great trip to London's Docklands yesterday for the MCM ComicCon. Andrew Donkin, Lee Sullivan and I were talking about the Amulet graphic novel. As we drew close to the convention centre, we began to see hundreds of amazing costumes - weird, beautiful and funny: the halls themselves were packed with thousands of fantasy and comic addicts celebrating their love of the genres. We did a nice Q & A, then an hour-&-a-half's signing with some delightful fans. It was my first ComicCon, but it certainly won't be my last.

A Busy Summer Ahead...

Sorry it's been a while since the last post. There's been lots going on - mainly me working on the beginnings of a new novel, which I think might become a series… though you can never tell until you get further in to the writing. At the moment there are many scattered fragments of story episodes in a red file on my desk, and each day I play about adding to one or the other, or scribbling notes about how they might fit together. My plan is to work hard on this over the next couple of months, so that by the end of the summer the book outline (and hopefully a clear chunk of it) will be in good shape.

I'll also be doing a lot of events in the next few weeks: visiting LONDON MCM ComicCon this weekend, Hay on Wye on Monday 30th May, St Malo for Etonnant Voyageurs 11-13th June, and New Orleans for the American Library Association get-together at the end of June.

Further ahead, there's exciting talk of visiting Estonia in the autumn, and I'll be in Germany and hopefully Ireland too. Right… time to open the RED FILE… 

Here's the handsome FRENCH edition of The Ring of Solomon...

Here's the handsome FRENCH edition of The Ring of Solomon - which will be out soon. Next month I'll be visiting ST MALO for the Etonnants Voyageurs Festival to talk about Bartimaeus and Heroes of the Valley. See the Events page for details…

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Great day at Los Angeles Times Book Festival. It took place at...

Great day at Los Angeles Times Book Festival. It took place at USC's beautiful campus, which was filled with crowds watching hundreds of authors under perfect skies. I took part in a great panel discussion with Rick Yancy and Megan Whalen Turner, then signed books in one of the booths outside. Here are some pics from the day.

Los Angeles Times Book Festival

I arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday, and last night attended the Ceremony for the L A Times Book Prizes 2010. The Ring of Solomon was up for the Young Adult Prize, but didn't win (the award was taken by Megan Whalen Turner's Consipracy of Kings). But it was a good evening spent milling about with lots of other authors who'd been clearly dragged through a shower, forcibly dressed in smart stuff, had their hair combed for them and were now blinking dazedly in the bright lights of the Times Building (which had a fantastic giant rotating marquetry Earth in the lobby - like something you'd find in Clark Kent's Daily Planet). Today I'm off to the Book Festival itself, to talk on stage with Megan Whalen Turner and Rick Yancey about Fantasy fiction. Outside right now there's nothing but blue skies and bright California sunshine. Should be a good day… 

Easter excitements

I'm off to Los Angeles tomorrow for the L A Times Book Festival, and also for the announcement of the L A Times Book Prizes. The Ring of Solomon is one of 5 titles shortlisted in the Young Fiction category. There's a proper prize-giving ceremony on Friday night, for which we have to dress up, so I've been zooming about dusting off my suit, ironing shirts and buying new ties (being an author I have a pathetic selection of these) in a doomed attempt to look smart for the occasion.

Me at Worth Abbey for the Federation Conference…

Me at Worth Abbey for the Federation Conference…

Federation Conference 2011

On my way home from an excellent visit to this year's Federation of Children's Book Groups Conference. Gave a chat about becoming a writer & listened to interesting talks from Cressida Cowell, M G Harris and Simon & Alex Scarrow, among others.