Patrick Ness's Blog, page 20

Guardian podcast

Quick hit to say that I'm on this week's Guardian Books Podcast, chatting about best books of 2011 with the divine Ali Smith.  I'm on there throughout...

Watch my TV show online!

Well, it's not exactly my TV show, but you can watch the Booked program I was on yesterday online now on 4-on-demand.  There are a surprisingly large number of ads to wait through, but be patient!  My bit starts at the 14.30 mark.

And if you watch it and would like to vote for A Monster Calls for Galaxy Book of the Year, well, I'm not going to stop you...

Greetings to the new commenter!  So many from so many places.  I do read every single one (I have to; I weed out spoilers!) and in answer to a query, best place to write me a letter is care of the publisher in whichever country you live.  I get them all.

Me on TV!

I'm going to be on TV this Sunday, on Booked on More4 at 4.40pm.  They'll be talking to me about A Monster Calls and the Galaxy Book Award.  Check it out!  See if the concealer worked... 

And then when it's all over, you can vote for A Monster Calls to win overall book of the year, too, if you so choose.

Also, some really nice press as well, with A Monster Calls getting a great review in the Express AND (and I really like this one) it got picked as Best Young Adult book of the year by the Kansas City Star.  Nice.

Let me know what you think about me on telly, greetings to the new commenter, and don't forget to follow me on Twitter on @patrick_ness

Books of the Year & stuff

 I was one of the writers who gave their Books of the Year in the Guardian this past weekend, and recommend a couple titles you might like.  There was also a very nice recommendation for A Monster Calls by Children's Laureate Julia Donaldson, which is very cool.

A Monster Calls was also picked as one of Kirkus' Teen Books of the Year, so a nice week!

In answer to one of the new commenters, the New World story is available FREE in PDF on the Booktrust site, so it doesn't have to be just Kindle.  Greetings to all the other commenters, and more soon, including me on telly...

Book Slam Book

And again, too long since my last entry, sorry.  But I've been deep in writing a new book, and that takes time (and still will; it'll be ready when it's ready, that's all I'll say).

In the meantime, A Monster Calls has been named a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times, which is great.

And I've also got a new (and, please note, non-YA) short story in a new collection launching today called One for the Money from Book Slam.  It's available in limited edition, signed by all the contributors (like Hari Kunzru, William Boyd, Paul Murray, tons of cool folk, plus me) or as an ebook or audiobook for considerably less.  Check it out here.

Hello to the new commenters, don't forget to follow me on Twitter @patrick_ness, and I'll get back to writing now...

Where to write letters (and voting)

 FAR too long since I've written an entry, I do apologise.  Just really busy with exciting stuff that I can't talk about yet.  I'll tell you when I can.

First, though welcome to all the new commenters (and yes, I do read them all), and Ciara asked "Where can I send a letter I wrote you?"  That's easy, just send it to me c/o of the publisher in whatever country you live in.  They'll forward it right on to me.  I've had letters from all over the world; they're great!

In the meantime, you can still vote for A Monster Calls (or any one of the other fine books) for the Galaxy National Book Awards Book of the Year Prize, if you're so inclined.

And if you're a younger reader (a student, basically) in the UK or Ireland, you can vote for A Monster Calls (or for Morris Gleiztman or Annabel Pitcher) in the Red House Book Award here, if you like.

More soon!

PW Best of 2011 and vote for me!

Really cool news in that Publishers Weekly has named A Monster Calls one of the Best Books of 2011.  Really nice.

And did you know you can vote for me in a couple of prizes?  I'm up for two different ones that you can vote for (depending on your age, oddly enough).

If you're 16 or over (and live in the UK or Ireland), you can vote for A Monster Calls (or any one of the other fine books) for the Galaxy National Book Awards Book of the Year Prize.  Vote here, if you're so inclined.

And if you're 16(ish) or YOUNGER (basically it's just if you're still a student, in the UK or Ireland), you can vote for A Monster Calls (or for Morris Gleiztman or Annabel Pitcher) in the Red House Book Award here, if you like.

No pressure, though!  It's only if you want to.  Greetings to al the new commenters, and yes, I definitely do read them all.

Galaxy National Book Award win!

Last night, A Monster Calls won the Galaxy National Book Award!  Which is very, very cool indeed.  Really run party, too, got to met Dara O'Briain, Jackie Collins, Alan Hollinghurst.  Good fun.

Even better, it means I'm going to be featured in their six-part TV series Booked on More4, which starts 13 November.  I'll keep you posted on when I'm on.

And even better than that, you can now VOTE for A Monster Calls to win the overall title of Book of the Year.  Vote here!  Not that I'm twisting your arm...

Carnegie/Greenaway (very) longlists and rainy Marathon photo

Very cool news today in that A Monster Calls has been longlisted for both the Carnegie and Greenaway Medals.  That's one for me, and one for brilliant Jim Kay, the illustrator.  VERY pleasing!  The longlists are very long (more than 50 titles on each) but what good guides for great books to read, eh?  Dig in!

Also, a photo of me tired but happy having finished the Dublin Marathon has appeared in Publishers Weekly.  I'm smiling, and I mean it.

Greetings to the new commenters.  More soon!

Dublin Marathon and Red House Book Award!

A big day yesterday!  I ran the Dublin Marathon and had my best race ever.  I knocked ten minutes off my personal best, and though I'm achy today, I feel pretty good.  I raised money for Breast Cancer Campaign in memory of Siobhan Dowd, and you can still donate here, if you like.  Now that I've done all the hard work, eh?

And also yesterday, A Monster Calls was shortlisted for the Red House Book Award, the only UK book award voted on exclusively by young readers.  So if you're a UK young reader, vote here!  Otherwise, read everything else on the shortlists, too.  Really good stuff there.

Greetings to the new commenters and now I'm going to sleep for a week.