Patrick Ness's Blog, page 34

Hay Festival and a fan trailer for Knife!

I'm off to the Hay Festival in Wales tomorrow, getting there a little early for my events on Friday and Saturday.  It's a huge, popular festival open to everybody, so I hope to meet some of you there.

And here's a helluva cool thing.  A couple of young guys who call themselves ZombieGrenadier have made a trailer for The Knife of Never Letting Go on YouTube.  How awesome is that?  Seriously, hats off, guys.  Brilliant stuff.

Also, too, there's now an American version of the Monsters of Men

Back from holiday (busy as ever)

I'm back from my holiday (yes, even writers need rest) and have loads of things happening, so this could be a long one!

First up, there was a great review of Monsters of Men in the Times last week, and another in the Mail.  There was also a great preview of the US release in the Wall Street Journal.

I can also announce that, starting next week, a free mini-book of the opening pages of Monsters will be available to Starbucks card holders at UK Starbucks in support of the National Literacy...

Hay and away

Schedules (and erupting volcanos) mean that I won't be updating here for a little bit, so while I'm busy, remember that I'll be re-emerging to appear at the Hay Festival.  I have a solo Monsters of Men event at 5.30 pm on Friday, 4 June, and a fun panel of Author's Question Time with Julia Eccleshare and Morris Gleitzman at 10.00am on Saturday, 5 June.  I did the Question Time last year, too.  Great fun.

And before I head off, a warm welcome to all the new commenters.  I'm sorry I can't...

Ireland

My trip to Ireland was great!  Terrific crowds at Easons on Thursday night at my event with Sarah Rees Brennan.  The very lovely David Maybury (who I finally met in person) even did a short video interview with me and Sarah after.  You can also see the cake that someone brought us!  I seriously love Ireland.

I also did an event for a school at the brand new Gutter Bookshop (run by the also lovely and in no way crazy Bob Johnston), who put up some photos of it on Facebook.

Also while I was...

Best Children's Books Ever

The Guardian today has a list they're calling The Best Children's Books Ever, and they've included the Chaos Walking books in the 12 & Over category, calling it "profoundly humane and utterly magnificent".  Gosh.  What do you say to that?  I feel like an egomaniac even reporting it here, but wow, golly.  Great books on the rest of the list, too, including Celia Rees, who I'll be teaching with on an Arvon Course in June. 

Also, good news in that Monsters of Men is out today in New Zealand! ...

New review

Just a quick hit today to say there's a really great review of Monsters of Men on the excellent Bookbag site, who were great supporters of Knife and Ask as well.

Also a reminder that, Icelandic ash-clouds permitting, I'll be in Dublin at Easons bookstore on O'Connell Street from 6-9pm.  I think you can get a ticket on the night, but call the bookstore on 01 858 3800 to be sure.

And hello to the new commenters!  Now, back to writing...

Ireland and Monsters review

The first press review of Monsters of Men is out, and it's a good one!  Sally Morris in the Daily Mail called it a "dramatic and powerful finale", which is cool.  You can read the whole review here.

And don't forget I'll be in Dublin this week at Easons on O'Connell Street.  Details here and you can probably also call the store for info on 01 858 3800.

I've got a few notes recently that think I won't be at the Carnegie...

Clips o' me

As I mentioned last week, The Ask and the Answer was shortlisted for the very prestigious Carnegie Medal, which also means that it participates in their brilliant Shadowing Scheme, where school groups read all 8 books and debate them.  The Shadowing website has a lot of cool features where reading groups can chat with one another or write reviews of the books, lots of cool stuff.

They've also uploaded video interviews with a number of shortlisted authors, including myself!  So you can see me w...

Profile in the Independent on Sunday (with photo!)

Gah!  So many things all at once!  First thing is there's a very nice feature on me today in the Independent on Sunday, complete with photo (I swear I'm the only one who likes the beard).

And definitely don't forget to check out the awesome video trailer for Monsters of Men, which is now pretty much onsale everywhere (and going really well, thank you very much!).  The first (really nice) reviews of it are here and here.

Also, be sure to check out the details of my trips to Ireland, the Hay...

Monsters of Men trailer! It's awesome.

Just real quick to say that my publishers have just released the most awesome video trailer for Monsters of Men.  Wait'll you see!  It's on YouTube here and here.  Feel free to pass it along freely.  (I picked out the music; turn it up loud!).

Greetings to the new commentators (including a welcome helping of teachers, librarians and Monsters readers).  More soon.