Joe Craig's Blog, page 4

A Poem About Immigration

I wrote you a poem. I might doodle a picture or two to go with it, in which case I'll come back and update this, but for now, have a read of something silly. (It's best read aloud, preferably while acting it out. Oh, and it's based on a true story...)

THE THING BILLY SAW IN THE PARK by Joe Craig
Billy saw a thing in the park.At first he wasn’t sure cos it was just getting darkBut he chased it a bit, watched it run, walk, sitThen suddenly, with utter glee, it took a step and bent its knee and…
BO...

Come and have afternoon tea with me...

I'm auctioning myself off for charity.




It's not quite that simple, but that's the headline, so if that's all you need, just click on this link and get bidding:

http://authorsforphilippines.wordpress.com/2013/11/13/100-afternoon-tea-with-authors-joe-craig-and-holly-smale/




If you need a little more than that...




A whole load of authors are raising money for The Philippines. I've teamed up with the amazing and delightful Holly Smale (author of Geek Girl) and we're going to take one...

Quick correction - wrong link

If you got that last blog post by email, the link sent you to the Jimmy Coates: Blackout amazon page instead of the trailer. OOPS. Sorry.



The trailer is here:

http://youtu.be/mLdAQoLRXBk

Jimmy Coates: Blackout - the book trailer has landed

Here I am on the 'set' of the Jimmy Coates: Blackout trailer shoot. Except it wasn't really a set, it was London's South Bank. I think in this shot I'm either contemplating a particularly tricky stunt or I'm standing still so that Kat Molesworth can test the light or the focus or the temperature or the vibe or whatever else film-makers need to do these days with their new-fangled 'talkies'.



Anyway... this is all about my new book trailer. You're about to see it. But first I thought you'd l...

Jimmy Coates: Blackout in the neighbourhood...

If you've read the first Jimmy Coates book, you'll know there's a big chunk of it set in Finchley, where I grew up and where I was living at the time I wrote the book.



Well, I haven't lived in Finchley for a while, so when I wrote Jimmy Coates: Blackout it was time to move on to my new neighbourhood... Kentish Town.



One of my favourite websites chronicles the past, present and future of the area. It's always a beautifully written and researched site so I'm particularly proud to have contrib...

Keeping track of snacks in Jimmy Coates: Blackout

Sometimes you have a habit of doing something and you assume everybody else does it as well.



Here's something I never really thought much about, but I think I always assumed every writer did it. Turns out they don't.



When I'm working on a draft of a book in one of my notebooks, I start by writing the title of the book I'm working on and the date. So far, pretty normal. Then I write where I am, something about the general conditions (my mood, the weather etc.), then what I'm listening to and...

He calmly replaced a screwdriver with a gun... Jimmy Coates: Blackout notebook stuff

A lot of Jimmy Coates: Blackout was planned and written in this notebook:







I'll be posting a few images from my planning and writing between now and the book's release on June 6th. Here's an early one. I do little diagrams in which I try to encapsulate the entire plot of the book, working out how all the tensions and conflicts between characters will interact with each other.











One more for now. This is a page of raw writing from the middle section of the book. It caught my eye becau...

Jimmy Coates: Blackout - some teasers...

Jimmy Coates: Blackout is coming out on June 6th and to help with the publicity I've got some designers working on alternative covers for the series. So far what they've come up with has been fantastic and I'll be sharing some of their designs here closer to the release of the book.



Meanwhile, one of the designers was in touch this week to ask for a few more details about what's in the book.



I thought it would be mean of me not to share these little titbits with you, so here's what I told h...

Guest Blog on Words, Death & Dilemmas

I'm in the middle of a frantic schedule of school, festival and library events to get the momentum going for the June launch of Jimmy Coates: Blackout .



So I've shared a few thoughts on what I learn from my audiences over at the superb 'YA Contemporary' Blog. You'll find my little piece here:



http://www.yacontemporary.com/2013/03/joe-craig-on-words-death-and-dilemmas.html



Check it out and see what you think.

Jimmy Coates: Blackout - new book, June 6th

This is your official announcement. Put your official face on...



It's been 4 years since the last Jimmy Coates book came out. In that time, despite no new publication, the series has grown and grown. I've had messages every day - every single day - by email, facebook, twitter and even hand-written letter, asking me when Jimmy Coates: Blackout would be released.



That kind of support is incredible. It's overwhelming. Parents, teachers, librarians and readers all over the country have kept up...