Alexander Gordon Smith's Blog, page 6

Time to Get Furious!!

It's Here!!!!!!

Today is an unbelievably awesome day for a couple of reasons. The first is that TODAY IS THE DAY THE FURY COMES OUT!!!! I've been so excited about this book for so long that it feels like I've been waiting for decades. But the truth is that it's only been eighteen months – almost to the day – since I typed 'The Hated' (as it was originally known) onto a big, blank, scary Word document.

I'm so excited about the release of The Fury, but I'm nervous too. The day you finish the first draft of a novel is the moment it's born, I think, kicking and screaming and in need of a good clean-up; but publication day is like the first day at school. You pack it off in its little sweater and bag with its lunch box and its cheese sandwiches, and it pretends that everything is okay and that it isn't scared, but you can feel it shivering and you can see the terror in its eyes, then you pat it on the back and watch it walk off into the big wide world and you worry that nobody will like it or people will bully it and you have to fight that overwhelming, instinctive urge to rush after it and drive it back home and keep it safe forever and ever. Ahem, anyway, it's a scary moment!

But I have faith in The Fury. It's different to anything I have written before, but hopefully the horror is just as fast-paced and relentless as Furnace, and the adventure is just as addictive and exhilarating as The Inventors. I know that some people won't like it. Some people might hate it. But that's just the nature of writing, you can't please everyone just like you can't make friends with everyone at school. I only hope that some people will read it and enjoy it and read it again and enjoy it even more, and think about it long after they have turned the last page, and love the characters like they love their own friends, and share the story with other people and talk about it and keep it on their bookshelf until someone else steals it and does exactly the same. Because that's the most amazing thing you can ever hope for, as a writer, that your book makes those kinds of friends, the ones who cherish it.

And besides, the Fury isn't exactly a small, gentle book. If anyone tries to bully it at school it will probably bite their face off!!

The other reason that today is a special day is that it was exactly five years ago today, the 5th April 2007, that my first book came out. It seems like longer, I feel like I've lived a whole lifetime between then and now. It's been pretty much the most amazing ride I could ever have asked for. I remember that day like it was yesterday, going into Waterstones in Norwich (the shop isn't even there any more, it's a Jamie Oliver restaurant) with my eleven-year-old brother Jamie – the co-author of The Inventors – and seeing it there on the shelf, and feeling like my brain was about to explode from excitement and happiness. Being a published writer was the only thing I'd ever really wanted, since I was a kid, and it had happened! It took everything I had not to break down in sobbing fits like a loony in the middle of the shop.

I'm certainly a lot fatter than I was five years ago!!!!!!!!!!

I took photos of the actual day (the one above was taken a year earlier, when Jamie and I got the deal), but sadly they were lost when my old Mac died. I've still got the memories, though, five years' worth. It really has been incredible – in both senses of the word. The books have introduced me to some of the most wonderful, interesting, generous people I could ever hope to meet – authors, publishing people, librarians, teachers, pupils, organisers, and the most amazing bunch of fans in the world. The books have taken me to pretty much every city in the UK, and across the seas and oceans and mountains to other countries and continents. They have opened doors to amazing experiences that will stay with me until the day I die. I know I overuse the whole 'books are your children' thing, but it's so true. They've changed my life. And hopefully, fate-willing, they'll be around long after I've gone. That's one of the things I love most, the thought that one of my great-great-great-great grandchildren might one day be browsing in a book store and spot a dog-eared copy of The Inventors, or Furnace, or The Fury, and take it home and read it with absolutely no idea who wrote it, just love the story.

One of the things I always talk about in schools is that if you have a dream, you have to go for it. Really believe in it. Fight for it. Humans are amazing, we can accomplish anything we set our minds to. But it's so easy to be put off, to be talked out of it, to talk ourselves out of it. I've nearly talked myself out of it a million times, thinking I just can't do it, that it will never happen. But I kept going, I never lost sight of that dream, and I got there. For anyone who has that dream, and who has doubts, never give up. It will happen. Just keep saying to yourself, YOU ARE AWESOME, YOU CAN DO IT! And you will.

So, five years down the line, thirty-three now instead of twenty-eight, and I still feel like a beginner. It still feels fresh, just as exciting as the first time round. With any luck there will be loads more books to come, stories that look up to their older brothers and sisters and follow in their footsteps, stories that will maybe go on to great things. Of course there are things that haven't happened yet – the film deal, the Nobel Prize, the millions of pounds (I'm poorer now than I was when I started!!) – but there is still (hopefully!) plenty of time for all of that, and it's nice to save some things for the future. Right now I couldn't ask for any more, I'm so happy.

A HUGE THANKS to everyone that helped create The Fury (okay, this is where the 'books as babies' analogy gets a little dodgy) – especially my wonderful agent Sophie and the awesome crew at Ed Victor, my three brilliant, insightful editors Julia, Rebecca and Susila (and also Wes, in the US, I know you're going to do amazing things with this book), my copy editor Trevor, my publicity peeps Laura and Susan, and everyone else at Faber who has worked tirelessly to make this book so gorgeous; thanks to the booksellers and librarians and bloggers and teachers who have supported me with such enthusiasm and generosity; also endless thanks to the best friends and family in the world for always being there, for always believing, I love you guys! And, of course, thanks in advance to everyone who reads The Fury! Please be nice to it on its first day at school. I really hope you enjoy it!!!!

Stay Furious!!!!!

 

The Fury Bonus Material: Covers!

I love the cover for The Fury – it's the perfect fit for the book. Besides, every single thriller in the world has a silhouette of a running man on the cover, I think there must be some law about it! Creating the cover was an interesting journey, and here are some of the covers that almost made it!

Hand of Fury!

This was one of the first designs I saw, and I thought it was pretty amazing. I loved the blue flames! I think the designer worried that people wouldn't really get why there was a big hand on the book, which is a good point as I wondered that myself!

Stand of Fury!

This one was good too, but the figure wasn't dynamic enough. It looks a bit like he's nipped into the woods for a wee and been startled by a cameraman…

Eyeball of Fury!

I LOVED this one. That eye was so spooky! I thought we could also try it with a really terrifying face in the letters instead, but I'm not sure if it ever happened. If we'd gone with this design I would have insisted on a dye cut, with the letters cut out and a second cover put behind it with the face on. But alas that was just too expensive. It's been done before as well… Shame!

Tunnel of Fury!

Recognise this one? It's the one the designer finally went for. I think it's great – out of all of the designs it feels the most claustrophobic and dynamic, you really feel panicky at the thought of entering that tunnel! It needed a bit more work, but I'm glad we went with it! The weird thing was that the cover for The Fury is pretty similar to the US cover for Fugitives, which was released last month. They could be siblings!!

My books are related!!

Trees of Fury!

This one wasn't as strong as the others, I thought. It looked like a man walking his dog through the woods. I did like the spooky atmosphere, but it wasn't quite furious enough for a book called The Fury!

More Hand of Fury!

This was from the next batch, taking another look at the hand. I liked the fire, and it really fit in well with events towards the end of the book, but it still didn't quite work. We were getting close, though!! After a little more tooing and froing, the designer came up with the final image. The tunnel… but with fire!!! It's maybe not the most original image in the world for a thriller, but it promises exactly what you get in the book: excitement, drama, horror, panic, action, and fire. Lots and lots of fire.

The Fury!

Did you prefer any of the other covers? What would you have put on the front of the book? Let me know!

US Tour Part 5: Yo Donovan… We Did It!!

I have to confess I didn't know much about Philadelphia before heading there. In fact, it was the city on the tour I was least familiar with. All I really knew about it came from the movies, especially from one of my favourite (and one of the most awesome) films of all time: Rocky. But Rocky wasn't the reason I was in the city – I was here for the Public Library Association's annual conference!

I flew in on Wednesday, a very pleasant 5-hour flight (I think I'm actually getting used to being up in the air, I never thought I'd say that)!! I barely had time to duck in and out of the hotel, though, because I had my first event lined up for that evening! I was doing a reading and a signing in a beautiful bookshop called Children's Book World, along with fellow writers Gregg Olsen (author of literally dozens of books, including the brand new Envy, which looks amazing) and Siobhan Vivian (author of The List, amongst other things, which again looks like a fantastic book). Unfortunately, having been up since five, having endured another time zone shift, and having a very short-tempered Turkish driver who kept yelling "You be late! You be late!" (even though there turned out to be plenty of time), I ran out of the hotel and totally forgot that I was supposed to be giving Gregg a ride in my car!!! (Sorry again, Gregg, I can't apologise enough!!!) I only realised when I got to the shop and asked whether he had arrived yet, whoops!

Anyway, Gregg was an absolutely lovely guy, and very forgiving, and together with the equally wonderful Siobhan we had a fantastic evening. It was a very laid back event, with authors, staff and audience sitting on the floor basically just chatting about books and writing and reading. I love events like that!! I really, really enjoyed chatting to everyone, and luckily I also managed to remember to give Gregg a lift back to the hotel! We popped to the bar for a quick drink afterwards, which was lovely! I want to say a huge thanks to Heather and everyone else at Children's Book World for such a lovely event! I just wish I had some photos!

To make up for the lack of event photos, here's one from my hotel window. What a view!!!!!

This was the only hotel I had during the tour which didn't have a view of a wall or an air conditioning vent!!

Thursday was the day of the conference, and what a day it was!!! I got to the enormous convention centre (seriously, it was vast, the escalators were bigger than the ones in the London Underground) at half seven in the morning, and met up with the Macmillan staff. I was soooooo looking forward to meeting them, because although I have been published by Macmillan for two and a half years now I haven't met the lovely people there, or even spoken to them on the phone (apart from my wonderful publicist Lizzy). It was AMAZING to finally get to know the awesome people who publish my books and who have done such a great job promoting them! They are so cool! A big hi to everyone from Macmillan I met at the PLA conference, especially Wes, Emily, Michelle, Lucy, and Noa!

I was doing a panel event at the conference, along with Gregg, Siobhan and the delightful Gayle Forman, author of If I Stay and Where She Went. We were all scheduled to give a short presentation, then answer some questions. I went first, and it was so much fun. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love librarians. They are the most awesome people, so dedicated to books and so enthusiastic about reading and storytelling. So it was a real pleasure to be able to speak to an audience of over 200 of them! It was brilliant hearing all the other authors talk about their books too, we all had something different to say. Afterwards, we all asked the librarians a question, and I asked them if they had any advice for any of my UK librarian friends who are facing the fight of their lives to keep the libraries open. Thank you so much to everyone who answered, and to those of you who emailed me afterwards, your advice and support is so appreciated! It really was a fantastic event, and I was so honoured to be a part of it. Thanks everyone for coming!!

Me and my Little Book of Monsters at the PLA!

After the presentation I went to my signing booth where I spent a very happy few hours signing books and chatting to librarians. It was such a lovely morning and I met so many cool people! Here is me with one of them!

Me and Lesley (sorry Lesley, I stole this photo off your website)!!

Another great thing about the day was that I finally got to meet my editor, Wes. He is the guy who brought Furnace to the States (so please everyone say a huge thank you to him)!! And he is a thoroughly amazing, interesting, funny and generous man. He took me out for lunch at an Irish bar, and we chatted for ages about the books, about how amazing the ride has been so far and about how excited we are for the future. It really was so good to finally be able to chat to him face to face (in fact, we realised that we had never actually spoken, just emailed, which is a little strange!) and we got on really well. I am so grateful to Wes for signing the Escape From Furnace series, and for working so hard on them, and it was lovely to be able to tell him this in person.

Me with my AWESOME editor Wes!!

Wes and I headed back to the convention centre afterwards for another signing, this time at the booth of the distributors Baker and Taylor. I sold out of books (well, they were free!), which was great, and spent another couple of hours chatting away to all the librarians. Thanks to everyone at Baker and Taylor for hosting me, what a lovely bunch you are! I had an hour in the hotel to freshen up, then it was straight out to dinner with the Macmillan staff and some of the librarians we'd met that day. Librarians, publishers and dinner, how could it get any better?! We dined on spectacular food and talked about everything under the sun (although mainly books and writing and the fight that libraries are facing against ignorant, short-sighted, selfish, pathetic governments). Thanks so much to everyone who came, it was an amazing night!!! I know people were taking photos so I'll post them if I can find them!!

I slept like a log that night, and woke the next morning bright and early for an event at Ridley High School! It was super fun, and great to meet another bunch of enthusiastic readers and book lovers. There were so many questions at the end, and everyone seemed to enjoy it! Thanks to everyone, especially the librarian Amy for letting me visit, I had a great time! Amy wrote an article about it here! And she also posted me some Ridley Raiders goodies, including a T-shirt, because I am now an honorary Raider, so cool!!

Me and some of the awesome students from Ridley High School!

I had the afternoon free to explore the city, and although Philly is an incredible place with a huge amount of culture and history, there was really only one thing I wanted to do – visit the Rocky steps!!! The steps from the movie actually lead up to the Art Museum, but I didn't want to see art (even though there was a Van Gogh exhibition on), I wanted to stand in the shoes of the greatest hero ever! It was quite funny, actually, as there were hundreds of people there, but maybe ten of them were in the queue for the museum, the rest were running up the steps and posing by the huge Rocky statue in the museum gardens. I didn't technically run up the steps, I walked then kind of jumped awkwardly up the last two, but I still felt like a champion! Here are a couple of photos!

Gordy Balboa!!!!

Underneath my hoodie, my body is just as sculpted as that... We may as well be twins.

I had a good wander around afterwards, and ate quite a few Philly cheese steaks (OMG, so delicious)!!! Although I was only there for a couple of days, Philly really was an awesome place and I had a fantastic time! From Philly there was only one stop left on the tour, NEW YORK!!!!!

 

The Fury: Bonus Chapter!

It's only two days now until The Fury hits the shops in the UK!! And to celebrate its imminent release I'm going to be posting some bonus material on my site. To start with, here's a chapter that didn't make it into the final draft of the book, but which still packs a punch! It features Cal, one of the main characters, who is starting to notice some unusual, and horrific, signs of the Fury…

This chapter wasn't copy edited or proof read, so apologies for any typos!!!

It's nearly time to get Furious!!!

 

 

Cal

London, 11.18am

Break time, and Cal knew exactly what he wanted to break. His friends' faces.

They were being jerks, every last one of them. Nobody had said a word to him all morning, carrying on the same stupid joke they'd started last night. In registration Megan and Eddie had acted like he wasn't even there, eyeballing him for half a second before turning their backs and speaking to each other in giggling whispers. Georgia hadn't looked at him either but that was no real surprise. She hadn't really looked at anything over the top of her book. Still, she usually at least said good morning.

Cal had sat quietly in his chair with his maths homework out, pretending that he hadn't even noticed they were all acting weird. Every time he looked up all he saw were the backs of people's heads, like something had come into the room with a giant eraser and literally rubbed all the faces away. It gave him the creeps, but more than that it just really, really annoyed him.

The worst of it by far was that he'd just been told he couldn't join the kick around. Jack had literally snatched the ball from his feet at the start of break – out on the field by the new running track, where they always played – and said:

'We've got enough people, Cal.'

Then he'd run off with the ball in his hands, his words like a punch in the gut, leaving Cal breathless. He'd stood and watched for almost a minute, waiting for the laughs, the punchline, the slaps on the back. They hadn't come. His mates had just started playing, nobody so much as sparing Cal a glance. And the cherry on the cake was when Steven Abelard had shown up, slinging his bag on the goal post pile and lumbering into the middle of the improvised pitch. Jack had thrown him the ball straight away.

Cal retreated towards the school, his brain working furiously. It had to be a prank. What else could it be? But why him, and why now? His birthday wasn't for months, and with the next cup match that afternoon it wasn't exactly the best time to rattle a teammate – or ban him from a kick around for that matter. No, there had to be another reason, something that he'd done or said to piss one of them off. He thought back over the last few days. Yeah he'd been a little cheeky to Megan but he was always a little cheeky to her because he knew she fancied him. And she'd never have been able to engineer something like this, not by herself. No, it was something else, something he was missing.

He rubbed his temples, his headache a sloshing sound in his ears like he had boiling water in them. He was starting to really regret getting out of bed.

He stopped at the main door, not wanting to go inside yet. The sun was a warm hand on the back of his neck and the thought of spending the rest of the day in a cold, dark classroom was completely and utterly depressing. What did people do at break if they weren't playing football? He looked around, seeing pockets of kids skipping or sitting eating an early lunch or reading or playing tag. He didn't fancy any of those things, and even if he had done what was he supposed to do? March over and say 'hey, you don't know me but all my other friends are idiots so pretty please can I come and play with you?'

Man it must suck to be a normal kid.

He set off along the side of the building, not really knowing where he was heading. There wasn't really much to do down this end of the school – a square of lumpy grass which had once been a vegetable garden, hidden by a huge hedge, and behind that a strip of gravel tennis courts which backed onto residential gardens. The bike sheds were down this way too, by the narrow cycle path that led up past the hall to the south gate. He could smell the cigarette smoke from fifty yards away.

He angled away from the building. The kids who smoked down here were pretty much all assholes. If they saw Cal out by himself they'd almost certainly start hollering at him. He wasn't worried about getting hurt, he was worried that they'd tread on his nerves so much he'd hurt them. At least that's what he told himself. Truth was he just didn't think he could take any more aggro without bursting into tears.

He cast an eye back, the bike sheds now in view to the side of the hall. They were deserted. Cal stopped, turned, hearing a noise to his left. The eight-foot high hedge around the old garden waved to him in the breeze. When he'd first arrived at the school that hedge had been a quarter of the size it was now, the twenty by twenty garden it surrounded full of lettuces and onions and peas and carrots. They'd tended it as part of their domestic education lessons, which basically involved fifty minutes of throwing mud clots at each other.

The noise again, like thunder, flecked with lightning-bright shouts. Cal edged towards the garden, curious. The noise reminded him of a football match – the hammer of feet on the grass, the cry of 'here!' and 'cross!' and 'man on!' Only he couldn't pick out words, just weird, high-pitched barks that made him think of hyenas. He reached the hedge, one hand absently combing the needle-thin pines as he walked along its length. He glanced towards the school as he went. It seemed very far away.

The noise was louder by the time he reached the end of the hedge, joined by a metallic clatter that he recognised as something hitting a fence. There was a scream. Not like a terror scream, from the movies, but an angry one. Maybe someone had just been cut down by a tackle like the one that had taken him out yesterday. Maybe the guy's friends would need a new midfielder. 'Wow, perfect timing mate, we're shooting that way.' It might be the Year 11 team. They'd probably really appreciate some tips.

Cal went to move around the hedge then stopped, suddenly and inexplicably nervous. Get out there, you wuss, he said to himself.

But his body was rebelling, locked tight, something inside his head refusing to let him go. It took a moment for him to realise that he wasn't just nervous, he was scared. He was scared of what he might see.

The rattling sound was louder, like somebody was ripping the fence right out of the ground. Then there was a crunch, feet landing on gravel, followed by another, then another, combining into a roar that reminded him of waves drawing back over a stony beach. More people were shouting now too. With the hedge to his side and those noises in the air, Cal had the weirdest sensation that he wasn't at school at all, he was standing in London Zoo by the monkey enclosure. It was so realistic that he felt his head start to spin.

He snapped himself out of it, the real world reforming, making him feel strangely heavy. This was ridiculous. All he'd see would be a handful of kids messing around in the tennis courts. It happened every day. That's why there were big notices all over the school saying DO NOT CLIMB THE FENCES – which only seemed to make more people want to do it. Cal had scaled it himself a dozen times or more, usually to collect a punted football.

Ignoring the weight in his stomach, Cal peeked around the hedge. He'd been wrong, there wasn't a handful of kids there at all. There was a mob of them, maybe forty or fifty. They were swarming over the fence, so many that the chain links had sagged between the posts like telephone wires, half as tall as they were supposed to be. Most of the crowd was inside the tennis courts, running full pelt towards the wall of one of the gardens behind. And some of them were now pulling themselves over that, kicking loose stalks of ivy and chunks of crumbling brick.

'What the hell?' Cal said beneath his breath. The kids in their uniforms moved like a burgundy river – a blood river, he thought, shivering despite the heat – trampling the nets, knocking each other to the ground as they converged on that wall. They clawed their way up it like they were running from a tidal wave, or a stampede, grabbing fistfuls of each other, their shoes kicking against faces. And all the while those same screams rose from the chaos, so human and yet at the same time so utterly not human.

The crowd poured into the garden, the last kid climbing, slipping, climbing again, toppling out of sight. He could hear them on the other side, making so much noise they could have been demolishing the house whose roof was visible over the wall. There was a crash of broken glass, a cry that rose in pitch like an old fashioned kettle, cut short before it could reach its full potential.

Cal took a step forward, wanting to know what was happening. But his curiosity was overridden by the fear that still sat unpleasantly in his gut, weighing him down, rooting him to the spot. He looked behind him, towards the school, praying for a teacher or the caretaker to appear. At least they'd be able to tell him what was going on.

He glanced back and the world seemed to explode, a blinding light searing outwards from the house. Cal dropped down as a peal of thunder followed, and a pillar of fire that burst up, burning itself out in less than a second. Fragments of brick and glass rained down over the tennis courts.

A pair of hands appeared over the wall, followed by a head. A girl that Cal didn't recognise – so small she could only have been in Year 7 – hauled herself over the bricks, dropping daintily onto the gravel of the tennis court. She looked dazed, and when she wiped the back of her hand across her smoke-blackened forehead she left a trace of something there, something crimson.

Another kid appeared, jumping down and almost tripping. A third followed, his trouser leg ripped from his ankle to his knee. They were all covered in dirt, and they all had that same vacant expression, like they'd just woken up.

More and more kids tumbled over the wall, moving so much slower than they had been a minute or so ago. The first girl caught sight of a friend, taking her hand as they walked towards the fence. She said something and they both smiled. A few of the boys were running around the nets. Cal squinted into the haze to see that the chaser had something in his hands, something dark and dripping, laughing hard as he tried to wipe it on the others. He lunged and slipped on the gravel, scrabbling up without pause and continuing the hunt.

Cal watched the procession return over the fence, fifty voices all chatting and calling out to each other. They began to separate once they were back on the field, some heading towards the school, others making their way up to the sheds, pulling fag packets and lighters out of their pockets. A few of them had stains on their fingers, wet streaks which glinted like red satin in the sun. Others had gunk on their shoes, stuff that looked like mud but which couldn't have been because it was the middle of July and it hadn't rained for two weeks. Some sniffed the air the same way cats do, tilting their heads towards Cal, and he instinctively pushed himself further into the hedge.

The last kid clambered down the fence, leaving it limp and broken. His eyes were dark, only clearing when he looked up at the sky. He blinked, frowning, looking left and right as if he couldn't quite remember where he was. Then somebody called his name and he ran after them, grinning.

Cal didn't watch him go. He didn't turn his head from the fence, looking past the wall towards the house beyond, waiting for something to happen. Its shattered upstairs windows looked back, almost as if they were challenging him to come and see, daring him to find out what had happened. You know you want to, it seemed to say. Don't be a wuss, Cal, come take a look at what's lying in my garden.

Cal backed off, his skin taut, almost painful, with gooseflesh. Those windows watched him go, the reflected sun like a spark of wicked humour in the fractured glass, boring into him until he could bear it no longer. He turned, his walk becoming a jog, then a run, then a full-on panic driven sprint as he imagined the house laughing at him, screeching at his back:

It doesn't matter, you'll find out soon enough, Cal, because you're next, you're next, YOU'RE NEXT!

 

 

US Tour Part 4: Furnace vs Alcatraz!

I was so excited to visit San Francisco, it's such a cool place! I flew in on the Sunday (did I mention the flight from Pasco to Seattle was THE most terrifying flight ever?! The plane was doing a drunken jig for the whole hour) and took a cab straight to my hotel. It was right on the edge of a neighbourhood called the Tenderloin (although I have no idea why it's called that), which was actually one of the places that people had told me to avoid when I was there because of the… interesting… locals. But I was curious to explore, so I set out for a walk as soon as I got there and everybody seemed very friendly and nice (although quite a few people did ask me if I had any Tylenol, and didn't seem too impressed when I offered them a Lemsip instead). It was great to explore the city, although I didn't have too much time because I had a busy few days lined up!

The awesome Martha!

It all started at 6.30 Monday morning, when I was picked up from my hotel by my driver, the wonderful Martha. She drove us up to the Alameda County Juvenile Hall for my first event. This was one of the ones I'd most been looking forward to, and it didn't disappoint. I met up with the librarian, Amy Cheney, who is a remarkable person. She created the library inside the facility, and has been working non-stop to encourage the boys to read – and by doing so has single-handedly turned many of their lives around. We were due to speak to the youth in maximum security first, as they had been reading the series, but unfortunately they were in lockdown (how ironic is that?!) because there had been a riot the day before. It was such a shame, as it would have been so cool to be able to meet them. But I had two more sessions with the other boys and both groups were amazing. I talked to them about the books, and about how I'd gone off the rails when I was a teenager, how I used to get into fights, how I stole stuff from my parents and from my school, and how I'd failed at school first time round. They were a super audience, attentive and interested and full of questions too. They all came up and shook my hand afterwards. I signed a load of books, some for the library and some that the youth would get to take with them when they are released. And I had a chance to speak to some of the maximum security guys too, although it was brief. Afterwards, in the library, I read some of their creative writing – published in a magazine – and was blown away. There is a huge amount of talent there, and I hope the boys go on to use it (the girls too, although I didn't get to speak to them). It really was a highlight of the trip, and a real privilege to be able to talk to the guys. Thanks Amy!! Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any photos inside the facility, but here I am with Amy in the fantastic library!

Me and Super-Amy!! We look a little weird as Amy was trying to teach me a trick to getting rid of my double chin by angling my head in a certain way!!!

Afterwards, Martha took me on a guided trip around San Francisco. It was great to see the sights – especially the incredibly steep hills, and a drive over the Golden Gate Bridge – although it was a whirlwind tour because we were on a deadline! But we did manage to grab a burger in an awesome fifties-style diner. I signed books in half a dozen shops, then we raced up to Berkeley for the second event of the day at Berkeley High School. It's a lovely school, in an amazingly trendy part of San Francisco, and I spoke to a couple of hundred students in their enormous library. It was great fun!! There is a cool blog post about it here, and a photo of me strutting my stuff (not the best angle, I certainly didn't do a good job of hiding my double chins in this one)! Thanks so much to Amy again for organising it, and to everyone at Berkeley High for being so awesome!!

Me and my chins doing my show at Berkeley!

To finish up the day, Martha drove me over to Kepler's Books out in Menlo Park, which is a gorgeous independent book shop. I did an event there to a lovely crowd, signed loads more books, and had a long chat to the lovely Angela (a fellow Brit). I also recorded a little video for Kepler's website, talking about Furnace 4, which can be found here! Thanks for having me, Angela!!

Tuesday was less busy, but no less fun! I had one event in the morning, at Ida B. Wells High School in the city. I spoke to a couple of classes about writing, about horror, and took a look at their creative writing projects too, which were amazing! Both groups were full of questions (although quite a few were about gangs and weapons!), and it was a nice, informal event with a lot of chatting about cool stuff! It was great to see so much enthusiasm for books and writing! Thanks to Dorothy for being so awesome! Thanks too to Jennifer, who was the contact from the San Francisco Library and who stayed for the show! Afterwards, Martha, Jennifer and I had lunch, then went on to my final San Francisco event at the John O'Connell High School. It was a wonderful hour, with the library practically overflowing. Another fantastic group of students, and so much excitement and enthusiasm. Thanks to everyone – especially Elaine the librarian – for making me feel so welcome!

It was mid-afternoon when we finished, but I had special plans for the rest of the day. I was going to Alcatraz! I couldn't exactly go on a tour for the Furnace books and not visit the world's most famous prison!!! And I wanted to see how the place compared to Furnace. Martha dropped me off at the pier and I took the boat out to the island. By this time it was absolutely chucking it down, but the gloomy weather was perfect for such a gloomy place! And it really IS gloomy. Although I don't think Alcatraz the place could ever really be as bad as Alcatraz the legend – as a prison, it actually had a reputation for being tough but fair – and it was hard to get a true sense of the prison with four hundred other people there, it still had a strange atmosphere about it. The best bit was when, right at the end of the tour, I found myself in an aisle of cells by myself, with nobody else in earshot. Suddenly I got a true sense of the intimidating, haunted (and it's definitely haunted), bullying atmosphere of the place. I knew that if I was there by myself, at night, something bad would come for me. It's an amazing place to visit, just make sure you don't miss the last boat out!! Oh, and take the audio tour, because it's full of sound effects that really make you feel like you're stuck in a nightmare!

One thing for sure, though, Alcatraz isn't anywhere near as bad as Furnace!! For a start there are windows, with probably the best view of San Francisco I had while I was there! Oh, and there are no wheezers, mutant dogs, berserkers, blacksuits, rats or Warden Cross…

Me on the way to Alcatraz, wearing my awesome Bad Teachers biker hat (thanks again Steve!!) I appear to have a seagull stuck to my head...

At least they got a cell to themselves, not like in Furnace!!

When the crowds were gone, Alcatraz was a SPOOKY place. There were ghosts there, no doubt.

And there were DEFINITELY ghosts in here!!

At least the prisoners didn't have to eat slop, they don't know how lucky they were!!!

So another fantastic leg of my US tour, and a wonderful, exciting city that I would recommend to anyone. Oh, and I was so pleased to be able to visit City Lights Books, one of my absolute favourite book shops. I studied the Beats when I was at uni, and have had a love affair with the place since then – and a poster of it in my kitchen for the last ten years. It was awesome to be able to see the shop for real (even though I didn't actually have time to go in, just five seconds to leap out of the car for a photo)! I want to say another huge thanks to Martha for going above and beyond the call of duty and taking the time to show me so much of the city, you were awesome!!

Next stop, Philly!!

 

 

 

US Tour Part 3: Cavalcade of Awesomeness!!!!!!! :-)

The Cavalcade of Authors, in the Tri-Cities, is the reason I'm over here in the States. It's an amazing event, created and run by a wonderful woman called Michelle Lane. The idea is to bring together twelve authors and a load of schools for a day of talks, creative writing workshops and author panels. Genius! Michelle got in touch with me last year and asked if I'd like to come over for it, as the Furnace books were popular in the schools. And of course I said yes!!

Read For Life!! That's an order!

So I flew out of Seattle on Tuesday night after my school events, and got picked up from Pasco airport by Lisa, one of the volunteers. She was incredibly enthusiastic, and a perfect introduction to the remarkable energy and excitement of the week. The Cavalcade itself wasn't until Friday, but I had four school events scheduled before then. The first was at the Southside United Protestant Sanctuary, and it was inside a chapel! It was cool, although I felt a little weird talking about monsters and gore and shooting cow pats in there. The audience, which came from a few different schools, was great, and didn't seem to mind the setting at all (although I got a few funny looks from the staff when I was talking about my first novel, the one about the man-eating angels)!

After that I headed over the state line into Oregon to talk to the students at the Clara Brownell Middle School in Umatilla. These guys were so awesome!! The event started in the coffee shop across the street from the school, where I met with forty of their keenest readers. We had a great chat about books and writing over coffee, and one student even bought me my first ever Hershey's bar – thanks again for that!! It was great to be amongst such bright and enthusiastic kids!

Umatilla!

Afterwards we all headed back to Clara Brownell and I gave my talk to the whole school. And the best thing was that they presented me with this ENORMOUS thank you card before I left, which was so awesomely cool!! Thanks so much to everyone at the school! Thanks also to Paula and Carol for doing all the driving!

It's almost as big as I am!!!!

There's a newspaper article about it here, but you have to be signed up to read it. I'll post a copy!

The day wasn't over yet. I travelled north again into Washington State to do an evening event at Richland Library, which is a fantastic place. There was a great crowd, full of enthusiastic writers and readers, and it was loads of fun. Thanks to Gavin for inviting me, and to everyone for coming!! To top off a perfect day, I even got to ride in Terry's bright red Ford Mustang to and from the library. I have always wanted to take a trip in one of these! I was so excited I forgot to take a photo. Thanks Terry!

On Thursday I went to speak at Enterprise Middle School, which was brilliant! To begin with I was interviewed by a student called Andrew, and we had a long chat about writing and books. There was a reporter there too, and his article about the morning can be found here! There are also some photos here!

The Enterprise reaction to my exploding cow poo story, courtesy of the Tri-City Herald!

Afterwards, Michelle and Leslie, the two organisers of Cavalcade, took me out to lunch. I had the choice of pretty much any restaurant, but I think I horrified them by asking to go to Taco Bell. What?! We don't have them in England!!! It was delicious! Following that, we drove over to Kamiakin High School for my last talk of the week. I spoke to hundreds of students in the main auditorium, and they were an awesome bunch! Afterwards Steve, a librarian and teacher there, presented me with some thank you prizes, including a very rare Kamiakin Chiefs pin, so I was very honoured! He also gave me his hat, emblazoned with the logo of the biker gang he belongs to (the Bad Teachers). He wanted to take me back to the hotel on his motorbike, which would have been great, but he was told not to! I was so disappointed!! But we have now made plans to travel to Sturgis next time I'm in the country, and hang out with bikers all weekend. It will be great! And I did get to try on his cut later in the day! Thanks Steve!

Biker Gordy!!

On Thursday evening the Cavalcade officially began, and I got to meet the other eleven authors. They were (deep breath)… Robin Wasserman (who I met earlier in the week in Seattle), Frank Beddor, Blake Nelson, Royce Buckingham, Ridley Pearson, Janet Lee Carey, Alex Flinn, Vivian Vande Velde, Pete Hautman, Colleen Houck and Jim Whiting. I have nothing but amazing things to say about all of them, but if I did then this blog would never end. Suffice to say they were a brilliant bunch, and fascinating to talk to. Read their books!! The authors and event organisers all went to Olive Garden for a meal, and a chance to get to know each other. Then we all went over to Barnes and Noble for a mass signing. Twelve authors all in a row signing books… I think we were all nervously comparing the size of everybody's lines. But I'm happy to say that there were loads of people there with copies of the Furnace books! It was a truly smashing evening.

So finally Friday rolled around, with a 5.30am wake-up call!! I got picked up an hour later by Lisa, my host for the day, and headed out to Columbia Basin College. Events started at 8, and consisted of four forty-minute long workshops. In order to attend Cavalcade, each student had to have read at least four books from the authors, so everyone there was a dedicated reader! The workshops all went brilliantly, with over a hundred kids in each one! We talked about horror, and how to come up with scary ideas based on our own worst fears, and some of the story ideas you guys came up with were truly chilling! There were some excellent writers in the audience, and I know we'll be hearing about them in the future. Just remember what I said: never give up on your dreams!!! After the workshops was an author panel, where we answered questions from the huge audience. There were over 600 kids there, which is (I think) the largest group I have ever spoken to!

I was going to get everyone to shout something cool about Furnace, but I didn't get the chance!!

To finish things off there was a signing, which went on for well over an hour – there were still people queueing for books as the school buses were pulling away (I hope no-one got left behind)! I was enjoying it so much that my special red-inked Furnace stamp exploded (I was stamping a little too enthusiastically), making it look like there was blood all over my table (very fitting). Oh, and I spotted a little mistake on my signing sign:

I don't mind, but Darren might!!!

Prizes for guessing which of my favourite authors that is!

The event wrapped up shortly after two, which was a shame as I was up for doing it all over again! It really was such a brilliant day, and just amazing to see so much enthusiasm for books and for reading. I don't think I have ever seen so many people share such a passion for stories under one roof! I want to say a GINORMOUS THANKS to everyone who attended Cavalcade, especially the students. You guys were all so great!! Good luck with your writing, and remember if you write some scary stories send them to me, I'd love to read them! Oh and extra special congratulations to the short story prize winners!!!!!

I got to hand out the prizes for creative writing, a HUGE congratulations to the winners, I'm looking forward to buying your books in the future!

Also extra special thanks to Lisa, who was my bodyguard during the day (you should have seen her fighting a path through the hordes so I could grab some lunch), to Leslie and Carol and Paula and Steve and the other Cavalcade staff (too many to mention here, sorry, but you were all amazing), and of course Michelle, without who none of this would have happened. Best. Day. Ever!!!!

Oh, and I know loads of pictures were being taken at the Cavalcade itself, but I have no idea where to find them. I'll add them as soon as I can!

Later that evening a few of us went to dinner, which was fun. On Saturday I had a day off (yay!) and met up with lovely Leslie and her brilliant daughters Madisson and Hailey for a tour of the local shops (including the best chocolate shop ever!!!), then we went for a wine tasting with Lisa, Elaine and John (delicious, although I couldn't tell the difference between any of the wines), and finally we went back to Leslie's for my first ever traditional US barbecue, which was awesome. I had a wonderful evening, and made some great new friends!

New Friends!

I was truly sorry to fly out on Sunday, because it really was a super week – like I said, one of those weeks that makes me realise how insanely lucky I am to do what I do. Michelle, invite me back to Cavalcade soon!!!!

There was no time to rest, though, as I was heading straight over to San Francisco for Part 4 of the tour!!

US Tour Part 2: Space Cars and Zee Puppies!

Wow, what a week it's been! There are certain times in an author's life when you are just so thankful you do what you do, and this week really is one of those!! I honestly do have the best job in the world, and it's all down to the awesome people who read my books!

So my tour events began on Monday in Seattle, and what a way to kick things off! I was doing an event at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, just north of the city. It was a joint event, alongside the fantastically lovely Robin Wasserman, whose book Frozen (which I am currently reading) is truly brilliant. We met in my hotel for dinner and a chat, then headed over to the book store together. Now usually when I travel to events I either get a taxi, or just walk. But my publisher sent a car to pick us up. It was huge, and silent, and it felt like riding in an Imperial Shuttle out of Star Wars. It even had my name on it!! So cool!

I felt like Dark Vader getting picked up for work!!

The space car whizzed us both up to the shop, which is a really cool place. There was already a small crowd waiting, including two of my most awesome fans EVER, Elise and Jillian! They were wearing Furnace shirts, and Elise had even bought me a birthday present of a Seattle mug full of chocolates (yay!) and a photo of her puppy, who is called ZEE! Yes, she named her dog after Zee in the books, which is truly the coolest thing ever!! I even had a chance to meet Zee after the show. He is so cute!!! I have never met two such dedicated, enthusiastic fans, and feel totally honoured that they love the books so much!!

Me, Elise, Jillian and Zee. HOW CUTE IS THAT DOG!!!!!!! Photo courtesy of Kristina Ebert!

Awesome Furnace Shirts (we need to make one for the puppy too)!

I wanted to take him home!!!

Also at the event was Kristina Ebert, who runs the wonderful Kristina's World of Books blog. She was kind enough to interview me before my tour (read it here)! Kristina also wrote an article about the event, which is great!! Check it out here! It was great to meet you, Kristina!! There were loads of other amazing fans there too, and it was great to meet so many awesome people! The best thing about the event was that afterwards Robin and I just sat and chatted with everyone for ages (and played with the dog). It's so nice to be able to do that, rather than being ushered out and on to the next event! I really did have a fantastic time! Thanks to everyone who came, and thanks too to Jennifer and the rest of the staff at Third Place!

Me, Kristina and Robin! Photo courtesy of Kristina Ebert!

On Tuesday my school visits began, and the first stop was at Kellogg Middle School in Shoreline. I absolutely love doing school events in the States because the audiences are always so enthusiastic and fun, and this was no exception! I did my talk and chatted to the students for a bit, then headed over to Eckstein Middle School for an equally brilliant afternoon of talks. You guys were all awesome, and it was so great to see so many keen readers!! There's a report about my visit to Eckstein over on their school blog, including a link to a video where I talk about puking macaroni cheese all over myself! A huge thanks to the 500+ kids I spoke to today, plus Liz and Jay and all the staff in the libraries, and Jan who kindly drove me around!

I flew out to the Tri-Cities area on Tuesday evening, expecting to see forests and finding myself instead in the desert! It really is beautiful here, though, and the dust in the atmosphere creates the most amazing sunsets – including the most incredible sky I have ever flown through (I would have taken a picture but I worried that if I turned my phone on the plane would fall out of the sky).

And this post is getting so long that I'm going to talk about the CAVALCADE OF AWESOMENESS in the next one!!

US Tour Part 1: Seattle!!

I flew out to the States a week ago today for my Fugitives tour. Seattle was the first stop, which is cool as I've always wanted to visit (being a huge fan of Frasier). It's a cool city, with way too much to ever fit into a couple of days. So I opted to be adventurous and do the least touristy thing possible… The Space Needle!

Lunch at 500ft!

Not only is it stomach-churningly high up, but the whole restaurant actually rotates, meaning that by the time I got up there the last thing I wanted to do was eat a three-course meal! But I soldiered on and managed to finish it without hurling. I was pretty relieved when I got back to solid ground, though.

After the Needle I discovered quite possibly the coolest museum ever built, which is right next door. It's called the Experience Music Project, and it's a museum dedicated to music, science fiction and popular culture. Yes, you heard that right. I won't tell the story behind it here, check out its official page. But the whole building looks like some huge alien craft, and inside there is so much cool stuff!! I spent hours downstairs in their horror movie exhibition, which included awesome genuine props from some of my favourite movies!!

I'm gonna get ya!

There was also a copy of Bram Stoker's original Dracula Manuscript, complete with his handwritten notes, which was just amazing to see. Sorry the photo isn't great, if you used your flash they unleashed the xenomorph.

Dracula!!!

How cool is that!!!! There was also a huge Battlestar Galactica exhibition that I rushed around, and an Avatar exhibition that I didn't get a chance to see. There was so much stuff about music too, but just not enough time!! I would recommend this place to everyone, it's so much fun. Oh, and there was this, the weirdest thing ever, which turned your shadow into a monster. This is me:

Monster Me!

I also got a chance to make a pilgrimage over to the Lakeview Cemetery, which has a number of famous graves, including one of my heroes, Bruce Lee. He's buried there because it's Linda Lee's hometown. It was a beautiful place, incredibly peaceful and moving. The inscription on his grave reads: "Your inspiration continues to guide us toward our personal liberation." And he was such an inspirational guy. Brandon Lee is also buried there, by his side, and he has an inscription on his grave that reads: "Because we don't know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well. Yet everything happens a certain number of times, and a very small number, really. How many more times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, some afternoon that's so deeply a part of your being that you can't even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more. Perhaps not even that. How many more times will you watch the full moon rise? Perhaps twenty. And yet it all seems limitless." So sad  : (

RIP Brucie

I had a good wander around the city, saw Pike Place Market and the original Starbucks, the waterfront and the ferries and some pretty cool buildings, plus I got to ride on the famous Seattle monorail too. It was an awesome weekend, thank you Seattle!

Events started on Monday, and IT WAS THE BEST WEEK OF EVENTS EVER!!!!! I'll write about it in the next post!

They make a good cuppa!

How is this building not falling over?!

 

 

On the Run!!!!

On the run!

The day has arrived, FUGITIVES IS NOW OUT!!!!!! And it's so exciting even the cat wants to check it out! I really hope you all enjoy this one, it's fast, furious, gory and terrifying, including a battle at the end that was one of my absolute favourite scenes to write! (I won't say any more, because I don't want to ruin the surprise!) If you've already read it, let me know what you thought over on the Lockdown Facebook page, or by email at mail@alexandergordonsmith! Or better still, if you live in Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia or New York then come along and say hi when I'm over in the States next month! The latest list of events can be found on the homepage!

I'll be blogging during my tour, but for now…

HELL HAS BROKEN LOOSE, AND IS WALKING THE STREETS!!!!

 

Murderball!

Read about one of my inspirations for The Fury over on the AWESOME Book Zone for Boys blog. Thanks Darren!!

http://bookzone4boys.blogspot.com/2012/01/coming-up-in-2012-5-fury-by-alexander.html