Bilingual book signing!

If you happen to be in my neck of the French woods on Saturday 4th April between 10am-12noon and 3pm-5pm, why not pop into the one and only bookshop of the little town of Excideuil in the Dordogne?
I will be signing my books in both languages and, sure, it'll be fun!
If you need more convincing, note that said bookshop is called De la Pomme à la Plume, that is Apples and Quills, because yes, they sell books, but also fruit, wine and all manner of fine foods...
Check out the shop window!

Cahir

The things you spot when you look up from your ice-cream!

I was in Cahir last week, enjoying the (intermittent) lovely Irish spring and eating ice-cream by the massive castle and generally putting my feet up when suddenly...
Two groups of ladies from Our Lady of Mercy's 4th and 5th classes descended upon me. So there was nothing for it, but to have a proper session, and by "session" I mean the full works: authorial chat, collective reading, deliriously creative writing and cat-related Q&A-ing.
From Glitzy Girl (whose secret weapon is a sparkle cannon) to PopCorn Man (who is evil!), via the mysterious Burping Bubble Gum (who lives in a kettle), we had some pretty crazy moments. Not to mention all the brilliant acting out. Oh, and the murder of black rabbits that somehow involved a chainsaw and the Tooth Fairy.
Thanks to all the ladies who came along and made it such fun, and that includes Ann and Ann Marie, librarians extraordinaire who looked after me so well!

Mountains to Sea Ahoy!

This week sees the beginning of the fabulous Mountains to Sea festival in Dun Laoghaire, with, as always, an impressive line-up of writers, illustrators, storytellers, workshops and what-have-yous... and that's "only" the family and school programme!
This year, I will be doing a reading for pre-schoolers in the equally fabulous venue of the new LexIcon library. Dinos, dinos, and more dinos are on the menu, so please do join us for this free and hopefully very loud event.
Just follow the roars!

Thursday 19th March 11am-11.30am Free!

LexIcon At Eleven – Storytime Dinosaur Tales with Juliette Saumande
*If you are a preschool or group, please pre-book your children at the booking office)
Eleven o'clock means story time in the LexIcon children's library during the festival. A host of local authors will be on hand to share tales with the youngest readers. Babies and toddlers welcome. Drop in and join the fun.
Juliette Saumande is a writer and translator of children's books with over thirty picture books published in her native France. In English, she is the author of a novel, Chop-Chop, Mad Cap!, several picture books and an app, SOS Dinos in Distress. 

Happy World Book Day!

 
This week, myself and co-conspirator Sadie Cramer invaded Dubray Galway Branch with our antics and it was jolly good fun, if we say so ourselves. We chatted character development, writer-illustrator collaboration, creative process, Ribena-shampooed oldies, mad cats, scruffy cats, fat cats and rude cats with a total of 97 children over the course of the day.
I have to say their artistic knowledge and abilities were pretty impressive, and I was amazed at the variety of styles and approaches that one common brief produced. From cute fluffy kittens, to psychedelic felines via zombie-type cats,  these kids gave Scrum, our hitherto portrait-less puss, a lot more than the 9 lives the proverb would have entitled him to.
So let's hear it for the 1st/2nd class from St. Nicholas Parochial School (plus one junior that the snow blew in!), the 3rd class lads from St Patrick's School (because who doesn't love a farting cat?) and the 3rd class from Scoil Iognaid (keep up the art, team!).