We have a winner...

Never mind the lack of collaboration of some...

The Truly Innocent Hand came to the rescue...

 And we have a winner of the MAD CAP giveaway!

(we also have, you will note, several home-grown artichokes of legend)

Giveaway!

So, now that I have my precious author's copies of MAD CAP, I am in the very enjoyable position to GIVE ONE AWAY to you, my charming readers. I'm running the competition here, on my French site and on good old Facebook as well so that you can be in with a chance of winning wherever you might be.

How? you ask.
Easy peasy, I answer.
Just drop me a comment down below (or on my French site or on Facebook) before 25 JULY. All entrants will be thrown (metaphorically speaking) into a hat (literally) and a Trusted Tool of Fate* will be used to designate the winner.
* if he's not too busy watching the Muppets.

Best of luck to all!

The Greenhouse literary agency funny prize

It sounds a bit like the title for one of those romantic novels, but this is a very real prize and a very exciting opportunity for unagented writers of funny stuff for kids. Whether you write picturebooks, junior fiction or prose for teens, this is one for you.

The Greenhouse Funny prize is open to un-agented writers who are currently resident in the UK and Ireland. Entries will be judged by me and guest judge Leah Thaxton, Publishing Director of Egmont Children’s Books (and discoverer of Andy Stanton).

The winner will get an offer of representation from the Greenhouse and a full weekend ticket to the wonderful Festival of Writing that runs 7-9 September ’12 (worth £525). The winner will also be presented with a bottle of champagne at the Festival’s gala dinner on the Saturday night.

Everything you need to know is here. The deadline is Monday 30 July.
On that note, I'm off to see what funny manuscripts I may have sitting in my drawers...

Catching up

This is an in-betweeny sort of post. It's beeen a quiet week or two blogwise as I have been very busy with all sorts of things and I'm delighted to say that I Have Made Progress!
I've reached the end of the first draft of the new translation (Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones) and  that's the back of it broken, and a few more bones besides. I'm hoping to post more on the translating process à la Juliette one of these days.
I've also managed to squeeze a classic novel into picture-book format, yes the 32-page, 1000-word kind. I shall reveal all when the project is a bit nearer completion.
I've been to a most excellent workshop organised by Children's Books Ireland and the Ark and have learnt an awful lot. Again, you'll read more on this in the summer issue of Inis.
I have finally seen Avatar and confirmed that 3-D doesn't work for me. I have nothing against it, I just appear to have funny eyes...
I also finally sent out both my entry for the Kidlit contest and the manuscript for my Disaster David picture-book to a UK agent.
There's still plenty to do on all fronts, not to forget the intensive reading for the Bisto Book Award of which I am one of the judges. Meanwhile, I am in Paris for erm... research in erm... gastronomy and... erm French children's literature. A serious, educational trip. I shall communicate my findings in due course.

And another thing

To go back briefly to the topic of beginnings, Mary Kole, associate agent at Andrea Brown Literary Agency, has launched a competition on her excellent site. She's looking for novel beginnings in the Middle Grade and Youg Adult categories. So if you have a completed manuscript with a first chapter that will sweep Mary and thousands of readers off their feet, why not have a go? The deadline is the 31st of January and the rules and details can be found here. Good luck!