Holidays are usually the time to sit back and bathe the mind in a sea of…um, well something relaxing. Or so I thought. I was let out of the cave for a few days but found myself filling my sketchbook with images that have kept me awake many nights. Once you’ve experienced what we have ‘inside’ it’s hard to erase it from troubled mind.

I mentioned to our captors that my Monster Makers series wasn’t getting quite as much promotion as I felt it deserved. Particularly in New Zealand. Now although they’ve taken exception to some of the stuff you guys have written, they had to admit, on reading Electrotaur & Slashermite, Stinkermite, Bashertaur, Spacemite and Rockataur, that monsters in my books have a pretty good time of it. Only ONE explodes – and somewhat heroically. Admittedly one gets squelched and another has a nine-year-old fall on him from a great height, but with the magic Merrion’s Mead, some paper and some crayons, these characters are restored to life.

So, feeling positive towards these stories, the monsters journeyed through the core of the planet and up through volcano tunnels to Wellington, New Zealand, where they promptly kidnapped nine-year-old Edward Matthews and forced him into a Bashertaur promoting placard. Eddie was initially quite happy about this as he is a big Monster Makers fan. But I hear that after nine days of patrolling the Kelburn district throughout daylight hours, he’s getting a bit tired.  

I’ve suggested that the monsters give him the odd five minutes off, and they say they are considering it. They’re now thinking of recruiting other children, though, to promote our books all over the world. I suspect we will see more pictures like these.

If YOU have been recruited by monsters to promote our books, please send us photos to boost our spirits. And we might well send you some exclusive Trapped By Monsters battle cards to say thanks. More about these in an upcoming post…

Several monsters caught up with me whilst I was on the run for three and a half weeks in Florida. This one nearly had me for a moment or two. Fortunately my head is harder than this guy’s teeth. He was not happy when he found himself spitting his pearly whites into the Everglades! Aside from an earache and a bit of tinnitis from the creature’s deafening roar of agony, I got away totally unharmed.

To my surprise, Blusterfart has informed me that I’m to be let out again tomorrow! I’m going to be signing books under heavy guard in Cribbs Causeway WH Smith for the next three whole days! I wonder if there’ll be another chance to sneak off for a bit of fun. Seems unlikely, as I expect the monsters will be watching me extra carefully for a while. Ho hum. If you approach me in Cribbs, please do so with care. The monsters will be all around the shopping centre.

I was fortunate enough to get one of the first copies of Girl Missing, the debut novel by Sophie McKenzie when it launched a couple of years back. It was no surprise to me that it went on to win several prestigious awards, as it was wonderfully written. I didn’t get around to reading her second book Blood Ties, but everyone I’ve spoken to who has read it tells me it is another superb book. Now Sophie has started a new series which is very much my sort of thing.

The Medusa Project Book 1: The Set Up is a fantastic read. The premise is that some years ago, a secret scientific project discovered a way of promoting the development of mental powers: telepathy, telekinesis etc by injecting an infant before birth with a special genetic formula. The unfortunate side effect of this was that the mothers of those injected all died shortly after the child’s birth. After four such deaths, the project was halted, and the four children have grown up with no knowledge of their potential. Now in their teens, the powers are emerging …

The first book is seen through the eyes of Nico a rather naive teenage boy, who is just discovering he has the ability to move physical objects with his mind. He is easily led into believing he can use his special gift to make money and impress girls without consequence. As always with McKenzie’s stories, the characterisations are superb and the plot rattles along at such pace that you hardly notice the pages turning. Each of the four special children (two girls and two boys) have developed different powers. Some appear more immediately useful than others, though I suspect each will be explored fully by the end of the series.

Sophie McKenzie is undoubtedly one of THE YA authors of our time. If you haven’t ready anything by her before, then I strongly recommend you give her writing a try. The Medusa Project looks set to be a fantastic series and I’ll be following it avidly as the rest of the books are released.

The first two books in the Scream Street series – Fang of the Vampire and Blood of the Witch – are published in the US today by Candlewick Press!

To celebrate the publication, I’ve made a second Scream Street USA trailer – which features my first attempt at using a green screen in my videos. The result – while not perfect – isn’t bad for a first try…

For more information on Scream Street in America, visit www.screamstreet.com (the UK site is at www.screamstreet.co.uk)

Ali’s post the other day filled me with horror. Partly it was her question: If you had to save just one book from your childhood shelf, what would it be? If I was in that situation, I’d be a goner for sure. The oncoming fire/flood/apocalypse/seething tide of monster vomit would catch me still dithering in front of that shelf, unable to make a decision.

Here’s one definite candidate, my hardback of Momo by Michael Ende:

…Which brings me to the second reason I’ve been shuddering. Going back to this book has reminded me that it contains what are still, to my mind, the most frightening baddies in the whole of young people’s literature.

You don’t believe me? I notice that Puffin have recently brought out a new edition with a front cover illustration by the awesome Chris Riddell. So read it, discover the Men in Grey, and tell me if you disagree. Go on. I dare you.

For a little more about Momo and other fine books, check the review page of my LibraryThing Profile.

Now, I have to confess something. When I first got a Dragon Orb book my heart quailed. Although I too am a fantasy writer (sort of), the whole ethereal otherwordly realm thing isn’t really my bag. I wanted to read it because I’d heard how great Mark’s writing is from fellow TBMers, but what if I really couldn’t get on with it? Anyone who’s read the Shapeshifter series will have picked up that I have a very low wifty-wafty threshold and cannot help taking the mickey out of anything that goes there in all seriousness. ie: Calista reached for the Sapphire Sphere of Destiny knowing in her heart that Lazaratitus would sense the flowing of her spirit across the five moons of Luporatus and the wood nymphs of the Jade Forest would divine the very depths of her most secret being and how, then, would she fight the Beast Of The Dark Horizon and save all elven-kind before daybreak?!

Yep. That’s what I’m not into. Unless it’s a spoof.

So knowing there were dragons and orbs involved made me a little nervous. The clue was in the title. Dragon Orb: Firestorm.

Finally, having put off reading books 3 & 4, which had found their way to me in the caves, I ordered book 1 via MonsterWeb and it arrived last week. Taking a deep breath and resolving to make myself love elves and nymphs and all that lark like a proper girl, I got started.

SUCH A RELIEF! Dragon Orb is NOT wifty wafty! Wohoo! Furthermore, it has some of the best flying sequences I’ve ever read. This is not surprising when you consider that its author is an RAF pilot, but Mark has resisted any instinct to go uber-technical on us and has relived the many physical, emotional and spiritual journeys he must have been on, substituting living breathing dragons for the assorted aircraft he has handled. It is heart-stoppingly effective.

What really surprised me, though, was the depth of his girl character, Nolita – one of two girls with two boys who must quest to find Dragon Orbs and so save the Oracle and the fate of man/dragonkind and yes I know that sounds a lot like the paragraph in italics further up but this time I believe it! You will too. Nolita has panic attacks and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Mark has truly done his research. I am on more than passing acquaintance with panic attacks and his descriptions are spot on.

I was reading this book until 1.30am the other night, despite being really tired. And as soon as I’d finished it yesterday I was off to the book shop for the second one – Shadow – which I’ve just started. The end of the first chapter tells me it’s going to be every bit as gripping as Firestorm. In fact, as gripping as a dragon’s talons…

While doing my weekly search to find sites where INVISIBLE FIENDS: MR MUMBLES is available to pre-order, I came across the following chart on Amazon.  Click to enlarge, then note number 8 in the chart.

And then note number 9…

It’s worth noting, however, that this chart is now out of date.  The current chart has THREE of Tommy’s books in there, with two of them thrashing mine in the rankings.  Still, for that fleeting moment I was a winner, dammit.  I was a winner!

You can see the current chart here.

Where have I been? Well, I thought to abandon my fellow captives and see how far I got on my own before the monsters dragged me back. You see I’d found what I believed to be the cave that Andy followed to California earlier in the year, but instead I ended up emerging in Orlando, Florida. This was an incredible stroke of good fortune, as my family were there on holiday, so I got to meet up with them for a while. On the downside, monsters wander around there all the time and no one bats an eyelid. Everyone just assumes it’s another of Disney’s efforts to entertain the crowds of tourists.

My disguise as a Markosaurus was good enough to get me past Blusterfart the Unsteady, but he soon realised his mistake and sent a whole legion of monsters after me. I got photos of some of them. Others were totally blurred. Some were clearly relatives of TIM – the character from Sam Enthoven’s wonderful book TIM: Defender of the Earth. Others were more subtle with their appearance. I shall post more on my brief escape over the next few days.