The Mousehunter Blog

I've been delving into Wordpress over the past couple of days, and took the bold steps to try and make a blog myself and host it on the Mousehunter site. I thought it would be good to have a book blog on the go, so here it is - The Mousehunter Blog.

I'll still be posting here, especially with the spring coming, but at the minute the books are taking first place over everything. And after all, the birds in the garden don't exactly provide me with an Eastenders level of intrigue, death and betrayal to write about! If only!

The Liar's Diary

I was looking at Neil Gaiman's blog and saw this post about a first time author who found out that she had cancer, and realised there'd be no way she could promote it. To help, many bloggers have done a lot of promotional work for her, linking to her book and building up the awareness.

Knowing how much work is involved in putting out a book, it seems only fair to blog about it too, if only to help out on the google ranking. So then, her book is The Liar's Diary, and her name is Patry Francis. And it was out in paperback yesterday!

Raised beds on the way

It's the time of year when I get exhausted from celebrating, and this year has had even more things to celebrate than usual. Probably most important after the 'book' thing, would be my 30th birthday in a few days time. The big one. The year when my body starts to disintegrate. I can't tell you how excited I am.

However, gardening presents often come my way, and this year is the year of the raised bed. The parents have ordered me some from here, and I can't wait to try and find 3 tonnes of soil to fill them. Well, that's not strictly true, but I will have to find a fair bit, and it will sadly mean shipping in some from somewhere, which I can't imagine is in anyway good for the planet. Or the worms that will be displaced from their holes.

A bit of digging will be required, I'm sure, but this is the time when the garden will come in from the cold and be welcomed back into my life. The house is now 'done up', (I am now officially known as the Polyfiller king having practised on numerous misplaced drill holes) and now it's the turn of the great outdoors. Woohoo! Roll on the Spring!

The Mousehunter launched

Last night was the launch party for The Mousehunter, held just up the road in The Bookseller Crow - the best bookshop this and that side of the River.

It was a terrific evening, and despite the dismal weather, the turnout was amazing. It was so good that even a few mice turned up.

To celebrate, I got out my baking hands - they'd been residing firmly in my pockets for a few months - and created some mousecakes. They were simple fairy cakes really, but with chocolate mice and mousetails. The tails were hard to come by, but if you look hard enough you can get anything in London.

Milo the Dragon

After watching the deluge this morning, and then a few hours spent gazing at the newly filled bird feeder, milo decided to adopt the position of the 'resting dragon'.

The sun was out, he was feeling lazy, hell, when's a better time to sit with your nose pressed against the wall?

The Mousehunter on sale!

After years of wait, The Mousehunter's finally out. It's a weird feeling seeing it in the shops, and I'm reliably informed that it's even been spotted in Harrods, of all places. It all seems quite unbelievable!

A couple of weeks ago I had my first interview, which is now online at the Reading Zone website. That was a great experience, and a little scary, but there you go! The mice have escaped, and there's no hiding them any more...

There's a Facebook group I've set up - the Pirate Mousehunting Club - so if you're a member of that ubiquitous web 2.0 app, then sign up and get regular mice of the week in your inbox!

This year I'm planning to grow some veg. I really am. I've recently had my flat renovated, all ethically and eco-painted and floored, and next stop is the garden. There still won't be sprouts, but there will be rocket. And possibly a few mice.

London bloggers meet up

Last week I met a load of London Bloggers at a pub, in London. I know i haven't done much blogging of late other than here, but it was nice to meet so many new people. It's a funny business meeting people you don't know, but I was brave and strong.

Ultimately, I did end up drawing mice for everyone, but as The Mousehunter website's done, I thought it might be a bit of practice and a way of spreading the mousing word. So if you get a second, please have a nose at The Mousehunter site, and let me know what you think. The lovely Tom Percival (who did the art for Skulduggery Pleasant!) helped me do it all, and I'll be forever grateful for his time!

Leaf drifts in the Palace cause mass panic

It's winter in Crystal Palace, and instead of snowdrifts we get leaf drifts. I've never seen so many leaves, although I must admit it's probably more to do with the fact that 1... I've done a lot of walking around of late, and 2... this is the first Autumn that I've been working from home.

The leaves are almost a metre deep in parts, with roads closed and schools shutting early so that the kids can get home in time. It took me at least another 10 minutes to walk up the hill than usual, as the drag on my ankles was so great.

All I can think is that because of the rain this year we've had a bumper crop of leaves. As the slugs devoured everything else, I presume the trees sucked up all the bounty of goodness for themselves. Clever trees...

The Mousehunter website's almost finished

Further to that last post, I've almost finished The Mousehunter website - it'll be fully running in about 2 weeks hopefully, but in the meantime there's a taster page to give an idea!

The Mousehunter is almost out!

It's been a horrendously long time since I posted anything here, but there's a few pretty good reasons - first and foremost being that I've been writing my second book. And the other reasons all stem round that fact that my first is soon to be out.

I must admit, it's not about gardens, or veg, or anything slightly organic. It's an adventure set in a world where people collect expensive species of crazy mice - although I'm sure there a few of the mice that inhabit people's allotments.

I had a slight rush of nerves when I spotted this a few days ago - my first review. It's only a few months until it'll be in the shops (Jan 17th 2008), and I can't believe that the wait is almost over.