I’m just back home after spending a lovely few days in Cork.

First I went to Berrings to visit the amazing National School there. In the hall, I was greeted by a huge welcome banner, with my name in the biggest letters I’ve ever seen. (They’ve promised to send me a photo, and I’ll post it here when I get it.)

Next it was off to Rushbrooke, by the sea. It was especially nice to visit here again, as much of ‘The Time Spell’ was set in the area. I left with a huge bundle of letters, which I’m still working my way through -and really enjoying.

Next day it was off to Bandon. There I was welcomed by Gerry from Bandon Books, and hordes of eager readers. A couple of American tourists wandered in, and stayed for my talk. Afterwards they bought one of my books for their grand-daughter. The gentleman came up to me before they left. ‘I’d wish you good luck,’ he said, ‘except I don’t think you need it.’ I thought that was really sweet.

Best part of my trip was that I moved back in with my parents for a few days. I fear that I ‘treated their house like a hotel’ but they are far too nice to point that out. Every evening, my dad prepared a delicious dinner, which was followed by one of my mum’s legendary cakes. By the second day, I was wondering why I’d ever left home at all!

 

PS When I got back to Limerick, my children told me that I’ve re-acquired my Cork accent – result!

Now that Book Festival 2011 is over, it’s time for a leisurely look back, and this is how it went for me:

• Number of events – 20
• Number of Counties visited – 6
• Kilometres travelled – 1900 +
• Times I got lost (on my journeys, not during my presentations) – 3
• Times I asked for directions – 3, thus proving that my brain is 100% female
• Cups of tea served – 20
• Cups of tea I actually had time to finish – 0
• Biscuits eaten – that’s a secret, but I will point out that chocolate goldgrain seem to be the biscuit of choice for the librarians of Ireland
• Teachers who chatted amongst themselves for the entire duration of my talk – 2 (!!!)
• Amazing questions asked – 100′s. But the best has to be this- ‘since films are rarely as good as books, if someone offered to film one of your books, would you respect your characters or sell out and take the money? (if anyone’s interested, I answered that the chance to find out would be a fine thing!)
• Days left to Book Festival 2012 – 334 – looking forward to it already!

 

This week, I had a few lovely close-to-home events in County Clare.

On Monday  I went to Killaloe and Scariff. Killaloe must have one of the most beautifully located libraries in the country. It’s right on the water, near Lough Derg.

The librarians in Killaloe were kind enough to say this about my visit:

 

On October 24^th author Judi Curtin visited Killaloe library and spoke to 56 children from 3^rd to 6^th class from Killaloe Girls National School.

 

Judi read a short extract from one of her books, described how she came to be a writer and not a knitter/dressmaker, and answered questions about her career.

 

The majority of the pupils had read at least one of Judi’s books.  They were thrilled to speak to one of their favourite authors and asked lots of questions.  Judi was very approachable and interacted brilliantly with the girls.

 

A lot of the girls took out loan copies of Judi’s books when the book-reading was finished and also asked for her to autograph their own books.  They are all looking forward to reading her next book.

In Scariff, I was interviewed by a group of girls from Mountshannon NS.

The girls had some great questions, and if you’d like to hear the interview, you can hear it here:

http://www.mountshannonschool.net/judicurtininterview20111024.mp3

 

On Tuesday, I went to Shannon and Newmarket on Fergus. The library staff in both venues gave me a great welcome. The classes who came to see me were wonderful, and they kept me going even when Book Festival exhaustion was setting in in a big way.

And that’s it. I’m sorry to say that Book Festival is over for another year. Thanks to everyone who helped to make my part in it so successful and enjoyable.

Keep watching, as next week I’ll be posting an overview of the festival.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well it might be a long way to Tipperary for most of the world, but for people like me, who live in Limerick – well, it’s only up the road.

On Monday I went to Nenagh and Borrisokane. Nenagh is a great town, and I was delighted to visit it again. I’d never been to Borrisokane before though, so I was especially looking forward to that. In Borrisokane, I visited Scoil Mhuire, where I spoke to the lovely children in Second and Third classes. Here I got the best inspiration for along time. One child suggested I set a book in their school, and call it Alice Goes to Borrisokane. I think that’s got a great ring to it, so who knows????

 

On Tuesday it was off to Cashel and Tipperary town.

Here’s me in Cashel library. The teacher in me loves to see all those enthusiastic raised hands. It was a great venue, but an unexpected hailstorm bouncing on the metal roof made it impossible to hear for a few minutes. Someone came up with the great idea of a story of a group of children getting trapped in a library by severe weather. The idea of being trapped in a library sounds like heaven to me, but I suspect that for some of the audience it didn’t sound like so much fun.

In Tipperary Town I visited St Michael’s Girls’ School, and I have to say it was amazing. The girls were so well prepared, it was a joy to speak to them.

And that was week three of Book Festival. Next week it’s off to Clare – I can’t wait!

 

On Tuesday night I went to the launch of the Artemis Project in Dundrum. This is the new childrens section at Eason, and it is amazing. It’s colourful and welcoming, with lots of  places to sit down and browse your favourite books.  I know it’s not meant for me, but I find shopping exhausting, and  some fine day, that gorgeous yellow beanbag is going to be a little bit too tempting!

Here are some more pics, thanks to Sarah Webb and Kieran Harnett: