By now, I should be posting about how happy I am at the arrival of spring, but I’m afraid that The Beast From The East changed all that.

My home in Limerick was better than much of the country, but even so, we were snowed in for a few days over the weekend. Luckily I had stocked up with plenty of food, and a stack of books, so all was well.

I did some writing, and even found time to make a snowman. I think he looks quite impressive in the first photo, but I’m afraid the second one tells the truth! I suppose that in photographs, as in life, perspective is everything!

 

When I received the first copies of my new audio books, it took me right back to the days when my children were little and every holiday car-journey, no matter how short, took more preparation than your average ascent of Mount Everest. Despite my efforts to buy engaging toys and healthy-(ish) snacks, the cries of ‘are we there yet?’ generally started to ring out before we’d made it out of the car park.
And then we discovered audio books!
It started with the wonderful Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. Adults and children were hooked by the first page, squabbles were forgotten and peace came into our lives. By chapter two, we parents could no longer relax by the pool, as the children were constantly nagging us to go for ‘a really long drive.’
Of course it’s easier now, with in-car dvd players and iPads etc, but why should the kids have all the fun? The entire family could engage with an audiobook, and later, at meal-times, there were many ..er…animated discussions over the merits of the books we listened to. It was like a family book club, and those long car journeys are remembered fondly by all of us.
Happy days!

(This post first appeared on www.girlsheartbooks.com)

Anyone who can remember last year’s post about my doll, Carol, will know that, as a child, I didn’t much care for dolls – mostly because they weren’t books. Even so, when I was about six, my uncle bought me another doll, called Honeybunch.
Here’s a picture of me (with very short hair) not looking particularly happy with my new toy.

I didn’t play with Honeybunch very much, and she spent a lot of her life in a dark attic, with her friend Carol. Now though, both Carol and Honeybunch come on tour with me. Recently they’ve been in Belfast, Derry, Cork and Waterford.
Here are some pics:

 

 

 

 

(This post first appeared on girlsheartbooks.com in November 2015)

I am really delighted to announce that my next book is going to be……. Viva Alice!

I wrote my first Alice and Megan book more than ten years ago. It was meant to be a stand-alone book, but I loved the characters, and readers seemed to like them too, so one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I had written eight books about the girls. At that stage, I reluctantly decided that it was time to try something new, so I began the Eva series, and the Friends Forever series. Luckily I loved my new characters too, and I happily wrote lots of books about them.

In the years since then,  the question I am most often asked is – ‘are you going to write a new Alice and Megan book?’ I’ve never been able to answer that question properly – until now!  Earlier this year, I felt a strange longing to go back to my old friends. For the first time ever, I picked up all of the Alice and Megan books, and I spent a happy few days reading them. When I was finished, I knew what I had to do……..

Viva Alice will be out in August. Here’s a sneak preview of the cover:

I celebrated World Book Day a few days early at the big We❤️books event in Thurles. I was sharing the stage with the incredible Derek Landy, and I think it’s fair to say that everyone had a really good time  (Well, Derek and I did anyway!)

Tour organiser, Tom Donegan had arranged everything beautifully, and the staff at The Source arts centre did an amazing job. The nice people from Bookworm in Thurles sold stacks of books, and distributed bookmarks, postcards and posters like they were going out of fashion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were 250 lovely and enthusiastic children in the audience. They listened attentively, and laughed in all the right places – i.e. pretty much all through Derek’s talk.

Derek and I told our life stories, including his very interesting take on a parallel universe.  After that there was a Q and A, and the only problem was that there were far more questions than we had time to answer. Best question of the day was directed at me.

‘Judi, do you like the way Derek acts?’

My answer – ‘How long have you got?’

We had delicious pancakes in the on-site restaurant, and Tom presented Derek and me with our very cool limited-edition tour mugs. (One day these will be collectors’  items.)

 

Finally it was time for me to return to Limerick. I took the slow route, over the mountains. Sometimes only the long and winding road will do.