I appeared briefly on The National Lottery on BBC1 last night to help promote Seven Stories’ bid for one of the National Lottery Awards.  Unfortunately, we didn’t win – but I’m sure the publicity will attract lots of new visitors to the centre.

Tommy

The first review for Fang of the Vampire – the first book in the Scream Street series – is now online.  It includes:

‘Fang of the Vampire’ is a fast paced, action-packed story packed with horror and humour. It is not the type of horror that is likely to give young readers nightmares but it is a great introduction to the genre for 7-9 year olds. It is exciting and easy to read. There are some great twists and turns as well as some tense moments. The three central characters, Luke Watson, Resus Negative and Cleo Farr are wonderfully imagined characters and this is sure to be a successful series.

You can read the full review here: http://www.writeaway.org.uk/component/option,com_mtree/task,viewlink/link_id,3554/Itemid,/

Tommy

I’m delighted to announce that another top author has read and enjoyed the first book in the Scream Street series. This time it was Artemis Fowl creator, Eoin Colfer. Here’s what he had to say:

“Exactly the sort of grisly, gross and hilarious stuff that kids will love!”
Eoin Colfer

Thanks, Eoin!

Tommy

A recent email asked if I could show a screenshot of my computer desktop, so here goes… (You can click on the image to get a better look.)

As you can see, I work on a Mac, and I’ve made my own Scream Street desktop wallpaper (you can download a Scream Street desktop of your own from the official SS website: www.screametreet.co.uk).  I’ve had to blur a few things out, as they refer to the top secret projects I’m working on.

You might also like the drive icons (top right hand corner).  My internal hard drive is a ghostly drive, my backup drive a mummy, my iPod a vampire and my USB flash drive is a werewolf!

If you want to try them out, I found the icons here: http://1001icons.com/icons/icons5/1 I may have to add another external drive just to use the Frankendrive icon that looks a little like zombie flesh!

For those who want to know the real geeky ins and outs of my setup – my Mac has 2.4ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processors and 2gb of DDR2 SDRAM.  I have a 300gb internal hard drive, a 400gb external drive for backups (I’ve lost too much work in the past not to back up!).  Both my iPod and USB drive are 8gb apiece.

I also have a Macbook to work on when I’m away from home (although its currently being repaired as the logic board failed), a Mac Mini for capturing and converting old video tapes I shot when I worked on cruise liners, and an old, green first-generation iMac which I picked up on eBay to play about with.  Yes – I’m a Mac geek.

I write in Microsoft Word 2008 for the Mac, and create my sites with WordPress.  I use Photoshop for the graphics and, if I have to get my hands dirty in code, Dreamweaver and/or Taco HTML edit are what I launch.

Is that nerdy enough for you?

Yes, I know I should be working…

Tommy

Huzzah!

The Scream Street group on Facebook is now 200 members strong!

Why not join the fun yourself?  Members get to read exclusive extracts, get sneak peaks at artwork and are the first to hear of upcoming author events.  Plus, there’s a chance for one member to win the very first Scream Street book I ever sign!

Just follow this link: http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=23094560198

Tommy

I’ve just finished rewriting the fifth book in the Scream Street series, Skull of the Skeleton.  My editor’s notes were, as ever, spot on, and I worked to make the book as exciting as possible – especially as it all takes place in a single night, and features an appearance from a particularly well-known horror character.

I’ve also had a peek at the rough draft for the book’s cover – it looks great!

Scream Street 5: Skull of the Skeleton will be published by Walker books in May 2009.

Tommy

Seven Stories, the centre for children’s books, has arranged a spooky Halloween event to celebrate the publication of the first four Scream Street novels.

I’ll be running my ‘Scary Scribes’ creative writing workshop, then reading from Scream Street and ‘Ghostwriter’ – the story I wrote exclusively for Seven Stories.  After the readings, there’ll be a question and answer session (ask me anything!), followed by a chance to get your Scream Street books signed by yours truly.  You can check out the details here.

I hope you can come along to join the fangtastic fun.  Kids can come dressed up as their favourite creepy character!

Tommy

Today would have been my Mum’s birthday.  Sadly, I have to say ‘would have’ as she died from cancer three years ago.  I miss her more than I could possibly say.

As my career grew – first as an actor, and then as a writer – she always used to say: ‘When you’ve made it, you can buy me a big house’.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get to do that but, if you look at the dedication page to the first Scream Street book, Fang of the Vampire, it reads:

For Mum,

Here are the keys to the biggest house in Scream Street.

I know she’d like it there.  Luke, Resus, Cleo and their families are her kind of people, and she’d love shopping at Everwell’s.  She wouldn’t put up with any nonsense from Sir Otto, however.

Happy birthday, Mum.

Tommy

I’ve received a couple of emails from people asking why I’ve stopped reviewing the books I read.  The answer is that I haven’t stopped – I’ve just been reviewing them somewhere else…

The magazine, Junior Education Plus asked me to review ten spooky kids books for their October issue, and I’ve been reading little else for a while.  The books I’ve got through are:

Stone Goblins by David Melling

Fright Night: The Shrieking Stones by Steve Rogers

Nightmare Academy: Charlie’s Monsters by Dean Lorey

Milrose Munce and the Den of Professional Help by Douglas Anthony Cooper

The Murrian by Robert Dodds

The Wickit Chronicles: Witch Bell by Joan Lennon

Monster Makers: Electrotaur and Slashermite by Ali Sparkes

The Demon Assassin by Alan Gibbons

An Awfully Beastly Business: Werewolf vs Dragon by The Beastly Boys

Hazel’s Phantasmagoria by Leander Deeny

But, if you want to know what I thought of them, and which of the books I chose as my top read – you’ll have to pick up a copy of Junior Education Plus in October…

Tommy

Today, I finished and submitted the top secret project I’ve been working on.  It turned out really well, and I enjoyed writing it – but now I have to seal all knowledge of it in the deepest recesses of my brain and never let it surface again.

This post will self-destruct in five seconds…

Tommy