Tommy Donbavand

I’m back from a whirlwind trip to Dublin as a guest of Walker Books at the Irish Booksellers Association Awards.  I had a wonderful time, and was delighted to meet two of Walkers’ top Irish stars – incredible illustrator PJ Lynch and picture book writer and illustrator extraordinaire, Niamh Sharkey.

As a special surprise, Walker Books arranged for the waiting staff at dinner to be dressed as Wally from their hugely successful Where’s Wally? series.  While an almost invisible waiter is not the sort of thing you might want when hungry, I’m delighted to say these guys were easily found!

I spent much of the evening accosting innocent people – including bestselling crime author, John Connolly – and forcing Scream Street coffin-shaped bookmarks into their hands, often entirely against their will.  The photo below is the result of a bet with Jo and Jane from Walker and Irish book supremo Conor that I couldn’t get one into this guy’s sporran…

I’ll be back in Ireland in September for the Mountains to Sea Book Festival.  I can’t wait!

Tommy