BarryHutchison.com

Some random thoughts on the night before the Mr Mumbles launch events.

Just getting organised for my two days of launch events, but just realised I’d forgotten to let everyone know that you could win one of fifty copies of Invisible Fiends: Mr Mumbles just by being my friend on Bebo.

All you have to do is zoom over to Bebo.com/invisible_fiends and add me as a friend. At the end of February, all my friends will be entered into a draw to win one of the free copies. Simple as that!

Right, must dash.

First up, two outstanding reviews of Mr Mumbles have appeared online. You can view them here and here. I haven’t stopped smiling since I read them.

This coming week is going to be a biggie. Tomorrow I hop on a train to Glasgow, ready for two events I’m running in schools on Tuesday. Once those are done, I zip over to Edinburgh, meet up with my editor from HarperCollins – who I haven’t met in person yet – then head to the hotel so I can prepare for another two events on Wednesday.

These will be the first ‘official’ events for Invisible Fiends, so I’ll be talking about how the series came about, reading an extract, and maybe even dropping some hints about what the future has in store for the characters in the story. I’ll also be talking about how I became a writer, and my favourite subject of all – fear!

It should be fun, and I’ll do my best to update the blog and my Bebo page with photos and videos from the events.

Just a quick post to say a big THANK YOU to all those who are reading, or have read Mr Mumbles and have sent me emails about it. I love hearing what you thought of the book, so please do keep ‘em coming. While I may not be able to reply right away, I make sure I do reply to everyone as soon as humanly possible.

If you want to get in touch with me, follow the link to the contact page right up at the top of the blog, and drop me a line through there.

It’s a new video blog. Will wonders never cease?!

It’s finally here! Today, February 4th 2010, is the official publication day for Invisible Fiends: Mr Mumbles.

Back when I started this blog – 4 days short of 2 years ago – I had no idea if the series was ever going to be published. I wrote the first post sitting on a train, on the way to Glasgow to meet with my then-prospective agent, Kathryn Ross. Soon after, Kathryn ceased to be my prospective agent, and became my actual agent. A few months after that, HarperCollins expressed their interest in Invisible Fiends. Not too long later, they took the series on.

And now here we are. Publication day. At last.

To those of you who have followed the blog right from the start, thank you. Your comments and emails have been a huge boost during those times I thought this was never going to happen.

To those of you just tuning into the blog now, welcome. Join in, comment, argue with me, even – I love hearing feedback from my readers, good or bad, so don’t be afraid to chime in.

And now I’m going to go and enjoy those rarest of treats – a day off. I am not going to write, I am not going to promote, I am not going to pitch my workshops to schools. I am going to relax, and I am going to enjoy this day. The day it begins. The day Mr Mumbles and my other creations are sent off out into the world to stand on their own two feet.

It’s a scary day, but then, scary’s what I do best…

I have just replied to my first piece of fan mail. How insane is that?!

The email came from a lovely woman called Sandra Markovic in Germany, who is currently reading the German edition of the book. It’s a fantastic feeling – if a very strange one – that someone in another country is reading the little story that popped into my head several years ago, and that they’re enjoying it. Let’s hope she doesn’t change her mind by the time she gets to the end!

The whole experience of the book being out is still a bit surreal, to be honest. Yesterday, a girl at a school I was visiting came over to me with a copy of the book and asked me to sign it for her (hello, Paige!). It caught me completely off guard, and I’m still utterly bemused as to why anyone would want my signature on anything.

Obviously I’m absolutely delighted that people enjoy the book enough to want it signed, but I wonder if I’ll ever stop feeling vaguely embarassed every time I do it?

Mr Mumbles has been give a review in the Liverpool Echo. I’d tell you about it, but it’s probably easier if you read it yourself!

Spotted a very familiar face staring out at me from a shelf in my local WH Smith today…

Say what you like about old Mr Mumbles – he might be a murdering imaginary psychopath, but he sure keeps good company. I’m a huge fan of both Steve Feasey’s Changeling series and Hunger, the sequel to the brilliant Gone, by Michael Grant, so seeing my book sitting next to those two on the shelf was a very nice moment indeed.

The book should start appearing in bookshops up and down the country soon, so if you’re lucky enough to live near an independent bookseller, why not pop in and ask if they’ve got a copy? Or if like me you don’t live anywhere near a bookshop, you can find it at most online bookshops.

If you do get the book and read it, I’d love to know what you think of it. Drop me a line via the contact page, and I’ll make sure I reply.

Amazon have now got the first book in the Invisible Fiends series, Mr Mumbles, available to buy! It’s no longer in pre-order status, meaning if you order yours now you’ll probably receive it before the official launch day of 4th Feb.

You’d better hurry though, there are only a handful of copies left. Scoot along to this page to order yours now.