Barry's Books
The Darkest Corners
The concluding part of this darkly funny, horror series Darren Shan called... read more
The 13th Horseman
Drake is surprised to find three Horsemen of the Apocalypse playing snakes and... read more
Doc Mortis
The fourth thrilling book in this darkly funny horror series Darren Shan called... read more
Raggy Maggie
The second book in the award-winning Invisible Fiends series. Billy is the... read more
Monthly Archives: March 2008
Targets and incentives
Because I am by nature a right lazy git, over the years I’ve learned that the only way I can make progress with a project is by setting myself targets. I might say I want to get a thousand words done one day, or I might tell myself I have a week to write three chapters. Sometimes the goal setting works, and sometimes it doesn’t, but I still like to aim for some set figure when I sit down to …
Toxic
While browsing the comic section of my local supermarket, trying to give the impression I was choosing a high-brow broadsheet newspaper, I spotted that the current issue of Toxic comic came with a rather excellent free gift – an Astrosaurs book. Now, I’m not a HUGE fan of the Astrosaurs series, but the books make a pretty enjoyable read, so it all seemed like a bit of a bargain. The actual book which came free seems to be a special …
The maddest thing I have ever read
BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Filipinos warned on crucifixions Health officials in the Philippines have issued a warning to people taking part in Easter crucifixion rituals. They have urged them to get tetanus vaccinations before they flagellate themselves and are nailed to crosses, and to practise good hygiene. How mad is that?! Now, I’m all in favour of everyone having their own beliefs, but beating yourself with a whip then nailing yourself to a cross?! I’ll stick to …
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On the shelf
While browing in the book section of my local WH Smith today, a very familiar cover caught my eye … For some reason it hadn’t even occured to me that I’d find the 2HEADS books I did for Egmont in my local shop. The first of my two installments – Tiger Terror – is on the left there. My second – Spider Swat – comes out in early August, so I expect to get my copies towards the end of …
Soppy Susans From Space
For possibly the first time ever, I’m able to say that I’ve inspired fellow author, Tommy Donbavand, to do something, rather than the other way round. Following on from my putting the first couple of chapters of Kentucky Fried Fairy on the blog, Tommy has followed suit and put two chapters of his first ever children’s novel – Soppy Susans From Space – on his own site. Now, as Tommy is set to be the next big thing in Children’s …
The Incredible Photo
On a completely unrelated, non-writing topic, 2008 is looking like a great year for movies. Indiana Jones and Iron Man are looking very promising, but for me there’s one movie which will (I hope) stand head and shoulders above the others. Literally. The Incredible Hulk! Okay, so I’m a geek, I admit it. Roll on June 13th when the movie is released, though. It’s going to be smashing. See what I did there? SMASHing. The Hulk. Smash. Ah, forget it. …
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Johnny B. Weeyerd
As mentioned last week, I’ve been rewriting JOHNNY B. WEEYERD AND THE COSMIC ANNIHILATOR, the first children’s novel I wrote. The fact I had to rewrite it was largely down to one thing: poor preparation. Allow me to explain . . . When I started writing JBW it was going to be a comedy sci-fi for the 7-9 age group. I kept that in the back of my mind as I was writing, but otherwise I essentially did no planning …
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Kentucky Fried Fairy
While sifting through some old files, I came across this blast from the past. Written immediately after Johnny B. Weeyerd, KENTUCKY FRIED FAIRY was my attempt at comedy fantasy for children. Although I had a great time writing the manuscript, I didn’t do a single bit of planning before starting it, and so it goes round the houses a few times before reaching any kind of conclusion. Still, aside from being about 20,000 words too long, I think it’s pretty …
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Rewriting (again)
This week I have been working on a rewrite of my first attempt at a kids’ book. JOHNNY B. WEEYERD AND THE COSMIC ANNIHILATOR was written just over a year ago, whereupon I printed it off, stuffed it in a drawer, and never looked at it again. Recently, my agent read the manuscript and thought it would be worth sending out to publishers, and so who am I to argue? Particularly as my agent is a woman, and it never …
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Spider Swat available to pre-order
Amazon.co.uk now has Spider Swat available to pre-order. Spider Swat is the second book I wrote in the Beastly! series for Egmont. Of the two books I wrote, this is definitely my fave. If you want to pick up a copy, either click this link or the picture on the right.
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