Delighted to be able to say that MBT 2, Lamplighter has been shortlisted in the 2009 NSW (meaning New South Wales for the uninitiated) Premier's Literary Award's The Ethel Turner Prize for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry written for young people of secondary school level. The list of us all goes a little like this:
Dianne Bates - Crossing the Line
Michelle Cooper - A Brief History of Montmaray
D.M Cornish - Monster Blood Tattoo Book Two: Lamplighter
Alison Goodman - The Two Pearls of Wisdom
Nette Hilton - Sprite Downberry
Joanne Horrniman - My Candlelight Novel
I feel like a bit of an upstart occupying a list with such luminaries. VERY VERY gratified to be recognised in one the countries big awards, thank you so much to those that put me there. With all this good news I just might explode with joy... if, of course, my stupid character flaws would just stop getting in the way and spoiling the glee...
For all the shortlistings for the entire gamut of the NSW Premier's Awards for this year go here!
E.P. NEWS >>>> GOLDEN POST-IT !
From the Conspiracy with love // !A simple reminder to all E-P tat-a-magic interested folks out there !! For all of you who have a piece started and would like a date to pursue this wonderful endeavour in May and/or June ! The 25th of March's the day to enquire about it !! Do it directly through : pick@electricpick ! For all of you who would like to start a new one , apply for the waiting list with your submission at anytime at the same address !!
Also in the news >>>> Here's my April schedule of attendance at the Conspiracy :
Thursday the 2nd of April (from 2 till late)
Friday the 3rd of April (from 2 till late)
Saturday the 4th of April (from 2 till late)
----
Thursday the 9th of April (from 2 till late)
Friday the 10th of April (from 2 till late)
----
Thursday the 16th of April (from 2 till late)
Friday the 17th of April (from 2 till late)
----
Thursday the 23rd of April (from 2 till late)
Friday the 24th of April (from 2 till late)
Saturday the 25th of April (from 2 till late)
---
Thursday the 30th of April (from 2 till late)
For any other questions not listed on the bellow F.A.Q. section , e-mail me at: pick@electricpick.com
F.A.Q. section :
Q: I was wondering if I could drop by one of these days with coffee and was also wondering what kind of coffee you would like ?
A: Absolutely ! Double espresso/black black !
E.P. >>>>> Out !
That Initial Story... or How Monster-Blood Tattoo came to be.
'Bout time I posted don't we think!
E N Reinmuth was pondering... "If memory serves me right it was your interview on either the Today show or Mornings with David and Kim that got me out searching for MBT-Foundling, (technically I saw the gudgeon design before Lamplighter was even published, whoot!) and you said that you had gone to a publisher for a different story, and upon leaving you had dropped your notebook which held details of the world of the HC, and in turn the publisher asked you to write as many words a week, etc etc, leading to Foundling. Might I ask what that initial story was?"
Yes you may! It goes a little like this...
'Tis a long story I shall attempt to make short. I trained back in the early 1990's as an illustrator in Adelaide, South Australia. In 1995 I moved to Sydney to pursue illustration work with magazines, newspapers and advertisers. In 1997 I began as a cartoonist at Burgo's Catchphrase working there and as a freelance illustrator until I followed adventure overseas to the US in 2003, before crash landing back in Adelaide again.
Looking for illustration work, I went to a local publisher - Omnibus Books, an imprint of Scholastic Australia - on the recommendation of a fellow illustrator friend, Cheryl Johns. At Omnibus, the publisher, Dyan Blacklock, gave me a cover to complete, then a whole picture book (Grannysaurus Rex written by Tony Wilson, which is that "different story" I mentioned).
I used to sit in her office and talk about life the universe and everything and one day one of my many small black notebooks fell out of my bag as I reached for some gum. The book had the number "23" boldly on its cover and snatching it up, Dyan immediately began to peer within, wondering (she later told me) where the previous 22 notebooks were. Inside she found my crabbed notes about a pretend world I had been scribbling about since about 1993 (hence the then 23 and now 32 - almost 33 - notebooks). Dyan tells it that she felt the hairs on her neck raise; she asked me if I had written any stories about this pretend world.
I said, "No."
She returned, "Do you have any characters from this world?"
To this I responded "Yes," and began to list some off, including Rossamund, a boy with a girl's name.
Dyan thought he sounded interesting and persisted, "Put him down somewhere in the Half-Continent and tell us what happens."
So I did... and here we are.
E N Reinmuth was pondering... "If memory serves me right it was your interview on either the Today show or Mornings with David and Kim that got me out searching for MBT-Foundling, (technically I saw the gudgeon design before Lamplighter was even published, whoot!) and you said that you had gone to a publisher for a different story, and upon leaving you had dropped your notebook which held details of the world of the HC, and in turn the publisher asked you to write as many words a week, etc etc, leading to Foundling. Might I ask what that initial story was?"
Yes you may! It goes a little like this...
'Tis a long story I shall attempt to make short. I trained back in the early 1990's as an illustrator in Adelaide, South Australia. In 1995 I moved to Sydney to pursue illustration work with magazines, newspapers and advertisers. In 1997 I began as a cartoonist at Burgo's Catchphrase working there and as a freelance illustrator until I followed adventure overseas to the US in 2003, before crash landing back in Adelaide again.
Looking for illustration work, I went to a local publisher - Omnibus Books, an imprint of Scholastic Australia - on the recommendation of a fellow illustrator friend, Cheryl Johns. At Omnibus, the publisher, Dyan Blacklock, gave me a cover to complete, then a whole picture book (Grannysaurus Rex written by Tony Wilson, which is that "different story" I mentioned).
I used to sit in her office and talk about life the universe and everything and one day one of my many small black notebooks fell out of my bag as I reached for some gum. The book had the number "23" boldly on its cover and snatching it up, Dyan immediately began to peer within, wondering (she later told me) where the previous 22 notebooks were. Inside she found my crabbed notes about a pretend world I had been scribbling about since about 1993 (hence the then 23 and now 32 - almost 33 - notebooks). Dyan tells it that she felt the hairs on her neck raise; she asked me if I had written any stories about this pretend world.
I said, "No."
She returned, "Do you have any characters from this world?"
To this I responded "Yes," and began to list some off, including Rossamund, a boy with a girl's name.
Dyan thought he sounded interesting and persisted, "Put him down somewhere in the Half-Continent and tell us what happens."
So I did... and here we are.
Japan, soon!
In less than two days we'll be off to Japan, our most favorite place in the world.
We're not sure what our internet situation will be like yet, but not to worry, we'll find a way to keep you guys updated.
In the meantime, Nick will be at home, watching the Conspiracy.
Make sure you drop by with some coffee once in a while, so he doesn't get too lonely.
Tokyo, last year
Ps. We're back at work around the 28th of April, so if you need to contact us, please wait until after we're back.
I won't be booking any new clients for Allan while we're gone.
We're not sure what our internet situation will be like yet, but not to worry, we'll find a way to keep you guys updated.
In the meantime, Nick will be at home, watching the Conspiracy.
Make sure you drop by with some coffee once in a while, so he doesn't get too lonely.
Kyoto, last year
Tokyo, last year
Ps. We're back at work around the 28th of April, so if you need to contact us, please wait until after we're back.
I won't be booking any new clients for Allan while we're gone.
Look, a wabbit!
Here's a sweet piece that Allan did oooon tuesday? Maybe?
Anyway, it's awfully cute, don't you think?
Kudos to our girl Sascha for sitting still for about four hours, good job!
Anyway, it's awfully cute, don't you think?
Kudos to our girl Sascha for sitting still for about four hours, good job!
Welcome to the lounge
Mondays aren't always bad.
Especially if you can hang out in a nice, warm shop all day.
Today i didn't even open my computer.
Instead i had a "do-random-practical-stuff-around-the-shop-and-also-drink-lost-of-coffee" day.
So, i hung some paintings and cleaned up in places that hadn't been cleaned in a while.
Stuff like that.
But this post isn't really about me and my non-eventful day (sigh of relief from all readers).
No, it's (mostly) about one the the things i put up on the wall.
See, our second customer of the day had made a super realistic portrait of Allan, as a present.
Nice, right? We thought so.
It's done on a computer or something like that, pretty fancy stuff.
Ok, i did do one more thing on my "do-random-practical-stuff-around-the-shop-and-also-drink-lost-of-coffee" day that i wanted to blog about.
The other day me and Allan bought some seat cushions that i stitched together to make one large super cushion, and today we brought it/them to the shop.
It now lives in the workroom, where i've been hanging out all day, cause it's just so damn comfortable.
And it's right next to the radiator too, so it's super warm.
Tomorrow i'm putting up some blinds, so we don't have to drag the screen out from the back room every time someone has to get partially naked.
*Check Allans blog for pictures of the finished tattoo, they should be on their way
Especially if you can hang out in a nice, warm shop all day.
Today i didn't even open my computer.
Instead i had a "do-random-practical-stuff-around-the-shop-and-also-drink-lost-of-coffee" day.
So, i hung some paintings and cleaned up in places that hadn't been cleaned in a while.
Stuff like that.
But this post isn't really about me and my non-eventful day (sigh of relief from all readers).
No, it's (mostly) about one the the things i put up on the wall.
See, our second customer of the day had made a super realistic portrait of Allan, as a present.
Nice, right? We thought so.
It's done on a computer or something like that, pretty fancy stuff.
Without further ado (there's been enough ado already, wouldn't you say?), i give you Johann's antlered masterpiece:
And here's the artist himself, at the end of what will possibly be the final session on his awesome, and now also signed, sleeve*
Ok, i did do one more thing on my "do-random-practical-stuff-around-the-shop-and-also-drink-lost-of-coffee" day that i wanted to blog about.
The other day me and Allan bought some seat cushions that i stitched together to make one large super cushion, and today we brought it/them to the shop.
It now lives in the workroom, where i've been hanging out all day, cause it's just so damn comfortable.
And it's right next to the radiator too, so it's super warm.
Tomorrow i'm putting up some blinds, so we don't have to drag the screen out from the back room every time someone has to get partially naked.
The new lounge area, featuring the new artwork. The baskets are for the customers clothes and other personal items (another new thing we're trying out)
*Check Allans blog for pictures of the finished tattoo, they should be on their way
The gang's all here
Last week me and Allan went shopping at Tiger (an everything-for-10 kr. store we have here in Denmark) and there we found the last three "The Tick" action figures we were missing.
We've had Captain Liberty for some time now, and boy has it been lonely at the shop for her.
So, today, after eating a late dinner at the shop, we finally decided to take the three new ones out of the box and join their superhero buddy on the shelf of goodness and selfless deeds!
Here they come to save the daaaay!
Oh, and tattoos were also made at the shop today.
Here's what Nick did today and here's one of the three pieces Allan did.
We've had Captain Liberty for some time now, and boy has it been lonely at the shop for her.
So, today, after eating a late dinner at the shop, we finally decided to take the three new ones out of the box and join their superhero buddy on the shelf of goodness and selfless deeds!
Nick adjusting Batmanuels cellphone, right under the no-cellphone sign
Here they come to save the daaaay!
Oh, and tattoos were also made at the shop today.Here's what Nick did today and here's one of the three pieces Allan did.
Decoration dreamin'
Ever since we decided that May was gonna be shop makeover month, i've been thinking about painting, putting up wallpaper (which i really hate doing, by the way), moving around the furniture, buying new stuff and putting up new art work.
But, to be honest, mostly wallpaper.
I pretty much wanna put up wallpaper everywhere.
This is the shop where we're gonna buy whatever wallpaper we decide to get.
They have a lot more at their showroom on Østerbro, but just looking at the website is pretty inspiring.
Or this?
Ok, maybe not, but there will be wallpaper and it will be magnificent!
And it's nice to have something AFTER Japan to look forward to.
But, to be honest, mostly wallpaper.
I pretty much wanna put up wallpaper everywhere.
This is the shop where we're gonna buy whatever wallpaper we decide to get.
They have a lot more at their showroom on Østerbro, but just looking at the website is pretty inspiring.
Maybe the shop will end up looking like this once we're done?
Or this?Ok, maybe not, but there will be wallpaper and it will be magnificent!
And it's nice to have something AFTER Japan to look forward to.
Nebula Awards(R) 2009
Very very delighted to tell that Monster-Blood Tattoo 2, Lamplighter has been shortlisted in the Andre Norton Award (the YA section) of the 2009 Nebula Awards. Given that some of my favourite authors have been past recipients (Frank Herbert, Ursula K. Le Guin, Orson Scott Card) amongst many of other lights of spec fic (Philip K. Dick, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Gene Wolfe, &c &c &c... including last years Andre Norton winner, Ms Rowling herself) I am most utterly astonished, gratified and thrilled.
It is my pleasure to also boast that Lamplighter was included on Locus Magazine's 2008 Recommended Reading List (as released last month), so happiness all round.
I shall stop showing away (again...) and get back to editing.
(Book 3 better be good, dang it! my fears cry)
It is my pleasure to also boast that Lamplighter was included on Locus Magazine's 2008 Recommended Reading List (as released last month), so happiness all round.
I shall stop showing away (again...) and get back to editing.
(Book 3 better be good, dang it! my fears cry)
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