Train after train

In London, running past a scanner on my way to Scotland from Cornwall.
While I'm away Addis Berner Bear will be released (on the 3rd of January I think, though it is actually available already so far as I know).







Until next year...

joyeux

Merry Christmas!

A window full

Click here for more photos from Roald Dahl day in September.

30

That was a tricky year, at the end of a quite tricky decade. But I got some stuff done, I can fairly safely say. And I did keep dancing.

I want to somehow thank the many people who have helped me through recently, some of you know very well how much you've helped, some of you don't have even the faintest idea, some of you don't ever read this I'm sure.

But thank-you.

I am spending the day pretending I can learn to play like Blind Blake on the guitar I'm now officially allowed to have, and eating a lot.

Last post of a decade

I spent the last day of my twenties on a train traveling through frost and fog to the end of the line, where it smells like sea. The train was horrible, but I drank stout and wrote things. In fact, something that my editor said about my story finally sunk in properly, I think, and got me rather excited.

Dave Shelton was the 1st person, not in fact the 93rd, to send me a link to this film where they show something really amazing, albeit described in an irritating way.

One last evening, then good riddance!

Persons of a nervous disposition, Merry Christmas!

For heaven's sake don't click here.

Apologies (to everyone) and thanks to Philip Trenerry from whom I nicked the idea...

I live...

And I get invited to very nice Christmas parties, even if they do sometimes involve quite a lot of sub-zero cycling.



(You've to imagine Jingle Bells in a minor key).

There was a feast fit for Asterix too, and a fire made from the still spinning drum of a washing machine, and nobody even tied me to a tree.

I have here a cut of the film soundtrack pitch by Andrea Rocca which I played saw on the other month. It's surprisingly rock-ish. I know who the director is too, but I better not say for now.

{Edit: Oh and I forgot to mention that there were blackbirds singing in the middle of Elephant and Castle roundabout as I cycled home.}

Pins up note.

I'm just about to cycle way across town in the dark and cold on my somewhat rickety bicycle. If you don't hear from me next week, then I probably died...

Christmas in Dalston

I just went to the post box and met a Rottweiler all dressed in pink tinsel.

It's freezing out there! The Rottweiler had a coat, as well as the tinsel.

Spot the difference

If this, or a cover like it, goes through I still have no idea how to do the final piece. Hand colour a print? More finished fake aquatint colour like this?

But since it is evolving here on the computer, I'm posting it...

(First colour cover design roughs)

(Some people might remember that there were about seventeen last time...)

...

Well, Dexter Bexley got bronze, which is fine. I'm too tired to write anything about it, except to point out that everyone at Random House has been lovely to me today and recently, and I'm not sure if they know how much I appreciate it.

These drawings don't represent the day, rather how tired I feel just now:

Lime Pickle

I am just this minute drinking rosehip tea and eating a very odd sandwich.

On sunday there was a surprise party for my friend Axel and he was actually surprised and presented with a surprising book filled with original drawings by his many illustrator friends. There were pictures by some of my favourites in there, like Quentin Blake and Marc Boutavant and Wolf Erlbruch, and an amazing pop-up one by Nick Denchfield. Some of the pictures were self portraits. This one was mine:



It is not a self portrait, but some people said they thought that it was. This drawing went all the way to Munich in my bag, walked right past the door of Rotraut Susanne Berner, who was compiling the book, came back with me and had to be sent in the post...

Today some pictures of mine were delivered back to me. They had been travelling around in an exhibition for more than a year. It was arranged, the delivery, but still I forgot and was doing a thing that I do sometimes which is sleep in the afternoon (am nearly thirty after all)... The exhibition was called Frabjous Beasts and was selected by Quentin Blake.

Tomorrow is the Award presentation for the Nestle prize, so please cross fingers for me and Dexter Bexley. It is also Axel's actual birthday, so happy birthday to him. And a slightly belated welcome to the world(!) to his little daughter.