The tickets are booked. The dates are set. This winter I’m spending three months in Japan.

This is something I’ve been meaning to do for a very long time – ever since I was little, in fact, when my godfather came back from a long spell there and I asked him what it was like. ‘It’s the closest you can get to visiting another planet,’ he replied, ‘without leaving this one.’ I’ve been fascinated by Japan and Japanese culture ever since. I mean, how could I not be? ;D

A big thank you to James N. for the guidebooks above, and for telling Laura and I to stop talking about it and make it happen. To anyone reading this with dreams and ambitions of your own, whatever they are, take the same advice.

Hee hee hee!

Sam

This week on Trapped By Monsters: Are you in or near London? You’ve only a few weeks left to See The Universe For Free.

My latest TBM manga tip is the joyous, thrilling and thoroughly awesome One Piece, by Eiichiro Oda.

Robots of Brixton from Kibwe Tavares on Vimeo.

This is my next book, My Name is O, looking like a book for the very first time:

It’s not the finished article: it’s what those in the book trade refer to as an Advance Reader Copy (ARC), or Proof. Publishers produce them (in very limited numbers) to send to reviewers, bloggers, authors and others for the purpose of drumming up buzz and interest for when the final book comes out.

At the time it went to press, the cover art (which I have since seen, by the way, and I can tell you it looks AMAZING) wasn’t finished. That actually isn’t particularly unusual with proofs, but it hasn’t happened to me and my books since the UK proof of The Black Tattoo back in 2006 (below).

My Name is O will be published by Barrington Stoke in January 2012. I’m very excited about this. One of the things I say a lot in interviews and author bios and whatnot is that I am passionately – possibly ‘certifiably’ – committed to the ideal of books that make young people want to read. Aimed at reluctant and struggling readers as it is, My Name is O is that ideal distilled to the purest form I could possibly give it. I think it might be the best thing I’ve written so far. But now I’ve got to wait and see if anyone else agrees.

*bites nails*

More soon.

Sam

OK, as promised, it’s time to announce the winner of the Spinechills / Crawlers Competition, the horror writing contest that’s been running this past month or so based on creatures from CRAWLERS.

Picking a winner was a nightmare. My congratulations and best wishes to runners-up Ajay, Veronica and Ecner for their bloodcurdling and brilliant work, but my favourite was FINE, by Oliver Reid.

Here I am reading it out. Those of a nervous disposition listen at your own risk…

Congratulations, Oliver! Your 5-cd unabridged audiobook of CRAWLERS is on its way to you now. And another big thank you to Holly for running this competition on her awesome blog.

While making my lunch today I noticed a somewhat startling resemblance…

-Stand by for the announcement of the worthy winner of the Spine Chills / Crawlers Competition!

-Meanwhile, my latest TBM manga tip is the flawed but wild and audacious The Drifting Classroom, by Kazuo Umezu.

Just posted to TBM: Top Notch Teenage Fiction.

Two school visits, this past week. I had a great time at both, as I think you’ll see from these pics…

Here I am (above), gesticulating and grimacing as usual for the Year 8s of Meadowhead School near Sheffield.

In this (below) I’m taking awesome questions from another group at Thistley Hough High School near Stoke-on-Trent.

As anyone who’s been to one of my talks will know, bitter (and damp) experience has taught me to be careful to the point of mania about drinking water without making a mess and an idiot of myself. I’m proud of this next pic, because it captures me not spilling a drop!

Finally, here’s one that’s a bit blurry, but it sums up how great school visits like these make me feel:

These were my last school appearances for quite a while. That’s partly due to the summer break of course, but beyond that it’s also due to a sinister masterplan I’m developing – the long-awaited realisation of a lifelong ambition of mine. I’ll explain more in future posts.

Meanwhile I’d like to thank everyone at Meadowhead and Thistley Hough, and all the schools I’ve visited. I get a big kick out of school events, and after what’s now been five years of doing them pretty often I reckon six months without is going to feel very strange.

Best wishes all,

Sam

I’ve just spent a week in Iceland. It was wonderful.

I love the Icelandic Sagas and I’ve put a big blog piece together about them at Trapped By Monsters.

Meanwhile here’s a question that I found waiting for me in the Black Tat Guestbook on my return that (in answering it) allowed me to talk about more stuff I love. 😀

My thanks to Mick from Dallas, Texas, USA, who wrote:

Hey Sam, About 2 years ago, I picked up a copy of a book known as The Black Tattoo. I read the first chapter and was instantly enthralled. The book absorbed night after night of my time, and when I was finished with it, I was almost sad to turn it back into the library. Now, I recently purchased The Black Tattoo so I can enjoy the amazing experiences of Charlie, Jack, and Esme again. I must say, this is one of the most impressive books that I have read in quite some time, and I am highly impressed. I’m hoping to see more from you Sam, Signed, a fan, Mick. P.S.- What exactly inspired you to create The Dragon? He’s a favorite character of mine, and I was just wondering how he came into being. Drop me a line if you’re ever free from the grips of the Scourge! Cheers, Mick.

Here’s how I replied:

Hello Mick,

Thank you so much for your message. I’m really thrilled and delighted that The Black Tattoo made such an impression on you, and it’s very kind of you to take the time to write and tell me so – much appreciated.

I’m glad you like The Dragon – I’m fond of him too. Like pretty much all ideas I think, he came from a mixture of different places. Douglas Adams’ Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy was a big influence (especially the supercomputer Deep Thought!) I was also thinking about the Red King in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass (and Alan Moore’s Miracleman); Smaug in Tolkien’s The Hobbit; The Dragon, Ogdru Jahad, from Mike Mignola’s Hellboy – and the very last scene from the first Men in Black movie (the scene involving marbles ;D)

To make my books and stories I draw from a bubbling, reeking, belching cauldron of things I love – things that thrill me and make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I think that filling a project with your own mix of stuff which does that for you will give you the best chance that other people might enjoy the results too (and I’m always searching for more pungent and tasty ingredients, HEE HEE HEE!) If you’d like to find out more about my work you can keep up with the latest on what I’m up to via my homepage, address below.

Thanks again for your wonderful message, Mick. Knowing that people like yourself are out there getting a kick out of my stuff helps keep me going (and puts a big grin on my face!)

Best wishes from London,

Sam

www.samenthoven.com