Congratulations, John

Our own John Heffernan's Where There's Smoke has been shortlisted for the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature. 

Tis the season for shortlists and we're not above getting a thrill out of seeing our own listed, no siree.

Ian Irvine

Hi Everyone!

Just letting you know that I'm blog touring Grim and Grimmer over the next couple of weeks. The full list is here.

I'm also active at Supanova in Brisbane and the Bellingen Readers and Writer's Festival over this period, so lots of promotion going on.

Cheers

Ian

(Now there's a busy author! Go, Ian!)

A treat from our book files, the original illustration of the one and only Con Glomryt, by Martin McKenna

March releases

We're setting down some lovely books this March. We're honoured to be publishing the beautiful, accomplished and eloquent Randa Abdel-Fattah's first junior fiction novel, The Friendship Matchmaker. With it's super-cute cover, we think this one will be a new favourite with the tweens. The Junior Bookseller and Publisher says: 'Great writing, topical content and a big dose of humour will make this book one of the successes of 2011.' Yes, we totally agree!

Hopping off the bus next in Omnibus's much-loved Mates series is Aussie Dog by Eleanor Nilsson, illustrated by Beth Norling. Here on the bus we are sensitive (teary) when it comes to books about dogs. But so long as they have a happy ending, we're okay.

The long-awaited third edition of the chaotic adventures of that worrisome pair Pilot & Huxley makes its debut this month. These two questionable heroes face their greatest challenge yet, being wiped out of existence all together. Just pass it straight to the kids, they get it.

Good grief, it's a huge month! Next cab off the rank is Grim and Grimmer: The Desperate Dwarf by Ian Irvine. In this, the third and second-to-last in this epic series, we meet the unforgettable dwarf Con Glomryt. You won't find this kind of guy in The Hobbit. Uh uh. And remember to check out Ian's amazing competition!

Last but by no means least, especially to her legions of fans, is Tamora Pierce's collection Tortall and Other Lands. Very little more needs to be said. Return to the land of Tortall and catch up with some old friends and make some new ones.

Congratulations, Luke Edwards!

Luke's lastest book, The Staring Owl, has been shortlisted in the APA Book Design Awards. I'm sure the owl in question will be very well-behaved and not stare down any judges as they make their final decision.

True Grit

One of the regular passengers on the Omnibus has small children and therefore does not Get Out Much. But, not one to be easily defeated, when she sees that a movie on at the cinemas at the moment is based on a book, then she is Very Pleased and happily purchases said book in the hope of still being somewhat up to date with popular culture. True Grit* by Charles Portis, in this edition with an Introduction by Donna Tartt, features what must be one of the greatest young characters in literature. Mattie Ross is fourteen and seeking justice for the murder of her father and she won't let anything, anything, get in her way. Highly recommended.

* Not a children's book, but in that grand literary tradition of narrating from the perspective of a child.

Our new landlord, Konglomerate

A new landlord is usually not your friend. Not necessarily your enemy either but generally there is just a faint relationship formed which is centred on how reliably you pay the rent.  Our new landlord, however, is a big, warm, funny Greek man called Kon.  We call him Konglomerate, after the character Con Glomryt in The Desperate Dwarf. His father was a property developer who sold everything in the seventies and went back to Greece where he discovered more relatives than he had remembered. He returned to Australia a few short years later, a lot poorer than he left, and had to start his property empire again when prices had more than quadrupled. Dad passed away and Kon now looks after the properties. What makes Kon so unusual is the extraordinary generosity he has shown us.  Pick whatever carpet you want, never mind about the price. You like those blinds? You can have them. I'll install a brand new air conditioning system and new vents while I'm at it. Yes, you can choose the new kitchen and the tiles. You'd like me to cut a hole in that wall and make a doorway?  Sure, I'll do that and please, let me buy you a ton of Haighs chocolates to take back to the girls.


I admit I was skeptical. I was suspicious. I worried that this was all too good to be true but every time I visit the new office to check on the progress of the work, he's done what he said he would. And he buys me coffee at the cafe across the road where we go in through the back door and the MIB that run the place seem always to have something to say to Kon.


Last week as I sat with Kon and two of his friends drinking my skinny cap while they downed their short blacks, they told me that now they had this close relationship with a children's publisher, and they know this is a lucrative business, they are going to write a children's book. I told them we had an excellent rejection slip. All three swung around and fixed me with their suddenly steely eyes.


'We don't take rejection well,' they said as one.


I'm pretty sure they were joking ...

Some thoughts from our Driver.

Competition!

Omnibus author Ian Irvine is having a monster (or should that be 'demon'?) of a competition over at his Facebook page. He's giving away 300 books in 200 hundred days! If we weren't all focused on words here on the bus, we'd be able to do some proper maths but it's definitely more than one book a day to be won! With the third book in the Grim and Grimmer series, The Desperate Dwarf, out next month and the final, hilarious book, The Calamitious Queen, out in June 2011, this competition must be Liked. So go Like it, people!