Jonathan Stroud's Blog

Trip to Ilmenau, Germany

Just back from an excellent trip to the town of Ilmenau, in the middle of the Thuringian forests, where I did a talk for the university’s Sci-Fi/Fantasy Club, Phantopia. The club’s marking its 40th anniversary; to celebrate, they’d erected a massive tent (or yurt) on the campus hillside - a fine place to enjoy late-night bratwurst and beer. Beforehand, I did readings from the Bartimaeus books, mainly from Amulet, and had a fantastic hour’s discussion with the audience about Bart and writing in general. Afterwards the Phantopia team gave me a beautiful present: a glass dip-pen, locally made by glasswork master Karoline Wagner, which features a tiny Bart gargoyle sitting at the end. If I can figure out a way to photograph it, I’ll post up a pic here. Meanwhile you can see more of Karoline’s art at www.Glasmagie.org. The celebrations continued until after 2 a.m, which must have set a new record for one of my events. Next morning, a quiet totter around the pleasant Ilmenau streets, before setting off on the train-ride home.

With some of my friends from Phantopia in their basement HQ, around 12.30 a.m.

Ilmenau market square on a quiet Sunday morning.

The pleasant streets of Ilmenau.

D is for Djinni

I’ve just posted up a blog on the amazing Scribble City Central site as part of the Fantabulous Fridays A to Z of mythical creatures. Mine’s called ‘D is for Djinni’ and it’s got lots of stuff about where I got the inspiration for Bart. You can check it out now at: http://bit.ly/J0eAhY.

Battle of the Books nears finale…

I’m busy locked away with LOCKWOOD right now, while the spring sunshine dazzles on the wild cherry tree outside my window. But I’m also gearing up for next week’s finale to the 2012 Battle of the Books competition. I’m judging the final round, and my verdict will be announced on April 4th. We’re at the semi-final stage today, and - by visiting on http://bit.ly/A2AD1o - you can read a whole host of wonderful judgements made already on the 16 competing books.

A Big Announcement…

After a few exciting weeks working on publishing deals in the US, UK and Germany, I’m so pleased to be able to announce my new project: Lockwood & Co.

The series contains lots of ingredients you’ll recognize from my earlier books – there’s plenty of action, suspense and humour. But this time there’s a definite supernatural twist too, as we follow three young operatives of a Psychic Detection Agency as they battle an epidemic of ghosts in London.

Deals concluded so far are with Disney-Hyperion in the US, Random House Children’s Books in the UK, and Random House in Germany. The first title will be published in the second half of 2013.

I’m having great fun writing it, but as it’s at an early stage I can’t say too much yet. I’ll be sure to keep you fully posted as I go along. Meanwhile I hope you like the name and… watch this space!

Battle of the Books judging coming up

In a month or so, I’ll be taking part in this year’s School Library Journal Battle of the Books. This is an excellent contest in which 16 of the previous year’s best children’s and young adult titles go head-to-head in knockout rounds. Last year, The Ring of Solomon won the competition, but this time I haven’t got a book taking part. Instead I’ll be one of the judges! In fact, I’ll be the BIG KAHUNA, the judge of the final round… It’s a hefty responsibility, but I’m looking forward to it, as all the books in the running are first class. Find out more at http://bit.ly/zH4Rf7

Happy New(ish) Year

Happy 2012! I don’t know where the time’s gone. Actually, I do. I’ve been working hard all January on my new project. During this time my daily routine has consisted of either: (a) a whirlwind of celebrity meetings, trips to exotic places, strange and unique experiences, and moments of eye-opening philosophical insight, or (b) me sitting in an empty room, staring at my computer, and scratching my nose from time to time. Guess which is closer to the truth. Anyway, I’ve been productive, and hopefully there’ll be some new announcements soon.

Meanwhile, here’s a link to a nice interview I did with El Templo, a Spanish literature site: bit.ly/wl0JAh.

And here’s some event news:

I’ll be doing a talk for the Phantopia Club in Erfurt, Germany, on Saturday 12th May.

On 20th May, I’ll be doing an event at the Luton Hoo Water Gardens Festival.

Around 1st June, I’ll be appearing at the Comedie du Livre Festival in Montpelier, France.

I’ll post up more details about these soon!

Live Twitter Chat on Monday 19th Dec!

For all you tweeters out there, I’ll be doing a live chat on Twitter this coming Monday, 19th December at 11.00 a.m, UK-time. I’m doing it via @TescoMagazine #kidsbookclub, and you can either take part live, or post your questions in advance. For more details, visit http://kidsbookclub.tescomagazine.com/parents-zone/jonathan-stroud.html Look forward to hearing from you then!

French Award for Solomon!

Fine news over the weekend. The Ring of Solomon has been awarded the Prix Millepages 2011. This is a prize given by a prominent French bookstore, Millepages in Vincennes. More details soon!

Also, I’ve done a new interview with Writing.ie, in which I chat in detail about the process of writing my novels. Check it out now at http://writing.ie/meet-the-authors/writing-for-children/427-jonathan-stroud-the-batrimeaus-sequence-.html.

Adventures in Oldenburg

I’m just back from the KIBUM Children’s Book Festival in Oldenburg, Germany. It was a flying 24-hour visit and, as always, I wish I could have stayed longer. But I packed lots of good things into my stay, namely two lovely events on stage in the company of the actor Rainer Rudloff. Rainer was my translator, but also the reader of several excerpts from Amulet of Samarkand and Ring of Solomon - and he put in a spectacular performance. Not only did he read, but he acted out the parts, leaping and springing about the stage for the fight scenes, and taking on all sorts of strange, weird and hilarious voices for the different characters. His version of Bartimaeus’s visit to Sholto Pinn’s shop was a highlight, particularly his fabulously camp interpretation of the foliot Simpkin. I think someone took a bit of film of the performance… If I can get hold of it, I’ll post it up, because it’s well worth seeing!

In between events I had a delightful lunch with Rainer, his son Jakob, Jakob’s friends Kolian and Magnus - and also two other authors who were there for the festival: the fantasy writer Jenni-Mai Nuyen (www.jenni-mai-nuyen.de) and the manga author/artist Natalie Wormsbecher (www.menolly.de). It was a very festive occasion!

With Jenni Mai Nuyen and Natalie Wormsbecher outside the theatre at KIBUM.

Rainer in full flow.