THE DOLL'S EYE by Marina Cohen (Roaring Brook Press)

Deliciously creepy! I finished this in two sittings. I'm a longtime horror fan, and this was right up my alley; I was inspired to do some fan art, as you can see above. And now I'm even more creeped out by those old-fashioned glass-eyed dolls than I was before! :-)

You can find out more about The Doll's Eye on the Macmillan site.

The book came out TODAY from Roaring Brook Press!

THE NEST by Kenneth Oppel, illustrated by Jon Klassen

I read middle grade novel THE NEST (written by Kenneth Oppel and illustrated by Jon Klassen) in one sitting last night. Totally lives up to the hype. I'm a horror fan and this was genuinely scary, with tension and dread gradually building to a nightmare-inducing climax. Yowza.

Click to read more ...

Uncle Montague's Tales Of Terror, plus advice for writers and illustrators

Just finished reading Uncle Montague's Tales Of Terror by Chris Priestley, with wonderfully creepy illustrations by David Roberts. I've always been a fan of scary stories ever since I was little and I used to write a lot of scary, sinister short stories in grade school. My eighth grade teacher attended my I'M BORED book launch, which was a total (and wonderful) surprise, and apparently he was telling my husband about how many of the stories I wrote back then were very dark.

I don't read as much horror now but I do still love indulging in creating creepydark illustrations sometimes, just for the fun of it.

Speaking of illustrations, here's a fun interview on The Independent's children's book blog with illustrator David Roberts. Interesting that David says he doesn't think much about the age group when he's working on book illustrations. He says his work is more a response to the story. His tip for aspiring illustrators: "Don't be afraid of that vast expanse of white paper (or I guess these days you could say computer screen). Sometimes your mistakes can be good and you can always start again if you don’t like it."

Chris Priestly advises young writers to have at least a rough outline of their story. "Give yourself a decent start and plan where you are going. You don’t have to stick to it – but it will make your life easier and it will mean that you will be less likely to give up."

More info about Uncle Montague's Tales Of Terror on the Bloomsbury website. 

----

For more: please see the archives of my #BookADay posts, which began when I participated in Donalyn Miller's #bookaday challenge.