A Return to Shamelessly Promoting my Writing Friends

Time for one of those apologies.

Yeah. I've been neglecting the blog. I've kind of been busy looking at this:

And this:

Yes, it was sunny in Cornwall. Yes, this was taken in October. Climate change, wouldn't you know? And that climate change anthology Under the Weather featuring my story is now available on Amazon! But that's another blog post ...

As a result, I've neglected an opportunity to shamelessly promote the successes of my friends (what else is a blog for but to shout on behalf of your cohorts?).

Anyway, my friend Steve Hartley recently treated me to a proof copy of his first Danny Baker Record Breaker book (out in January) - with this brilliant dedication:

I don't think I am the world's best web designer, but hey, I'm a dab hand at Photoshop ... check out Steve all decked out in Leonardo di Caprio's body:

and posing with his hero, Gromit:

Check out Steve's website to see him in the bodies of John Cleese, William Tell and Russell Crowe

And then of course I should have been shamelessly promoting the launch of a TV series based on my friend Fiona Dunbar's wonderful Lulu Baker trilogy. Conveniently, an advance screening was held just up the road from my house and so I took my gang along to watch. Here's a picture of Fiona with my girls:

And here's Fiona with the lovely cast (note, the lady on the floor is Chizzi Akudolu who plays the fairy godmother - someone to watch: such a funny woman!)

My gang, by the way, are hardened followers of Fiona's books. They enjoyed the screening massively but were dismayed to discover that Fiona's carefully crafted baddy Varaminta (gold-digger and author of the deliciously titled bestseller Thin Like Me), had been converted from wicked-stepmother-to-end-all-stepmothers to a loveable wrongheaded marshmallow with a different hairdo per episode.

So much so they cornered the actress (she's the one at far right in the pic of Fiona with the cast) and demanded to know WHY VARAMINTA WASN'T BAD ANYMORE? The actress (I foolishly forgot to write down her name, for which, sorry!) was very accommodating and kindly explained that Fiona's trilogy had a beginning, middle and an end whereas the TV series would have to carry on and the character had to be reimagined for that purpose (as an author I was secretly chuffed to see they were so attached to the book!)

After the show, Fiona was mobbed, mobbed! for autographs! Wow!

I suppose one could call it, Fiona's Madonna moment ..

Glory! Fame!

And now they've reissued the books with new covers based on the series! OMG.

Way to go!

(Well, I've got a way to go ... but you guys are definitely on the right track!)

Jinx's first episode aired on CBBC on 31st October, Halloween at 10.30am. If you're based in the UK, you can view it again on the BBC iplayer - episode 1 Baker House Blend and episode 2 Dead and Butter Pudding  (the Halloween episode is great!)

Blog Action Day 2009: Climate Change is Not the End of the World

Today is Blog Action Day. That's the day when bloggers get together to effect change and this year's topic is Climate Change.

Which is super relevant to me because next month, my short story How to Build the Perfect Sand Castle is going to be published in Under the Weather, an anthology about Climate Change published by Frances Lincoln.

My short story is based loosely on the plight of an island in my native Philippines where the effects of a one degree rise in sea temperature and uncontrolled development have caused the rapid erosion of its beautiful white sand beach.

I live in England where Climate Change feels like this horrible thing that lurks somewhere in the far future. It is a dystopian fantasy, a worst case scenario that exists on the websites of environmental campaigners and mealy mouthed politicians.

Well last month, Climate Change made a personal appearance in the Philippines in the form of Typhoon Ketsana (locally known as Ondoy), which created a deluge that was biblical in proportion.

To mark Blog Action Day I made this video reflection on the epic flood. I took liberties with photographs and videos posted on the internet for which many thanks to the various sources (including my friend Mike Alcazaren and my brother Randy Quimpo).

The text is an excerpt from the powerful re-imagining of the Noah's Ark story by Geraldine McCaughrean, Not the End of the World. The music is Dapithapon by Joey Ayala from his Lumad sa Syudad album.

If you can't see the video go straight to its page on YouTube

Please give to the Red Cross Philippine Floods Appeal

Please help victims of the monster-flood in the Philippines

It seemed to happen while I wasn't looking.

I've been away on a trip that involved a lot of driving, no mobile signals and no access to the internet. The first I heard of the floods in the Philippines was a series of messages on Facebook, my contacts in the Philippines sending out thanks and appeals.

The Philippines is used to lashings of typhoons but this is different.

Here's a video from CNN:

The New York Times has this slideshow of photographs showing the appalling conditions in the aftermath of the floods.

As I write, another storm has struck the Philippines. If you are based in the UK, you can help by giving to the Red Cross appeal.