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A really popular competition which set out to find a new children's author will return for the second time this weekend. The winner, Emily Diamand, will have her book 'Reavers' published this October by Chicken House as 'Reavers??? Ransom' and next year it could be you. 2,000 writers entered the Times/Chicken House Children's Fiction competition last year (including me!) and I'm sure there'll be as many this time around. The competition last year was for a completed manuscript and the details of this year's requirements will be in The Times on Saturday and no doubt online too. The only details I have for this year so far is that entries must be received by 13th October, and the shortlist will be announced in February 2009. The judging panel will be chaired by Chicken House Managing Director Barry Cunningham and includes author David Almond, consultant Wendy Cooling and Nyree Jillings from Waterstone's. The competition will be really tough but you can still view the shortlisted entries and some tips on the Times website at www.timesonline.co.uk/childrensauthor Judge Malorie Blackman said: "The winning book, Reavers by Emily Diamand, possesses all the qualities I look for in a novel and then some. (And what a dream name for a writer. I'm jealous!). Reavers is an amazing, accomplished story and I feel privileged to have been a part of bringing this story to a wider audience." The Times says 'Reavers' Ransom' is set about 200 years in the future when climate change has caused sea levels to rise. The synopsis on Amazon explains: "Lilly Melkun is out fishing with her sea-cat when the bloodthirsty Reavers come raiding - and steal the Prime Minister's daughter. Her village blamed, Lilly decides to find the girl. Off she sails in secret with a ransom - an extraordinary talking jewel. But, nothing can prepare her for what happens next ... "

The Graveyard Book is so close to being finished I can taste it. All the writing's been done and now it's a matter of typing it and reading it and fixing it. (Interestingly, and rather to my surprise, The Graveyard Book looks like it's going to come in at about 67,000 words. Which is a nice meaty read, and about 12,000 words longer than Stardust.)

I wasn't going to blog at all as right now the web is problematic and I am on deadline, but just as I put up the thing yesterday about free ebooks being better than soup I thought these two news items were worth mentioning...

Stardust the movie is nominated for three Saturn Awards, Beowulf is nominated for two (and I'm co-nominated with Roger Avary for one of those). (Full list in easilt readable form at http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117981190.html)

David Fincher is confirmed as the director of the film of the Charles Burns graphic novel Black Hole, which Roger Avary and I are co-writing. Hurrah.

This is cool: Beelzebufo, the frog that eats dinosaurs and challenges our current theories of continental drift...

And Steve Bissette posts the Dave McKean cover to the Golden/Wagner/Bissette book about stuff I've done, now retitled Prince of Stories, at his blog. (Which is a Sandman reference and was me doing a little Velvet Underground reference to a song that seemed to have the whole plot of Sandman in it...)