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When I heard that Eoin Colfer was going to be in Texas this past weekend, I cleared the calendar and prepared to drive 'where ever' in order to see him. Then my newsletter from Murder by the Book announced his visit here in H-Town, right in my own backyard.

In Eoin Colfer's video appearances and in interviews, he comes off as a very low key fellow. In person he is a riotously funny, sarcastic, quick, self-deprecating, and witty storyteller whose childhood adventures made for one of the funniest hours I have spent in a very, very, long time.

The fact that the entling and I relived his presentation, story by story, bit by bit, on the drive home was a testament to our enjoyment.

Colfer is on tour to promote his new book Airman. At least 160 people attended along with Radio Disney and a video crew (Airman is published by Hyperion, which is part of Disney & Co.) In honor of Airman, Colfer shared a "flying" story from his childhood (do all boys go through a bicycle ramp phase?) and a more recent story involving a parachute jump.

He did not do a reading from Airman, opting instead to take questions "because he didn't want to put people to sleep." He is obviously a veteran of kids' frequently vague and unfocused questions as he was able to take questions like the perennial "where do you get your ideas from?" and turn it into a very funny riff about going through Philip Pullman's trash bins.

When one young lady asked the question, "Is there a character in your books that is like you?" he was so grateful, he told her she was a genius. He allowed that he is probably a great deal like Foaly, the centaur in the AF world because he messes about with his computer and "makes smart remarks all day."

In response to the question about an Artemis Fowl movie , he announced that he will play "Butler," the ever vigilant and well muscled bodyguard to Artemis. He then shot wounded looks at the audience who greeted this statement with laughter. As for the timing of the film, he thinks it will finally come out "two weeks after I die."

He has an idea for a sequel to The Supernaturalist and hopes to start work on it next year. He has just completed Artemis #6 which will be called AF and the Time Paradox. The greatest paradox about AF, he added, was that it was supposed to be a trilogy "but then Mr. MasterCard called."

The success of Artemis allowed him to take a year to write Airman which is a story that has been kicking around in his imagination for at least 15 years. He added that "those islands" are visible from his parents home (dying to read it now and find out about "those islands.)

He spoke thoughtfully about the importance of folklore in Ireland and how teaching Irish mythology is actually part of the curriculum there. Listening to the stories was always the best part of his day as a student and reading them to a class was his favorite part of being a teacher, a job that he only quit seven years ago to be a full time writer. He pointed out that Artemis Fowl is essentially an update and twist on the oldest story in Ireland, a boy sets out to capture a leprechaun and steal his pot of gold.

His rapport with his fans was polite but personal. I was touched that he took time to visit and joke with the entling as he signed her books, even though the line was long.

Colfer's terrific presentation helped me think about what makes for a great author visit and I will write more about that soon. There are some folks I will travel afar to see and Eoin Colfer has now joined that pantheon

Starting a book challenge while packing to leave Washington DC, checking carry-on bags for fluids and gels (forgot to notice the sunscreen) and death marching to the National Gallery while threading our way through 200,000 Girls Scouts enroute to a sing along - "Still Singing after all these Years!" - on the National Mall is dicey at best.

Fun to know Mother Reader herself was somewhere in the vicinity. I wonder if I was packed in next to her in the Smithsonian Metro station? We emerged from our train along with thousands and thousands of Girl Scouts in bright t-shirts. Shouts of "Buddy up, girls!" swelled from the throats of dozens and dozens of leaders and grown-ups trying to count heads and turn their troops in the right direction.

If I was a claustrophobic person, I would have seriously freaked out at the humanity-per-square-inch in that confined space. My main worry was being inadvertently pushed off the edge but we shuffled away from the drop and toward the escalators and slowly ascended towards the surface.

Total number of books read for the challenge: TWO
Total number of pages read for the challenge: 664 pages
Total altitude while reading: 36,000 feet
Number of sore limbs from 6 days of extensive sight-seeing while reading: 4
Number of heavy eyelids from 6 days of extensive sight-seeing while reading: 2
Amount of fun had from 6 days of extensive sight seeing and joy of reading two perfectly wonderful books: Too much to count!


My reading time did not commence until we arrived at Reagan Airport for the flight home.
My first book was the outstanding Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy, 392 pages. I had not finished when the plane landed 2 hours and 40 minutes later but maybe I was the only participant reading at 36,000 feet??

Since it was so late when we got home, I did not finish until the next day. My reaction to this book is to exhort you to run, skip, hop, hasten, or zoom to your nearest book provider and grab it.

Skulduggery Pleasant is part Dashiell Hammett with a stir of Raymond Chandler and shaken well with magic and fantasy. Storyteller Landy has laced the mix with humor and action. This is one of my favorite books this year!

I can hardly wait to read more. I hope Derek Landy is writing away. I love Irish storytellers.


Book 2 on my reading list was Robin Brande's Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature, 272 pages.

In this family we know we have a great book in hand when one of us stops reading and says to everyone present, "Listen to this!" I did that so many times last night, I might as well have read the whole book aloud.

Mena's first day of high school is turning out to be a nightmare. She is shunned by all her former "friends" for something we do not find out about until later in the story. She is enduing verbal and physical assaults and thinks she has lost her parents' love. The chance pairing (or did God have a hand in it?) with her science lab partner, Casey Conner, science genius, is about to change her life though.

Casey is funny and smart and determined to help Mena succeed. I loved his character whole heartedly from the moment he realizes Mena has never read Lord of the Rings.

"So you've read it?"

"Um, no."

"But you have seen the movies."

I sort of winced and shook my head. I need to learn to lie.

Casey closed his eyes and pinched his fingers against them like he had a terrible migraine. "Okay, you realize I'm going to have to do an intervention."

The Navigator by Eoin McNamee, 2007
Dedication: "For Owen and Kathleen" (his children, me thinks)

Wowee, zowee! A book I stayed up to finish!

Trish Parcell Watts -- Book design: easy to read font, easy on the eyes spacing and margins
Jon Goodell -- Interior illustrations: full page, detailed, always a treat to turn the page and find an illustration.

Owen is different. He doesn't fit in at school and his mother is suffering from a mysterious mental disorder. Owen's father commited suicide and he hears people in town say, "Like father, like son," "He'll go the same way." Owen does suffer a crippling phobia of water. The sight of the harbor or a river makes him tremble.

He finds refuge in his "den," a small clearing in the woods where he has built a fort with odds and ends of furniture and items he scavenged from the town junk yard. He is in his den one afternoon when the light in the sky changes and in a flash, Owen's world disappears.

He encounters a person calling himself Sub-Commandant who is part of the Resisters and who has called the Sleepers to wake up because The Harsh have caused Time to start moving backward and are getting ready to attack. Wha-huh? Think how Owen feels!

This was a terrific adventure story. There is a missing artifact, three young people working with the adults to save the world, an epic journey and the hope that "The Navigator" will appear to restore the flow of Time and get the world back on track. Three young ones and a world to save--great stuff.

I enjoy wrapping my head around space/time/Starfleet Department of Temporal Investigations kind of stuff so this book hit the spot with me.


The fantastical apparatus of this world such as the power source "Magno," the brass observation tower "Skyward," the "Q-Car" and goggled bad guys operating dragonfly styled flying machines put me in mind of Flash Gordon serials. Illustrator, Jon Goodell has done a lovely service bringing these images to life. Keep him on staff for future books, please!


There was still an unresolved mystery in my mind about a minor character in the beginning of the book. I think this means more stories are coming.

I love Irish storytellers.

Eoin McNamee writes screenplays and books. This is his first book for children.
Interview at BookMunch about his political thriller The Ultras