Rain again

Today I am back at the Urca site of the British School in Rio, sitting at the base of the Sugar Loaf. I am sitting in the library looking across the bay towards the Cristo, which was there a moment ago, but which is has now disappeared beneath a layer of cloud. It is pouring with rain!

The last time I was here the weather was glorious but I did not have a camera. Today I have the camera but it somehow does not look quite so spectacular. Something tells me my trip up Sugar Loaf this afternoon is not going to happen.

I was sorry to leave Barra yesterday. I thought it was a really lovely school with a fantastic atmosphere. And Viviane Silva is such a great librarian. She really cares about that library and about the children who go there. She was so enthusiastic.

Having said that, this is a great library too. It is very modern and seems very well used. I am being looked after by Celia Breder and Jaqueline Silva (no relation to Viviane or President Silva - it is just the most common name here, apparently) as before. I'm not sure whether I'll see Mimi today. Celia and Jacqueline are great. They have made me feel so welcome here. They are so friendly, and have a good sense of humour.

Yesterday I was doing specific talks about specific writing issues. Today I am giving more general writing talks centred around Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror. I have another three groups to see today, one of which, again, is very large. Tomorrow at the Botofolgo site where I have four groups of 40+!

I may get to Merche's bookshop - the Jamer bookshop - today and sign some of the stock of Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror and I think Merche has asked for Livraria de Travessa's stock of Contos de Terror do Tio Montague to sign as well.

And speaking of which - Frini's newspaper article is pinned on the notice board. That was very exciting. Thanks again Frini.

Back at Barra

It was very frustrating to have such a short time in the Botanical Gardens yesterday. The beaches here are incredible, but it is the nature here that I find really fascinating. There are plants growing wild in the streets that would be in a a hot house in England. I would love to have a chance to walk up into the rain forest that comes into Rio. Maybe I will yet. If not, I'll have to behave myself and hope I am invited back.

Today I am back at the Barra site. I am seeing another four groups (one of which seems to have 40 children in it - so that ought to be interesting!). I am talking about historical fiction, mystery writing and horror writing, using The White Rider, Redwulf's Curse and Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror respectively). It is a lovely sunny morning, though Viviane tells me it may rain later.

Tomorrow I am back at the Urca site at the base of Sugar Loaf, and Mimi Liang is going to take me up to the top. You get there in two stages, by cable car. I have a fear of heights, so it is going to be an interesting trip in more than one way, as I may disgrace myself by collapsing into a foetal position and gibbering.

I forgot to mention that they are doing a really great activity here for book week. It is called DEAR - standing for Drop Everything And Read. At break time, Viviane wanders round the school with a whistle and when she blows it, the children have to drop what they are doing, pick up a book and read. It is such a brilliant idea and not one I have ever knowingly come across before.

I also forgot to mention that the other person who turned up at the Livraria de Travesso launch of Contos de Terror do Tio Montague, was Frini Georgakopoulos, the journalist who sent me the Q&A I mentioned several posts back. It was great to meet her and she was so enthusiastic.

Sugar loaf and sugar rum

I am writing this on a school computer with a 'd' that sticks, so I will try and use that letter as little as possible!

Yesterday I went to the Urca site of the British School. The library there must have one of the best views of any school library in the world, looking across the bay towards the Cristo standing on top of the mountain. It was a much sunnier day in Rio but I had not brought my camera into school - not realising I might have something to take a picture of. I am back at that site on Thursday so I will take a picture then.

I spoke to four different groups of children who were all very attentive. I talked about how I came to write, how I write and how they might improve their approach to their own writing. I read some of my work and then we had questions - though time was pretty short. It was all a bit exhausting, but it's a great school.

At the end of the day the librarians took me over to restaurant called Tiramasu in a shopping mall with another spectacular view looking back towards the Urca site, which sits at the foot of Sugar Loaf. We had some tapas-type things and I had a fruit juice of pineapple and mint. Absolutely fantastic flavour. And it somehow got me in the mood to have my second caipirinha (lemon/lime and sugar rum) of my trip.

I met the librarians from other sites - including Viviane Silva who is the librarian here at Barra - pronounced Bar-Har - where I am today. I also met a storyteller from the US called Priscilla Howe. She lives in Kansas - though she's originally from Long Island if memory serves. She was very nice with a lovely voice. I hope I get to hear her tell a story, but I don't think we'll ever be at the same site at the same time.

Viviane took me on a tour of the school here and while we were going round my mobile went and it was the company we rent our house from in Cambridge talking about fixing a drawer in my kitchen - which was a little surreal.

I did my sessions - mainly centred around my book Billy Wizard - and then went with Mimi to the Botanical Gardens, which were beautiful and I only wish I'd had more time to enjoy them. I could have easily spent the day there. Incredible trees and lots of bird life. It has been overcast and not especially warm today, but I hear it might be better tomorrow.

I'm back at the Barra site tomorrow.

Raining in Rio

Here I am in Rio, staying in the lovely house of Merche - sister of John Clark. I arrived last night after an exhausting flight. The travelling went OK. The flight to Madrid seemed like a short hop in comparison to the 10 hours plus of the flight across the South Atlantic.

Air travel normally has the effect of compressing distance, but when you look out of a window and see the ocean, and then look out four hours later and it's still ocean, you begin to appreciate just how vast it is.

We were late taking off from Madrid and it took an age to get through customs and passport control at Rio, so Merche was kept waiting as she she had kindly come to pick me up. We had never met and she was sweetly holding a copy of Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror so I would recognise her.

Merche's family have been incredibly friendly and we ate pizza before I collapsed into my very comfortable bed in my air-conditioned ensuite bedroom. I woke at six (ten in UK time) and it was sunny. I mooched about until the rest of the house woke up, joined them for coffee and toast and then went for a walk on the beach with Merche and her dog, Charlie, but it started to rain and we came back.

I was taken for a meal at a restaurant were waiters keep appearing at your side with different cuts of different kinds of meat. It was very good - though I realised afterwards that I had not eaten any vegetables at all. It was just meat, meat and, oh go on then, more meat. I did have a bit of fruit in the form of a fearsome lime and rum cocktail. Mimi Liang joined us from the British School and it was nice to see her again. She has been my point of contact with the school all along.
From there we drove through the rain to the signing at Livraria da Travesso. I did sign some books, but the rain had kept people away (or at least that was what I clung to as an excuse). I did get to meet Adriana Sardinha from Rocco though and she was great. I hope the Rocco edition does well for us both. It has just come out.

And I got to meet a comic book writer called Estevão Ribeiro, who gave me a couple of his comics. One is called Contos Tristes (Sad Tales). I have never done a signing and come away with someone else's books. It was good to meet you Estavão. Thanks for coming along.

Heathrow

Here I am sitting in the Yotel - that is such a terrible name - in Heathrow terminal 4. I have an early flight to Rio - via Madrid - tomorrow. The Yotel room is like something from a space station - or a kind of 70s vision of a space station. It has a bed that changes from a seat to a bed at the touch of a silver button (I hope). But what if I hit that button in my sleep? Will I get scooped up?

I'm already exhausted. The tube trip alone from King's Cross to Heathrow took over an hour, and we were all booted off at one point because there was 'something wrong with the radio' on the tube we were on. It wasn't a great start.

Now I need to sleep. I have a 5am start tomorrow and a day of travelling ahead.

Battle of Britain

Running is becoming easier. Well at least it is becoming less painful. I keep running further each time, but I must be running quicker as well, because I still don't seem to be out for the half an hour Joad prescribed for me.

I got an email today from Jill Sawyer at Scholastic telling me about a Times promotion which will feature the My Story - Battle of Britain book I did for them a few years ago. The book was repackaged in May. It tells the story of a fictional Spitfire pilot.

Contos de Terror do Tio Montague

An enormous jiffy bag full of paperbacks of Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror arrived today. I love boxes/bags of books. I am looking forward to seeing the various translated versions of Uncle Monty. So far I have only seen the US and Spanish Latin American editions.

The Rocco edition I will be promoting in Rio is called Contos de Terror do Tio Montague. I will be signing copies at 4 pm on Sunday 28 September at the Livraria da Travessa in Ipanema. I have looked on the bookshops website, and there I am!