At present I am temporarily based in Auckland, New Zealand. The picture below is a view from Devonport, looking across the harbour towards that city with its spectacular ‘Skytower’. I’m here to write and also do some promotional work.

My first events were further south and they were organized by John McIntyre of ‘The Children’s Bookshop’ (based in Wellington) and both school events (Evans Bay Intermediate and St Anthony’s) were well-worthwhile. I got to meet keen readers of the series and also to introduce the books to a new audience. It’s a small world because at St Anthony’s the teacher responsible for the groups was Steve Douglas, a Kiwi. I had met him previously at another school event when he had been travelling and teaching in London, England. He had already introduced his classes to the series; they were well-prepared and most of my work had been done for me.

Also being planned is a short tour of Australia. This will begin about February 8th. No details of the schedule are yet available. But I’ll be back home in England early March, 2010.

On Monday I will be sending the latest draft of Book Seven, ‘The Spook’s Nightmare’ to my editor. Once that is done, I’ll be free to begin work on my next two books which will be published in 2011. They are Spook’s Eight (I have no title yet) and the novel about Alice (provisionally titled ‘The Alice Deane Diaries’).

My own website is still being developed which will be a sister to www.spooksbooks.com
Hopefully the site should be up and running before Christmas but, if not, it will be ready by early January at the latest. You will be able to email me direct and ask questions. In the meantime if you have any questions about the new site please email:
linda@spooksworld.co.uk

I am just about to sign a contract extending the film option for another eighteen months. Warner Brothers are still keen to get the film made. I am expecting some news about its production very shortly and will keep you informed here.

Best wishes,
Joseph Delaney