Tooth & Claw is published

Friends, followers! The rise of the zombie beagle is upon us. Tooth & Claw materialised on bookshelves just yesterday. I would've announced it then, but a power cut in the bunker left me bumping about in darkness.

So, here it is. Poor Lumina! What to do with a beloved dog back from the dead?

Lazlo's Second Coming

Friends, Followers, I have been silent for some time - and for good reason! Tucked away in my bunker, under siege from visions, dreams, wildlife documentaries and troubling YouTube clips about the undead apocalypse, I have attempted to make sense of it all through another troubling tale .... and here it is:

Little Lumina loves her pet beagle, Scud, even though he's been quietly brought back from the grave by her father. Now stranger things are surfacing in the volcanic town which is home to Doctor Grubo's health clinic...

Would the doctor erupt if he was wise to the kind of animal testing going on in the clinic's lab, or does he have a hidden interest in developments?

Could Scud be responsible for licking roadkill back to life? A demon badger is bad enough, but can that really be a zombie swan? And how do you walk a part-decomposed hound without attracting attention - or flies?

Scud may be a one-eyed corpse dog, but as bedlam grips the town he can still smell a mystery. When the beagle goes missing, Lumina must fight tooth and claw to save his life. Again.

Lazlo Stranglov's Tooth & Claw (illustrated by poor, frazzled Quinton Winter) will be published in the UK by Walker Books on 7th February 2011.

2010 Cheshire Schools Book Award

In the autumn of 2009, the shortlist was announced for the 2010 Cheshire Schools Book Award. Here are the six fine novels that made the final cut:

Auslander by Paul Dowswell
Ostrich Boys by Keith Gray
The Goldsmith’s Daughter by Tanya Landman
Feather and Bone by Lazlo Strangolov
Blood Hunters by Steve Voake
The Midnight Charter by David Whitley

I make this announcement now as it has only just been drawn to my attention. My literary executor, Matt Whyman, tells me he has been busy lately. Quite how busy I am not sure. A delay of some six months makes me think he had been abducted by aliens.

Trust nobody. Except for chickens and beagle dogs.

75 starlings fall from the sky

I have long maintained that there is something in the air. What it is remains a mystery.

In the UK, however, it has led to 75 starlings dropping dead to the ground.

The number, as ever, is significant.

09/12/09 Mystery spiral over Norway

Here is an extract from my novel, Feather & Bone. I think we all know what I'm saying here...

"At first I hear a crackle and a whoosh, and then suddenly there it is, blazing overhead ... it is the first falling star that I have ever seen. Just two other members of the community have claimed to witness one over the years, and now my time has come.

I am amazed at how gracefully it passes, burning like a lamp and showering a trail of sparks in its wake."

9 + 12 + 9 = 30

???

Mysterious sightings on Google Earth

Bunker-bound as I am, Google Earth is a useful tool for me to keep an eye on the world. Here is an unsettling montage of unexplained objects and messages found by eagle-eyed users.

I should say the co-ordinates for my bunker remain secret.

An award for bravery?

Lazlo Strangolov's Feather & Bone has been nominated for the 2010 CILIP Carnegie Medal.

I am surprised and honoured that my little book is on such an illustrious list. I can only think those responsible are wise to the warning within the pages. For the tale hides clues to the nature of a TERRIBLE CATACLYSM. One that is set to befall us all at some point very soon.

These are eagle-eyed and courageous individuals who are clearly anxious to spread the word before all is lost. My guess is they're the kind of canny people who, like me, have taken steps to prepare for the End Times.

As a result, I imagine when the dust clears and the world emerges into a New Age, we can expect it to be heavily populated by libarians.