Burial at Sea

Here's a detail showing a burial at sea from the book I am just finishing up now.
I've got a ton of work still to do but I can't believe the end is finally in sight!

The Story of Britain is shortlisted for the ALCS award

I was delighted to hear that The Story of Britain, by Patrick Dillon with illustrations by me has been shortlisted for the The Society of Authors ALCS award.

Obviously the shortlisting is primarily due to Patrick's wonderful prose, but I am hoping I might tag along next month to the prize giving event which is at the Houses of Parliament in London.
Our publisher, Walker Books, has another title among the four short-listed, so the chances of a celebration are good.
Above is the cover of the paperback version of The Story of Britain which is due out next year.

"No One But You"

It's great having a Dublin city centre studio, and it's particularly buzzy during the week of official visits to Ireland by both Queen Elizabeth and President Obama.
The Queen's visit a few days ago was a major success, and today President Obama is making a speech down the road a bit in College Green. I don't think I'll be able to see him from my window but I will certainly be able to hear his speech. (They are testing out the PA system right now)
Obama is such an important figure in history, being the first African-Irish-American President, but he is also a hugely inspiring speaker, and I am really looking forward to hearing his speech later to-day.
I blogged before on how one of the pictures in "Lincoln and his Boys" by Rosemary Wells, was inspired by Obama's election, and likewise I was thinking about Obama when I created the image on the cover of my latest book "No One But You".
Written by Douglas Wood, "No One But You" was published in the US last Tuesday.

"The Story of Britain" by Patrick Dillon

One of the books I was working on recently is The Story of Britain by Patrick Dillon.
It was a very enjoyable book for me to work on, and, as it had a nice tight deadline, it helped me to get myself out of the doldrums I had fallen into with other projects.
I met Patrick for the first time at Walker Books' big party last week, and I am pleased to say he turned out to be a really nice guy and a very interesting character.
His history is written in an accessible style but with a certain gentle authority that I think will give it a very wide appeal.
My own contribution to the book was to paint a lot of heads of kings, queens and other key figures and also a number of other scenes to decorate the book. It is very much all about Patrick's text, but being a Walker book it will of course be a beautiful production.
I'll let you know when I hear the publication date.