They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…well I’m not sure what they say about pastiches. The current issue of The Phoenix (Ireland’s satirical magazine) has used a mock up of the cover of Devil in the Red Dress to poke fun of the Irish Times.
The Paper in the Red Mess – The Phoenix sends up Devil
OK a direct plug would have been nicer but hell, any publicity no matter how oblique has to be a good thing. I’m glad the title was suitably twistable!
Speaking of publicity, I’ve now got a full cast for my book trailer and I’m aiming to have it online before next week. Thanks to my incredibly talented friends Natascha and Mercedes who worked wonders with a needle and thread and created costumes that look better than I had ever dreamed.
Anyone who has followed my Twitter feed will know I’ve been on the look out for smoking monkeys (of the ceramic kind, no animal welfare issues here) and I am pleased to report that I now have two of the little beauties the purpose of which will become clear once I post the finished trailer.
On a totally unrelated topic I was very sad to read yesterday that Oliver Postgate, the man behind such children’s TV classics as Bagpuss and the Clangers (classic if you grew up in the UK in the 70s as I did) has died.
I think at this stage most of the children we know have been given the DVDs of these wonderful shows. They were magical programmes and have stood up to the test of time as well as any.
I’d like to finish this post with the final episode of the Clangers (a show I never really got as a kid and couldn’t understand why my mum loved it so much, I get it now.) I think this is one of the most beautiful pieces of animation for children I have ever seen and it’s a fitting tribute to the man who told so many stories that touched so many children.
