ANOTHER TEST FILE

Testing this new technology...

Also to show the Monster that Tofpot has conquered her fear of the stairs!

LILY

Lily and her mother, Danielle.

Lily is enjoying her last meal of the day, on Saturday November 17th.

Sorry about the poor quality - we are hosting this clip as an experiment!

GOOD LUCK

November seems to be a quiet month for the Disresponsible Nodpots, partly because DNOTY '04 and DNOTY '05 (ie Inkpot) is enjoying her self at the other side of the world.

I am glad to report, somewhat belatedly, I'm afraid, that prior to Inkpot journeying to the Southern Hemisphere, both Inkpot and Valpot entered the Amazon Break-Through Novel Award, while Valpot and Mungo entered The Times/Chicken House Children Novelist Award.

Best of luck to all three of you with your entries - let us know how you get on!

HAPPY TRAVELLING

Best of luck on your trip to NZ, Inkpot, who is travelling there tonight with The Monster.

Have a great time the two of you!

And remember to keep reading this blog for all the latest on the Disresponsible Nodpots!

MONTH OF OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER

This month we celebrate October and November.

It's also the month of New Zealand, and Inkpot and Judge Pamela are going to that country to walk along the beach instead of the afore mentioned nodpots October and November.

Perhaps this month you'll do some work on your blog, O and N??

AMAZON-PENGUIN BREAKTHROUGH NOVEL AWARD

As you probably have heard, Amazon and Penguin and HP have got together to help an aspiring (or aspired) novelist to get their book published. The prize is a publishing contract with Penguin, including a $25,000 advance (sadly the Euro is at an all time high against the dollar). This of course would mean publication in the US - which would be fantastic! Plus lots of publicity.

Only 5,000 entries will be accepted - so get going, DNs, you will have a 1 in 5,000 chance of winning!!

You also have a 1 in 5 chance of making the semi-finals, and should you do that, a 1 in 10 chance of getting your book read by Penguin (they read the top 100 out of the 1,000). If you make the top 1000, your book will be read and reviewed by Publishers Weekly (which hopefully would be a good thing!)

Should you make the top 100, you have a 1 in 10 chance of being a finalist, and therefore a 1 in 10 chance of winning, and a 1 in 3.3 chance of being flown to NYC for the big dinner!!!

In other words, Nodpots - by entering, you have a 1 in 50 chance of your book being read in full by Penguin, and a 1 in 5 chance of it being read by Publishers Weekly!!

So what are you waiting for, DNs? This is too good an opportunity to pass up!!

WHERE THE DNS STAND

So where do each of the Disresponsible Nodpots stand in relation to the prestigious Disresponsible Nodpot Of The Year 2007?

An insider slipped us the low down on points accumulated so far by each DN after the last DN meeting (sometime in August). We have been obliged not to disclose the actual points but just to give you an idea of the relative standing.

Blueberry and Rusty had failed to score any points at all (did Blueberry not attend a DN meeting early in the year?)

Parsley is next lowest in the ranking. If he had only scored 1 point (which he hasn't), then Marvin would be next with a total of 2 points.
October and November would have 3 points.
Mungo (DNOTY '06) would rank next with 7 points.
Valpot would be ahead of Mungo with 10 points.
Inkpot would have 11 points.
Sparkie would be the outright leader with 20 points.

So you get the picture? See how they stand? Only the example above shows fictitious points. Parsley, for instance, could have 200 points - which would mean Sparkie could have 4,000 points, with closest runner up Inkpot carrying 2,200.

So Sparkie is way way way ahead!!

It will be interesting to see how the rankings change after the next meeting - the penultimate one this year!

Can anyone beat Sparkie?

TRAGIC NEWS

The world is still reeling from the devastating disappointment last weekend - Rainbow & The Mountain of Life - Mungo's eagerly anticipated story of the continuing adventures of Leaf and his friends - was not published last weekend.

"Mungo has enough on his plate at the moment," an insider told us. "He is too wonderful to worry about trivial issues like dates and deadlines. He has spoiled his fans enough already with all his wonderful works. They're getting too greedy."

It's true - we are all dying to read Mungo's latest book. Let's hope we'll have good news on the launch date soon.

SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH...

Sunday 22nd April saw the long awaited launch of Mango: The Unlucky Monkey.

Cover of Mango: The Unlucky Monkey

As usual with anything Mungo is involved in, the launch was a great success.

Mungo and his new book

Excerpts were read by Iseult (the illustrator and rival DNOTY) and Pamela ("the judge") Murphy. Noted author Geri Valentine then said a few words about Mungo and his brilliance, and the author himself hosted a Question & Answer sessions.

Mungo with Iseult, the illustrator

Mungo with fellow author Geri Valentine

There was a big turn out for the event, and Mungo and his new book was greeted with riotous applause.

Needless to say, Mango sold out almost immediately.

Janna can't believe how lucky she is to meet Mungo

We will be reviewing Mungo's latest on this blog in the near future, but we're confident it will be another brilliant work of art!

Mungo with his fans!

Looking forward to your next book launch, Mungo!

Fight to Write - Mid-morning & early afternoon

After Marvin concluded his words on positising negatives, DNOTY '04/'05 took the floor.

This turned out to be I.M.M. Murphy (well, you probably knew that!).

She said a few words on the joy of being DNOTY.
After she spoke, the floor was thrown open to the audience for questions.

All the speakers were asked questions on their talks.

Finally, only slightly behind schedule, the conference attendees went for lunch.

They look like they needed a break from all that intellectual activity!

We will conclude the report on the afternoon session later on this week.

Hope you're enjoying it as much as the DNs did!

Fight to Write Conference - opening

The DN's inaugural conferene was opened by Marvin, chairtoy of that society.

The first talk of the day was given by I.M.M. Murphy, author. She spoke about using humour in writing, the Whys, Hows, Whens and Whats of it all.

She ended by presenting the audience with a clever mnemonic on her talk - I bet they'll remember it for a long time to come!

I.M.M. Murphy was followed by Valinora Troy. Ms Troy spoke about the joy of rewriting, what a pleasure it was to write again and again about the story and characters you love... (And she should know!)

A much needed coffee break was taken, allowing the attendees digest the vast amount of information they had received. After the break, one of the star guest speakers took the podium - Mungo, Disresponsible Nodpot of the year 2006, the current champion, and much loved author.

Mungo spoke on his well known theme - Writing is Easy.

The audience was enthralled, and listened with rapt attention! His words will remain with me for a long time - THINK, PLAN, WRITE, & FINISH UP your writing - he made the whole process feel so simple, seem so logical.

Mungo received thundering applause at the conclusion of his brilliantly inspiring talk.

After Mungo came Marvin, who spoke on turning negatives into positives.

It was a thoughtful and well-prepared speech, and the Nodpots appeared to be duly impressed. Overall his words left an extremely positive impression...

We will reveal more of the Conference later on this week, so watch this space!

Breaking News - Conference SUCCESS!

The inaugural Conference of the Disresponsible Nodpots has been judged an enormous success! Insiders tell of inspiring talks, fascinating discussions, fantastic motivation and great camaraderie!

The conference took place in Dublin on Saturday last (yesterday). Guests and speakers queued up alike to register at 10am.

Guest speaker & author I.M.M. Murphy queueing to register:

There was great excitement as conference attendees signed their names...

October, co-author of the long-expected mystery blog, and long time member of the DNs.

Rusty, Mascot of the Disresponsible Nodpots, registers

Valinora Troy, Guest Speaker, registers for the conference, while Leppie, an interested spectator, looks on

At 10.15, the call came for all the attendees to move into the conference centre itself. Then began the scramble for seats...

The good seats at the front were quickly filled...

Eventually everyone was seated. There was some chatter among the audience as friends waved to each other, and attendees introduced themselves to their neighbours...

You'd think these two would have met by now!

Marvin, Chairtoy of the Disresponsible Nodpots, and Parsley, Treasurer of same, took their positions at the podium, before the large crowd of Disresponsible Nodpots. Tottie, designated time-keeper for the event, took her place beside the giant clock, emblem of the DNs.

It was time to begin. This year the theme was the conference was "THE FIGHT TO WRITE".

Marvin calling the room to order...

We will continue in our next post with the events and gossip that formed the morning of the inaugural conference of the Disresponsible Nodpots!