A brighter shade of Danger Dan

A Danger Dan update!

First up, #3 of the Danger Dan and Gadget Girl series has arrived! Introducing The Gruesome Garden. A behind-the-scenes reveal: the original shade of the cover had a lot more yellow and was closer to an olive green. I didn't like it. To me, Danger Dan is synonymous with all things bright and unsubtle, much like his personality. So I kept asking the Epigram Books designer to go "Brighter! Brighter!" like some attention-seeking Ah Beng.

This is the result...and I LOVE it. Thank you, Lydia!

This book was one of the more fun ones to write in this series, because its storyline somehow flowed naturally and there weren't any plot holes to cover (I shan't reveal which one gave us the most trouble). The jokes also came quite easily.You may not realise this but coming up with original jokes can be quite a challenge, especially if we're feeling uninspired. Being funny is hard work!

Here's a sneak peak of what is perhaps Lesley-Anne's and my favourite illustration, not just of this book but of the series. I wish I could have a framed copy of the pic - it's so comical it never fails to crack me up. Elvin, our illustrator, is a genius! (I'm showing a sneak peak of the two accompanying pages so the illustration makes sense).

It'll probably take a couple of weeks for the bookstores to stock the book. By then, exams should be over, making it the perfect time to go grab a copy for your kid :)

More news: Secrets of Singapore has been nominated for a couple of book awards! The first one is the Popular Readers' Choice Awards 2016. This is the third consecutive year a Danger Dan book has been nominated in the English (Children) category. You can cast your vote from now till 31 October. Popular vouchers are up for grabs.

The second award nomination is for the Red Dot Book Awards 2016-2017. These are books recommended by school librarians in Singapore and include overseas books, so we're very honoured to be part of the list.

It's been an absolute thrill seeing our books gaining traction. Media publicity is something that's notoriously hard to come by, so it's gratifying to know that more kids have come to know about and read our books nonetheless. In fact, three of our books have recently gone for reprint (Secrets of Singapore is into its third print run, hooray!)

Finally, the annual Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) is coming up in November and this year, Lesley-Anne will be participating in two panel events - Singapore Through Their Eyes (10 Nov 7-8pm) and Write This Way: A Guide for Teens by Teens (13 Nov 5-6pm). If you'd like to meet her and listen to the other participants, do come for the events.

Check out this piece by the SWF which lists her as one of the 8 Singaporean writers you should know about. Sharing as a proud mama, of course! Do support us, ya?