For a review of Surrey County Council's first ever book festival including a quick interviw with Justin Somper at Magna Carta school.
Please see http://www.surreyherald.co.uk/

From Twitter
Just heard that VAMPIRATES: BLACK HEART has been shortlisted for the Staffordshire Young Teen Fiction Award. Great stuff!

Young people in Staffordshire aged between 11-14 years are now being encouraged to vote for a winner, so if that includes you, please vote.

It is also in the Stoke-on-Trent paper please see http://pitsnpots.co.uk/news/2010/02/top-six-teenage-titles-revealed

From Twitter
Eason's has chosen EMPIRE OF NIGHT as its Book of the Month for March and it looks like we're adding Dublin into the tour. Hooray!

I'm going to be on www.bittenbybooks.com on March 5th to celebrate publication of EMPIRE OF NIGHT. Looking forward to it

From Justin Somper's Blog
"Busy day! Spent the morning at Hornsey Library with a posse of local authors include my good mate Graham Marks... ... being filmed for the library's cool new self-issue machine. Whenever anyone takes out one of my books, I'll start talking to them!

Justin Somper will be visiting Prichards in Formby on Tuesday, March 23 to sign copies of his latest book, which is a follow-up to novel Black Heart.
Please see http://www.formbytimes.co.uk/formby-entertainment/news-reviews/2010/02/10/formby-visit-for-bestselling-author-justin-somper-66401-25799508/

Now the T-Shirt competition has ended on Vampirates.co.uk I was wondering if the crew would like to tell me their entries to add to the Dirty Dolphin.

The competition asked "what song you think best sums up Sidorio, and why." as "If anyone needs a personal soundtrack to listen to when getting psyched for the next Vampirate raid, it's Sidorio, King of the Vampirates."

My choice is After The Flesh by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult from the soundtrack of The Crow.

Why? well the first verse just describes what Sidorio is trying to do.

"I am the new way to go"
"I am the way of the future"
"I am the new way to go"
"I am the way of the future"
"There's a lot innocent people being crucified"

The last line describes his old life as a pirate wonderfully, well he thought he Julius Caesar had overreacted. Sadly the rest of the song goes into a major decline.

By second choice was Welcome to the Jungle by Guns and Roses. It was close but Jungle needed to be changed to Ocean, but the line "And when you're high you never Ever want to come down, Yeah" really described his reaction to unlimited blood.

The other that I found that was close was Kings Of The Wild Frontier by Adam and the Ants. But it is an occasional song to listen to not regularly.

From the home page of Vampirates central:
"To celebrate UK publication of Vampirates: Empire of Night (March 4th) - for one month only, you can download a FREE e-book of Demons Of The Ocean, the first book in the Vampirates sequence! This is a limited offer, and an amazing chance to set sail with the book that began the Vampirates phenomenon completely FREE! Simply click on the book cover right here!" (www.vampirates.co.uk)

Please note the small print at the bottom of the page - "Please ensure that you have Adobe Digital Editions (ADE) installed BEFORE you click on the download link."

Did you attend a Vampirate event last year? Vampirate Central now has a list of them all.
Check out www.vampirates.co.uk/events/2009AuthorAppearances

For forthcoming events please see www.vampirates.co.uk/events/EventDates

The first review of Empire of the night is out. The Ultimate Book Guide gave a good insight on what we are to expect next month. I also liked the fact that the Vampirate.co.uk website was described as an excellent website.

Please see theultimatebookguide.blogspot.com

Justin Somper will be at Silverdell Bookshop, Poulton Street, Kirkham, on Wednesday, March 24. The event is being held for the launch of Justin's latest book, Empire Of Night.
Please see http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Story-shorts--080210.6051296.jp

According to the Nocturn's News the Vampirate books are being produced as e-books.

"Entering A Digital Age
The VAMPIRATES books are about to enter the world of the Kindle, Sony Reader and e-books. Yes, that's right, the books are all being released as e-books! The dates are as follows:

DEMONS OF THE OCEAN - 11th February.
TIDE OF TERROR - 4th March.
BLOOD CAPTAIN - 1st April.
BLACK HEART - 1st April.
EMPIRE OF NIGHT - 4th March."

For anyone in West Midlands area of England, you may be interested in an event in Wolverhampton. Justin Somper is appearing at the Colton Hills Community School Theatre on Thursday, 25 February 2010 from 19:00 - 21:00.

Admission is free. Tickets are available from Waterstones bookshop and Central Children's Library Wolverhampton.

Please see www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=310280411207&ref=nf for more information.

Jewish Book Week on Sunday 7th March 2010 at 4.30pm to 6.30pm
Join award-winning writers Inbali Iserles and Justin Somper who will be talking about their worlds of adventure beyond the familiar time and spaces. Board Somper’s ship of Vampirates (Vampires and pirates in one) and be the first to hear about his new book, Empire of the Night, or  be drawn into Iserles’ modern day myths which bring exotic worlds to North London and even reveal the secret passages which can lead you  there. Recommended Age 8-12. Royal National Hotel, London, WC1 0DG - £5 in advance.
See www.jewishbookweek.com/2010/the-stuff-of-legend.php for more details.