Sunday 10 July 2011

A competition and a composition - John Dougherty

First, the competition! I'm no good at getting people excited about competitions - I tend to sound like an over-heated 1970s Radio 1 DJ - but I suppose I ought to make the effort, so here goes...

Thanks to those lovely people at Random House Children's Books, you can win one of 10 prizes of 2 books each, and you can even have them signed by the author - me! - if you'd like. The two books are:

Zeus on the Loose
When Alex makes a cardboard Temple of Zeus in school, he doesn't expect the god himself to turn up, pinch his mum's nightie, and try to re-run the Trojan War in the school playground...

"Whether you're a Greek god or a mere mortal, you should read these wonderful books. They're hilarious!" - Andy Stanton, author of Mr Gum

 Zeus on the Rescue is also available, and Zeus Sorts it Out - in which Zeus meets the bullying Eric Lees, and decides it's either twelve labours or a good old-fashioned smiting - will be published on August 4th.




Bansi O'Hara and the Bloodline Prophecy
Bansi O'Hara is about to discover two very important facts. Firstly, she has faerie blood running through her veins. Secondly, the faeries want it back...

"A fantastic fantasy - I would challenge anyone not to enjoy this fabulous book" - Anorak magazine

"Skilfully balances real thrills and chills with wonderful knockabout humour" - John Newman in Publishing News

The sequel, Bansi O'Hara and the Edges of Hallowe'en, will be published on September 1st.

So, what do you have to do to win? Well, I'd like you to think about Zeus on the Loose, and see if you can come up with a title for an imaginary book about another god - Greek or otherwise. Post it in the comments to this post by July 20th to be in with a chance of winning!

Points will be given for:
  • amusingness (potentially but not necessarily including use of rhyme)
  • originality
  • inventiveness
and at the whim of the judge (me!).

You can enter as many times as you like, but there'll be only one prize per entrant unless you can give me a jolly good reason for bending that particular rule. The winners will be announced in the comments section on or shortly after July 20th. Good luck!

And now, the composition. I'm a late addition to the star-studded line-up at the festival, and here's a little something I've thrown together - written in a bit of a hurry, and recorded live in a single take in my kitchen, using my laptop camera and mic. I hope you enjoy it!




Thanks for listening. My name's John Dougherty. Goodnight!

25 comments:

Elen C said...

MASSIVE SMILE all the way through this!
Thank you.

Laura Harrison said...

BRILLENT! LOVE THE SONG!

Life is an adventure when you start to read! =D

fionadunbar said...

Oh wow..John, this is so fab! You crazily multi-talented person, you.

Sue Purkiss said...

This is just SO GOOD! Loved it - really made me smile. Goodness, you're clever.

Gillian Philip said...

Crikey you're clever! And talented! And musical! Also, cute!

malachy doyle said...

JOHN!!! THAT IS ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!! ABBA FOR EUROVISION!!!

Linda said...

Great song!

How about (in no sensible order)
Mars Sees Stars
High and Mighty Aphrodite
Pandora, Explorer (or the Snorer . . .)
Lara's Tiara
Thor's Thilly Idea
Flora's Fedora
or even
Pluto Spots a Plot?

Elen C said...

Bastet and Thoth's Excellent Adventure.

Tefnut-ty Professor.

Bend It Like Sobek-ham.

Ptah City.

Aten Commandments

hehehe this is fun!

Candy Gourlay said...

Oh John, I didn't realize you were so HOT! Echellent stuff!

Cathy Butler said...

That's wonderful, John!

Linda Strachan said...

Excellent stuff, John. So talented!

How about
Loki's Looking for Love

Jo Cotterill said...

This put a MASSIVE smile on my face this morning, John, thank you! It's a great song, we should adopt it as the SAS theme! Am about to post it onto my Sweet Hearts blog too - it deserves to go viral! Clever you!

madwippitt said...

Loved the song! Excuse me while I go and spit with envy.

Anonymous said...

Athena and the lost pearls of Sheba

Email: leahauty8@hotmail.com

Unknown said...

What an inspiring song, I'm feeling all warm and glowy inside. As for my little one it seems she has likened you to Thomas O'Malley of the Aristocats! It must be the shirt.
Right off to think of a title.

adele said...

Terrific stuff which I've only just got to! Well done to John and more please!

Sam Mills said...

This is genius! Loved every second of it...

karen said...

This has made my year!

michelle lovric said...

How incredibly generous and monumentally clever of you, John! Loved every word. Thank you!
Michelle

Emma Barnes said...

Just finally caught up with this - fabulous! And it gave me a real joyful moment seeing my book in there. What a great way to start a morning!

Paul Hepburn said...

How about:

The Useless Prometheus
Hades Has a Happy Homecoming
Poseidon's Misadventure
Always Last Atlas
Apollo's Eleven (and the World Cup)
Hermes, Worms & Me

Denise said...

How about: "Aphrodite and the Yellow Nightie"

Kind Regards

Denise

Katharine said...

It's Thor I Adore!
Pegasus Powers Down
Hard to Miss Artemis
Apollo's Polo Pony
Athena in the Arena

Unknown said...

In hidin' with poseidon.
Hell for Helios
The poor and the Thor
Riding in cars with my god Mars.
A tale of death and romance - Hades loves the ladies!

Random house said...

The musical delights of John Dougherty continue to bring a smile to all at Random House - we look forward to posting out prizes to the winners!!