Well my first blog here and similar to John's blog before me it is a pirate theme, so more nautical naughtiness abounds for yee salt crusted sea-dogs! I illustrated this book, Young Blackbeard by Michael Lawrence and published by Barrington Stoke at the beginning of the year. It's my first junior fiction book so a step away from my own work which is usually big ridiculous colour spreads. It tells the tale of how Blackbeard became, well, Blackbeard and involves heartless fiends, spooky islands, buried treasure and lashings of rum.
When I was first commissioned to do it I gave a hearty laugh, as I'm apparently of pirate stock myself, the pirate queen Grace O' Malley knocking about somewhere in the O' Malley clan history. A quick google of her name and you'll see what a wily lady she was, once even being invited to Queen Elizabeth's court to parley. Irony struck again when I was recently on a trip to her home castle on Clare Island in the Atlantic ocean. I hated every second on the ferry out there. In fact I hate boats of every kind.
Donough O'Malley
Buy Young Blackbeard
