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August 29, 2005
The Akhenaten Adventure
I think this is a picture of Alan. As you can see he is a Rottweiler. Or it could be a picture of Neil. It's rather hard to remember. I don't have any pictures of the two dogs together since they could never abide to sit next to each other when a camera was produced. John renamed the two dogs Winston and Elvis. You can see why.
Posted by pbkerr at 01:33 PM | Comments (0)
Cornwall
Another shot of the standing stones in my Cornish garden.
Posted by pbkerr at 01:31 PM | Comments (0)
Latest
Still no correct guesses as to my middle name. I really do have one. My favourite so far is Banquo. I do wish that was my middle name.
Posted by pbkerr at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)
Cornwall
This is a picture of the standing stones at the bottom of my garden. We have no idea how old they are. It'snot exactly Stonehenge, but they have a magical quality, especially at night.
Posted by pbkerr at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2005
Edinburgh
The Author's Birthplace, in Edinburgh.
Posted by pbkerr at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)
The Akhenaten Adventure
This is a Stela like the one that Hussein Hussaout and his son, Baksheesh find in The Akhenaten Adventure.
Posted by pbkerr at 08:36 PM | Comments (0)
The Edinburgh Book Festival
P.B.Kerr signing books at the Edinburgh Book Festival in August 2005.
Posted by pbkerr at 08:28 PM | Comments (0)
The Edinburgh Book Festival
P.B.Kerr appearing at the Edinburgh Book Festival, August 2005.
Posted by pbkerr at 08:26 PM | Comments (0)
The Blue Djinn of Babylon
This is the Peregrine falcon who appears in the Blue Djinn of Babylon.
Posted by pbkerr at 04:04 PM | Comments (0)
The Akhenaten Adventure
The Shabti collection owned by Mrs Coeur de Lapin. The ancient Egytpian Pharoahs believed that Shabti figures would be their servants in the afterlife. Good idea. I wouldn't mind some servants in this life let alone the next one.
Posted by pbkerr at 04:01 PM | Comments (0)
The Akhenaten Adventure
This is the polar bear who chases Groanin and Mister Rakshasas at the North Pole. It's not a very good shot I'm afraid as, well, I was rather nervous that he might eat me if I got too close. Polar bears will eat anything that moves. Even authors.
Posted by pbkerr at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)
The Akhenaten Adventure
This is one of the 'white' tigers who tore off Mister Groanin's arm in the British Museum Library, and then ate it before being shot by the RSPCA. He was stuffed, mounted and sold to the Chambers Street Museum in Edinburgh. He's not as white as Mister Groanin remembered. In fact he's not white at all. Trust Groanin to exaggerate.
Posted by pbkerr at 03:55 PM | Comments (0)
August 15, 2005
Author at Work
This is me at my desk in my writer's hut. The picture was taken by Chubby. There is no electricity in the hut and if it gets a bit dark I use a storm lantern which you can see on the desk. You can also see my thermos flask, full of coffee, my binoculars to view the birds on the lake, and a short wave radio to keep in touch with the house. Oh yes, and I'm actually writing something, too. What you can't see are all the spider's webs. Spiders seem to like my hut a lot. Look closely at my wristwatch and you'll be able to tell what time the picture was taken.
Posted by pbkerr at 09:51 AM | Comments (0)
August 08, 2005
No cigar!
Lots of people - hundreds perhaps - have tried to guess my middle name. So far nobody has. No one has even come close! So, no cigar!
Posted by pbkerr at 07:15 PM | Comments (0)
Duh!
To all the really dim people who didn't get the joke. Yes, I do know that Harry Potter was written by J.K. Rowling. For your information J.K. Galbraith is a famous Economist.
Posted by pbkerr at 07:14 PM | Comments (0)
August 01, 2005
Spelling it out
Just one guess per email address please. None of you have it guessed it so far.
Posted by pbkerr at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)
My House in Cornwall
Most of the time I live in London. But this is my house in Cornwall which is where I come when I want to get away from it all. It's a rectory, built in 1825. So far as I know there's no ghost. But I live in hope....
Posted by pbkerr at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
Another view of the writing hut
Inside the writing hut. Not much writing getting done by the look of things.
Posted by pbkerr at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)
Writing hut
This is my writing hut in Cornwall. It's more of a shack really. I saw pictures of Roald Dahl's writing hut and thought it looked like a nice little cottage. Anyway, that one was made of brick. Mine is just wood and corrugated iron. There's no electricity and I use an oil lamp for lighting. There's a nice view of a small lake out front, where duck and heron sometimes drop in for a swim.
Posted by pbkerr at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)
Discussion Points for a Book Group
1. Djinn are famous for giving wishes. What's the difference between a wish and an ambition? An ambition is a wish that you can make happen yourself. Is it always good to have your wishes granted? Might it not be better to work for something instead of having it handed to you on a plate? Why do djinn say "be careful what you wish for"? Do you think it's because you might get exactly what you wish for? In other words, having a wish might make you very careful with how you use language; having a wish might make you feel a little in awe of the power of a wish. This is what happens to Mister Groanin in Book One.
2. If you had three wishes what would they be? And why? See my blog entry for my own three wishes. I've noticed that some children wish for themselves and others make wishes for other people. One little boy I met wished to be 'dead rich'. Discuss whether that might be a good wish or a bad wish.
3. John and Philippa go to Egypt and there they see the pyramids. And visit the world famous Cairo Museum. There they see the statue of Akhenaten (actually there's an equally good one in the Louvre in Paris, so if you go to Paris make sure you check out the Egyptian Halls, which are fantastic). Akhenaten was a real Pharaoh. He was known as a heretic because until he came along Egypt was run by priests and was polytheistic - which is to say they worshipped many gods. But Akhenaten decided that there was only one god - the sun, or the Aten - and tried to do away with all of the rest. He was monotheistic, which is to say that he believed in one god. This made him very unpopular, especially with the priests and eventually he was deposed. Can you think of any other famous heretics? Akhenaten's nephew was Tutankhamen, who was previously known as Tutankhaten. After Akhenaten was got rid of, all traces of the Aten heresy were wiped out. And this explains why Tutankhamen had to change his name. Akhenaten was married to Nefertiti, who looks like she was a very beautiful Queen. Her bust is in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. Do you think it's right that all of these great treasures should be in cities outside Egypt? After all, not everyone can get to Egypt. Some people are afraid to go. And when the Germans the English and the French took away those treasures, the local people weren't really looking after them.
4. Djinn can live a long time. What would be the disadvantages/ advantages to living for a long time? Discuss.
5. As well as being djinn John and Philippa are twins. Some ancienht societies used to believe that twins were holy and had magical powers over things like the weather. See Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough for more information on this subject. From my own experience - my late stepfather was an identical twin - it seems certain that twins just know stuff about what's happening to the other twin through a kind of telepathy. Discuss.
I hope that these ideas help. I'll try to come up with some more discussion points.
Posted by pbkerr at 09:50 AM | Comments (0)