There are some people (e.g. me) who sit and watch the footage of horrible catastrophes on telly and the internet and go, "Ooh, isn't it terrible, if only I could do something..." and there are others who actually go forth and do it.  In the latter camp we find the writer Keris Stainton, who has organised (with extraordinary speed) an online auction, Authors for Japan, all proceeds from which will go to the British Red Cross Japan Tsunami Appeal.

The auction begins at 8a.m. GMT on Tuesday 15th March, and closes at 8p.m. on Sunday, 20th March.  Last time I checked it featured 150 different lots.  One of them is a signed copy of my new book Scrivener's Moon, which I'll also be happy to personalise and do a drawing in if the buyer would like me to.  There are also all manner of other good things - not just books but also proofs, artwork dedications and offers of mentoring and advice, donated by both adult and children's authors, so it's well worth browsing through the whole list.  Please take a look.  Questions about how to bid and who to pay are answered here.



I didn't want to illustrate this post with another swiped news photo of sea-wrack in the streets of Sendai, so here's something nice from Japan: the cover of the Japanese edition of Mortal Engines, published by Tokyo Sogensha Co. Ltd.  It features a fantastic looking London, and some snazzy outfits (one of the original inspirations for Mortal Engines were the drawings of the French artist Moebius, which are full of hats like these, so I think they're quite appropriate).  The illustrator has also taken an interesting symbolic approach to Hester's scar (much better than just drawing her straight - she's horrible!)