Johnny Mackintosh på galaktisk evertyr

Posted in Book news, Norwegian edition with tags , , , , , on December 5, 2009 by keithmansfield

Det er 64,874,261 år etter den galaktiske standardtiden I det ytre rom, og 13 år gamie Johnny er langt borte fra barnehjemmet han por på.

I love Scandinavia. I’ve been fortunate, over the years, to have travelled there many times and made lots of friends along the way. They have the northern lights, look like Vikings and brought the world both Ibsen and ABBA. As if it couldn’t get any better, Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London has just been published in Norwegian.

It’s a tremendous thrill for an author to see their book in another language, especially having met some of the lovely people at Cappelen Damm who’ve made this all possible, Johnny Mackintosh på galaktisk evertyr now sits proudly on my bookshelf alongside the Dutch edition, Johnny Mackintosh en de supersnelle augurk (published by Prometheus), and I hope others will soon follow.

Maybe one day there’ll even be a translation into Universal, “the standard language for inter-species communication across the Milky Way”?

For Norwegian visitors, the back cover copy reads:

Hvorfor har ikke Johnny fått vite sannheten om foreldrene sine?

Hvem er de onde maktene som overvåker ham?

Da merkelige ting begynner å skje, rømmer Johnny fra barnehjemmet han bor på og prøver å finne søsteren sin. Det er da han kommer i hendene på utenomjordiske. Johnny blir kidnappet og sendt ut i verdensrommet. For å komme til bunns i hvem han egentlig er, er han nødt til å prøve å rømme.

Et utrolig eventyr gjennom tid og rom med den ultimate helten, Johnny Mackintosh.

I wrote a short piece about visiting Oslo last year over at my Keith Mansfield website. At this time of year, I want to say a very special God Jul to all my Norwegian readers. If you’re stuck for present ideas…

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The Twelve Days of Johnny Mackintosh

Posted in Book news with tags , , , on December 2, 2009 by keithmansfield

Johnny Mackintosh: Star Blaze publishes on 7th January 2010. Traditionally, the twelve days of Christmas run through to January 6th, by which point the decorations have come down and it’s all well and truly over. Don’t despair. What more exciting thing to look forward to than a new book?

To get readers in the mood for the next instalment of Johnny and Clara’s adventures, I’ve created a series of twelve images that give the flavour running through the new story. Of course they won’t give anything away, but they’ll run sequentially through the new book, giving an idea of where my two heroes end up. I’ll be posting them, with an accompanying explanation, every day from Boxing Day through to 6th January. After you’ve unwrapped all your presents and eaten enough turkey that you’re fit to burst, make sure you drop in here on 26th December to witness the new story begin to unfold.

The image here gives you an indication of what to expect, but I’ve since replaced it with a better one. This superimposes one of my photos of the Spirit of London (some readers may think it’s the London Gherkin) against a Hubble Space Telescope star field.

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The Second Johnny Mackintosh book

Posted in Book news, Space with tags , , , , on August 16, 2009 by keithmansfield

If you’ve come to this site because you’re desperate to discover more about the sequel to Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London (and who could blame you), you’re in the right place. Finally, the full manuscript for Johnny Mackintosh: Star Blaze is with Quercus Books and in production, due to publish early in 2010.

Supernova image SN2006gyThe Star Blaze of the title is what we might normally call a supernova, the moment a star explodes at the end of its life. At that time, the light from a single sun will outshine the rest of its galaxy.

Of course it would be wrong to tell you what happens, but I have to say I’m very excited about the new book. I can say the action begins around five months after the end of Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London and that you should check back soon as I’ll be posting a little taster…

[Image: artist’s impression of Supernova SN2007gy, courtesy NASA/CXC/M.Weiss; X-ray: NASA/CXC/UC Berkeley/N.Smith et al.; IR: Lick/UC Berkeley/J.Bloom & C.Hansen]

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Real Life in Space

Posted in Science, Space with tags , , , , , , , , on July 29, 2008 by keithmansfield

“The others followed suit . . . sliding down into what looked like a chaotic junkyard, about the size of a school gym. Johnny wondered if he was ever going to see the type of gleaming hi-tech spaceship he’d always imagined.”

JM&tSoL, p.81

When we watch science fiction films or TV shows, spaceships are normally spotlessly clean and tidy. The Discovery One of Kubrick/Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey would be the perfect pristine example if it weren’t for the mess going on inside computer HAL’s brain. From James Tiberius Kirk’s starship Enterprise through to Roj Blake’s Liberator, once we leave the shackles of Earth it seems nothing is ever the slightest bit out of place (even in zero G).

In real life things are seldom like that. I hate to disappoint any parents reading this, but I have to tell you that Johnny’s quarters on the Spirit of London are just as untidy as his bedroom back in Halader House.

At the UK’s National Space Centre in Leicester, there’s a mockup of one module of the International Space Station:

It’s informative to see how the same module looks in Earth orbit:

Thanks to Joey deVilla’s Global Nerdy blog for pointing out the pictures.
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Johnny Mackintosh en de supersnelle augurk

Posted in Book news, Dutch edition with tags , , , , , , , , on July 25, 2008 by keithmansfield

The Dutch edition of Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London was published on 24 June by Prometheus of Amsterdam. I’m in excellent company as Prometheus also publish the Dutch versions of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. As my UK publication date wasn’t until 3 July, that means Johnny Mackintosh en de supersnelle augurk was the first Johnny Mackintosh book to come out anywhere in the world.

The cover features Johnny and his faithful Old English sheepdog, Bentley, gazing at some beautiful stars, while a transparent, super fast London Gherkin blazes across the sky. There’s even my photo on the back, so if I wander into a bookshop in The Netherlands I can prove that I’m really the author.

It’s wonderful to read Johnny in another language and fascinating to see the effect of a translation: for instance, Johnny’s keyboard or Voice-Activated Computer, Kovac, has had to become Keyboard- Of Stem-Aangestuurde Computer, Kosac. Being quite a bad-tempered computer at times, I’m not sure whether he’d like it, but I certainly do.

Clicking the photos will enlarge the images, but in case the back cover copy doesn’t show up very well, it reads:

Het leven van Johnny Mackintosh is niet gemakkelijk: hij woont met zijn hond Bentley en zijn zelfgemaakte computer Kosac in een weeshuis, zijn vader zit in de gevangenis en zijn moeder is werkzaam in een ziekenhuis voor geschifte criminelen. Johnny en Bentley worden ook nog eens constant in de gaten gehouden door Mr. Wilkins, de geniepige kok van het weehuis. Maar wanneer de computer van Johnny een signaal opvangt dat niet afkomstig is van de aarde, verandert zijn leven drastisch. Johnny ontdekt dat hij nog een zusje heeft en dat de journalist die onderzoek deed naar zijn bizarre verhaal is vermoord.

Hij vlucht weg uit het weehuis om zijn zusje Clara te vinden. Beiden worden echter ontvoerd door buitenaardse wezens. Uiteindelijk weten ze te ontsnappen, maar tijdens hun reis naar huis onstaan er problemen waardoor ze terug in de tijd worden geslingerd. Johnny moet er alles aan doen om veilig op aarde terug te keren en de waarheid rondom zijn ouders te weten komen.

Johnny Mackintosh en de supersnelle augurk is het debuut van Keith Mansfield.

Johnny and Bentley watch the skies

If you want to get your own hands on a copy, you can buy the Dutch edition online.
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Meet the author of Johnny Mackintosh

Posted in Book news, Website news with tags , , , , , on July 21, 2008 by keithmansfield

Those lovely people at Harrods have asked me to sign books in their children’s Waterstone’s this coming Wednesday. Inspired by that, I’ve created (yet) another new section for this site. It’s called meet the author.

Right now there’s only Harrods from 3pm on Wednesday 23 July 2.30pm on Saturday 26 July [edit] and then I shall be somewhere in Oxford on Tuesday 12 August, but other dates will be added as and when.

I love doing readings and events, so if you’d like to invite me to you bookshop, literary festival, school or book group, do get in touch via keith[at]keithmansfield[dot]co[dot]uk.
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What other people say about Johnny Mackintosh

Posted in Book news, Website news with tags , , on July 13, 2008 by keithmansfield

I don’t know if it becomes easier as you publish more books, but it’s a nerve-wracking time at the moment as the early reviews of Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London begin to come in. Happily, people have said some lovely things so far. If that changes, I shall have to revert to the author’s defence of claiming I never read reviews.

I’ve created a new section of the site so you can see all the different bits and pieces written about the book in one place. It’s called What other people say about Johnny Mackintosh.
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The Science of Johnny Mackintosh

Posted in Science, Website news with tags , , on July 9, 2008 by keithmansfield

Want to know more about the science behind Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London? I’ve created a new section of this site that I’ll be adding to when time allows. Maybe, if I went back in time to do it, that would let me write more entries?
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Whispers from Space

Posted in Science, Space with tags , , , , , on June 29, 2008 by keithmansfield

“All his life Johnny had loved the stars. On some nights when he lay gazing up at them it almost felt as if they were calling out to him, whispering his name across the vastness of space.”

JM&tSoL, p.10

The beginning of Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London sees Johnny, with a little help from Kovac and Bentley, discovering a signal from space.

Johnny\'s Seti screensaverScientists involved with SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, use radio telescopes to look for signals from aliens. Just like Johnny, you can help them by using the Seti@home screensaver to analyse genuine signals from radio telescopes and report back with your findings.

Or, if you want a bit of fun, you can have a go on the Alien Bandstand game at the Sonoma Space Mysteries site. A DJ thinks he’s downloaded some alien rock music and is going to make a fortune. It’s up to you to discover if the signal’s genuine. Here are some screenshots from when Johnny had a go:

The view out of the window of Space Mysteries HQMessage for Space Sleuths

Alien Bandstand\'s aurora signalJohnny gets another question right

Images courtesy of NASA/Sonoma State University

There are plenty more space games to play if you visit the mysteries site, run by California’s Sonoma State University.
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Publication Date

Posted in Book news with tags , , , on June 22, 2008 by keithmansfield

I’m delighted to announce that my first novel, Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London, will be published by Quercus on 3 July 2008.

Johnny Mackintosh and the Spirit of London big front cover

Why has Johnny been lied to about his parents?

Who are the sinister forces watching him?

When strange things start happening, Johnny runs away from his children’s home to find his sister . . . and falls straight into alien hands. Kidnapped and sent into outer space, he must escape to discover the truth about who he really is.

Danger follows at every turn. Can he ever make it home?

An incredible adventure across time and space with the ultimate hero, Johnny Mackintosh.
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