Have you been out today?

I didn't expect it to be so big.

I'd imagined some sort of sculpted little knick knack on a base, something that would sit snugly in your hand. Something that would stand on the mantlepiece and not take up too much space.

But, in fact, on Tuesday night, when A Boy and a Bear in a Boat won it at The Kitschies, it turned out that the Inky Tentacle award looks (for this year, anyway) like this...



(That's me with the very excellent judges who voted me the winner: Gary Northfield, Ed Warren, and Lauren O' Farrell. Photo courtesy of Sarah 'Boswell' McIntyre, to whom, as ever, very many thanks).

Anyway, heartfelt (if somewhat belated) thanks to organisers Anne Perry and Jared Shurin, sponsors Kraken Rum, and everyone else who was lovely to me on the night. Also, congratulations to fellow tentacle winners Nick Harkaway (red tentacle), Karen Lord (golden tentacle) and the World SF Blog (black tentacle).



I was proper delighted, and surprised, to win. Especially delighted because the cover for A Boy and a Bear in a Boat felt like something of a brave choice at the time. So to have it win an award feels like a vindication of that risky decision, and some small reward for my publisher, David Fickling, for having the nerve to put out a debut children's novel by a pretty much unknown author inside a far from obviously commercial cover.

Hurrah for courageous publishers!