[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-dartmoor-christmas-2018":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"Once again my excellent \u003Ci>\u003Ca href=\"http://jabberworks.co.uk/the-legend-of-kevin/\">Legend of Kevin\u003C/a>\u003C/i> co-author and his family adopted Stuart and me for Christmas! We were a-flutter with excitement for weeks before heading off to Dartmoor. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/610874_original-f91c54c8ca.jpg\" alt=\"roly-poly flying pony\" title=\"Christmas Kevin\">\\r\n\\r\nChristmas is the best time; all the office people in the book industry stop sending e-mails and it all goes quiet. And I get some time to draw things for fun near a crackling fire (and poodle, who is rather miffed at me for sitting in his place on the sofa). Photo by \u003Cb>Sarah Reeve\u003C/b> (\u003Ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/moorland/\">@moorland\u003C/a> on Instagram): \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/611240_original-c1cc0dc4df.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nLots of lovely jumpers, all about: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/611354_original-8d3cfbdccb.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd landscape that looks like stepping into a Tolkien book... \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/611750_original-1a72996ee2.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n...or that Rien Poortvliet and Wil Huygen book on gnomes (who make freshly brewed coffee under ledges of the tors, if only you look very carefully for the puffs of steam). \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/613700_original-4498320e86.jpg\" alt=\"gnome cafe\" title=\"gnome cafe\">\\r\n\\r\nOf course, you always have to beware the sharks of the open moor: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/613174_original-ead069456e.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nSpeaking of Tolkien, I was thrilled to get a chance to meet the illustrator \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AlanLee11225760\">Alan Lee\u003C/a>, whose work I'd admired for decades and whom I'd seen featured in lots of featurettes when I was geeking out about the production of the Lord of the Ring films. Philip and Sarah Reeve invited him over with \u003Ci>Larklight\u003C/i> illustrator \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/DavidWy63038008\">David Wyatt\u003C/a>, whom I'd met before, and we had a good natter about drawing, studio spaces, what kind of paper we use, and living on Dartmoor. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/611968_original-552dd63d2a.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nHere's some video footage about Alan's role in the LOTR films, and he was also involved in the Hobbit films, spending six years working on the films in New Zealand. \u003Ci>\u003Cb>Edit\u003C/b>: That film's been taken down from YouTube; here's another simply showing some of his artwork.\u003C/i>\\r\n\\r\n\u003C!--more Click here for lots more under the cut!-->\\r\n\u003Clj-embed id=\"4530\"/>\\r\n\\r\nWe also got to catch up with the Daleks! \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/NicholasPegg\">Nicholas Pegg\u003C/a> and \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/BarnabyEdwards\">Barnaby Edwards\u003C/a> play the invading aliens on Doctor Who, among many other things, and Barnaby does amazing audio records of Philip's books... \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/612358_original-9ba6beb59e.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n...as well as coming up with some top-notch baked goods! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/612178_original-cebc382d03.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nWe also stopped by the beautifully quirky 17th-century cottage of writers Marilyn Livingstone and Morgen Witzel (whom we'd originally met at the Dubai Lit Fest). They collaborate on the Romney Marsh murder mysteries under the name of \u003Ca href=\"http://www.ajmackenzienovels.com/\">AJ Mackenzie\u003C/a>.  \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/612781_original-62ae5d46d5.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nAnd back out into the wilds of Middle Earth: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/615405_original-d8624dc542.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nWhere there were roly-poly ponies to cuddle! Here are a few we found by the famous Dartmoor Christmas Tree: \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/617140_original-86d26911df.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nDartmoor really is the stuff of legend.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/617420_original-1953a6cf27.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nOh, hey, how about that?! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/617607_original-b34a35cd31.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/616064_original-1e773cd17d.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/613378_original-2ef8162b28.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/615659_original-d1f7ebde06.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/615689_original-4efb756f53.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/616314_original-41be29b691.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/613037_original-2117a52eb1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/616533_original-9ecf8bf4d6.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/614422_original-84266a8444.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nPhilip even let me look through some of his illustrations from when he drew for the Dead Famous series with Alan MacDonald, and Murderous Maths with \u003Ca href=\"https://twitter.com/KjartanPoskitt\">Kjartan Poskitt\u003C/a>. They're amazing! \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/617961_original-7242271c47.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/618123_original-90e5b3cbc6.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nMy official holiday job was coming up with a different cocktail each night. The \u003Ca href=\"https://www.tipplesworth.com/blogs/recipes/mince-pie-martini\">mince pie martinis\u003C/a> were a repeat request from last year, and they taste much nicer than they sound. \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/613928_original-a36019a1b6.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nFrodo got very tipsy with all the excitement of ravaging discarded gift wrap.\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/615012_original-83cb8b89b2.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nA nice ending to the day for a tired and emotional poodle. (Photo by Sarah Reeve.)   \\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/614781_original-751379fc95.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\">\\r\n\\r\nBig thanks to the Reeve family for being wonderful hosts!","2018-12-31T16:05:00.000Z","dartmoor-christmas-2018",[],"dartmoor christmas 2018",1776628730097]