[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":11},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-post-well-done-good-and-faithful-pirate-hat":3},{"_type":4,"body":5,"bodyHtml":6,"excerpt":5,"featuredImage":5,"publishedAt":7,"slug":8,"tags":9,"title":10},"blogPost",null,"I now have my very own excellent pirate hat, thanks to my parents and fab photographer Ms \u003Ca href=\"http://www.visioluxus.com/\">Visioluxus\u003C/a> from Portland, Oregon. (She took the photo you see on \u003Ca href=\"http://www.visioluxus.com/gallery6.htm\">this version\u003C/a> of China Miéville's \u003Ci>Kraken\u003C/i>). So I this week I was able to send back the marvelous hat that Geraldine McCaughrean had lent me, so she can use it for her \u003Ca href=\"http://www.gosh.org/gen/peterpan/history/peter-pan-in-scarlet/\">\u003Ci>Peter Pan in Scarlet\u003C/i>\u003C/a> events. Here's a picture I drew for her, aboard my ship:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/sarah_pirate_letter-96236b5d60.gif\">\\r\n\\r\nBesides that fab hat, Geraldine also has the most amazing Captain Hook coat, you really must go to one of her events sometime and see it. Here, you can catch the briefest glimpse of it through the woods:\\r\n\\r\n\u003Ca href=\"http://www.geraldinemccaughrean.co.uk\">\u003Cimg src=\"https://images.jabberworks.co.uk/lj/geraldine_mccaughrean_coat-abe3cac670.jpg\">\u003C/a>\\r\n\\r\nThanks so much, Geraldine! That hat has seen some real mileage, and the new one will be seeing more, at the \u003Ca href=\"http://www.hayfestival.com/search.aspx?SearchTerm=sarah+mcintyre&SearchTerm_Vldt=[req][len%3D2][blankalert%3DPlease+enter+something+to+search+for!+]\">Hay Festival\u003C/a> in Wales, Ireland's \u003Ca href=\"http://www.mountainstosea.ie/\">Mountains to Sea\u003C/a> festival (schools bookings have just opened for that), Birmingham's \u003Ca href=\"http://www.youngreadersbirmingham.org/p/book-bash.html\">Book Bash\u003C/a> festival and more.\\r\n\\r\nGeraldine's one of the best wordsmiths on the planet; if you haven't read any of her books yet (\u003Ci>what?!\u003C/i>), I recommend \u003Ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Darkness\">\u003Ci>The White Darkness\u003C/a>\u003C/i>, about a girl who's kidnapped by her uncle and taken to Antarctica. That's the first book I read, and then I was totally hooked. And just for adults, her book \u003Ca href=\"http://www.geraldinemccaughrean.co.uk/adult.htm\">\u003Ci>Vainglory\u003C/i>\u003C/a> is incredible, a story about the five generations of people who live in a chateau in 15th century France. Every single chapter had a story so intense, and often very twisted, that several of them gave me quite vivid nightmares, and I spent ages thinking about all the characters, and wondering what I'd do in their situations. Go out and get one of Geraldine's books now (she's written well over a hundred, so you have lots of choices); I promise you'll be glad you did.","2012-05-15T14:48:00.000Z","well-done-good-and-faithful-pirate-hat",[],"well done, good and faithful pirate hat",1776628721811]