You may hear some grumblings in the press over the next few days. ‘What’s this? A children’s book winning Irish Book of the Decade? Surely some mistake.’ ‘The best book of the decade is clearly . . .’ – insert the title of one of the shortlisted books for adults here, or indeed a different title altogether. For adults again, of course.

The thing is, most people don’t actually read many children’s books, if any. They don’t realise how much fun getting lost in a Skulduggery Pleasant novel truly is. They don’t know about Derek’s zippy use of language, his larger than life characters, his rip roaring plots that reach into your throat, grab you by the tonsils and don’t let go.

How could they? They’ve never actually read a Skulduggery Pleasant book. But they will of course feel completely qualified to comment on the series.

But there’s the thing. Awards like this, awards judged by the public, are all about popularity. Books do not become hugely popular for no good reason. They become popular because, all over the world, they are read and loved. LOVED. People don’t bother logging on to websites to vote for their favourite book unless they are passionate about the book and the author.

Which is where children’s authors have a huge advantage when it comes to on-line voting. Irish authors like Derek Landy, Eoin Colfer, Darren Shan, and Michael Scott have enormous international fan bases and far reaching websites. All of them blog, telling their fans what they are up to. When they blog about an award, these devoted and dedicated fan bases rise up and vote. It’s as simple as that.

The Skulduggery books are mega popular world wide, and Landy’s ‘munchkin army’ as it calls it, has spoken. And yes, at scraping 5ft 4 I include myself in that description. I voted for Derek. I voted for Derek because I’m a genuine fan. I also voted because I wanted to see a children’s author win the award. The only other authors that stood a chance were John Boyne and Eoin Colfer, but Landy’s last Skulduggery Pleasant book was published in April, which means it’s still very fresh in readers’ minds, hence he stood the best chance of actually winning.

Did I believe he could actually win? Yes, actually. I did. And he’ll continue to win on-line voting awards until Darren Shan is shortlisted, and Eoin Colfer’s next Artemis is published and he re-establishes himself as Mr Action-Adventure with Fairies. Then Derek will have a true fight on his hands.

So there you have it. Irish Book of the Decade – Skulduggery Pleasant. Call me delighted. The Irish kiddi lit nerds have taken over the country – it’s now official. Next stop, the world.

Do join us! Now go and read the first Skulman book. Bet you’ll get hooked.

LANDY! LANDY! LANDY! LANDY! LANDY . . .

Here’s some official stuff:

Skulduggery Pleasant tells the story of Stephanie, a feisty twelve-year-old girl, and a wise-cracking magician turned detective who is, among other things, dead! Stephanie’s uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror, it certainly wasn’t fiction. Pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source….the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard.

Derek Landy, author of Skulduggery Pleasant, the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book of the Decade, said;

“Astonishingly enough, I am not taking this opportunity to gloat, because apparently that isn’t very classy. The wonderful thing about this award is that it was open to every category, and so books for younger readers were as relevant as adult literary novels. Children’s book sales account for 25 percent of all books sold in Ireland, but you don’t get to see this kind of equal footing too often. It shows a real respect for our next generation of readers, and it’s because of these readers that I can accept this award with sincerest gratitude, and without apology. I DO think a little gloating would have made this statement a whole lot funnier, by the way…”

Tom Owens, Chairman of the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards, commented;

“When Derek Landy’s Skulduggery Pleasant first came to prominence, Derek was hailed as a literary sensation, an unknown author who secured a seven figure sum on the back of a debut novel – not an easy crown to carry! However, not only was Skulduggery Pleasant a huge international success but together with the other three published books in the series, it mobilised many young people not only to start reading but to get passionate about reading. Derek’s story is one of the great Irish literary stories of the Noughties and he is a worthy winner”.

Alastair Giles, Executive Director of the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards, has said;

“Nearly 60% of the novels on the 50-strong shortlist were literary novels by giants such as John McGahern, Anne Enright, Colm Tobin and William Trevor but by beating such opposition in the web-poll, Derek Landy has shown us how young readers can be energised to care about books and reading. In his short and brilliant career, he has built the Skulduggery series into a juggernaut of popular success on a scale which may yet rival Harry Potter and Twilight. In his wake he is bringing along a whole new generation of young readers and that has to be good news for anyone interested in ensuring the Irish literary heritage will continue to grow and develop into the next decade.”

Derek Landy unveiled the cover of his new book, talked about kittens and made the children ‘sing’ in this strange horror chorus. Sounds mad but it worked! Derek has really blossomed, both in his writing, and personality. He’s brilliant with kids and they love him. He could read the phone directory to them and they’d still love it. IN fact, he’d probably make the phone directory fun – he has a great way with names – if you’ve ever read a Skulduggery book you’ll know what I mean!

Justin Somper of Vampirates did a spirited reading, with lots of sword action and salty sea dogness. I’ve known Justin for years now – we’ve grown up in the kiddi lit world together – and he’s still such a gentleman. I’m so delighted his Vampirate books are taking off in such a big way, he deserves it.

They were quite a team. Joining in the fun were Jenny and Tom from Children’s Books Ireland;  David Maybury, uber blogger; Mary Byrne, Derek’s lovely pr person; and a host of Eason, Harper Collins and Simon and Schuster bods, some in costume (the booksellers that is, not the publishey types).

I dressed up as Tanith Low, trouble maker and general cool chick (I wish!) from Derek’s Skulduggery books. My son told me I looked like Indiana Jones. I told him I almost named him Indiana, so he stopped slagging me pretty quickly! His name is Sam Jack Iowa – yes, Iowa – it’s to do with Field of Dreams, the movie, don’t make me tell the story, please! He has suffered enough.

Fab event – much better than working. (Apologies to my editors – I’ll get straight back to the writing, I promise!)

Sarah X