..You lucky readers.  This year, you’re definitely getting a  treat – from The Etherington Brothers!   Just click on the opening panel below  to see their special, spooky snippet… Happy Halloween!

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Have you heard of Hay Fever?..

Several DFB authors and illustrators authors caught it this year! Sarah McIntyre, Candy Gourlay and The Etherington Brothers all went down with bad cases of the contagious fever this year, from attending Hay Festival 2011.

Symptoms?

Shivers of excitement, blistering friendliness and a rash of book-lovers..

The cure?

A strong dose of workshops, talks and festival antics, taken with a marquee-ful of your favourite authors and illustrators!

So what did these lovely DFBers get up to all weekend?? Well…

Robin & Lorenzo Etherington(AKA The Etherington Bros) -  sold out their workshop(!), and it sounds like they had a blast monkeying around with their 200+ fans(!!). . When I asked Robin what his festival highlight was, I was  hit with a wave of enthusiasm and a list as long as my arm. But I think that ‘Finally getting to perform our show for our respective wives and see them really enjoy it’ and ‘getting papped by ten year olds and knuckle bumped by a legion of new readers’  were probably two of their more memorable experiences! Check out what else they got up to on their awesome blog here. Or for more details of what these boys can teach and show you, have a look around their new Comic Club site..

Sarah McIntyre and Candy Gourlay appeared as part of a triple-decker event alongside a favourite author of theirs, Geraldine McCaughrean – what a treat for the audience!  And beforehand, when Sarah heard the weather forecast, she drew this fantastic picture of how their trio might end up -

 - but, of course, the event was far from a wash out.

And, needless to say our fantastic authors didn’t leave it at that, they also ran their own their own talks and workshops! You can read Candy’s hilarious blog about the group experience, and of course her own workshop here. Candy’s writing workshop was all about legends… and there were some brilliantly silly ideas.

Sarah was also full of fun and seemed to meet up with nearly ALL the festivalgoers at Hay – even the Duchess of Cornwall!! For the lowdown on how Sarah a)wangled and b)handled this, check out Sarah’s blog, here.

Hooray for Hay, and for our truly brilliant authors who helped make this year’s festival such a success!!

(And if all that wasn’t enough, see how much fun was had by the many celebrity and non-celebrity attendees here.)

..or rather barks.. or growls?  More suggestions for dog ’speech’ description please! In fact, have a go at naming this mystery(ie. ‘where the barks went’, ‘growls in hiding’ etc) and send us your ideas - best suggestions win a DFC badge! Just leave your doggy verb or title & your email address as a comment below.. 

One Robin Etherington - a rather sharp-eyed and sharp-witted young man - has already solved ‘The Mystery of Lost Words’ by bringing to our attention that fact that text & speech bubbles were missing from the final page of Dave Shelton’s miniature treat, THE STAKEOUT – !! ‘Eek!!’ I hear you say – but never fear, thanks to our crime-busting dog duo and their trusty sidekicks, Robin & Dave, the final pages have been restored for your viewing pleasure! Just click here  to read the rectified newsletter :)  ..Phew!

If you should need any brainfood whilst thinking up your doggy descriptions, take a look at Dave Shelton’s fascinating website  - it’s crammed with glimpses of new work and beautiful pages from Dave’s old sketchbooks – a real insight into his hilarious, engaging and completely charming work.

I’ll be keeping my eyes on the comments box..   ’til next time!