The Goggle-Eyed Goats will be launching in London (Andersen Press) and Paris (Gallimard Jeunesse) on World Book Day, 1 March 2012. The Burkina Faso launch will be a little bit later – probably 12 March – in Ouagadougou.

The London launch will be at Rowley Gallery in Notting Hill, starting at 6pm. Signed copies will be on sale as well as original artwork from the book, plus other pieces by Christopher Corr.

Be there or be a cross-eyed goat.

I always come back from school visits wanting to (a) write and (b) watch parkour on Youtube!

Here’s a great parkour vid I just found – the best of David Belle set to the best of Eminem. Enjoy…

And now, with (b) out the way, it’s time for some (a)…

The International School of Dakar – what a great school! – even two days there has convinced me of what an interesting, diverse and caring community of people it is. The staff and students were a joy to spend time with.

I wish I had taken more photos, but here are a few snapshots:

Elections will take place in Senegal on 26 February and already the country is hurting. Today the police fired teargas and plastic bullets at protesters downtown (video link).

Pointe des Almadies, the westernmost point of the African continent

There’s something about being in a brand new country that makes you open and willing to think the best of people, sometimes to the point of eyepopping naivety. Yesterday, my first day in Senegal, was a case in point. I arrived in the afternoon and in the evening I ate in a Moroccan restaurant with an family from the International School. After that I strolled down to Pointe des Almadies, which I had heard was the westernmost point of Africa. I went on my own down an unlit street, heading towards the sound of waves crashing on the rocks.

Out of the dark comes Ali Bho – a young man in his early twenties who wanted to tell me all about his life and ask me about mine. He was celebrating, he said, because his wife had just given birth to their first child, a baby boy. He had just been down to the sea to pour milk into the water, which he claimed would guarantee that his wife would always have enough milk for the baby. He said that the naming ceremony was the following day and that he intended to kill twelve fat goats for the hundreds of guests that would be coming.

As for me, I cooed and clucked and wowed at all the right places. I rejoiced with him about his newborn baby.

I’m so happy, said Ali Bho, embracing me. I’m happy to have a baby son and I’m happy to have found such a kind open-minded new friend. I’m in the silver and gold business, he added, and I’m so happy that I’m going to give you a large amount of silver as a gift.

No, I said. No, really, that’s fine. Your friendship is enough, Ali.

I insist, said Ali, switching from French to English. This (snapping a tight silver bracelet around my left wrist) is for you and this (another one on my right wrist) is for your wife and this (an even smaller bracelet) is for your daughter Liberty. I would not usually give these things to a stranger, but I am so happy tonight and you are such a kind and friendly person and it is clear you love Senegalese people.

I do, I do, said I. Thank you for your gifts. Je ne sais meme pas quoi dire. I don’t know how to thank you.

I’ve got to go now, said Ali – all I need from you now is your contribution to my naming ceremony. A little gift for my baby son. Some English money, perhaps, so that my guests and I can drink to your good health.

And that’s when I realized that I’d been had.

I think your gifts to me really have been too generous, I said. I cannot accept them. May God bless your baby and your whole family, but please, let me give you back your silver bracelets…

Back and forth we danced. I was trying to take the bracelets off my wrists and he was trying to put them back on. And all the while I was thinking, when I next go for a walk in the dark in an unfamiliar West African capital, I must bring at least a modicum of street-wisdom.

So anyway, that was that. Once I’d disentangled myself from Ali and his generosity, I went down to the Pointe and ate a plate of cockles and listened to the waves.

Today I’m teaching at the International School of Dakar. Four sessions on two subjects: ‘How to write a picture book’ and ‘How to research an adventure novel’. I’d better go and get ready.

My favourite animated film by a loooong way is Rio, and my favourite character is the wonderfully psychopathic sulphur-crested cockatoo Nigel. In a former life Nigel was a television star with his own show, but then he was replaced by a parakeet. Scarred by the experience and fuelled by his hatred of parakeets in particular and exotic birds in general, Nigel is the most menacing screen villain since Cruella de Vil.

The most memorable scene in the film for me is Nigel’s song ‘Pretty Bird’ where he raps his hard-luck story to a backing track of terrified exotic birds. If you’ve never seen RIO, check this out. The rhymes are top notch!

This post contains a free download to an entertaining radio drama in Fulfulde.

‘Going viral’ is an unpredictable social media phenomenon. Everyone is trying to produce content that will go viral, no one knows quite how to do it. Humour seems to be an important element, preferably something off-the-wall and quotable. Quantity of production is also a factor – produce a coalsack of content and there is more chance of finding a diamond in there.

I have been thrilled over the past few days to discover that Jonde Baade (Home Life), one of the radio dramas we recorded in the Djibo radio studio last year, has gone viral. Not on the internet, but on people’s phones here in the north of Burkina. Everyone has it now, it’s being listened to wherever you go, people are quoting it on the street, calling each other by the main character’s name (Bogga), trying to better each other with impressions. You can drive far out into the bush and approach the most unprepossessing grass hut – Bogga’s voice will greet you from within. It’s uncanny.

‘Home Life’ is a single-scene play about mistrust between husband and wife. A Fulani man sells his bull at the market, but tries to lie to his wife about how much money he received for it – with disastrous consequences. It is followed by a short biblical message about love and respect, especially in the context of marriage. I will try to produce a subtitled version for Youtube sometime in the next month.

The photo above is of the drama group who conceived and recorded ‘Home Life’. Closest to the camera is Bogga himself, played by Bukari Diallo. We have started to dream up other situations that Bogga could find himself in. Who knows – we could have a long-running soap-opera on our hands!

Stephen Davies, 2008

More than 1500 Malian refugees have entered Burkina Faso, fleeing the Tuareg rebellion, army attacks and civilian reprisals in Mali. Many more have fled to Mauritania, Niger and Algeria.

Here in ______ yesterday we heard of truck after truckload of Tuareg women and children arriving in town and being registered at the gendarmerie, before being taken on to Mohammed’s settlement in ______. There are already more than 600 people there. Déjà vu? Yes, this has happened before. This is the third time that Tuareg families have sought refuge in the north of Burkina Faso. It happened most recently in 2008.

This time it is worse, and much more politically sensitive as well. The Movement for the Liberation of Azawad is no longer a disorganized rabble of Tuareg men with Kalashnikovs, it is now a well-funded militia with a huge arsenal of Gaddafi’s heavy weapons (smuggled into Mali by Tuareg fighters returning from Libya). They pose a serious threat to Mali.

The French army is here as well. My friend Hama told me yesterday that a truckload of French soldiers zoomed past him yesterday on the road between _____ and ______. He was pleased because one of them had given him a thumbs-up sign in passing. He believes that the French soldiers are here because they are helping the Burkinabe army to vet the refugees and make sure there are no arms coming into Burkina Faso. No arms, please, and definitely no AQIM (Al Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb) fighters.

Is there a link between the Tuareg rebels and Al Qaeda? The Mali government is keen to say yes, the Tuareg rebels are keen to say no. The truth is probably somewhere in between, i.e. that the Tuareg interaction with AQIM is economic rather than ideological – the best analysis I have read yet is from the Stratfor Global Intelligence website: From African Nomads to Smugglers and Mercenaries.

Can Al Qaeda take advantage of this situation to establish a presence in Burkina Faso? Hama is no security expert, but he thinks not. If AQIM try anything here in Burkina, he mutters darkly, they will soon regret it.

What are we going to do in response to the unfolding refugee crisis in our back yard? Well, it’s tricky. Here are some factors we must take into consideration:

• Everyone keeps telling us how politically sensitive this situation is. The husbands and fathers of some of these refugees are Tuareg rebels using Gaddafi’s munitions to destabilize Mali.
• The harvest in Burkina Faso was bad for everyone this year – our friends and neighbours are already struggling to make ends meet. Many people’s millet has already run out and they are being forced to borrow money or sell animals to survive.
• We can not ignore the 600 women and children in _____. And nor can larger aid agencies. I know it’s political and all, but in 2008 we and SIM were the only ones helping the refugees. Action Sociale and the UNHDR came to ______ brandishing their clipboards and pens and they went away again. As Mohammed commented drily at the time, refugees can’t eat clipboards.

We will continue to assess the situation, and try to find out if any of the larger aid agencies are going to get involved this time. In the meantime, if you would like to donate towards short term aid (food/blankets) for the refugees, please contact me.

I witnessed the absence of success on almost every level

– LT. COL. DANIEL L. DAVIS at http://armedforcesjournal.com/2012/02/8904030

Good reviews are like delicious droplets of milk that jump out of the bowl while you milk your cow, splashing your face and arms. Bad reviews are like tiny sparks that jump out of the campfire at night, burning your skin and making you gasp ‘ouch’. An author’s life is a mixture of droplets and sparks.

Here are four of the sparkiest customer reviews my books have received in the past few years. The third is from Barnes and Noble, the rest from Amazon.

I only recommend THE YELLOWCAKE CONSPIRACY for people who are able to follow the puzzling jigsaw layout

The characters in OUTLAW are flatter than yeastless pancakes

OUTLAW is disturbingly and graphically violent. It also trumpets none too subtly a number of value-laden political messages

The action in HACKING TIMBUKTU was choppy, mostly because the author’s descriptive abilities seem to be sophomoric at best. I would give less than a star if I could

Most authors know by now that you should never comment on bad reviews or reply to reviewers – it never ends well. Unless you’re Robert Burns, in which case it’s hilarious (thanks Krystle, for that fantastic link).

Reviews are essential to authors today. Really, they are. Good reviews, bad reviews, mixed reviews, they all help potential buyers to make an informed choice. If you liked one of my books, I would urge you please to write an honest Amazon review of it. If you despised one of my books with every fibre of your being, I would urge you to keep quiet review it anyway.

Ten things I know about Senegal:

1. Mariama Ba (one of my favourite African novelists) was born there
2. It has a very beautiful coastline
3. National language is French
4. Lingua franca is Wolof
5. Elections are to be held on 26 February 2012
6. President Abdoulaye Wade pledged in 2007 not to run in the 2012 elections
7. He later changed his mind
8. A lot of people are very unhappy about that. Some are rioting.
9. I will be going there 13-16 February to do school visits at the International School of Dakar
10. I’m looking forward to it.