Denis McLoughlin and Dinosaurs

In a brief pause during the writing of my new novel, which along with various TV scripts and some film rewriting, has kept me madly busy in the last few months (apologies for lack of blogs) I got an email alert from eBay. ¶ I was delighted to see the book illustrated here. I placed a bid and was even more delighted when I won it. Michelle, my lovable postie just delivered it, and it now resides proudly on my coffee table (a table that's never known any actual coffee but is overburdened with books and CDs). ¶ It features a cover by one of my all time favourite illustrators, the great British Noir artist Denis McLoughlin. I first became acquainted with his amazing colour illustrations through his covers for the crime thrillers published by Boardman Books. ¶ He is also famed for his Buffalo Bill Wild West Annuals, of which I have a few. But I wasn't aware of these Okay Adventure Annuals. From what I've seen, each year featured a different genre (eg explorers in Africa), but I was lucky enough to glom this particular specimen, with its science fiction theme. Not only does it feature great art, but it also embodies one of my mottoes for life: never go hunting for dinosaurs unless you've got some grenades in the jeep.