'Hmm... is there one classic work of fiction that shouldn't be meddled with? I suppose it would have to be 'There's Something About Mary'. Frank Beddor merrily laughed at the affront some people might take to the idea of a guy from Minnesota messing with Carroll's 'Alice in Wonderland'. The writer and producer of the aforementioned film gave a personable and energetic performance to Egmont's guests at the Groucho Club in Soho, celebrating the launch of 'Seeing Redd', the second book in 'The Looking Glass Wars' series. Opening a treasure chest of glowing game cards, Beddor lured the audience forward to peer at the many different ways he draws in his readers. These include short film clips, painted portraits of characters, video games and a website: lookingglasswars.com. He displayed two books which are still unpublished in the UK: a graphic novel, 'Hatter', illustrated by Ben Templesmith, and an album of Alyss' letters and journal entries, illustrated by Catia Chien. Beddor's agent, Belinda Rasmussen, introduced the talk, and guests included Alex Strick from Booktrust and an eager 14-year-old fan named Spike, with his mum from the Red House Children's Book Award.

Written by Sarah McIntyre

Beddor signed books and gave this reviewer a temporary tatoo of his signature