New Songs by BURNTHOUSE Released on Bandcamp!

The band I'm in have recorded a single, which is now available from Bandcamp to download.

Please check it out via the link below:
http://burnthouse.bandcamp.com/track/the-sun-makers

The Fearsome Beastie CG animation Concept Art

Book Event at WISE BOOKS Saturday 10th August

Reading 'Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs'

head over to Facebook to watch a video of me reading Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs

Meeting Another British Acting Legend Alison Steadman At Recording for The Fearsome Beastie Film

Last Wednesday, I got to go up to UCA Farnham for the second recording session for the voice artists for The Fearsome Beastie, this time I got to meet the brilliant Alison Steadman, star of many familiar TV and Film roles in such things as Abigail's Party, Pride and Prejudice, Gavin and Stacey and many, many more.

It was a real pleasure to sit and have a cup of tea and a natter, and we are all so pleased that Alison agreed to be involved in film, and I can't wait to hear her axe wielding granny bellowing towards the Beastie!

Mini Trivia Point: Both Alison Steadman and Brian Blessed (the voice of the Fearsome Beastie) have stared in Z cars! 

Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs Book Trailer

Here's me reading an extract from 'Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs' in a

trailer for the book!

http://vimeo.com/m/71574222

Indefinite Hiatus

It is with mixed emotions that I am announcing my indefinite hiatus from writing to pursue some other creative projects.

I will however continue to work with schools and attend events to promote my books for the foreseeable future.

Publishing can be a very hard game to play and I have been lucky enough to enjoy some very large highs, but also a good number of lows, some of which have led to this decision.

I am eternally grateful to everyone who has supported me over the last few years, it has been a joy getting to know so many wonderful people.

So this isn't the end, I will be back.

Thanks and be good!

Giles

The Day I Got to Meet Brian Blessed

I was very excited last week as I got to meet the legendary Brian Blessed, who is doing the voice of the Fearsome Beastie in the animation short of my book.

It was such a pleasure and he is really is lovely chap, we were all enthralled by his various stories of showbiz antics from watching Peter Cushing in the theatrical production of 1984 to having tea with Kenneth Branagh! Plus he spoke at length about his many adventures and his extreme challenges which included going to some rather remote locations in South America, all were conveyed with some rather colourful language, which was both shocking and hilarious.

I do hope that I get to meet him again when we eventually do a launch screening for the film, a true British Legend.

'Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs' Book Events 2013

14th September Waterstones Brighton, 11am-1pm
22th September Family Day, Plumpton Racecourse 11am-3pm
24th September Under the Greenwood Tree, Clapham 6-9pm
26th September Nyewood Project, Bognor 2.00pm
30th October Under the Greenwood Tree, Clapham 11am
9th November Discover Story Centre, Stratford 2pm

More TBC...

Some Lovely New Reviews For 'Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs'

http://www.astrongcoffee.co.uk/2013/07/parragon-books-review.html

http://whitelilygreen.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/brilliant-books-from-parragon-goodnight.html

http://www.angelathisislife.com/2013/07/Parragon-Toddler-Reception-Books.html

http://www.jenniferslittleworld.com/2013/07/two-book-reviews-things-you-never-knew.html

Brian Blessed to be the voice of The Fearsome Beastie in new CG animation

Legendary Actor and Raconteur Brian Blessed has signed on to voice the character of The Fearsome Beastie in a new CG animation of the multi-award winning picture book being produced by Slurpy Studios/ UCA Farnham.

Producer Aaron Wood said "Brian was always our first choice for the Fearsome Beastie, so it's really exciting to have him on board."

Lots of other high profile names are rumoured to be attached to the project and more announcements will be made in the next few weeks on who will fill the other roles.

The Fearsome Beastie will be completed in Summer 2014.

Brian Blessed gives a thumbs up for The Fearsome Beastie

 

Great Reviews for 'Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs'

Some Really great reviews for 'Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs'

http://jacintaz3.co.uk/review-parragon-books/

http://bubbablueandme.com/2013/06/parragon-book-review/

http://www.tiredmummyoftwo.co.uk/2/post/2013/06/parragon-book-buddies-goodnight-little-one-and-things-you-never-knew-about-dinosaurs.html

http://www.reallymissingsleep.com/2013/06/parragon-book-buddy-our-review.html

http://instinctivemum.wordpress.com/2013/07/02/fred-takes-over/

Boook event at Wise Books

Book Event at Wise Books on Saturday August 10th at 10.30am

Speaking out against sped up versions of children's books in Daily Mail

Me speaking out against sped up versions of picture books - Winnie-the-Pooh stories abridged http://dailym.ai/13smUzP

The Book Sniffer: Desert Island Picture Books with award-winning aut...

The Book Sniffer: Desert Island Picture Books with award-winning aut...: Whilst perching in a nice shady spot in the grounds of Book Sniffer towers sipping a cucumber Pimms I was inspired by the sunshine and took ...

Things you never knew about Dinosaurs has arrived from The US!

The Fearsome Beastie wins the 2013 Heart of Hawick Children's Book Award!

The Fearsome Beastie has won the 2013 Heart of Hawick Children's Book Award!

This prestigious award is now in it's 8th year and Some 600 pupils at ten schools in and around Hawick take part in a season of reading, reviewing, author visits and workshops, building to a glittering award ceremony in the Heart of Hawick arts hub, when they get to decide their favourite book of the year.

Here's me with the beautiful handcrafted award

Official Production site for The Fearsome Beastie Animation Goes Live

Here it is, the official production website for CG animated adaptation of The Fearsome Beastie http://fearsomebeastie.com/

News of The Fearsome Beastie CG animation is spreading!

Animation World Network report on the announcement of Slurpy Studios CG Short of ‘The Fearsome Beastie’ http://www.awn.com/news/people/uca-produce-fear

some-beastie-short

Special Announcement!

Special Annoucement

Pleased to announce that Slurpy Studios will be producing an animated short of 'The Fearsome Beastie' more info to follow...

I'm a judge for this great writing competition - BUYAGIFT GIVES YOUNG AUTHORS CHANCE TO HAVE THEIR STORY PUBLISHED

BUYAGIFT GIVES YOUNG AUTHORS CHANCE TO HAVE THEIR STORY PUBLISHED

BUYAGIFT GIVES YOUNG AUTHORS CHANCE TO HAVE THEIR STORY PUBLISHED AND RAISE MONEY FOR MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION® UK

Specialist gifting website Buyagift.com has launched a new competition to find the next J.K Rowling… under the age of 10!  Budding authors are invited to submit their stories on a set theme, with the chance to have their work judged by award-winning writer Giles Paley-Phillips and leading picture book blogger Emma O’Donovan. The winning author will see their work made into a professionally published book and sold on the Buyagift website with all profits going to children’s wishgranting charity Make-A-Wish Foundation® UK.

With the Easter holidays now upon us, the experience day specialists wanted to encourage young people to stay active. “We’re all about  getting people out and about on experiences, so we wanted to give young creative minds an alternative to marathon TV sessions over the Easter holidays,” said Buyagift CEO Dan Mountain.

Children up to the age of 10 will be able to submit their short stories to be judged by an expert panel that includes famed children’s author Giles Paley-Phillips – the creator of popular stories like The Fearsome Beastie.

“I am hugely honoured to be judging this extremely exciting writing competition, which is set to inspire some budding new writers” said author Giles Paley-Phillips.

All entrants will be writing to a set title of The Unexpected Gift, with Buyagift paying all costs for the winning story to be illustrated and published.  The book will then be made available on the Buyagift website, with all profits going to Make-A-Wish.

The competition will run from April 3^rd – June 2^nd and the winner will be announced by the end of June. Entries should be emailed to submityourownstories@buyagift.com


http://www.buyagift.co.uk/youngauthors

Sneaky Peak at 'Princess Stay Awake'

The Sketches for next book 'Princess Stay Awake' are coming in here's a very sneaky peak at one of them!

WORD fest 2013

I will be appearing at Word Fest in Crawley library on March 23rd at 10.30am

Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs!

Very excited to see Things Never Knew About Dinosaurs on amazon.com for pre-order out in UK in August!

Vote for Tamara Small and the Monsters' Ball!

voting still open for my book, Tamara Small and the Monsters' Ball, which has been nominated for the People's Book Prize!: http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/book.php?id=797

The Fearsome Beastie Shortlisted for The Heart Of Hawick Children's Book Award

I'm very honored to have 'The Fearsome Beastie' shortlisted for The Heart Of Hawick Children's Book Award http://www.hawickchildrensbookaward.org/books/

The winners will be annouced in May at a ceremony in Hawick.

New book event dates for 2013:

New book event dates for 2013:
February 13th Seaford Primary School 9am
February 19th Tales on Moon Lane 10.30am
February 23rd Waterstones Tunbridge Wells 11am 
February 28th East Hoathly Primary School 9am
March 4th Greys Infant School 9am
March 5th Southdown Junior School 9am
March 6th St Mary's Primary School 9am 
March 7th Seal Primary School 9am 
March 16th WHSMiths Zoodles Brighton 11am 
March 23 WORDfest Crawley Library 11am

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop!

Thanks to Annaliese Matheron for linking me up with the The Next Big Thing Blog Hop! 

Here are my answers below.

What is the working title of your next book? 
It's called 'Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs'

Where did the idea come from for the book? 
This was the first manuscript I ever wrote, I came up with just before my first son was born, I've always loved dinosaurs and just wondered what it would be like if they were still around today!

What genre does your book fall under? 
It's a picture book


What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?
 Hmmm I'm sure we might be able to borrow some dinos off Steven Spielberg or maybe that dragon off the listerine advert, he could pass for a dinosaur, failing that Al Pacino.


What is the one sentence synopsis of your book? 
It's in the title really! 'Things You Never Knew About Dinosaurs'


Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? 
This Book is published by Gullane/Parragon


How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript? 
I wrote the first draft in my lunch break at work, the tweaks took a bit longer.


What other books would you compare this to within your genre?
Perhaps something like Aliens Love Underpants


Who or what inspired you to write this book? 
 I'm a big fan of Shel Silverstein, and his work was a big influence.


What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest? 
Its about Dinosaurs, what more could you want?


My chosen next big thing blogger is Becka Moor http://becka-moor.blogspot.co.uk/ her work is simply brilliant and it won't be long till every home has a copy of a Becka Moor book in it.

New book event dates for 2013:

February 19th Tales on Moon Lane 10.30am
February 23rd Waterstones Tunbridge Wells 11am
March 4th Greys Infant School 9am
March 5th Southdown Junior School 9am
March 6th St Mary's Primary School 9am
March 16th WHSMiths Zoodles Brighton 11am

more TBC

Tamara Small and the Monsters' Ball nominated for People's Book Prize

Please Vote for 'Tamara Small and the Monsters' Ball' in The People's Book Prize!

http://www.peoplesbookprize.com/book.php?id=797

Hollywood Dino!

With the Baftas being announced I thought it might be good to show you a sneak peak at my next booky!

Interview in The Sun

An interview with me in The Sun

Here's an interview with me in Prima Magazine about some of the reasons that lead me to becoming a children's author