Jon Blake's Blog, page 3
August 30, 2012
Last Free Cat page on facebook
With the publication of The Last Free Cat in the USA, and news that a Korean edition should be out in October, I've started a facebook page for the book which I will be most grateful if readers will help to build.
Other news: three new ebooks now available on Amazon, including two junior comic novels and a novel for older teens, Snails and Lovers (originally published as Geoffrey's First, and described by the Sunday Times as 'a funny and moving love story').
Finally, I just want to say how sorry I was to hear of the passing of Nina Bawden: a great writer whose heart was in the right place. Nina once wrote that she loved my junior novel The King of Rock and Roll, and I could have no higher compliment.
Other news: three new ebooks now available on Amazon, including two junior comic novels and a novel for older teens, Snails and Lovers (originally published as Geoffrey's First, and described by the Sunday Times as 'a funny and moving love story').
Finally, I just want to say how sorry I was to hear of the passing of Nina Bawden: a great writer whose heart was in the right place. Nina once wrote that she loved my junior novel The King of Rock and Roll, and I could have no higher compliment.
July 18, 2012
Last Free Cat in the USA
"The Last Free Cat" is due to be published on September 1st in the USA. This is really important to me, since the book was not greatly promoted in the UK and has only now begun to get the recognition which, with all due modesty, I have always believed it deserved. I read all the reviews on Goodreads and am profoundly grateful that readers have taken the trouble to write them. The book was written with a passion, not only for cats but for justice, and I cannot overstate how crucial it is for me to find that it has touched or inspired people.
I haven't written another book like "The Last Free Cat", but here are some I would like to humbly recommend to those who liked it:
"Oshie" - a short book for juniors whose hero has cerebral palsy.
"The True Beautiful Game" - a novella for teenagers about a snooker-mad boy meeting his long-lost father.
"Geoffrey's First" - a novel for older teens about the coming-of-age of an arrogant misfit.
"The King of Rock and Roll" - an empowering fantasy for juniors.
You may struggle to find some of these due to the short shelf life of books these days, but I am considering converting the best of my backlist to ebooks shortly.
I haven't written another book like "The Last Free Cat", but here are some I would like to humbly recommend to those who liked it:
"Oshie" - a short book for juniors whose hero has cerebral palsy.
"The True Beautiful Game" - a novella for teenagers about a snooker-mad boy meeting his long-lost father.
"Geoffrey's First" - a novel for older teens about the coming-of-age of an arrogant misfit.
"The King of Rock and Roll" - an empowering fantasy for juniors.
You may struggle to find some of these due to the short shelf life of books these days, but I am considering converting the best of my backlist to ebooks shortly.
February 15, 2012
The Return of Daley B
Apart from a couple of stories for OUP collections, I haven't written a word of children's fiction for over two years - it was time to fulfil other ambitions as a songwriter (see www.soundofadamsdown.com) and adult fiction author (see www.dylan69.com). Not to mention looking after a 5 year old and a 1 year old. Not many people start such a hobby in their fifties, but my life has never followed the standard course.
However, things are still moving on in bookworld. The Last Free Cat is coming out soon in Korea and the US, and in the UK a new edition of You're A Hero, Daley B comes out in April. I never intended to be a picture book writer, but 106,000 people went and bought that book, which, let it be known, was Axel Scheffler's first picture book, long before "The Gruffalo" brought him worldwide fame.
I'm proud of Daley B. It's only a little book, but it's an original, and an awful lot of people love it. Just last week I was taking a class on children's fiction at Newport Uni and came across a student whose reception class had demanded the story every Friday without fail. Apparently it saw off all opposition for a year.
That is some compliment, and I'd like to think it's not just down to the great pictures.
By the way, now I've started this blog, I'm happy to answer questions about just about anything to do with the book writing business, and am thick-skinned enough to accept criticism as well as compliments!
However, things are still moving on in bookworld. The Last Free Cat is coming out soon in Korea and the US, and in the UK a new edition of You're A Hero, Daley B comes out in April. I never intended to be a picture book writer, but 106,000 people went and bought that book, which, let it be known, was Axel Scheffler's first picture book, long before "The Gruffalo" brought him worldwide fame.
I'm proud of Daley B. It's only a little book, but it's an original, and an awful lot of people love it. Just last week I was taking a class on children's fiction at Newport Uni and came across a student whose reception class had demanded the story every Friday without fail. Apparently it saw off all opposition for a year.
That is some compliment, and I'd like to think it's not just down to the great pictures.
By the way, now I've started this blog, I'm happy to answer questions about just about anything to do with the book writing business, and am thick-skinned enough to accept criticism as well as compliments!
