'The Jolley-Rogers!' (are almost here)Yesterday I receive...

'The Jolley-Rogers!' (are almost here)

Yesterday I received ten spanking new copies of my new book, 'The Pirates Next Door'! Templar turned this around so fast, I was gobsmacked to get the real thing in my hands this soon! I only finished it in May!! Here's my daughter, Daisy, reading the book in the garden, right after the UPS man delivered the box...

The story follows a pirate family (the Jolley-Rogers) who move to a sleepy seaside town. They don't fit in too well, and soon the neighbours start gossiping.

The hardback is due to be published on 1st October in the UK (and February 28th in the US), and features a fold-out dust jacket. The jacket has a family tree on one side...

And a 30" x 20" poster of the Jolley-Rogers on the reverse...

I was just as excited to get this book in my hands, as I was when I got hold of my first book, 'The Pirate Cruncher'. It's the best feeling, and the culmination of so much hard work by me, and the wonderful folk at Templar (especially my editor Libby Hamilton and Mike Jolley, the art director whose name inspired me in the first place!).

I'll update on publication in October, with more images and news... Meanwhile, I'll be appearing at the Edinburgh Book Festival next Wednesday, dressed as a pirate, reading 'The Pirate Cruncher', and doing some scrawly drawings of pirates, and Seven Stories in Newcastle on Thursday afternoon.