Press Release: Puffin sign up for two more WEREWORLD novels

THIRD TWO-BOOK DEAL FOR PUFFIN FANTASY NOVELIST

John Jarrold Literary Agency is excited to announce Puffin’s acquisition of two further fantasy novels in the 11+ Wereworld series by British author and artist Curtis Jobling. Shannon Park, Editorial Director at Puffin secured world rights for the books from the John Jarrold Literary Agency, for an undisclosed five-figure sum. The novels are both due for publication in 2013.

The first volume in the series was published in January 2011 and shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize. Its immediate success has led to Puffin moving the second volume from early 2012 to the summer of 2011, with two further volumes following in 2012. Curtis has just completed a UK publicity tour for book three, Wereworld: Shadow of the Hawk, in which he spoke to 2,500 students.

Curtis Jobling designed the Bafta winning BOB THE BUILDER and is also the creator of FRANKENSTEIN’S CAT, the BBC's hit children’s animation series based upon his book of the same name. In addition he has numerous shows in development with Disney, the BBC and others. His website is at: http://www.curtisjobling.com.

For further details, please contact John Jarrold or Jayde Lynch on:
John Jarrold - email: j.jarrold@btinternet.com phone: 01522 510544
Jayde Lynch - email: Jayde.Lynch@uk.penguingroup.com phone: 020 7010 3072
Rights: Zosia Knopp – email: Zosia.Knopp@uk.penguingroup.com phone 020 7010 3113

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As you might imagine, I'm pretty thrilled to know that Puffin have picked up what will be the final two books in young werewolf Drew Ferran's epic adventure. The Shadow of the Hawk tour was a tremendous success, as mentioned above, and a huge debt of thanks goes out to Jayde, Julia and Rachel, my chaperones from Puffin who looked after me on my travels.

February looks like it's going to be a very busy month. Lots of school visits and talks sandwiched either side of the kids' half term holidays, plus my annual pilgrimage to the Animex Animation Festival, where I'll be holding a talk on breaking into animation from the ground up.

It's also worth my mentioning that finally the splendid folk at Penguin have released the RAA RAA THE NOISY LION books into the wild. They look glorious, great work all round. Perhaps folk will stop asking me at Wereworld signings where they can get their Raa Raa books now! ;-)

Bada Bling!

WEREWORLD: Shadow of the Hawk UK Tour

It only seems like yesterday that I was touring with RAGE OF LIONS, but this month saw the release of SHADOW OF THE HAWK into the wild, the third in the Wereworld series of fantasy horror novels.

We've already seen a "Seven Realms Seven Beasts" Blog Tour for the book this month, but now we're taking the Hawklords out onto the road. The full itinerary of the tour is as follows:

Monday 23rd Jan - Bulwell St Mary's Primary, Nottingham and Sinfin Community School, Derby - plus special evening event with Derby School Library Service.

Tuesday 24th Jan - Birmingham Central Library and Caldon Castle School, Coventry.

Wednesday 25th Jan - Greystones Primary, Sheffield and The Armthorpe School, Doncaster.

Thursday 26th Jan - Scissett Middle School, Huddersfield and David Young Community Academy, Leeds - plus special evening public event at Waterstone's, Arndale Centre, Manchester.

Friday 27th Jan - Zion Arts Centre, Manchester and Manchester Grammar School.

I also seem to have a HUGE number of school talks and visits coming up. If you're interested in a short, hairy northern blighter calling by your school to enthuse about working in the Creative Industries, do please get in touch.

I've also managed to secure a splendid business and pleasure arrangement with the Warrington Wolves Foundation, whereby I shall be acting as patron of their Children's University. I'll be carrying out a series of workshops with students of all ages, outside of regular school time, and shall also be looking to take this scheme further afield. Students will have passports which they can have stamped whenever they attend an event that falls under the national Children's University programme - consequently, if any schools book me to come and talk to their children in future, I'll be able to stamp the passports of children taking part in the scheme.

I'll be acting in my CU capacity when I speak the Animex Animation Festival next month, particularly looking forward to hosting an event at the Cineworld in Middlesbrough, open to schoolchildren from across the town.

Bada Bling!

I've come up for air. The last couple of months have been pretty hectic, firstly with the official Puffin book tour for Rage of Lions, and then getting back to writing NEST OF SERPENTS, the fourth novel in the Wereworld series. I've just finished writing the 1st Draft this last week, and now have to edit the beast. This shall take some time with plenty of tinkering to be done, but the manuscript will probably be delivered early in the new year, certainly after the tinsel's been pulled down.

Below is the artwork for the cover, done by awesome tagteam of designer Patrick Knowles and artist Andrew Farley once again. I was delighted to see the cover art for SHADOW OF THE HAWK win the final of this years Book Cover Wars on the Enchanted Books site. Vincent Ripley runs the competition each year, and there were some tremendous books on show this time round, making for a very exciting final. I spend all year telling people not to judge a book by its cover, and then two weeks saying the exact opposite. It's very true to say one shouldn't dismiss a book because the jacket art doesn't inspire, but the work designers and illustrators do in this field really is invaluable to authors. Without an eye-catching cover, many books DO fall by the wayside, and in a crowded market-place a spiffy bit of jacket art can really make the difference in the survival chances of any particular book. Well done to all involved, and hope those who participated, both authors and voters, enjoyed themselves. Huge thanks to Mr Ripley for hosting the shindig too!
January 5th sees the release of the third volume in the UK, SHADOW OF THE HAWK, which I'm thrilled about. There's a fresh host of fascinating and horrific therianthropes who join the cast of heroes and villains in book three, with the canvas really rolled out to uncover the world beyond Lyssia's Seven Realms. In addition, we've also had the incredible cover through from Viking/Penguin US for their version of book two, RAGE OF LIONS, with the artwork once again supplied by the super-talented Nekro - you can find him on twitter @NekroXIII and he's well worth a follow. I love the look of this alongside the first US edition of Rise of the Wolf. Very different to UK volumes but refreshingly so. Can't pick between them!

It's also worth visiting the updated official Puffin WEREWORLD WEBSITE too, with a new book trailer on there, as well as downloadable extracts from Shadow of the Hawk and other new goodies and character spotlights. The clever folk at Qurios have been working on the trailer again, and a smashing job they've done too!

I've also been down to That Birmingham this last week, to visit the Institute of Art & Design, where the final year fashion students have been doing their Performance Design project on... WEREWORLD! Couldn't believe what awaited me there, an incredible collection of pieces designed and hand-made by the girls on the course. The photos below are (C) Joe Miles Photography, and I'm sure you'll admit the work is stunning. You'll see that prosthetics were used with each costume in some way, shape or form, be it a full head of latex/silicone or small details on hands and faces. A tricky thing for students to come to cold, and while some found it difficult they all thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Gretchen, from RAGE OF LIONS, after she's tried to escape the clutches of Prince Lucas.

Drew Ferran, hairy-faced hero of the Wereworld series.

Duke Manfred, the Staglord of Stormdale.

Gretchen, letting rip with a primal scream!

Count Kesslar, the Goatlord, dealer in blood, flesh and bone and all-round bad egg.

Gretchen (she was popular, wasn't she?)

Lord Frost, the albino Catlord.

Drew, wearing the woodland Greencloak gifted to him by Duke Bergan.

Wow! Queen Amelie, the White Wolf, Drew (and Lucas') mother.

Opal, sister of Onyx, the Beast of Bast, and thoroughly naughty lady.

Whitley (huzzah!), tough old tomboy and daughter of the Bearlord, Duke Bergan.

Really brave this one - Count Vega, the buccaneer, swashbuckling pirate prince of the Cluster Isles. Going for a full prosthetic head was ambitious, and with a different shape might have been more successful, but top marks have to go to this particular one. The costume was wonderful also.

Another fab Queen Amelie.

Drew Ferran, on the run, hence bare chest and bare feet.

Hector, the Boarlord - friend, magister, and easily led off the straight and narrow, alas...

Gretchen rearing her foxy face again!

Congratulations to all the students for their incredible work again - last year was the Spooks books by Joe Delaney, so I was sincerely chuffed to be chosen in such esteemed company.

That's me signing off until Christmas, have a great holiday season and a splendid New Year!

Bada Bling!

Wereworld Rage of Lions book tour

Almost halfway through the Wereworld Book Tour with Puffin, and all going rather spiffy, darn sarf.

Here's fat-head-ginger-burners at Park Hill School in Stanmore, London. Great event there yesterday with the kids, lots of great questions and support from the splendid Martin from The Childrens Book Shop, Pinner.

Monday morning was spent at John Warner School in Hoddeston, where myself and the boys practiced our indirect freekicks. Books @ Hoddeston were on the bench, providing invaluable coaching and a large supply of books for the students.

I know this looks a bit like I'm having a game of darts at the pub, but nothing could have been further from the truth. Paid a visit to Martin & Judy, terrific indie booksellers at the Children's Book Shop, where they promptly asked me to deface their wall. Always one to indulge in a spot of mindless graffiti, I was glad to oblige, adding my name (and doodles) to such luminaries of kids lit as Cathy Cassidy and Darren Shan.

Me entertaining the troops in north London. Not sure what happened with your young man in the middle there. Can only imagine he caught sight of Jayde, the publicist from Puffin, chowing down on a pain-au-chocolat whizzed from the hotel. She's like that.

And here's the wall of clocks from Hotel du Vin in Brighton - the tourist in me couldn't resist taking a snapshot of this, a lovely slap in the chops for all those hotels who insist on having the timezones of farflung countries writ large on their walls at reception.

Had a grand time in Worthing today, with more updates sure to follow. Staying in the Beaulieu Hotel in the New Forest tonight, which reminds me a touch of the Slaughtered Lamb, only with more chintz. Off to wander around in the pitch dark outside the hotel before bed, hope to catch me some werewolf action, or at the very least the bleatings of an irritated sheep.

Bada Bling!

WEREWORLD Rage of Lions Book Tour, November 7th - 11th

A week on Monday sees a new WEREWORLD Book Tour, centering around the release of RAGE OF LIONS this summer. There'll be another tour in January, 2012, to celebrate the release of SHADOW OF THE HAWK. If you're around for any of these dates, do give us a shout and I'm sure we can arrange some kind of signing on the fly ;-)

MONDAY 7th

AM: JOHN WARNER SCHOOL, London

PM: THE CHILDRENS BOOK SHOP, Pinner

TUESDAY 8th

AM: WORTHING HIGH SCHOOL, West Sussex

PM: DURRINGTON SCHOOL, West Sussex

WEDNESDAY 9th

AM: APPLEMORE TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE, Southampton

PM: TEST VALLEY SCHOOL, Stockbridge, Hants

THURSDAY 10th

AM: MATTHEW ARNOLD SCHOOL, Oxford

PM: BANBURY HIGH SCHOOL, Banbury

FRIDAY 11th

AM: BROMSGROVE SCHOOL, Worcestershire

PM: BRADFORD ANIMATION FESTIVAL, West Yorkshire

The BAF appearance on the friday afternoon isn't officially part of the book tour, although the awesome Jayde Lynch from Puffin has been able to work this into the schedule. I'll be doing a talk on the development of Frankenstein's Cat from book to screen, in addition to signing Wereworld novels at the event.

Bada Bling!

SCAREFEST and other groovy stuff

A hectic week in the life of the crayonboy culminated in an appearance at the Sefton Scarefest, the brainchild of awesome bookseller Tony Higginson of Formby Books. But not before I hooked up with the groovy chaps from Soap Creative to be interviewed by them for their True Character Series of mini-documentaries. We hooked up at Factory Transmedia and my old chums Mackinnon & Saunders, where the gangs at each studio were super-supportive and helped the Soap boys get plenty of footage for the interview. I'm pictured below with my good chums Brad Eldridge from Soap, and a wee helmeted fellow that you may recognise. You can see all kinds of other characters in the background, including the gang from Raa Raa the Noisy Lion.

Then it was on to Crosby on Merseyside for the author event of Halloween. It was a tremendous pleasure to attend, as I was in the company of the great of feared of young adult horror literature. In addition to the wee hairy fella, there was Joe Delaney (Spooks Apprentice), Phil Caveney (Sebastian Darke), and my muckers from the realms of the tinterweb who I've been chatting to for ages now - Tommy Donbavand (Scream Street) and Barry Hutchison (Invisible Fiends). Of course, no northwest horror event would be complete without Mr Mayhem himself, Jon Mayhew (Mortlock) and we all got to do our sinister stuff on stage.

I'm on the above photograph, although it's hard to tell. That's me going up in flames on the far right, such were the diabolic depths I plunged to in my talk. WHOOSH!
Ah... you can't beat a nice bit of audience participation. There was plenty to go round on the night, with Tommy ensuring the kids came up on stage dressed as monsters, Jon getting them to scream and holler, and myself making them shout out Scarecrow appendages. I know, that doesn't sound scary, but a well-placed parsnip can cause a good deal of discomfort, you know?

As many of you who may have met me will know, I'm the shy and retiring type. But occasionally one needs to grab the attention of an audience, especially when you're trying to get them to jump on board your tale of fantasy and horror. In this instance, we're talking WEREWORLD, which was the centrepiece of my talk.
Occasionally, simply roaring and snarling at an audience isn't enough to encourage them to part with their pennies and buy one's novels. I find a handy alternative the threat of physical violence, dealt out with said books, preferably to the cranium.

Ever the gracious host, Tony made sure we were well fed with the best paninis Formby could muster. Phil, Joe, Tom, Barry and I all held school talks in the afternoon - don't know where Mayhem was - I suspect he was having his nails done. He's so showbiz...

And here's the motley crew, with our ringmaster Tony Higginson watching over us. A tiptop tickety boo night and day which I hope was enjoyed by all and sundry who attended. I also got to meet the rather splendid Bookwitch, who I must thank for some of these photos - pop along to her most excellent blog to hear an impartial, rational review of the festivities. And cheers to Brad from Soap and the lovely Spider and Jenni for the use of their pictures too!
Of course, what better way to end this blogpost than with a snapshot of Jon and I - that's my Dr Evil, by the way. I'm not squeezing out a tommy squeaker, I promise! Both Jon and I have also found ourselves in competition this week - "dust jackets at dawn" - as we both made the shortlist of the Cheshire Book Award, which I launched with the Education Library Services on Wednesday evening in Winsford. It was an honour to be asked along to talk about creative writing with the ELS and enthuse about libraries in general, and I'm sure whoever the kids vote for shall be a worthy winner.

Bada Bling!

THE WOLF DEN

Very happy to be working alongside the Warrington Wolves Foundation as they extend their work with children and adults into their new Wolf Den within the club. I'll be patron of the Children's University, and over the course of the year shall be providing workshops into illustration, creative writing and character design. Expect to see players along for the ride too!

PRESS RELEASE:

The Wolves Charitable Foundation and Gladstone Brookes are proud to announce the opening of The Wolf Den. The Wolf Den is based on the community floor in the North Stand of the Stadium. It offers a unique learning environment for all.

The Wolf Den will offer a variety of educational opportunities for the people of Warrington. It will be the flagship for Children’s University, plus the home of a Radio and Media Training Suite.

As part of the opening, Curtis Jobling - local writer and illustrator - will be running a validated Children’s University session, with local school children, Wolfie and Wolves player Paul Wood.