KEREN WILLIAMS JOINS CANDY JAR

Candy Jar is delighted to announce a new addition to their team. Keren Williams joins the company in a newly created role: Children’s Digital Assistant.

In this capacity, Keren will be combining editorial, marketing and administrative responsibilities in relation to Candy Jar’s ever-expanding roster of children’s literature, as well as assisting in the expansion of the company’s self-publishing imprint, Jelly Bean. She brings to the role a lifelong passion for children’s literature, with her two favourite children’s novels being J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Candy Jar’s head of publishing, Shaun Russell, explains about Keren’s new position:

‘Keren joined us for a work experience placement while completing her master’s degree. We were struck by her energy and enthusiasm, as well as her insightful comments, particularly in regards to one our new children’s titles, The Lucy Wilson Mysteries: Curse of the Mirror Clowns. For those who don’t know, this is a children’s spin off of our Lethbridge-Stewart range, and not only did Keren improve the book editorially, but tasked with marketing it, she managed to introduce the book to a swathe of new reviewers and readers. That was when we realized she had the insight, practicality and creativity we needed to push our children’s range to new levels.’

With a range of recently and soon-to-be released children’s titles, including Lost in Christmas (by Hollywood institution Michael Sloan) and The Bonkers Book of Jobs (an irreverent look at the weird and wacky world of work), Keren is sure to have her hands full right away. But it is a challenge she is relishing:

‘The best thing about indie publishing is you get to pitch in on all sides of things – everyday is a new challenge, which keeps things interesting. Candy Jar, I mean we have got a lot of fun stuff in the pipeline, and I can’t wait to get stuck in.’

Candy Jar Books is an award-winning independent publisher based in Cardiff, south Wales. It’s partner imprint, Jelly Bean Self-Publishing, is a quickly expanding player in the booming UK self-publishing market.

BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT’S CRUMBLE LADY IS A SUBURBAN SUPERHERO!

Britain’s Got Talent legend Lorraine Bowen has written a children’s book, The Crumble Lady, based on the song that first shot her to fame on the popular ITV talent show.

Lorraine says: “I am really excited to be launching my new fiction book for children. It’s been really fun creating these crumbletastic stories with crazy characters and surreal situations! I hope that all the young readers out there like what I have done.”

Lorraine’s first venture into children’s fiction is a selection box of delicious and zany adventures about her fictional alter-ego, the Crumble Lady. Added to this, the book also features five scrumalicious crumble recipes –perfect for baking!

Lorraine joins the ranks of recent celeb authors such as Tom Fletcher and, of course, Lorraine’s biggest supporter, David Walliams.

Of The Crumble Lady, Walliams says: “My golden girl Lorraine Bowen’s talents are endless. Making crumble, singing about crumble, and now writing a book about crumble. It’s sure to become a literary classic that will go down in history as one of the greatest books concerning crumble ever written. Lorraine Bowen is a golden talent. I predict this book will win the Booker Prize!”

The Crumble Lady is yet another string to Lorraine’s bow in her mission to bring a little sunshine into the world. Over the years Lorraine has been touring with her own variety roadshow, pouring positivity wherever she can. Best known across the globe for her Golden Buzzer performance on

the television reality show Britain’s Got Talent (which has now reached over 9 million views on YouTube), Lorraine has been performing all over the UK for over a decade with live shows such as Lorraine Bowen’s Vital Organs, Lorraine Bowen’s Polyester Fiesta and most recently Be Original,

described as “an interactive musical ideasfest for 8-11 year olds” and funded by Arts Council England.

Shaun Russell, head of publishing at independent publisher Candy Jar Books, says: “We’re delighted to have Lorraine on our roster, and with such a cheerful and energetic book! Lorraine is a storm of positivity in every project she undertakes, and this has been no different.”

Reminiscent of Jeremy Strong and the Horrid Henry series (with artwork by Basil M Waite) The Crumble Lady features a troupe of colourful characters living on her “not normally very normal” street in Brighton, from the Crumble Lady herself to her neighbours: policeman Constable Seaweed; Vegetable Sue, the friendly local greengrocer; Gellina Gelato, the Crumble Lady’s good friend and fellow dessert-lover; Mr Staccato, who runs the village choir; Pearl Barley, and Mrs Marge.

Shaun continues: “Lorraine’s fictional alter-ego is certainly the star of the show, and is just like the real person – fun, compassionate, and into everything! The Crumble Lady is perfectly portioned for dipping in and out whenever you need a giggle, and Lorraine seems poised to conquer the world.”

The book is released alongside Lorraine Bowen’s audio CD of the same name, featuring fifteen original tracks including The Crumble Lady Theme, Catfood Crumble, The Measuring Song and Life is Like a Crumble – so you can sing along as you read. The album is available to purchase as CD

from her website, mp3 download from Amazon plus streaming from Spotify.

The Crumble Lady is published 25th January 2018 via Amazon and Candy Jar Books http://www.candy-jar.co.uk/books/the-crumble-lady.html

Contact Info

Lorraine is a lively and entertaining interviewee and is available for appearance and performance on live and pre-recorded TV and Radio shows. Interviews can be arranged in person, by phone, Skype or

submitted in writing by contacting:

Shaun Russell at Candy Jar Books shaun@candyjarbooks.co.uk

Telephone: 02921 157202. High resolution photo and audio files available on request.

LAUNCHING LETHBRIDGE-STEWART

Lethbridge-Stewart is expanding, and not just with more books. We’re launching you deeper into the universe of Doctor Who with a website dedicated to the UNIT.

The website commemorates the life of our beloved Brigadier, his comrades, along with the release of the fifth Lethbridge-Stewart season.

Expect to see interviews, forums, never-before-seen material, the chance to sign up to a newsletter, and downloadable free stories. There will be constant updates providing information on upcoming releases and information about the Lucy Wilson Mysteries, a spin-off series featuring the Brigadier’s granddaughter.

We want you to make your journey through The Lethbridge-Stewart collection. This website is a portal for the next experience in your reading.

The website can be accessed here.

A SPIN-OFF SERIES: The Lucy Wilson Mysteries

Eleven-year-old Lucy doesn’t want to move from the big city. But when she arrives in her new home in south Wales, she’s surprised to see it’s not as dull as she thought. The sleepy village is being taken over by an unknown extraterrestrial force, and it’s down to Lucy to put a stop to it.

Our Lethbridge-Stewart range has a new edition: The Lucy Wilson Mysteries.  She might be the new girl, but don’t be fooled. She has a powerful ancestry from who she has adopted the skills similar to the Doctor. Her grandfather, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart has taught her all she needs to know.

We didn’t want you to feel the Brigadier was lost after Nicholas Courtenay’s death. So what better way to continue his legacy than through his family?

Lucy Wilson Mysteries: Avatars of Intelligence can be purchased from Candy Jar Books.

MEET MICHELLE MONAN

Michelle lives with her husband and two sons in the small village in Surrey where she was born. For twelve years she owned and ran two nursery schools, and her favourite part of the day was always story time. She noticed that the children always enjoyed the rhyming stories the most, and so when it came to writing her first book, Can You Hear It Too?, Michelle knew that it should be in verse.

Can You Hear It Too? is based on Michelle’s childhood memories of playing in the great outdoors with her friends.

She says: ‘We were lucky enough to grow up in an area with just a few houses and fields and woodland all around us. We used to have great fun building dens in the woods. When we heard noises from outside, we would huddle in the den wondering what it might be, but it always turned out to be friends, people we were familiar with or woodland creatures.’

These days Michelle enjoys walking, cycling, going to music concerts, holidaying with her husband and children. In between all this, Michelle works as a teaching assistant. 

BRIAN MOSES IS BACK

Britain’s most loved children’s poet, Brian Moses, has returned with a novella bursting with adventure and mystery. After the success of his heart-warming memoir, Keeping Clear of Paradise Street, a reflection on his childhood in post-war Ramsgate, Moses couldn’t stop there with retelling the stories of his childhood.

Python tells the tale of a group of schoolboys hunting for the ghost that’s rumoured to haunt their school’s playground. Amidst the mystery of the ghost, there’s also the concern of the of a twelve-foot boa constrictor nesting in the attic of the protagonist. Whilst it very unlikely Brian’s father kept a python in his attic, he encapsulates the perfect setting of storytelling: “anything’s possible”.

Brian says: “Kids love that sense of a little danger. And if they must be shielded from such things, then literature’s precisely the place for them to give them that – that little thrill that it’s perhaps too dangerous to expose them to in real life,” and Python creates this exact effect. What better fun it is to imagine a snake in your attic rather than a real one there.

In his professional life, Brian advocates for children’s literacy by touring the country visiting schools, theatres and festivals to share his music and poetry with children. In return for his commitment, he has received appreciation from Cambridge University and the National Literacy Trust.

Brian Moses' Python can be purchased at Candy Jar Books: 

https://www.freewebstore.org/candy-jar-store/Python/p676602_17979698.aspx

THE LETHBRIDGE-STEWART QUIZ BOOK - out now!

Now, everyone loves a quiz, especially a Doctor Who one.

Buckle up for 750 questions on the UNIT era of Doctor Who. We bring you The Lethbridge-Stewart Quiz Book - an exciting spin off from the Doctor Who Quiz Book – containing trivia spanning from all fifty years of the Brigadier’s on-screen life. It is packed with questions from the television series, the Target novels, the Big Finish and BBC audio stories, comic strips and The Lethbridge-Stewart novels.

Prepare yourselves for hours of entertainment and competition.

You’re not a true Doctor Who fan unless you can answer them all.

The Lethbridge-Stewart Quiz Book can be purchased from Candy Jar Books.

Cult Fiction- Gangsters

Candy Jar Books is reissuing the two Gangsters novelisations written by Philip Martin, the writer of Vengeance on Varos and The Trial of a Time Lord parts 5-8.

Originally broadcast as the 1975 Play for Today, Gangsters featured Maurice Colbourne (Resurrection of the Daleks and Attack of the Cybermen) and provoked a storm of controversy. Its violence was graphic, its portrayal of contemporary racism authentic, its depiction of the mean streets of Birmingham unsparing.

But Gangsters combined this scandal-inducing realism with a daring, postmodern style of storytelling, eschewing the po-faced worthiness of much of Play for Today’s output for a genre-bending self-referentiality that aimed to entertain as much as to hector.

Critics dismissed it, but audiences loved it – so much so that the BBC quickly commissioned two series to continue its story. Airing in 1977 and in 1978 these two six-part serials prompted a critical reappraisal, and ever since, Gangsters has been considered a cult classic, garnering plaudits as one of the most singular shows ever broadcast by the BBC.

This reputation for originality is well deserved. Gangsters featured one of the first truly multiracial casts to be seen on British screens; it depicted both the exploitation of illegal immigrants and the conniving of magical kung fu assassins; the misery of heroin addiction and cut aways to Martin himself dictating the script. It is a truly unique piece of writing.

Now Philip Martin’s uncompromising, anarchic take on the crime genre returns with the re-publication of the two novels that accompanied the TV series. Together in the same volume for the first time, A Life for a Life and Vendetta are two standalone stories that demonstrate the same cocktail of verve and verisimilitude that characterises the show.

Not only furthering the story of the show’s protagonist, John Kline, but setting up what will be the first brand new addition in the Gangsters story for almost thirty years – Death Touch, to be published by Candy Jar Books in 2017 – Philip Martins’ Gangsters is an indispensible addition to this chapter in cult television history.

As the editorial coordinator for Candy Jar Books, Will Rees, says:

‘With our recent publication of the Dr Strangelove novelisation, and our Lethbridge Stewart range, Candy Jar has an established reputation for publishing quality material from the world of cult film and television. Fans of cult media are real devotees, and it is their fandom that keeps these original and challenging works alive. The Gangsters novels have been collector’s items for far too long, and we will get as much of a thrill from making them available to all the fans as they themselves will get from reading them.’

So with these upcoming releases, enthusiasts will finally be able to complete their Gangsters collections, and this iconoclastic blend of the high and the low, the serious and the absurd, the realist, the postmodern and the sheer surreal can finally be enjoyed as its creator always intended it to be.

Philip Martin’s Gangsters is available from the Candy Jar Books website.

Happy Birthday, Shaun!

Yesterday was a great day for us here at Candy Jar. Our Head of Publishing and Company Director, Shaun Russell, celebrated his birthday with us at the office with cake and chocolate. Shaun has had a distinguished career working with ITV, Channel 5, GMTV, and The Children’s Channel. He is now responsible for overseeing book production and marketing our titles using his contacts in the industry. We were very pleased to be able to help Shaun celebrate his special day and we look forward to many more years celebrating with him!

Candy Jar invites you to join us in wishing Shaun Many Happy Returns for yesterday.

Roald Dahl Day!

Today, on Tuesday 13^th September, we at Candy Jar Books join the rest of the world in celebrating Roald Dahl. 

The whole month of September is dedicated in the literary world to celebrating and remembering that great man and author. You may remember that on World Book Day, back in March, we posted about our favourite Roald Dahl books, but as today is the centenary of Mr Dahl’s birth, we thought it appropriate today to talk of the man himself. 

Born, not far from our office, in Llandaff, Cardiff, Roald Dahl was the only son and middle child of Harald and Sofie Magdalene Dahl. He documented his early childhood experiences and school career in his autobiographical novel Boy: Tales of Childhood. Dahl later became an aircraftman with the RAF, fighting in the Second World War, his experiences of which he published in his 1986 memoir, Going Solo. 

In his lifetime Dahl had two wives, five children, and a whopping 57 publications, including a compilation of short ghost stories that were edited by him in 1983 before he died in 1990. Roald Dahl is a household name. I’m certain that there isn’t a person in this country who has not heard of, read, watched, or studied at least one of his works. His works induce nostalgia in those of us who were brought up on his stories and excitement and joy in those who read them for the first time. Although there is a lot of controversy surrounding Dahl, who he was, and how he treated those that loved him, there can be no doubt about one thing – his writing, for whatever reason, has stuck in the hearts and minds of those that have read it.

How have you enjoyed celebrating the 100^th anniversary of the birth of this extraordinary person?