Spread The Word!

Last Thursday was World Book Day, and to celebrate we headed on mass down to Merthyr Tydfil for the inaugural Spread The Word Festival, organised by Stephens and George Charitable Trust. School children of all ages were invited in their thousands to enter a world of pure imagination from loads of the local schools. Among the sea of craft stalls and fairground rides, Candy Jar was on hand selling books signed by our authors and meeting all the local school children. There were nearly three hundred events at various locations across Merthyr Tydfil, including a drama workshop with Waterloo Road’s Richard Mylan. Candy Jar authors Mark Brake and Jon Chase, Alison Thomas, Andy Frankham-Allen and Lorraine Bowen hosted sessions at the event, as well as a workshop run by illustrator Richard Young. Even Captain Jack Sparrow was able to turn up, also known as entertainer, performer and illustrator Terry Cooper.

In St David’s Parish Church Andy Frankham-Allen hosted a workshop talking about the everyday dilemma’s of time-travel, covering everything from Doctor Who and Anthony Ormond’s Tommy Parker: Destiny Will Find You! to Back To The Future.

Science duo Mark Brake and Jon Chase were there too and blew away the children of Merthyr with their The Science of Doctor Who road-show, talking all things sci-fi and inspiring the audience to make their own real life science experiments for their Space Time Machine Monster Competition, in partnership with the Welsh Books Council.

In the Tydfil Training Centre, author Alison Thomas lead a workshop with her magical friend Ddraig, chatting about her children’s fantasy-adventure book Amulet and inviting the children to take part in a fold-over poem. At Hope Church, Britain’s Got Talent contestant and crumble enthusiast Lorraine Bowen put on an all-singing all-dancing show for the children, who sang along and learnt that everybody’s good at cooking something, and Lorraine’s good at cooking crumble! 

With all this excitement going on elsewhere, the rest of us were all hands on deck at our outdoor stall, selling signed copies of the author’s books and getting involved with the action in the Charitable Trust’s spectacular reinvention of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. It got really intense...

Thanks so much to Stephens and George for inviting us to get involved with the Merthyr literary community. We met a load  of great people, and it was so lovely to see all the school children getting into the workshops and dressing up as their favourite book characters. With the Roald Dahl theme, we have never see so many Oompa Loompas in our lives! 

                                                                  

TOP SECRET FILES FOR FREE!

 

Cardiff-based publisher, Candy Jar Books, is celebrating the success of the first of its Lethbridge-Stewart novels, The Forgotten Son, by offering a FREE 65-page ebook, Lethbridge-Stewart: Top Secret Files.

 

It is available from http://www.candy-jar.co.uk/books/lethbridgestewart.html or if you wish to download on Kindle the book is 99p.

 

The ebook contains previously unpublished material, as well as an extended short story first published in Doctor Who Magazine #483 in February. It also includes a special, previously unreleased interview in which Doctor Who director Graeme Harper talks about the actor who played Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, Nicholas Courtney.

 

Hayley Cox, senior publishing co-ordinator with Candy Jar Books, said: “The response to The Forgotten Son has been fantastic – over twenty really positive reviews in just over a month! It was so nice, in fact, that we decided we wanted to give something back to the fans, and so we put together this ebook which acts as both a thank you to those who’ve already bought the first book, and an introductory pack for those who have yet to commit to the series.”

 

The ebook includes:

·         The Ambush! – A short story originally published in Doctor Who Magazine #438, now extended with new scenes. It is set during the Doctor Who serial The Web of Fear, and serves as an introduction to the Lethbridge-Stewart book series.

·         We Won’t Let Him Down – An extended version of the final chapter of Candy Jar Books’ Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants, focussing solely on the television adventures of the Brigadier.

·         What Lies Beyond – A brief look at some of the Doctor Who novels that have featured the Brigadier over the years that pertain to the future of the Lethbridge-Stewart series of novels.

·         Graeme Harper – An extended interview with Doctor Who director Graeme Harper (the only director to have worked on the classic series and the revived series) from the book Calling the Shots, in which he talks about Nicholas Courtney, the man who brought the Brigadier to life.

·         Original Prelude – Never-before-seen original prelude that was written to open The Forgotten Son, set during the final moments of the Brigadier’s life.

·         The New World – The opening chapter of The Forgotten Son, the first novel in the Lethbridge-Stewart series.

 

Sadly Lance Parkin is stepping away from the project for the moment. Shaun Russell, head of publishing at Candy Jar, said: “Lance is such a huge talent in the world of Doctor Who and we have left the door open for him to return. Hopefully, one day, Lethbridge-Stewart will make it to Det-Sen.”

 

Consequently Candy Jar has re-organised its 2015 release schedule. David A McIntee’s The Schizoid Earth is now scheduled for the June release. A replacement novel will follow a few months later – a prequel/sequel to Terrance Dicks’ acclaimed 1977 Doctor Who serial, Horror of Fang Rock which starred Tom Baker; Beast of Fang Rock is written by Andy Frankham-Allen and Terrance Dicks. 2015 will be rounded off with the previously announced Mutually Assured Domination by Nick Walters.

 

In addition Candy Jar has released details of the authors for the 2016 schedule: John Peel (Doctor Who books include the first original novel published by Virgin Books in 1991 and the critically acclaimed War of the Daleks, as well as novelisations of four Dalek serials from the 1960s), Jonathan Cooper (ex-Doctor Who correspondent with the Mirror.co.uk and author of two Space: 1889 novels), Lizbeth M Myles (author of several licensed Doctor Who short stories) and Adrian Rigelsford (writer of the aborted thirtieth anniversary TV special The Dark Dimension, and Doctor Who reference books The Hinchcliffe Years and The Harper Classics).

 

The Brigadier first appeared in Doctor Who in 1968, forty-seven years ago, in the serial The Web of Fear. Created by writers Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln, the character became a semi-regular fixture in Doctor Who for eight years in a row, from 1968 to 1975, before returning to the series in 1983. He returned once more in 1989, and then again in The Sarah Jane Adventures in 2008. The character’s death was announced in 2011, the same year as Nicholas Courtney passed on. The character was resurrected, briefly, at the end of the 2014 series featuring Peter Capaldi as the Doctor. Beyond the television series, the character has appeared in countless novels, comics and audio adventures and is the most storied character in the history of Doctor Who, beyond the Doctor himself.

 

The Lethbridge-Stewart ebook can be downloaded for free as a pdf from http://www.candy-jar.co.uk/books/lethbridgestewart.html or downloaded for 99p on Kindle from Amazon.

 

 

LETHBRIDGE-STEWART UPDATE

It's been a busy old week or so for Lethbridge-Stewart. Lots of exciting things on the horizon. Here are some of Andy Frankham-Allen's highlights:

"First of all, I was interviewed on two podcasts in the last week. By the fine folks at Kasterborous, where I was joined by Hannah Haisman and Shaun Russell, and we talked exclusively about the series and a bit of the background. Secondly I was interviewed by the insane people at Nerdversity, in which I talked about almost everything, including the new series of books, plus my work on Space: 1889 & Beyond and other assorted work over the years, as well as touching on various other subjects such as Supernatural, Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, Star Trek and loads of other stuff.

Kasterborous podKast…

Nerdversity 101 podcast…

Speaking of interviews. Shaun and I were also recently interviewed by both Doctor Who Magazine and SFX Magazine, and will feature in the next issues, both released at the beginning of February. Without saying what, I can tell you that there’s an exciting little surprise for fans also featured in the next issue of DWM, so be sure to pick up an issue!

The Forgotten Son, and thus the series, will be launched in person on February 28th at The Who Shop in London, under the banner of UNIT Day. We’ll be joined by various UNIT alumni, covering all eras of the organisation — hopefully including actors, writers and, maybe, even the script editor responsible for most of the UNIT stories of the 1970s. See below for more information; flyer designed by the wonderful Sam Hunt of The Who Shop.

Promo by Sam Hunt

I can also reveal the final front cover for The Forgotten Son below, as well as an exclusive scene featuring Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart in action…"

Final Cover

PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW

BOOKS FOR THE BEACH

With Barack Obama, half the world’s press, not to mention several warships in town, Candy Jar decided to escape the chaos of the NATO conference and hit the beach. Clear blue surf, white sands and not a soul to be seen as far as the eye could see…

Well, not exactly. Cardiff Bay Beach is the annual transformation of the heart of Cardiff Bay into a fairground/urban beach the summer. With the world’s eyes on the city, this year the beach’s opening was extended another week, and Candy Jar were invited to pop down the road and run a stall.

With books in hand and authors in tow, the team manfully shouldered the responsibility and spent the week at the simulated seaside – pirates, sharks and water zorbing included. Thanks to the good people of Cardiff Bay Beach for approaching us, to all of our authors who helped out, and to everyone we spoke to over the course of the week.  

CANDY JAR BOOK FESTIVAL COMES TO A CLOSE!

We’d like to say a big thanks to everybody who was involved in our Candy Jar Book Festival!

© Candy Jar 2014

We began the festival on Saturday (August 2^nd) with a How to Write a Winning Short Story workshop at Cardiff Central Library with Andy Frankham-Allen and Laura Foakes. This workshop was extremely interesting and was a great introduction to our South Wales Short Story Competition.

The following Saturday (August 9^th) Mark Brake, author of Space, Time, Machine, Monster and TV presenter, John Chase entertained young Doctor Who fans with The Science of Doctor Who. Jon’s Doctor Who rap had the kids dancing in the aisles.

© Candy Jar 2014

On Monday (August 11^th) Lynda Nash shared her personal experiences of creating children’s pre-school book Danny Down the Drainpipe. After reading the book aloud she encouraged the kids to create their very own book.

On Tuesday (August 12^th) Laura Foakes and Emma Taylor, author-illustrator duo of The Liars’ and Fibbers’ Academy, wowed and amazed the audience with their shocking untruths in How to be a Fibber Extraordinaire.

© Candy Jar 2014

On Wednesday (August 13^th) Manic Mondays author Michaela Weaver shared her wisdom about all things literary in her creative writing workshop. Thanks to all those who turned up!

© Candy Jar 2014

On Thursday Eileen Younghusband BEM (August 14^th), author of One Woman’s War and Men I Have Known, dazzled the crowds indulging the secrets of the WW2 Filter Room, and shared her memories of how women helped to win the war. We had a big surprise for Eileen, when Britain’s Got Talent candidate Nathan Wyburn unveiled and presented his portrait of Eileen created from a collage of images.

Also on Thursday in Monsters, Magic and Michelle Briscombe Michelle discussed the horrible monsters and mystical magic in her book Silent Mountain, and got us all thinking about our favourite magical books and monstrous characters.

© Candy Jar 2014

On Friday (August 15^th) Benjamin Burford Jones and Andy Frankham-Allen talked about how monsters and mirrors have played a role in their writing, and royal enthusiast Colin Edwards shared his exclusive, intimate photographs, memories and stories of his meeting with the Queen Mother, the Queen, and Princess Diana.

We closed our week (Saturday August 16^th) with Anthony Ormond, who talked about how the concept of time travel has inspired books, television and films over the years, and how this impacted his book Tommy Parker: Destiny Will Find You!

© Candy Jar 2014

We’ve had a fantastic week. Thank you to everybody who came down to say hello, and we hope that you enjoyed our events. We hope that the festival will have been the first of many over the years!

SECRET PROJECT ANNOUNCED BY ANDY FRANKHAM-ALLEN!

Our very own Andy Frankham-Allen, author of Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants speaks about a very exciting upcoming project:

It’s very difficult to talk about a project that isn't allowed to be revealed in the public forum, but over the next few months, until it’s officially announced in December, I shall tell you what I can.

The process of securing the rights for this project took only a matter of weeks, really, such was the level of trust between the licence owner and I (and my publisher). You see, this property we now have the exclusive rights to is something very important to a lot of people, my publisher and me included, and we know how important it is to get this right.

And yet, in spite of the sheer weight of responsibility on us to get this right, we just knew we can do it. In some ways it feels like we were born to make this happen. Will it be hard work? You betcha. Will we be taking it seriously? You betcha. Will we be having fun? Abso-fracking-lutely!

© BBC 1966

My first task was to assemble a team of authors, who would normally have much more freedom, but this being the opening gambit, I had to set up a very specific shopping list for each of the first four books. Fortunately, this list proved to be another fun enticement for the authors who have joined us at this early stage of the project. With this part now completed, it’s become a case of writing the first batch of books. I’m writing the first, which I can reveal the title of: The Forgotten Son.

By the time of the official announcement the plan is to have the first three books, at least, in the bag. We’ve started talking about the style of covers, and I have to say it’s going to be very exciting. We’ve talked about the tone of the series, and likened it to Adam Adamant Lives! meets The Avengerswith a dash of Danger Man thrown in for good measure. We even have two (maybe three) different phases in mind for the series, three distinct periods in which to set it and utilising the same characters. What does all this mean? Well, obviously I cannot possibly explain any more than I have, but when all is revealed it will make perfect sense.

For now it’s time to start proper work on The Forgotten Son. Already Phil Raymond is feeling a chill in the air while he walks near Golitha Falls in Cornwall, and he’s not sure it’s the weather he feels…

WHO AT COWBRIDGE!

Fans of Doctor Who can meet two leading authorities on the BBC TV show at an event hosted by the Cowbridge Book Festival on 25th September. Alastair Reynolds, author of the BBC’s Doctor Who: Harvest of Time and Andy Frankham-Allen, author of Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants and will both be there to discuss writing, the long running popular sci-fi series and sign copies of their books.

Alastair Reynolds is one of the world's most renowned science fiction writers. Having won the British Science Fiction Award for his book Chasm City in 2001, the Doctor Who legacy was in more than capable hands when he turned his pen to Doctor Who. Harvest of Time transports readers back to the Jon Pertwee era, with UNIT, Jo, the Brigadiers and the Master in full attendance. The story centres on the Sild as they escape confinement and threaten to rewrite history.

Andy Frankham-Allen has been a Doctor Who fan since his childhood and has relished the opportunity to write Companions in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the series. The book follows the narrative of the series as seen through the eyes of the Doctor's ever-faithful companions and features a foreword by Gary Russell.

Both authors will be discussing the show with the Comic Guru's Kristian Barry. There will also be a charity raffle, where attendees will be able to win merchandise covering each Doctor (supplied by Candy Jar Books & The Comic Guru). These include signed Katy Manning and Deborah Watling photos, a copy of the Paul McGann TV Movie, Big Finish audios and comics, as well as signed copies of Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants. Tickets are available from www.cowbridgebookfestival.co.uk

The Cowbridge Book Festival hosts a number of literary events across the year raising money for Noah's Arc and Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research.

WONDERING WHAT'S MISSING FROM YOUR BOOKSHELF?

Well, it’s been a crazy couple of weeks here in the Candy Jar office as we cry ‘Havoc!’ and let slip the Dogs of More; more books that is.

 

Candy Jar Books

COMPANIONS SIGNING ANNOUNCED!

Candy Jar is deliciously proud to announce that in order to celebrate the release of the much anticipated Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants by Andy Frankham-Allen, London’s The Who Shop have organised a book-signing event this coming Saturday.

Why not get yourself along to 39-41 Barking Road, Upton Park, E6 1PY on Saturday and get a signed copy; no self-respecting Who collection would be complete without this definitive look at those who have travelled with the Doctor, remember: he only takes the best.

While you’re getting your copy signed, see if you can challenge Andy with a question, be warned though; he really knows his stuff!

You can buy on Amazon

ANDY FRANKHAM-ALLEN TALKS COMPANIONS

Candy Jar has a new book coming out soon, Companions: Fifty Years of Doctor Who Assistants, and author Andy Frankham-Allen has filmed a series of videos about some of the more well-known companions.

You can watch the first one (where Andy talks about Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright) here:



 www.candyjarbooks.co.uk