Mess Monsters Birthday Cake!

After all that mess (pardon the pun) with the copyright infringer over my Mess Monsters book, it was really lovely to find out about this Mess Monsters cake.

Bespoke Celebration Cakes have done a fantastic job, especially as all they had to work from was one of my pictures. They've very kindly given me permission to post their photograph &, if you click on it, you can visit their site.

My Christmas cards have been posted to the printers and I should get the proofs fairly soon. Here's a one of them:

Clicking on the picture will take you to the Greetings Card page. Hope you enjoy.

Copyright Infringer!

I've been incredibly busy getting my Christmas cards ready. One of the things I like to do to relax is wander through the internet in the evening. I'll choose any random topic, like a colour or chocolate animals, & see where my searches take me. It's amazing what you can find &, most of the time, I learn or see something new.

A couple of nights ago I searched for one of my book titles, called Mess Monsters. Last time I did this I found some photos of a mural that some children had painted based on another one of my books, this time Snow Bear. It was all very sweet and flattering & it gave me a nice fuzzy feeling.

Unfortunately this recent search wasn't so enjoyable. Someone has decided to sell an e-book version of Mess Monsters (without my or the publisher's permission) & was advertising it on YouTube. Apart from the fact that this is illegal & very cheeky, it was so badly done! I think this has annoyed me almost as much.

He's stretched the pictures from the original square page:

To this - so it fits tablets:

How amazingly lazy is that!

I've emailed him twice - though still haven't received a reply. I wonder why? And I've also reported him to YouTube & asked them to remove the video. Hopefully that will be the end of it.

On a more positive note: my Christmas cards are almost done. I'll be sending them to the printers at the end of the week & putting pictures of them on this web site at the same time.

Cute, dark and Graphic Christmas Cards

I know that I've been going on about Christmas cards a lot recently, but they are nearly done now. There will be twenty designs in all & they fall into three groups - cute, dark & graphic. I suppose the image above gave that bit away?

Some of the cute cards will be in the Snow Bear style & the graphic ones will be crisp, simple designs that will look stylish on the mantlepiece. The dark cards are where I've had fun & turned Christmas cards into something a bit different. They're hard to describe & you'll either love them or hate them. I'll be posting all of the Christmas card designs on this web site next month so you can see for yourself.

Christmas Cards on the Brain!

All I am working on are my Christmas cards now. I must finish them soon, get them to the printers & sell them otherwise Christmas will have come & gone.

I've become strangely nervous about the whole thing. I'm used to sending children's book ideas & pictures to publishers but not to selling directly. It will be a new experience watching people buy them (or walk past) - hopefully the former. The closest I've had is friends phoning me up from bookshops whispering I'm watching someone buying your book. Whatever happens, I'm bound to learn something from it.

Kittens on a Sofa Christmas Card Idea

Getting very close to sending my Christmas cards to the printer. I'm now frantically drawing, revising & reviewing them in time for the end of October deadline & am in a mild panic about the whole thing.

The picture above will give you a clue to one of them as it gave me the idea. Think kittens on a sofa with Christmas hats on. I love kittens!

The Book of Bedtime Stories

This book was published by Walker Books today for the very first time. One of the prize-winning stories was by my sister, Kate Wilson, & chosen by Michael Rosen, no less. Couldn't be happier for her. I think the book looks great. Huge congratulations to her & look forward to my signed copy. Hint! Hint!

Clicking on the picture will take you to the Amazon page.

Hallowe'en Animation & Christmas Cards

I know this is a bit early, but I love Hallowe'en and I'm hoping that posting this animation on my blog now will remind me to do a better one in time for the end of next month. At the very least, the pumpkin should blink! It's been bugging me since I first did it & I've never quite found the time to sort it out.

My Christmas card range is rapidly growing. I've gone for two styles - graphic & darkly funny (often both). Hope they go down well. They'll be on sale at various fairs & also from this site. I'll post full details soon.

Mess Monsters

More good news! The Mess Monsters (& At the Waterhole) books are going to be reprinted by a new publisher - Albury Books. I couldn't be happier!

If You Love a Bear

Had some very pleasant news this week. I received a letter from Walker Books letting me know that If You Love a Bear is being reprinted. It's going to be part of a collection of ten bear-themed picture books and will be available from January 2014.

Here's a sneaky peek at the new-look cover. I love the new font and stronger blue.

Christmas Cards

This year I am producing my own Christmas cards. Finding printers & plastic bags to put the cards into was quite easy. I've been very lucky & found some places that have said they'll sell them & I've got plenty of ideas - although I wish they wouldn't ping into my head at three in the morning. But one thing I am really missing is an editor saying that it works or it doesn't.

It's surprisingly difficult looking at your own stuff objectively. I've tried the walking away & looking at the pictures a day or two later route, but that's just confusing me even more. All I can do is go with my instincts, I suppose, & see what happens. One thing I'm sure of is that I'm going to Christmasify the picture above. I think the grannies will look good with a Santa hat on!