It’s a sunny Thursday and I (Pete Tanton) have just dropped into the Tonto HQ, ostensibly to pick up copies of Johnny Lonely and to pick up the nifty new JL badges for distribution at my upcoming signing at Borders bookstore at the Silverlink, and have found my exit barred until I cough up a blog which will meet with the combined approval of Marianne, Stu and Paul. It looks like I’m going to be here for a while…

So, I’ve just been coasting along since the launch of Johnny Lonely back on July 26th – thanks to all who came and made it a success. Thanks as well to everyone who has bought the book, making it Tonto’s best seller, and thanks as well for all the excellent reviews of the book on Amazon. Johnny will be happy.

Paul and Stu have been beavering away on the final edit of Jonny Kennedy: The Story of the Boy Whose Skin Fell Off, due to the printers soon. Stu has bravely come into the office after being poorly this week. The show must go on. Marianne, meanwhile, has been an oasis of calm and good cheer. She’s been reading the Stephen Miller story, and has only one day left of her placement. I know Stu and Paul will miss her when she goes.

If any of you are around on Saturday, drop into the Silverlink Borders, and say hi. You might get a cool badge!

by Pete Tanton

We have exciting news for all you film enthusiasts out there – the film that Stu mentioned a few weeks ago based on the rocketbelt caper story began filming on the 1st of August in New Jersey, USA. The film is called Pretty Bird, which was the nickname for the Rocketbelt 2000. The movie’s star and producer is Paul Giamatti, who also starred in Sideways and American Splendour.

Paul Giamatti
The film has slightly fictionalised the true story told in Tonto’s forthcoming non-fiction book The Rocketbelt Caper. In the movie, three friends – Curt, Rick and Kenny – successfully build a rocketbelt, only for jealousy and distrust to turn the men against one another. The film also stars British actress Emily Mortimer, who was in Notting Hill and Number 13, Garret Dillahunt, who was in Deadwood and ER and lastly Billy Crudup who was in Almost Famous and Watchmen. You can check out audition and plot summary details by searching for “Pretty Bird” here. The Tonto book, The Rocketbelt Caper, will be released on 3rd September 2007.

By Marianne.

If you’re not one of the millions of people who watched the Emmy Award-winning documentary The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off, you might not be aware of Jonny Kennedy. We’re publishing Jonny Kennedy: The Story of the Boy Whose Skin Fell Off, as told to his friend Roger Stutter, on 24 September. In the meantime you can see Jonny in a trailer for the documentary here. Roger is also in the trailer.

Paul

The Rocketbelt Caper is being printed this week, but what the hell is a rocketbelt? This short video should explain…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuL3I5L5HjY]
Paul

This year’s Durham Literature Festival is being held between the 29th of September and the 13th of October and for the first time the event will feature cutting edge fiction from four writers published by Tonto Press. The event is called Pete Tanton and Friends and is the festival’s opening event on Saturday 29th at 2pm. The event will begin with forty minutes dedicated to three of the writers published in More Tonto Short Stories, Roz Wyllie, Stephen Shieber and Katie-Ellen Hazeldine. There will then be a twenty minute interval before Johnny Lonely author Pete Tanton takes to the stage for thirty minutes. There has been a set designer commissioned for the event so the lighting and general stage area is sure to look exciting.

The capacity for the Gala Studio venue is a maximum of seventy five people so make sure you get your ticket soon. You can buy tickets through The Gala Theatre’s box office by calling 0191 332 4041, or online here.

You can find out more about the Durham Literature Festival here, and download a PDF of the festival programme here. We hope you all have a really good time, and look forward to seeing you there!

So, it’s Marianne here again, and I’ve been working with Tonto Press for the last week. The last few days have been exciting and kept me busy with the proof reading of the Jonny Kennedy book and with the initial stages of reading through and editing an upcoming book Tonto Press are working on, which is an autobiography by the Paralympic champion Stephen Miller, who has already won 3 Gold Medals, and is set to get his fourth in the upcoming games next year. I’m very interested in Athletics myself so I’ve really enjoyed reading about his experiences and gaining an insight into his training. I’m sure this will be a successful book when it is published, so keep an eye out for it over the next year.

Marianne

If you didn’t manage to get a signed copy of Johnny Lonely at last week’s launch don’t despair! Author Pete Tanton will be signing copies at Borders Silverlink, Newcastle on Saturday 11th August from midday AND at Borders Team Valley, Gateshead on Saturday 1st September from midday. Head along to get your signed copy, or if you’ve already read it why not pop along to have a chat with Pete? Tomorrow we’ll be announcing another exciting date for your diary…

Pete signing stock copies at Borders
Paul

Johnny Lonely author Pete Tanton was interviewed on Radio Newcastle last week, and you can download the interview as an mp3 (some say podcast) here.

Pete with Carol Clewlow
Paul