Roger Stutter is currently busy with a host of signings for his book Jonny Kennedy: The Story of the Boy Whose Skin Fell Off. Roger will be pleased to dedicate copies of the book as inspirational Christmas gifts, and to chat to shoppers about his memories of Kennedy. Roger will be joined at the signing by representatives of the Jonny Kennedy North East charity. The book has already helped raise more than £1,500 for the charity.

Tomorrow, Saturday 8 December, Roger will be at Borders, Silverlink, Newcastle from 12 noon to 2pm.

Next Saturday 15 December, he will be at Borders, Leeds, from 12 noon to 2pm AND at Borders, Birstall from 4pm to 6pm.

More signings are being set up all of the time, so keep checking our website and blog for more details. [Roger will also be playing Santa Claus on Newcastle's Northumberland Street from the 16th to the 18th of December in aid of the Jonny Kennedy North East charity!]

Paul

OK, I’ll stop having a pop at celebs who write books that they don’t really write soon. Of course there are loads of them out there who write their own, and next up as a novelist is Coleen McLoughlin – Wayne Rooney’s missus. I can almost hear the dinner time ‘My book is better than your book’ conversations.
The Bookseller reports that Coleen is writing a series of children’s novels for HarperCollins as well as three more non-fiction titles. For those of you interested, the first is out in Spring 2008. Read the full article here.

Although fairly cynical, I am interested in Celeb Culture and am fascinated by their recent switch to novel writing. Is it such a bad thing? I don’t know. I haven’t read any of them, nor am I likely to, so I can’t comment on their ‘quality’. Probably they will be harmless enough and will work on some sort of role model level for the kids, who knows.

Where does it leave those novelists who have been slogging it out for years and years without great success, with or without an agent, looking for that big break? What about all that money you spent on your MA in Creative Writing, learning the craft, drafting your novel… all those rejections? Do you think it makes a mockery of all that blood, sweat and tears? Interesting debate.

Stu

It’s freezing cold, pitch black whenever you’re not at work, the roads are gridlocked, and you can’t go into a supermarket without your ears being assaulted by Sir Cliff Richard. That can only mean one thing – it’s Christmas! And once again, Tonto is getting festive by offering lots of free stuff!

First up, get a FREE copy of More Tonto Short Stories when you buy ANY Tonto book direct from us this Christmas! MTSS is our latest acclaimed paperback anthology, featuring sixteen writers including Ros Wyllie, Stephen Shieber and Katie-Ellen Hazeldine. The offer runs until 31 December 2007, while stocks last, one free book per order. Ideal for getting your stocking fillers!

If you aren’t one of the 1,200 readers who downloaded it last year, there’s also another chance to get our anthology of Christmas short stories by some of our favourite new writers, including Pete Tanton (author of Johnny Lonely), Stephen Shieber, Ros Wyllie and Jolene Hui (all More Tonto Short Stories contributors), absolutely FREE! It is presented in a newly-formatted easy-to-read and printer-friendly electronic version, and you can download it from our homepage.

We’re also offering free Burglar’s Dog and Johnny Lonely badges this Christmas. The brand new revised and updated edition of The Burglar’s Dog is out now, and if you buy a copy direct from our website OR from amazon.co.uk using our trackable link, we’ll send you a brand new set of four pin badges absolutely FREE, thoughout December 2007, while stocks last. Johnny Lonely is Pete Tanton’s prize-winning novel. If you buy a copy direct from our website in December we’ll send you an exclusive Johnny Lonely pin badge absolutely FREE, while stocks last. Don’t forget, if you order direct from our website you’ll ALSO get a free copy of More Tonto Short Stories!

All of these offers can be found at www.tontopress.com.

Paul

As several of our titles are now featured in Amazon’s Search Inside! programme, we’ve added links to our website. You can now browse, sample and (obviously) search the following titles:

[The Burglar's Dog is not yet available on Search Inside! but you can read an extract here.]

Paul

Below is an ‘advertorial’ that appears in the current Gateshead Advertisers. Click on the image to see a larger version, and feel free to enter the book compo.

Paul