EARLY CHRISTMAS PRESENT

Afternoon,

Having a cold is bleh but the the cover my new book, The Legend of Frog, cheers me up more than a sack full of Santas. Check out the amazing artwork by Jonny Duddle and click HERE to download a sample of the book. Early Christmas present!

Look out for The Legend of Frog in February.

Merry stuff and Happy etc...

When a frog-like prince ventures beyond the End of the World to claim the throne of Kingdomland, he finds a plucky princess already sitting in the Big Chair. A royal rivalry ensues ... but when Frog discovers he's actually prince of an alien army, he realises he's not destined to rule ... but to destroy. Can he and the princess put aside their differences long enough to save the world?

LEGEND

I'm about a week away from holding in my sweaty hands the first proof of my new book, The Legend of Frog. The cover, by none other than writer/illustrator/Emperor of Art (and character designer on Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists) Jonny Duddle, may be the best thing I've ever seen with my lucky, failing eyes. When you see it you may combust, or die from joy. I know I did. More and more to come soon, but here's a teaser to wet your whistle. Pants! 

Click here to chew on a synopsis of the book, released in February 2014.

GOING PLACES

With another book done to pieces, the Overlords have let me back into the so-called sunshine to wave giddily at folk. I'll be out and about at schools, libraries and festivals over the autumn. It'll be a whole lot of Stitch Head and, maybe just maybe, a little of my new book, The Legend of Frog.

Here are but a few dates for your diary:

The Telegraph Children's Bath Literature Festival

Newport Big Read

The Times Cheltenham Literary Festival

Southend Children's Book Festival

See you there! Unless you can't make it, in which case let's, like, defo catch up for coffee soon.

MYSTERY MUNGLERS TRUMPS

It's that time again...

The Summer Reading Challenge 2013 is upon us. That special time of year when you get free stuff just for reading books. It's bonkers! And on top of all the Creepy House goodies, participating libraries will also be giving out MYSTERY MUNGLERS TRUMPS cards, created and illustrated by the man who wears my pants - me!

Sign up to the Summer Reading Challenge at your local library and ask about MYSTERY MUNGLERS TRUMPS. It's more fun that eating toast on a boat.

CREEPY

Who's free on Saturday? I'm going to be in Brighton to help their libraries launch the 2013 Summer Read. It's going to be creepy houses galore. Galore, I say! Come along and head to Jubilee Square for a free day of stuff for all the family. Except smelly Uncle George. He has to stay at home, the stinker.

MYSTERY

Quick update for fans of the Munglers Trumps (and curious passers-by...)

The Munglers are returning for their fifth and finest hour this summer! The cards will be given away free (free!) in libraries over the summer holiday as part of the 2013 Summer Read (see the phenomenal Chris Riddell's Creepy House trailer here.) 

I just got my grubby mitts* on a set of Mystery Munglers cards and they're looking good, if I do say so myself.

This year, the Munglers find their way to a haunted castle, only to find themselves trapped inside. As they search for a way out, the Munglers realise they are not alone. But who has lured them here ... and why?

On top of the regular top trumps playability, these cards have two more game options - and they assemble, jigsaw-style, into a massive 20-card tableau. We spoil you here at Munglers HQ, we really do...

Here's a quick tease of the villain of the piece and his humble home, disassembled and discombobulated:

And here's the new Mystery Munglers  line up, similarly scrambled:

More updates (and maybe even a competition or two) soon!

*My mitts are, in fact, impeccably clean. My socks, however are stinky like overfilled bins.

COMING UP

May already? This year is officially the fastest moving of all the years so far. It is a greyhound running down a hill wearing a rocket pack made of lots of tiny rocket packs.

So I've been mainly getting my head down of late, working on a brand spanking new series with Stripes Publishing. Recently had some news about it that I'm VERY excited about. More on that soon...

Meanwhile, here are a few things that are happening in the next coupla weeks.

16th May - Turin International Book Fair. Anyone in Turin on the 16th...? Come and say hi! If by chance you can't make it then come and see me at:

19th May - Storyfest Children's Book Festival in Hartfield - I'll be there saying things and doing things and hopefully showing off my brand new book! See below more more on said book and go to http://www.storyfest.co.uk/ for more on this awesome fest.

3rd June - Book coming out day! 

The fourth book in the Stitch Head series - The Spider's Lair - is out and gettable. Join Stitch Head as he tries to rescue Arabella from a particularly sinister orphanage. Get with the getting wherever books are got!

Some news to come soon on a new ATOMIC! related project too. Watch this space.

I'm also getting out and about again over the next few months, so maybe see you around.

And finally, with summer (and the Summer Read) looming, I've just seen the final layouts for the 2013 Munglers Trumps cards (which I done created) and they look fab. More on that soon too, but for now here's a little teaser of the Mystery Munglers, one of the first (very!) rough drawings for the set. New character spotting is the name of the game...

See ya,

Guy

LIKE ME

... 'Cause I gots myself a Facebook page. Welcome to the late 20th Century.

Ta da!

http://www.facebook.com/guybassbooks

WORLD BOOK DAY 2013

Shiver me trousers, why would someone as bad at blogging as me have a blog? I blame you, austerity Britain. Or possibly bears. The important thing to remember is it's someone else's fault.

Anyway, if I can't blog about books on World Book Day, what kind of an author am I? Don't answer that.

So I've had a week visiting schools (and it ain't over yet) and it struck me, like a sock filled with tasty cheese, that I like it. For a bunch of reasons. Here are a few. Of them.

1) It is immeasurably satisfying to talk about the stuff you do all day and have people listen to your rambling and guffling, even if they're only doing it 'cause they have to (see 2) for clarification.

2) I may be wrong, but think a lot of authors are lonely. We spend a ridiculous amount of time in our own company with our own stupid thoughts. This has been proven, time and again, to be fairly unhealthy. We also tend to be plagued with self doubt. This week has made me feel better - and that's your fault, people in schools. You are people, sure, but you're jolly nice, universally welcoming people and that's all good.

3) It wasn't like this in my day. No, but it wasn't. I'm old. Not your granddad old, but possibly your dad old. When I was growing up the choice of and passion/enthusiasm for books wasn't anything like it is now. This is grand scale, and that's just grand. Is it 'cause children are reading less and we need to fix it, so everyone's busting a gut to make reading those book things seem important again? No, it's because there is a giant, thousand-armed, million-brained monster of sheer, unbridled Enthusiasm driving things forward. It's makes me wish I was a child now. Also 'cause I would get free bus travel.

4) I don't think I've ever enjoyed a week of school visits as much as this. Not to overplay it but it feels like an upswell, like somebody somewhere scoffed that the written word was dying... (see 5) and everyone else said, "You're probably joking, but just in case you're not and you're an irremediable bumstain (see 5) again) I'm going to remind you that reading those book things is a uniquely transformative experience, a gift and a challenge and an impossibly gigantonormous hug-worth of knowledge, imagination and ideas, transporting you to an endless number of worlds owned by you and you alone.

5) Because the stupid, stupid government told us/you/them to "Make Children Read For Pleasure" and you can't make us 'cause we were doing it anyway and shut up and you smell like bad breath and dust.

Happy World Book Day 2013!

P.S. Scariest. WDB costume. Ever.