Welcome to Cringefest video

Guten abend! To mark the publication of Welcome to Cringefest this week, I'm making an FAQ video. If you have a burning question about Joe Cowley, writing in general, or what my favourite crisp flavour is*, just write it as a comment, send a PM, or get in touch through my website and I will answer it in the video.

PLUS! Everyone who asks a question will be entered into a draw to win a signed copy of Welcome to Cringefest. A prize potentially worth hundreds of pence.

*Trick question. Twiglets

Welcome to Cringefest

Yes indeed, Joe is back!

Welcome to Cringefest picks up eight months after the end of Return of the Geek. Joe is still desperately sad at losing Natalie, the love of his life, and is determined to win her back.

Of course, because it's Joe, his attempts at talking to her only make things worse, and he is about to give up hope. That is, until he discovers a foolproof strategy, a plan that works in so many TV shows and films -

The Grand Gesture.

In case you're not familiar with Grand Gestures, here are some of the most common examples:

The Rain-Soaked Declaration of Love!

The Last Minute Airport Dash!

And of course . . .

The Standing Outside Her Bedroom Window Like a Big Creepy Freak!

Now, you know what Joe is like and that attempting any of the above activities would be a very bad idea for him, but Joe isn't that clever. And with a VIP trip to Buzzfest, the greatest music festival ever, the opportunities for Grand Gestures (as well as pain, humiliation and degradation) are limitless.

The Private Blog of Joe Cowley: Welcome to Cringefest is out on 7th April from all the usual places. Here is a video I made about it.

Competition time

Good day to you.

I am running a competition to win a siged book over at my Facebook page. Read all about it at the following link: https://www.facebook.com/bendavisauthor/posts/1892152304343905

Right, that'll be all.

As you were.

Joe Cowley 3 Video

Hello!

This is a video I made for my publisher's sales conference. In it, I talk about The Private Blog of Joe Cowley: Welcome to Cringefest.

Apologies for my daft voice/face/dining room.

Danny Dread

Guten tag, mein damen und herren!

As promised, I am back with an all new blogola about an all new bookola.

It's shiny, it excites.

Yes, it's Danny Dread - the tale of a innocent boy born into a family of evil geniuses. Here's the official blurb:

You know how it is when your dad's an evil super villain? 
OK, so maybe you don't, but Danny does. As heir to the Dread dynasty, he's expected to carry on the family business of kidnapping world leaders, maiming innocent bystanders, and brainwashing sharks. You know, general evil stuff. 
The problem is, achieving world domination isn't Danny's idea of fun. In fact, he'd much rather be saving the planet than enslaving it. 
But when Dad Dread hatches his most diabolical scheme yet, Danny realizes that to defeat evil, he's going to have to start thinking evil . . .

Sounds exciting, right? Darn tooting, it does.

If you're reading this as a Joe Cowley fan (does Joe have fans? If he does, what are they called? Cowleibers? No, that's terrible, forget I said anything) you will be pleased to know that there are some similarities between the two characters. They are both misfits and they both have embarrassing dads. They also both harbour ambitions to change and become more powerful.

Other than that, though, they are quite different. Even the way Danny Dread came about was unlike either of the Joe Cowley books. 

The idea for Danny Dread was actually cooked up by my brilliant publisher, OUP - specifically, Commissioning Editor, Clare Whitston and Harriet Rogers, who did such a stellar job designing the first two Joe Cowleys. I am told they came up with it while playing table tennis. Anyway, they asked me if I would be interested in writing a story about a wannabe superhero born into a family of supervillains and it took me about a quarter of a millisecond to say yes. See, I've always been a big superhero fan. I remember this once, at a party, I ran around all night with the hood of my coat over my head, pretending to be Batman. What a twenty-seventh birthday that was.

It was a new experience, writing to spec, but I enjoyed it immensely and had loads of fun crafting a big adventure story, complete with rockets and explosions and maniacal laughter.

The illustrations in Danny Dread are by the brilliant Stephanie Lidbetter. In fact, you can catch a sneaky glimpse of a few of them here. 

That's all from me, as always, if you'd like to get in touch, you can do so here, through my website, my Facebook page, or by standing in front of the mirror at midnight and saying my name three times.

Danny Dread is out on the 6th August 2015 and is available to pre-order from all the usual places.

Joe Cowley book news . . .

Yes, it's the news literally six of you have been waiting for! I can now officially confirm that there will be a third instalment in the Joe Cowley saga. It is called The Private Blog of Joe Cowley: Welcome to Cringefest. It will be published by OUP in April 2016.

I won't say what it's about because that might spoil things for people who haven't got to the end of Return of the Geek yet. (You know the bit I mean, where Mad Morris is eaten by a dinosaur and we find out that Ad is actually a visitor from the planet Plunksplat.) All I will say for now is that it is a tale of love, music and portaloos.

There will be more news to follow soon, including some more info about my upcoming book, Danny Dread. Until then, if you want to get in touch, you can do so here, or via the contact box on my website.

The Private Blog of Joe Cowley: Return of the Geek

HELLO!

In less than a month, my second book comes out. It is called The Private Blog of Joe Cowley: Return of the Geek.

Pwetty cover.

If you've read the first one, and if you haven't, what the HELL is your problem, man? Seriously. Get out. Go on. Out. You disgust me.

Anyway, as I was saying, if you've read the first one, you may be pleased to know that all the original characters are back for this instalment. Characters like:

• JOE!
• GAV!
• NATALIE!
• HARRY!
• AD!
• LISA!
• JOE'S MUM!
• AND HIS DAD!
• SVETLANA!
• JIM!
• DORIS!
• ADWINA!
• GREENY!
• MAD MORRIS!
• MR BOOCOCK!
• AD'S DAD WITH THE MEAT VAN!
• THE PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN JOE'S BRAIN!

Plus, several new characters, including a dastardly villain called Seb.

The story revolves around Joe's efforts to impress his girlfriend's posh parents while at the same time trying to avoid getting caught up in Harry and Ad's disastrous attempt to win a DJ competition. Add a new set of braces and an overflowing underpants hamper into the mix and you know it is only a matter of time before Joe's life is thrown back into turmoil. Which is how we like it.

The Private Blog of Joe Cowley: Return of the Geek is available to pre-order from all the usual places.