Hello 2013!

Well, that last year just zipped by didn't it? And it was a year of two very different halves.

The first half was worryingly quiet work wise, but thankfully things picked up nicely in the Summer.

This year I worked on some lovely projects. I completed a couple of episodes of the new Peter Rabbit animation series - the Christmas special premiered over the holidays, and the full series starts in a few months. I was also writing for a couple of other CGI series which should be on air by the end of 2013. And my second Doctor Who audio book 'Sleepers in the Dust' was released in November.

During the quiet period I managed to stay calm and focussed, and completed not one, but two pilot scripts for potential new series - a pre-school animation, and a live-action children's mystery drama. They had been in the works for a good year, so I was pleased to get them in a presentable format.

Oh, and one of my episodes of ZOU won an award

So goodbye 2012 -  a bit of a roller coaster year.

Hello 2013! Let's see where you take me...

ZOU WINS AN AWARD

This is a first for me! One of the episodes I wrote for Disney's animated series ZOU, has won an award at the Chicago International Children's Film Festival:

Children’s Jury Prize – Animated Television
1st Prize, Animated Television Program
Zou: "Zou the Artist" (France, 2012), Dir: Olivier Lelardoux,

ZOU is an animated preschool series, touching all themes of early childhood, and follows the adventures of a lovable 5-year old zebra Zou, together with his family and friend Elzee living in “Zebra town”.

In the winning episode, "Zou the Artist", Zou wants to enter an art competition. He tries and fails at various art forms - painting, sculpture and mosiacs - until he eventually finds his own special style.

SLEEPERS IN THE DUST - AUDIO CLIP

An audio clip from 'Doctor Who: Sleepers in the Dust' is now on AudioGo's website:

http://www.audiogo.com/uk/doctor-who-the-sleepers-in-the-dust-audio-original-darren-jones-gid-60643

CUT!

My article for the Writers' Guild of GB magazine is now up on their website. All about how my former career as a film editor informs my script writing.

http://www.writersguild.org.uk/news-a-features/film/342-cut

Cover Art : Sleepers in the Dust

And here is the cover:

Lovely!

Doctor Who: Sleepers in the Dust

Well, Amy and Rory might have left Doctor Who for good in last Saturday's final episode, but if you're missing the Ponds already, then fear not, because you can enjoy one more adventure with them and the 11th Doctor in my new audiobook.

Publisher AudioGo have just released some details:

Sleepers in The Dust
Written by Darren Jones
Read by Arthur Darvill
Released 1st November 2012 (CD)

On an apparently lifeless world, the Doctor and his friends battle against plague. Will they find the cause - and the cure?

This story features the return of the Nadurni, whom the Doctor first encountered in last year’s audio original The Eye of the Jungle.

Arthur Darvill – Rory in the TV series – reads this nail-biting original adventure.

CMC 2012 - Inspiration for Writers

I was at the Children's Media Conference earlier this month. I've been going for several years now, and there is always something new to be found out.

Last year the buzz word was 'transmedia', which someone usefully defined as 'telling the same story, across several platforms, in a way which is specific to those platforms'. I'm paraphrasing but that was the gist of it. This year was all about 'Apps' and the way kids are using tablet and phones to get their media.

There was another very positive session with publishers from Orchard, Penguin and Hot Key Books. All actively looking for new material for print, on line and digital projects. There were some handy hints for potential authors too:

Don't write the sequel before you've sold the first book. Write something else.

Things publishers look out for in a submission, include, the voice of the author, different types of storytelling, fresh concepts, and trend setting.

Things which get turned down tend to be too complicated, or are pitched as "The next Harry Potter/Horrid Henry/Twilight..." they are not really interested in copycats.

Above all, approach them in a professional manner. Be "positive, nice and sane".

Highlight of the conference for me was a keynote interview with author Patrick Ness, whose award winning books do not shy away from tough subjects including scenes of violence and torture. I agreed with his view that you must be honest with young people about difficult issues, that if you tell then the truth about those, then they are more likely to believe you when you tell the truth about love and friendship.

I came away feeling invigorated and inspired, and will be back again next year.