I am proud to announce that The Nine Lives of Summer, my 10th published book, and my 4th cat book, came out in paperback/ebook worldwide on 1st March 2023.

It is what is known as a 'crossover' title - a book for children (7+) AND adults - especially, but not only, cat-lovers. 

Reviews have been just SO excellent - in YOUR CAT magazine and others, plus all GENUINE reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, NetGalley, almost all 5 and 4 star. Great feedback and sales worldwide, paperback and eBook. Also, interest in TV/film rights options. 

March 2023 was the 10th anniversary of the publication of my first cat book, A Cat Called Dog, which is still popular.

That book spawned a shorter child-friendly version and a sequel A Cat Called Dog 2 - The One with the Kittens (2017) - which, for some reason, is borrowed from UK libraries a lot, 2nd of all my 10 books; SOMEWHERE IN EUROPE is number 1 (2022-3); RASMUS is number one (2023-4). There's been film rights/options interest for several of them actually too.

I am very proud of all of my books, especially as they all have something to say. It may sound odd, but so much fiction now does not - it is the literally equivalent of the colour beige. Utterly inoffensive and as dull as that sounds, and totally unmemorable.

Maybe why I prefer old books, the classics. Not much I see now, especially on the eBook genre-fiction conveyor belt interests me. Books should SAY SOMETHING, or what's the point of them at all? Mine do. My children's stories too. And my cat books. There is profundity in them all - all ten of my published books.

That is what is great about books - they are born & remain.

A bit like paper children who go on to live lives of their own, which you, the mere author/birth parent, can't control even if you want to, just as you can't decide what meaning readers read into your stories.

"Books, the children of the brain," wrote Swift - and he was right.

Books LAST and are there for evermore. I love that. 

Books matter, and books remain.

THERE IS NO BAD TO BOOKS. None.

And this CROSSOVER cat book, The Nine Lives of Summer, for both kids and adults, is a cracker - the characters and story really move people, on a rollercoaster of emotions, tears and laughter.

Real writers can understand that means SUCCESS, for an author to really MOVE people. It's so hard to achieve - to make readers care about fictional characters, especially cats, and to laugh and cry with words on a page. I did that! Now THAT is SUCCESS! 

Anyone demanding a trigger warning for such stories perhaps needs a trigger warning themselves, or perhaps something a little stronger... Or maybe they need to be locked in a rubber room for the rest of their lives. What a relief that would be for the rest of us...

The Nine Lives of Summer is a heart-warming tale ideal for both children and adult cat lovers of all ages. 

It is the purr-fect book for fans of A Street Cat Named Bob and A Cat Called Dog, as well as stories about refugees such as The Boy at the Back of the Class.

“A heart-warming tale with a life-affirming message.”

“Often funny, sometimes sad, always full of hope.”

One cat, nine lives and a quest to find a way home

Summer is a cat living happily with ten-year-old girl Sami and her family in Syria. Then the war comes.

Sami and her parents are forced to make the heart-wrenching decision to flee as refugees, leaving Summer behind.

On her journey through nine lives in a dozen countries, Summer discovers her purpose – to find Sami again.

The quest leads Summer all over the world, meeting diverse people from a vast array of cultures and backgrounds, through exciting adventures and heart-break, desperate struggle and survival. But she never ever gives up hoping and searching.

Will Summer ever find Sami, and be reunited with her family in her furever home once again?

ISBN  978-1-3999-4432-8 - Published by Two Fat Cats Publishing, 1^st  March 2023

Price £7.99 paperback; £3.99 eBook.

Available from Amazon and bookstores worldwide.

The Nine Lives of Summer : Vanston, Jem: Amazon.co.uk: Books

Author website: www.vanston.co.uk ; Twitter: @9LivesofSummer

ALSO I am making the first 50 pages or so, 8 chapters, available here FOR FREE: https://www.book2look.com/book/rpoTIljtSb

ENJOY!

Well here they are, the result of 15 years' hard work.

Almost half a million words in 10 published books including a collection of poetry, 3 satirical novels, 4 cat novels/stories, a non-fiction quote book, and a Christmas poem picture book.

I can look at these 10 published books and say: "I did that!"

I did. Just me, alone, and overcoming huge obstacles in my way. I wrote over half a million words from my imagination and shared them with discerning readers all around the world. THAT is achievement.

These books have sold thousands of copies worldwide, mostly in paperback (not eBooks, but I have never focused on them - AND 70%+ of them and given away free anyway, so are not 'sales' at all as some eBook self-published authors claim on Goodreads etc).

My books been read and enjoyed by lots of lovely people all over the world: the UK, US/Canada, Italy, Germany, Australia/New Zealand, South Africa and the Far East especially. I shall go on tour soon...

Thousands of hours of hard work; thousands of pounds in investment in myself too, and NOT a single penny of public subsidy. Not one.

Adding up the thousands of hours of writing, loads of stuff unpublished from the early days, then rewriting & research. I have worked out that I would have earned more on minimum wage stacking shelves, frankly. But it's not about the money and never was, not for me anyway. Writing fiction is a vocation, an art, a need for me - and so very deeply satisfying when I KNOW I have written a good story, a decent book, which has something to say.

Was it worth it? Well, yes and no. Mostly YES.

YES for the enormous satisfaction of authoring and publishing real high-quality and worthwhile stories which people love, enjoy, appreciate and are moved by; NO, financially, and for the energy it has taken from my income-earning projects and business. But that is what dedication is - writing and creating something from nothing is a vocation for me, not a career or profession or job.

And then there is the truly vile abuse, real hate speech, defamation, libel, trolling, antisemitism, sexism/misandy - really nasty, vindictive, spiteful uncalled-for and unproved abuse - that I have been forced to endure from certain hateful reviewers with issues on MY book pages on Goodreads/Amazon - so shame on them for allowing that and hosting the haters. Happily, this means I can sue them for enabling targeted hate speech harassment and defamation/libel against me on THEIR website so THEY host that filth/hate speech/defamation, by a truly disturbed and deranged malicious narcissitic abuser. Much is still there as of October 2025, polluting what are MY book pages on Goodreads/Amazon, remember. Trolls like that pollute the internet, sadly. The least authors can expect is for the big booksellers like Amazon and Goodreads to support authors againt abusers!

This is beyond just a bad review from some hater online who disagrees with my social media posts on politics (most 1* reviews my books have got for 15 years are that); this is an obsessive, deranged, targeted, prolonged hate campaign of harassment intended to cause me alarm and distress, to trash my reputation, to ruin my writing career and lose me book sales now and in future. DEFAMATION/LIBEL will be taken into account in legal claims for damages which are being prepared by my legal team right now. Think I will not act? Oh no, I shall go on to the end  until I get justice. TRUTH is on my side.

But, greatness comes from pain, as someone once said...

It will all be worth it if the Nazi Crime Thriller novel (a very psychological and original speculative story) I have written gets signed by an agent/publisher for a series, with TV/film rights. It'd make a great movie - actually, my writing is all very filmic, very cinematic, so most of my books would make great films (animation maybe for the cat stories). That novel should be published within the nexy three years or so, and be the first in a series, I hope.

Even better, I have other finished books and scripts which remain unpublished/unproduced - Middle-Grade novels for kids (x2 and ready to go); radio dramas (x7), screenplays (x2), short stories (x25+ - see my STORIES page to read some for free, those published already in various magazines etc). Loads of other ideas sketched out too.

Not to leave out the psychostalker thriller about a deranged, malicious, narcisstic maniac troll I'm submitting to agents right now and some publishers directly. It is SO bang on trend what with its focus on online hate and harms, the twist being the abuser is female and this is TOXIC FEMININITY by a female bully (novels & TV/films have failed to address that adequately). My manuscript is ready to be published. It's FICTION but inspired by my lived experience, so it feels very real & authentic. Original too. Well-written imho, of course.

So yes, it is a MASSIVE achievement to publish ten books in 13 years. I am particularly proud of the originality and high quality of all my books. Churned-out romantasy genre trash, they ain't. Thank G-D.

As someone once said: "Art is but a matter of sacrifice and tears." Yup, and I walk with both of those beside me, for sure...

But... I look at my 10 published books, and all the unpublished works, and I say to myself: "I DID THAT!" Just me. From my imagination.

Moreover, I am able do that, to write well and compete with novels published by the big publishing houses, despite an almost total lack of advertising and marketing - sales grow via word of mouth; the usual BS merchant non-authors who spew abuse in reviews online cannot do that. To pay for a short story to be published in some crappy US horror collection is NOT 'being published', as the BS liars claim.

Most people cannot, and do not, do that - write books. Fiction is harder in many ways; non-fiction is more a management job of selecting and compiling what others have written (as in my quote book THINKING TIME - a different skill, that, an organisational one, not creative at all, imho).

So many talk about books they are going to write, and some even call themselves authors! TOTAL BS. Anyone can spout crap & lies. See my troll reviewers claiming they are 'top reviewers'.

Note: ANY IDIOT can be a top reviewer on Goodreads/Amazon JUST by posting hundreds of reviews overf many years, and many do. There are so many entirely self-appointed UNPAID reviewers with huge egos who spout BS and claim to be experts on publishing & published authors when they are not. And OMG the rambling babyish pathetic waffly reviews they spew! Hilarious BS. ROTFLMAO!)

The internet is full of such BS merchants and liars, whose claims of being 'authors' or 'experts' in writing are not backed up by ANY achievement at all or any evidence that they have any talent whatsoever. No published books by these fake authors who often - actually always - make claims of being 'experts' (no REAL writer would ever call themselves that). Beware the BS merchants! CAVEAT EMPTOR - BUYER BEWARE. Never EVER pay these scammers a fee!

Often they are socalled 'top reviewers' on the likes of Goodreads and Amazon. Well, ANY idiot can churn out reviews and give thousands of words of free copy to those sites & many do. Self-appointed, self-published reviewers and very often bare-faced liars. NEVER EVER pay them a penny or listen to any claims they make in reviews. 

Tbh despite sound commercial arguments, I have no interest in churning out genre ebooks in production-line-crime or romantic escapism genres, as some do - but whatever floats your boat... They can work their side of the street, and I shall work mine.

Here all my books are on my Amazon page:

Amazon.co.uk: Jem Vanston: books, biography, latest update

All my books are in public libraries and The British Library too. My pandemic poems are in the National Library of Wales and Museum of London 'Covid' archive collections for evermore...

As an 'accomplished author' (as the BBC called me) I am rightfully proud of my achievement in writing novels, stories, poems & more.

I am pleased to announce the publication of my debut collection of poetry, THE LOVED ONES - A COLLECTION OF PANDEMIC POEMS ABOUT LOVE AND LOSS, by Jem Vanston, on 9th April 2022.

There are 54 poems in the collection, including 10 song lyrics - 9 have links to online demo recordings of the songs, so it's a real multimedia project! Most were written in 2020/21.

It's a diverse collection of poems, some darky funny, others very emotional and moving. Lots of poems about grief, bereavement, loss, death but also love - and hope. A diverse collection then.

Quite a few war poems here - First and Second World War poems, a Falklands poem (song), Viking, Roman, ancient warrior themes. Inspired by the war on Covid really but now sadly and tragically very timely as the war in Ukraine rages. A diverse collection of poems about grief, bereavement and death in all contexts, LOVE AND LOSS.

The back cover explains this, so some fake trash review by a deranged hater semi-literate loon who claims they bought the book - A PROVEN LIE as I can show this reviewer DID NOT buy the ebook or read more than 12 page reads via Kindle Reader before posting a one star trash review in October 2023 (AND I CAN PROVE THAT). Someone moaning that not every poem is some weepy dross hugfest about the Covid Pandemic just shows what clueless malicious morons some reviewers are. I shall definitely be writing poems about my experience of being stalked online by an obsessive deranged hater in future - I have already written a novel inspired by it! And am writing non-fiction articles right  now for various publications. My story is worth telling and I shall tell it, well and often.

Two poems here are in the National Library of Wales Covid Collection - POEM OF THE PLAGUE YEAR and TWENTY-TWENTY: A YEAR IN THE LIFE (read them on the NEWS page of this website). The latter was also featured on That's Swansea Bay TV on November 5th 2020 (anyone interested can scroll back on Facebook to that clip), and also praised as 'poignant' by a representative of Her Majesty the Queen. It is most unusual for replies from royalty to include an opinion, so maybe the poem was read by our monarch. Who knows? My instincts tell me her lady-in-waiting read it to her, early 2021 at Windsor.

The paperback costs £8.99 - feel free to email me if you want to order a signed copy (acatcalleddog@hotmail.co.uk). The eBook is £3.99 - and the songlinks work better on there.

Here is the Amazon.co.uk link to the book:

The Loved Ones: A Collection of Pandemic Poems about Love and Loss: Amazon.co.uk: Vanston, Jem: 9781399918084: Books

And Goodreads here: The Loved Ones - A Collection of Pandemic Poems about Love and Loss by Jem Vanston | Goodreads

Sadly, as you can see, a nasty revenge review is there, identical on both websites, a trash 1* review from a malicious individual who I can PROVE, with digital Amazon KDP evidence, had not bought or read this book, or even any more than 12 Kindle Reader page reads (yes, Amazon KDP shows me THAT data too), on or around the date of 2/10/23 when this vindictive review appeared. This evidence proves this 1* trash review is a dishonest and malicious fake review.

Sadly, Amazon/Goodreads refused/refuse to remove it. Shame on them (legal action in USA probable in future as they hosted a prolonged racist antiSemitic defamatory hate campaign of harassment against me on their websites for years - much abuse is still there, real defamation, vindictive, spiteful, nasty).

But maybe it is good in some ways that such nasty, spiteful, hateful troll reviews remain as they expose the reviewers as sad, vindictive, vengeful, nasty and DISHONEST so ANY claim they make of giving honest reviews at all is shown to be a lie & a sham. This review SHAMES the reviewer, as all now can see the same individual stalking me all over Goodreads (4 books), Amazon (2 books) and Twitter-X (before they deleted their account, but not to worry - I have screenshots of all the defamatory abuse spewed at me). 

Why someone should be so obsessed and eaten up with hate as to target a poetry collection about grief and bereavement with such nastiness is unknown. I suppose such some people should be pitied for being like that. Some people really are that nasty, deranged, vengeful, obsessive, or mentally ill perhaps, though that is no excuse.

Abuse is abuse, and this abuse spewed at me has caused me considerable alarm and distress, so that makes it harassment, legally, as well as stalking - as this is just ONE of many abusive posts by a certain individual, 10,000 words of them in all over almost 2 years targeted at me in a prolonged hate campaign of harassment which is a crime, as is malicious communications (10,000 words targeted at me on MY book pages is that) and, of course, perverting the course of justice, a serious offence which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison...Plus false reporting and withholding evidence from police - all the 10,000 words of defematory abuse which I was replying to.

The lies spewed at me, targeted at me on MY book pages, at least 10 clear points of defamation and libel, claims I am promoting animal cruelty & disability hate crime, claims I faked my academic qualifications & my book review, claims my books have hardly sold any copies (when the ONLY person who knows my sales data is me and I can PROVE IT), claims I threaten people (I never have and never would), claims I am my books are a threat and danger to children (OMG just DERANGED CLAIMS from a superloony, a real loonytunes psycho! KARMA IS COMING FOR YOU NOW!).

Anyway, happily I have screenshots of EVERYTHING and can refute every malicious defamatory claim made against me - and then I can and I SHALL take action against my defamer, my harassing abuser, my stalker in several legal ways - I have several options actually.

I am the victim - of a very nasty obsessive, hateful, deranged, malicious individual and I shall expose that in any legal or media context, with plenty of evidence to back me up, and show the perpetrator has abused me for almost two whole years, from 28/8/23 to 14/4/25 on my Goodreads book pages with 10,000 words of abuse (I have screenshots of IT ALL!) JUSTICE IS COMING...

GREAT NEWS now though (October 2025) - my IOPC complaint against the corrupt Durham police pandering to their friend, the vile hater who stalked and abused me 28/8/23-14/4/25, has been escalated to be re-investigated. Time SWP followed that lead. A whole can of corrupt copper wriggly piggy little worms there for sure.

MORE GREAT NEWS: I have been informed that if police fail in their duty and do not investigate/discipline corrupt, complicit, negligent, sexist, racist, antisemitic officers, I am able to bring a PRIVATE PROSECTION against individuals AND against my hater, the obsessive stalker psycho who has spewed 10,000 words against me after 4 of my books on Goodreads and on Amazon and on Twitter. Of course, I can sue Amazon/Goodreads in US courts too for enabling a defamatory libellous antisemitic hate campaign against me on MY book pages on their website platforms. That is all in hand, ongoing, as is legal action for damages from UK police and my abuser. I shall demand my day in court and force these people to appear in person to be grilled by me and my legal team, with FULL national and international TV coverage and publicity. My own personal Baby Reindeer is gonna get famous VERY soon. Thanks D for all advice.

"Never stop fighting till the fight is done" as it says in The Untouchables (1985). Truth is on MY side. Why I shall win. Victory will be mine. JUSTICE IS COMING! And I cannot WAIT... There WILL be a reckoning, and the guilty will be punished. QED.

Also, please remember that this is a trash review for a book of poems written in deep grief about my dead mother and other lost loved ones in my live, for goodness sake. THE LOVED ONES is  a book my reviewer DID NOT buy or read in October 2023 when the review as posted - and I can PROVE tyhat with Amazon KDP digital evidence. Only 12 page reads. My abuser told police she'd read the whole book via eBook then the habitual liar changed her story and said page reads. Nope, no eBook download at all then and only 12 page reads downloaded SO my abuser/accuser LIED TO POLICE. That is perverting the course of justice. Police MUST act on evidence or prove themselves even more corrupt. And anyway, I am able to bring private prosecution against my stalker AND a claim for compensation, so I shall see the psycho in court. GREAT! JUSTICE IS COMING...

THE LOVED ONES a collection of poems about grief and bereavement. WHAT SORT OF PERSON DOES THAT? I mean, what kind of person would attack such a book about bereavement and grief in such a spiteful, nasty, dishonest way without even reading it in full?

A malicious hater troll has to be PRETTY low to stoop to dissing a collection of poetry they have not even read to get at the author to try and adversely affect his writing career, life and sales, by trashing a book of bereavement poems. Just sick, really. Beyond nasty.

I mean, how sad can you get? How low can you go? It's like trashing a grave, smashing up the gravestone and stealing the flowers - and I dare say the very deranged sad individual who trashes my beautiful, funny, sad poetry book would do that out of bare twisted malice too.

Poetry books by the National Poet of Wales sell just 150 copies each. These books are not published to sell thousands.A quality poetry book will always have modest sales, and most of my sales are via me in person, paperback. VERY few ebook sales which is GREAT as I can PROVE my accuser LIED to police when she said she'd bought my book in 2023. Nope. KDP digital evidence proves that a lie. GOTCHA!

Btw This fake review will be published in the media, and possibly used by the police to prove a certain individual lied to them - they are investigating this person at the moment, I know. I have nothing to hide and look forward to telling the story of my ordeal after being targeted by a malicious deranged hateful cyberstalker to the media. 

I have screenshots of all abuse spewed at me on MY book pages on Goodreads for two years now. I have three big folders bulging with evidence that I am the victim of a stalker, an obsessive and deranged one whose prolonged hate campaign against me, at least partly inspired by racism and anti-Semitism, but mostly by bare revenge, has had severe consequences on my life, and cause pointless and unnecessary upset, trauma, pain, loss, alarm and distress.

And for what? WHY would anyone do that, target an author and almost two years with 10,000 words of hate, lies, defamation, trashing four of his books? Most people would never do such a thing - normal people. WHAT SORT OF PERSON DOES THAT? It is deranged, nasty, obsessive - and just evil really. EVIL is a word I dislike using for its religious connoations, but I can think of no other. 

But not to worry - JUSTICE IS COMING and soon the story will be published and broadcast in the UK's and the world's media.

Tbh I cannot wait! My ordeal has been long and hard, mental torture indeed, but that will be fully compensated for with the substantial damages I'll get for my trauma and losses, from several parties.

ONWARDS AND UPWARDS! NO PASARAN! JUSTICE IS COMING!

*******************************************************

1st SEPTEMBER 2021

I am proud to announce publication of my book of quotes:

'THINKING TIME: 365 inspiring, amusing and thought-provoking quotes to get you through the year'

£7.99 paperback - the perfect Christmas present!

Great for quotes for lessons, lectures, services, speeches. Also useful for developing 'Intelligent Mindfulness' - a quote a day for a year for a daily mindfulness focus. And you'll learn something!

Plenty of quotes from Ancient Greece/Rome/China; plenty of quotes from authors, artists, politicians, actors, musicians, film/pop stars too - as reflects my education and interests.

Lots of wise and witty quotes, and great fun too!

Plenty of quotes from people of all nationalities, faiths, races and women. But ALL quotes are there ON MERIT ALONE. I vehemently oppose the patronising racism/sexism of race/gender quotas + only included quotes I feel are worthy of inclusion in my book.

Glad to get fellow Dartford boy Mick Jagger there on his birthday in July, and Freddie Mercury on his birthday 5th September.

Other pop stars include John Lydon, Annie Lennox, Keith Richards, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon also in there, reflecting my musical background, and film stars such as Charlie Chaplin there too. Women include Amy Johnson, Victoria Wood, Oprah Winfrey and many, many more. Loads of authors and poets in there too, and various politicians, historical figures and thinkers.

I dislike slushy, schmaltzy, spiritual motivational quote books and there are so many other there, so avoided such huggy-wuggy touchy-feely fluffy slushy quotes! Though there are some quotes by saints - St David on 1 March - and plenty by various philosophers from all of human history and around the world.

Some have quotes on the day they died such as Dylan Thomas, Prince Philip, Amy Johnson and many more. Some readers may notice the clever choice of quotes for significant dates; others will not. It does not matter - the book still works if they do not!

Anyway, enjoy your THINKING TIME!

I promise this will be a book of quotes you go back to time and again over the years, because the quotes are so diverse, witty, wise, fun and classic - and for every occasion.

Thinking Time: 365 Inspiring, Amusing and Thought-provoking Quotes to Get you through the Year.: Amazon.co.uk: Vanston, Jem: 9798537316305: Books

*******************************************************

MARCH 2020 - SOMEWHERE IN EUROPE, my Swansea Campus Novel.

I am proud to announce that my new campus novel SOMEWHERE IN EUROPE was published on 28th March 2020.

Set in an unnamed and fictional university town in South Wales, my tale has a great deal to say about the education system, woke snowflake censorship, New Puritan culture, gender politics, Brexit and Remain issues, the EU, the state of the nation. Available from bookshops (though they all closed on 24th March!) and the usual online sellers (though there may be a delay in lockdown).

Somewhere in Europe eBook : Vanston, P J: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

Somewhere in Europe: Amazon.co.uk: Vanston, P J: 9781838593087: Books 

The BEST place to buy it is direct from the publisher who can fulfil orders quickly at any time, lockdown or no: 

https://www.troubador.co.uk/bookshop/contemporary/somewhere-in-europe/ 

Somewhere in Europe is also available to buy direct from me - signed copy - for cover price + £3 postage, or from publisher website, or to buy or order from bookshops, or, if you must, Amazon (who snaffle 60% of cover price but at least stock books by smaller writers, unlike most bookstores). 

This novel has been called 'The Lucky Jim of now'. Or, as it says on the back cover, "It's like a cross between Catch-22 and Lucky Jim for the Brexit Generation". It is dark satire and laugh-out-loud funny at times too, but with some very moving scenes and characters too.

Worried about where education is going and how freedom of speech is under threat these days? Then this is the novel for you!

The novel predicts the rise of antisemitism in UK society especially on university campuses, and the blidn eye turned to Islamic extremism. It also accurately predicts BLM and the taking down of statues and portraits of white men too - it has already happened in The Town in the story. it foresees so much actually - the whole returning artefacts in European museums to often undeserving wealthy persons in the global south is yet another accurate prediction depicted in scenes in this scathing campus satire.

As of 2024, this novel is borrowed more from UK libraries than any other of my books, just loads of lends - which suggests it may be on a booklist or two at universities really. I love the way this novel triggers those people it lampoons too, those smug self-righteous types who claim they are 'progressive' all while yelling slogans to destroy Israel and all Jews on the streets of London. The lack of self-awareness is just stunning. Regressive, intolerant and illiberal is what these bigots are, yet always accuse others of racism - well, they need to be challenged (watch this space on that).

Any reviewer or media person wanting any further information can contact me via this website or the publishers. Many thanks.

MEANWHILE...

My Christmas poem SANTA GOES ON STRIKE was published on 30th September 2018, as a colour-illustrated paperback and ebook. (Repromoted for Christmas 2019 with WH Smith book store signings! Maybe in the run-up to Christmas 2020 too...)

It's a funny, heart-warming, meaningful poem picture book with WONDERFUL illustrations (based on my specifications) for both children and adults, and ideally is to be read aloud by families at Christmas. A fitting tribute to my late mum Marjorie who loved my poem and used to read it aloud to her friends at the many Christmas lunches she used to go to every year. It always went down a storm! (I now have it translated into French too, for media in France/Canada).

Paperback widely available online, but eBook not available on Amazon (they do not support fixed-file layout for some reason) so only available on Kobo or Apple or the online bookshop of the Cardiff publishers:

https://www.rowanvalebooks.com/book/santa-goes-on-strike

PERFECT for a Christmas present for both children and adults!

"A modern-day classic!"  "A real gem!" "delightful"

Santa Goes on Strike eBook : Vanston, Jem: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

Please see the REVIEWS page (top menu) for all the wonderful reviews and feedback for SANTA GOES ON STRIKE - which includes some very famous people too! Thanks to them for their replies! Much appreciated. Odd that strangers show more interest than local media or bookshops here in Swansea, but I guess that explains why we didn't win CITY OF CULTURE for 2021. Well done Coventry - you deserve it.

I shall be promoting SANTA GOES ON STRIKE in the run-up to Chrismas 2019 due to popular demand and the wonderful reviews. Signings at branches of WH Smith, definitely - updates nearer the time. But probably Swansea, Llanelli, Carmarthen, maybe Cardiff, possibly even branches in England. Watch this space.

Out 31st August 2017, A CAT CALLED DOG 2 - THE ONE WITH THE KITTENS was finally published.

If in the UK, buy it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cat-Called-Dog-One-Kittens/dp/1786293382/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1504178160&sr=8-7&keywords=Jem+Vanston

Or here: http://www.austinmacauley.com/book/cat-called-dog-2-one-kittens

Suitable for both children and adults. No need to read the first book to understand and enjoy this one. Excellent reviews in Cat World, The Bookbag, NetGalley etc.

Or order from your bookshop. ALSO available at UK libraries - after SOMEWHERE IN EUROPE this is my most borrowed book from them, in the 2023-24 year (just got my PLR stat form!)

If in USA or outside UK, your own country's Amazon will be stocking it.

Jem Vanston AKA PJ Vanston is also author of the satirical campus novel Crump (Troubador:2010), cat lover novel A Cat Called Dog (Troubador:2013), plus the illustrated children's/crossover version of A Cat Called Dog (Austin Macauley:2015) - and A Cat Called Dog 2 (out 31/8/2017). Occasional writer of short stories and winner of prizes too. Author of Christmas picture book (for all ages) Santa Goes On Strike (2018).

I'm also a published song writer (music and lyrics) and musician (piano/keyboards/bass guitar), and have written over 100 songs. Listen to some of my demos here: https://soundcloud.com/user-217675148

PJ Vanston is the author of a new scathing satire on the television industry, the BBC and reality TV: Rasmus - a television tale (Troubador: October 2016). This may soon be optioned by the biggest film agency in the USA. Order via Amazon:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rasmus-Television-P-J-Vanston/dp/1785893610/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1470389533&sr=1-1&keywords=rasmus+a+television+tale

http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info.asp?bookid=4061 (author page)

REVIEW (4 stars!) here: http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Rasmus:_A_Television_Tale_by_PJ_Vanston

And here: https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-d232-Satire-on-reality-TV-puts-the-gross-in-engrossing#.WUOP_uRK1PY

To order the illustrated children's version of A Cat Called Dog by Jem Vanston, please use the following information:

Paperback (£6.99)  ISBN: 9781784559595

Hardback (£12.99) ISBN: 9781784559618

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cat-Called-Dog-Jem-Vanston/dp/1784559598/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1440484462&sr=1-1&keywords=a+cat+called+dog

Also available in all decent national book shops now.

The original 2013 edition of A Cat Called Dog can be purchased here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cat-Called-Dog-Jem-Vanston/dp/1780885598

To hear radio interviews click on the sound files on the left side of this webpage:

http://www.troubador.co.uk/book_info.asp?bookid=2177

My first novel - a dark campus satire called Crump - is sold out of paperback (hurrah!) but still available in e-book format + still selling:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crump-P-J-Vanston/dp/1848762852

A sequel will be out in 2020/2021.

Here is my author page on one of my publishers' websites:

http://www.austinmacauley.com/author/vanston-jem