Photo Gallery
Author photo by Dimitri Legakis
Me on THAT'S TV SOUTH WALES talking about my poems in THE LOVED ONES - A COLLECTION OF PANDEMIC POEMS ABOUT LOVE AND LOSS 5/11/20, waving a letter from Captain Tom.
Below is my letter to THE INDEPENDENT national newspaper in 2012, the one South Wales Police in 2023 told me was racist. Yes, really. Read it and decide for yourself. Disgusting allegation! This 2012 letter will be part of my civil action against the police & will be shared widely in the media and on TV when the time comes.
CT, my friend of over 30 years, laughed his head off when I told him some deranged maniac cyberstalker anti-Semite with a grudge against me accused me of racism & even reported me to police - who both will all be sued HARD in time. The Great British Media will name and shame them all too (I shall not need to do a thing), photos included, snide smirk and all, no hiding place, no skulking behind the camera any more for these liars who defamed me in a malicious hate campaign of nasty malevolent revenge. Great memories of me and CT in UK, Nottingham, Blackpool, Sheffield 1989/90/91, and Ottawa, Canada 2006/9. Ah...TEMPUS FUGIT...
From late 1988 to summer 1990 I was in a band in Sheffield called POISONOUS LITTLE CREATURES or PLC (not MY choice of name) with Denzil the sometimes-out-of-tune singer and guitarist Kirk (Jamaican dad; English mum) who is still a good friend after over 30 years. I played bass guitar AND keyboards, but not at the same time! A great album and single from it, some really decent songs which I co-wrote (music and lots of lyrics); tour of Germany too.
BEHOLD! My 1985 painting of 'derelict buildings' for Art O level, for which I got an A grade (1 of 8 O levels, As and Bs). Original artwork, that is why - most students would just do a derelict house; I sketched WWII defensive buildings in Port Authority Land in longtime port stronghold Sheerness where we had a caravan and where my dad lived (Dickens lived there as a boy in 1820s too, Great Expectations set near there, Magwitch hiding on marshes etc). I used a sponge for the foreground greenery, seen through a fence, great shapes to those WWII defensive military buildings (by a Napoleonic era moat, constructed to keep the invading French out over 2 centuries ago). Got me an A in the days when only 7% of entrants got A grades, of the elite 30% who did O levels (most did CSEs, a grade 1 CSE was a C at O level). I know composition, did lots of prep sketches, pencil and paint. My ambitious still life helped. AMBITION IS CRITICAL. Examiner/marker saw that, and rewarded me appropriately. A grade.
GREAT review from YOUR CAT for my much-loved popular crossover cat book The LIVES OF SUMMER
Derby ACADEMICS FOR ACADEMIC FREEDOM meeting with the lovely Katy & Dennis late 2022.
Above are photos of me with our rescue cats Bumble and Honey Cat, plus other snaps of cats with A Cat Called Dog sent in by fans around the world.
Details of all photos are under them (just click on the photo); if you don't want your photo or image to be on here, just email me via the contact page and I'll take it down asap. Thanks.
There are some photos here of Dartford, Kent, my home town, and my old school Dartford Grammar, plus the Rolling Stones plaque at Dartford Station.
Also some pics from my book signing at WH Smith, Llanelli, on Saturday 31st October 2015.
And some shameless selfie pics of the 2013 and 2015 editions of my book A Cat Called Dog on tour in Italy - Rome, Bologna and Tuscany - and The Vatican in 2015, plus Genoa, Santa Marguerrita, Rapallo, Potofino, and Florence in 2017.
Feel free to email me photos with A Cat Called Dog (either edition) + your cats or in places of interest + I shall put them up here!
News
See news of upcoming publications and events for award-winning author Jem PJ Vanston:
I am proud to announce that my 10th book, the adorable crossover book The Nine Lives of Summer, my new cat story - for kids and cat-loving adults too - was published on 1st March 2023 via Two Fat Cats Publishing - on the tenth anniversay of class cat novel A Cat Called Dog being published. "A heart-warming tale with a life-affirming message." "Often funny, sometimes, sad, always hopeful." This diverse (and anti-racist) emotional rollercoaster crossover story for both kids AND adults starts in Syria, where the war forces a family to flee, then travels to a dozen countries (Australia, India, Japan/China, Greenland, USA/Canada, Italy, Spain, Wales) through the nine lives of Summer, via a vast array of diverse cultures and people.
For review copies or interview requests, just email acatcalleddog@hotmail.co.uk or contact via Twitter @9LivesofSummer or via this author website.
My debut collection of poetry THE LOVED ONES - A COLLECTION OF PANDEMIC POEMS ABOUT LOVE AND LOSS was published 9 April 2022. It comprises 54 poems; including 10 lyrics with 9 online links to the demo song recordings provided via links in the book. Two poems are in National Museum Covid Archives: POEM OF THE PLAGUE YEAR and TWENTY-TWENTY: A YEAR IN THE LIFE, which was featured on Swansea TV and was called 'poignant' by a representative of Her Majesty the Queen.
Available online worldwide, Amazon etc, or in Harrisons, Uplands and Cover to Cover, Mumbles, or from me direct (most of my poem book sales happen that way).
"THINKING TIME - 365 Inspiring, Amusing and Thought-provoking quotes to get you through the year" (2021), my diverse quote book, still sells a load on eBook every year, worldwide. Intelligent Mindfulness, yes, but also with funny, insightful, INTELLIGENT quotes from individuals from throughout history up to the present day. To dip into, read through or use for mindfulness daily, or for general education (no googoogaga fluffy slushy quote book this). An educated quote book a cut above most of the rest.
On 28th March 2020 my satirical campus/Brexit novel was published - my 7th book. SOMEWHERE IN EUROPE ('Crump 2') is a real epic - funny, moving and timely. A state of the nation novel which has something to say. A brilliant satire of wokery at UK universities and cancel culture, which predicts so much (riots etc). Unfortunately, published in the same week as Pandemic Lockdown SO that scuppered that then - such is life! I am stoical about such things because the book EXISTS and will do for evermore as a 'state of the nation' novel of our times. But together with its prequel CRUMP (2010) it is a classic campus novel all interested in the genre has to read.
My satirical novels CORRECTLY predicted the RIOTS in the UK too, 2011 and 2024, growing anti-Semitism and Islamist extremism too - life defintely apeing art. CRUMP (2010); RASMUS (2016, a reality TV novel); CRUMP 2 - SOMEWHERE IN EUROPE (2020) are a loose trilogy, a real STATE OF THE NATION triumph, as one reviewer stated. Read them and weep, and laugh, and cry, or be triggered into tamping like a boohoo baby if you want. LOL! Your choice.
Contact
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Twitter: @acatcalleddog @ThinkingQuotes7
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