It is with great pleasure that I announce that my book Ginger the Carrot was published in May this year by Un Café, l’Edition (yes, this post has been a while coming!). Illustrated by the talented Sally Dee, Ginger the Carrot is a picture book for adults and the first in the series Rotten Veggies.

It’s been a long process to get to this stage, with some very memorable experiences along the way! Such as actually witnessing the birth of Ginger at the printer! Here’s a small video showing some of the process:

Ginger’s is a coming of age story about leaving home and discovering the world. It’s about smoking your first toke, getting sick on alcohol and being with a woman for the first time. And then it’s about revenge for all those little carrots back in your patch who were always laughing at you ’cause you looked different…in a bloody-orangey type of way!

The story is often caustic and brutal, and has a ‘no-holds barred’ approach to it’s use of coarse language, yet at the same time portrays an honesty and an innocence of discovering the world and all that is in it, both good and bad.

Sally’s style for the illustrations of Ginger the Carrot is naïve, destined for a young audience in their appearance but specifically for an adult audience in their detail. Her illustrations capture the essence of the story while portraying the shock and awe of the meaning of the words in a subtle and clandestine form.

The book itself is small and stylish. Printed on 215 gram thick Freelife Merida paper within a double folded 350 gram cover of white Tintoretto Aylon paper. Ginger the Carrot is more than just a book, it is an ‘objet d’art’.

Since it’s publication there has been a number of book signings and readings in and around Toulouse in the south of France.

Book signing and reading, Malmö&Luleå, May 2013










Book signing and reading, L’Escale, Aurignac, June 2013

Sold a book! Fête du papier, Mazeres-Sur-Salat, June 2013

And a decent amount of press as well!








Ginger has now launched in Australia which has presented other interesting experiences —namely promoting and marketing a book from afar! (I’m in France! Merde! 😀 ) But my ‘marketing team’ read that: friends and family are on the ball. The word is out and about.

I’m happy to be able to share with you some of the experiences and extracts that make up the adventure that is Ginger the Carrot. This doesn’t compare of course to holding him in your hands and feeling the thick grain of a paper between your fingers as you open and flick through the pages. Ginger the Carrot is like a painted canvas you can pick up and touch, with the added benefit of being a story you can dip into and read and laugh-out-loud before resting it down to display as an object on your coffee table, or your bookshelf or dag-nammit, why the hell not on your wall??

To read more about Ginger and his exploits you can visit www.rottenveggies.com and Ginger’s facebook page. The book is available in both the original English and en Français (this first run is limited to 300 copies in each language). To find out where to get your hands on a copy click here. You can also buy a copy online and have it sent to you.

Stay tuned for the next installment in the series: Randy the Runner! Coming soon…