The Boy Who Stole Time & other things

[Mark Bowsher]

Hello there everybody on Litopia,

So, having never been on a forum like this before I'm going to be super-inventive and copy and paste the bio I've just written:

Writer (mostly) of speculative fiction who somehow makes a living as a film director / editor.

I've written several award-winning films and am now trying to get my first novel - 'The Boy Who Stole Time', a children's fantasy novel (although it definitely appeals to adults as well!) - published. It's the story of a boy who signs a deal with a devil to collect the essence of time itself from magical realms to save his terminally ill mother.

Here are some of my favourite novels:

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold by John le Carre
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
The BFG by Roald Dahl
The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
Dove by Robin Lee Graham
Around the World in 80 Days by Michael Palin

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Hello Mark The essence of time would make for the most fiendishly challenging genie in a bottle. Faustian indeed.

What kind of films?

Have you come across Skellig by David Almond, about a scratty fly-eating angel who craves Chinese takeaways and has woken to save the boy's sister...maybe.

Like yours, it's supposedly for children but it's a good adult read.

 

[KG Christopher]

Welcome Mark

 

[Mark Bowsher]

Thanks KG and hi Katie-Ellen,

Yes, Skellig's been something people'll recommended to me over the years so I really should read it!

I make all sorts of films, a few music videos, but mainly corporate videos for people like Santander, Pearson, Choice Support and The Big Issue. I also do a lot of crowd-funding videos for publishers Unbound so at least I get to meet a lot of authors!

 

[Katie-Ellen]

Interesting! Do you write scripts to a brief from a bod inside Santander etc, or do they give you a fair bit of free rein?

 

[Mark Bowsher]

Most of the corporate jobs have a strict script that they provide but I've written a number of my own shorts and I've pitched music video concepts to bands and been commissioned

 

[Paul Whybrow]

Welcome to the Colony, Mark.

 

[Emurelda]

Fascinating bio. Welcome welcome.

 

[Mark Bowsher]

Thanks Paul and Emurelda!

 

[Peggy Lou]

Nice to meet another Pratchett fan, or is it only the Reaper Man (which is one of the best).

Welcome Mark, hope you snag an agent fast. Sounds like a neat plot.

 

[Carol Rose]

Welcome!

 

[Sea-shore]

Hello and welcome!

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Welcome!

 

[Marc Joan]

Welcome!

 

[James Marinero]

Welcome, I'm sure you will have fun contributing and gleaning advice!

 

[David Newrick]

Welcome to Litopia Mark.