Christmas Giveaway Authors: Huw Thomas and Stephen Gallup

Today we meet Huw Thomas and Stephen Gallup, both of whom are offering copies of their books in our Christmas giveaway. Enter to win a huge bundle of Kindle books on my Facebook page. Huw is also offering fiver runner-ups a copy of The Tale of Findo Gask and his latest title, Pagan's Spinx written under the penname William Webster as part of the bundle.
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Findo Gask is a thief: born in a ditch, raised in a slum and educated by the underworld.

As an unregistered child with no official identity, Findo learns early on how to keep his head down, slip in and out of places unobserved - and run from trouble: perfect talents for a thief.

To begin with, Findo steals to survive but - as he gets older and his exploits more audacious - theft becomes a form of self-expression, a way of asserting his identity and shouting out his name to a world that doesn’t seem to care.

‘The Tale Of Findo Gask’ is a story about a boy who has no identity but a burning desire to prove himself; someone who does what others would love to do if they had no morals… or weren’t frightened of getting caught.

From pinching cigarettes in a corner shop to an armed raid on a security firm, from saving drowning dogs to stealing a diva’s tiara, ‘The Tale Of Findo Gask’ is the story of a rollercoaster life in the underbelly of modern Britain.

It’s not a crime novel but the story of an unconventional life: a book about alienation, love and a desperate search for acceptance and purpose.

"The Tale of Findo Gask" was national winner of the Undiscovered Authors General Fiction Prize for 2006.

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Writer, traveller, cyclist and gardener: I've always been a dreamer - I wrote my first 'book' while at primary school and making up stories has long been one of my favourite occupations.

I was born in Southampton, England, in 1965 and grew up in a small market town called Romsey.

Over the years that followed I worked as a journalist, PR consultant, gardener and, most recently, teaching English in Portugal.

My first novel - The Tale Of Findo Gask - was published in 2006 after winning the national final of a UK competition to discover new authors. I've also written several other books and published a collection of short stories.

Author's Blog: hdthomas.wordpress.com
Facebook: Huw Thomas
Amazon.com: Author's Page
Find out more about Pagan's Spinx here.

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Nobody knew what hurt little Joseph, and no one was offering a way to help him. He cried most of the time, and thrashed about as if in pain. He wasn't learning how to crawl, talk, or interact normally. Doctors told his parents to seek counseling, because nothing could help their son, and the quality of their own lives was at risk. Refusal to accept that advice changed their lives forever. WHAT ABOUT THE BOY? A Father's Pledge to His Disabled Son chronicles a family's rejection of hopelessness and their commitment to the pursuit of normalcy.
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Stephen Gallup grew up in North Carolina and Virginia. He studied at NC State University, earning a bachelor's degree in the life sciences, and then at the University of Virginia, where he received a master’s in English. 

Although he remains a Southerner at heart, he now lives in California with his family.

Beginning in 1977, he worked in various roles in technical communication in the aerospace and wireless telecommunications industries, with projects ranging from proposals for satellite launches and feasibility studies of space missions, to user guides for trendy new cell phones. In the early years, he wrote occasional short fiction on the side, and features for newspapers. 

Gallup’s life changed dramatically with the birth of his son Joseph in 1985. Upon learning that there was a problem, he applied his energies to a pursuit of answers that he felt certain must exist. After a year of consulting with physicians to no effect, he located other resources. For the next four years, he and his wife Judy implemented an intensive two-pronged treatment campaign that resulted in dramatic improvements in Joseph’s condition. 

His memoir What About the Boy? shows what the family did, and what happened next. The book has twice won "Best Memoir" in the San Diego Book Awards competitions, once in the Unpublished category (2007) and again following publication in 2011.

What About the Boy? is available to purchase on Amazon.
Find out more about Stephen on his website.

Guest Post: The Tale of Findo Gask

Thanks to Huw Thomas for my featured guest post today. Huw talks about the joys of writing about thieves in his book, The Tale of Findo Gask, which is free on Amazon until the 21st October.
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There are many reasons to be a writer but one of the most basic, for me at least, is the sheer fun involved.

Creation is pleasure. Our chance to play god in a world of our own making and choosing.

If you’re a fantasy writer then it can literally be a whole world to invent - geography, culture, history, science etc. But even if you set your stories in the here and now then there’s still a lot of choices to make… and fun to have.

For my novel The Tale Of Findo Gask all I started out with was a name - taken from a road sign in southern Scotland.

I knew that Findo Gask was going to be an interesting character from the outset. The name sounded slightly Dickensian and definitely not conventional. He was clearly an outsider.

I quickly realised that Findo was a thief and that was where the fun began. I started to hatch all kinds of schemes and escapades that a young thief might get involved in - from raiding the local corner shop to stealing a tiara off an opera diva’s head!

It’s probably true that there’s a little bit of me in most of my main characters and that’s certainly the case with Findo. In many ways he’s an innocent, a bit naïve, a loner but also with a rebellious streak. Some might say bloody-minded.

As my ideas for the book began to coalesce, I thought more about why Findo was an outsider and - more importantly - whether his actions as a thief might be defensible.

The theme that developed started from a single question: do the majority of people obey the law because of their morals or because they’re scared of getting caught?

From that, I wondered whether we should really expect others to conform to our rules if they don’t have a stake in society.

You see: Findo is born into poverty. His mother is a drug addict; he doesn’t go to school and has about the most unpromising upbringing I could imagine. He’s never had any of the benefits most of us take for granted.

And so, in his eyes - those of a young boy growing up without no conventional moral framework - stealing is just a case of taking what he needs from a world that isn’t giving anything out for free.

But that’s the underlying theme of the book. Findo doesn’t stop to analyse what he’s doing: he’s too busy keeping his head down and trying to avoid the police, security guards and various rival criminal gangs.

As a young boy I had a tendency to get into places where I wasn’t supposed to be. Findo gave me an excuse to expand on some of those childhood escapades and take them to a whole different level.

The Tale Of Findo Gask follows his life from birth to late teens. A lot of thieving goes on but also a bit of heroism, a splash of romance - and a dash of social comment. It was a joy to write and I think Findo is still probably the character I’ve most enjoyed releasing onto the page. (I didn’t invent him - he does exist somewhere.)

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For anyone’s interested in reading about Findo’s adventures, the Kindle version is free on Amazon until Sunday 21st October.

Findo Gask is a thief: born in a ditch, raised in a slum and educated by the underworld.
As an unregistered child with no official identity, Findo learns early on how to keep his head down, slip in and out of places unobserved - and run from trouble: perfect talents for a thief.

To begin with, Findo steals to survive but - as he gets older and his exploits more audacious - theft becomes a form of self-expression, a way of asserting his identity and shouting out his name to a world that doesn’t seem to care.

‘The Tale Of Findo Gask’ is a story about a boy who has no identity but a burning desire to prove himself; someone who does what others would love to do if they had no morals… or weren’t frightened of getting caught.