Jason Bradbury

I’ve been waiting for this week to arrive for months - the official launch of my second book, Atomic Swarm. I’m starting off with a bunch of interviews with blogs and newspapers - then later in the week I’m appearing on The Wright Stuff (Five) and Sky News. But I’m most excited about my one-hour half-term show at London’s South Bank Centre and appearances in Waterstones in shopping centres outside London (check ‘See Dot Robot Live’). MechRC and Robonova (above) are both psyched too - as they get to dance in public! Follow my exploits all week on Twitter.

*** MEET JASON THIS HALF-TERM -  18th, 19th & 20th FEBRUARY ***

Tickets are selling fast for my Dot Robot Roadshow event at London’s South Bank Centre (18th Feb) this half term. For more info and to buy tickets to the one-hour show featuring a live robot race & readings from my new children’s book click here.

And there are more books signings during half-term (18th, 19th, 20th Feb) at Waterstones in Milton Keynes, Basingstoke, Reading & Thurrock

All the times and dates you need to know are here.

I’m taking my Dot Robot books on the road. The first few dates for my 2010 Dot Robot Roadshow are in, so come and get your books signed, see some robots, win some prizes and hear me read from the second book in the Dot Robot series, Atomic Swarm.

Tuesday 2^nd Feb (6.45pm) Bristol. Bristol Grammar School. For info & tickets check out ‘An Evening with Jason Bradbury’ here.

Thursday 18^th Feb (11.30am) London. Imagine Children’s Festival, South Bank Centre, Purcell Room. Billed as ‘the UK’s brightest children’s festival’ I’ll be bouncing around the Purcell Room with robots, readings and gadgets galore. Read about my event and the rest of this exciting children’s festival.

Thursday 18^th Feb (3.30pm) Milton Keynes

Waterstone’s Milton Keynes, Midsummer Place MK9 3GA.

Appearance and book signing.

Friday 19^th Feb (12 noon) Basingstoke

Waterstone’s Basingstoke, Festival Place Shopping Centre RG21 7BE

Appearance and book signing.

Friday 19^th Feb (3.30pm) Reading

Waterstone’s Reading, The Oracle RG1 2AQ

Appearance and book signing.

Saturday 20^th Feb (1pm) Thurrock

Waterstones Lakeside Shopping Centre, West Thurrock, Grays, Essex RM20 2ZG

Appearance and book signing.

More dates coming soon! For more info about Dot Robot and for pics of some of the festivals and schools I’ve already visited with the Dot Robot Roadshow click here.

Dot Robot at the Edinburgh Festival. Great bunch of kids. Great Festival. I can’t imagine an author ever gets bored of seeing their books in a really big display! And in the week I handed in the final draft of Dot Robot: Atomic Swarm. A magic few days. Only hitch was robot Punk getting turned away at baggage check - they thought he might be a bomb! He ended up freezing his spikes off in the hold of the plane. Poor Punk.

Find Dot Robot at Puffin, Waterstones, Borders, Play or Amazon. You can read about all things Dot Robot on this blog here.

Thanks to Chris Close for the brilliant Edinburgh Book Festival picture he took of me & Robonova in around five minutes - outside!

I want to be a pupil at Bacons College in Rotherhithe! What an awesome school. From the moment I arrived, the sense of fun and enthusiasm from teachers and pupils (and their ace librarian) hit me like a tractor beam. As with so many of the schools I’ve visited with Dot Robot, the children were mad for the tech and the reading. Thanks for having me (Robonova says ‘Hi!’)

Pictured with the kids, are some of the Dot Robot Roadshow robots: Rovio (Who I operate via the net with my iPhone), Robonova (who has just finished his Tai Chi routine) and Punk (from my book)

Another school, another Dot Robot Roadshow. As you can see from the bottom picture, it was mayhem during the robot race at Walworth - I even got some stern looks from the teachers for being a bad influence (^_^) Big hello to all of the kids (and teachers!) from Walworth Academy who made me and the robots feel very welcome.

The Dot Robot Roadshow hit Harris Academy of Peckham. It’s a HUGE school!!! And wow, what a great bunch of kids! The hall was jam packed! I thought my signing hand was going to fall off. I based the fictional school in Dot Robot on Peckham Academy, so it was kinda like coming home. And here’s a thing, this picture of me taking my fictional robot, Punk, for a walk, was shot on the road next to the school. A big thank you to the pupils and teachers for accepting me into the home borough of Dot Robot’s hero, Jackson Farley.

Photos by Jed Leicester

My first school visit with the Dot Robot Roadshow was to the boyZ & girlZ of Preston Manor High School, Wembley, London! What a crazy bunch they were. SOooo many autographs! My ears still haven’t recovered from the shouting during the robot race.

The Dot Robot Roadshow starts SATURDAY 4TH APRIL, 12.30PM.  BLUE BOAR MARQUEE, CHRISTCHURCH COLLEGE OXFORD. I’m so excited to be at the Oxford Literary Festival for my first date. With just two days to go, if you want to come it’s best you turn up at the venue - but the Box Office number is 0870 343 1001 if you want to call. Dot Robot Roadshow isn’t your average book reading. I’m bringing a bunch of really cool robots including the model of Punk from my book. They’ll be a robot race and a chance to WIN one of two robots on the day!!! And of course, I’ll sign any copy of Dot Robot you like!

Other Dates include: 27th May - Hay Festival. 19th August - Edinburgh International Book Festival. 20th September - Bath Festival of Children’s Literature.

The reviews of my book Dot Robot are in and they’re beyond my wildest dreams! Here are a few:

‘Over-10s will love the hero-schoolboy and digital genius Jackson Farley… your little computing addict will love it.’ The Daily Mirror

‘The Gadget Show’s Jason Bradbury’s up-to-the-minute Dot.Robot looks like if might be perfect for the gamers.’ The Ultimate Book Guide

‘The heroes of Dot Robot play video games, tinker with mathematical puzzles and are approached by a mysterious agency to help assemble fighting machines’. The anonymity of the internet is an opportunity for a downtrodden young geek to compete equally with others and use his smarts to good advantage.’  SFX magazine.

‘It’s brilliant!’ Steve Wright BBC Radio 2.

‘This is my new holiday book!’ Matthew Wright, The Wright Stuff (Five TV)

‘Bradbury bolts his knowledge of cutting-edge gadgetry on to an action-packed and serviceably sinuous plot, resulting in high-calibre high-tech high-jinks.’ Financial Times 

‘This book is perfect for gadget loving kids - especially as all the technology in the book is currently ‘out’ there in the real world right now!’ Bookseller Review, Waterstones

 And just a few of the customer reviews online:

‘This book is frankly one of the best books I have ever read. This may be for younger boys but I’m 14 and absolutely loved it!’ ***** Amazon.co.uk

This is a cracking first book from super-geek Jason Bradbury. It was so gripping that I had to finish it all in one go and stayed up til 4am (on a school night too, tsk). *****Amazon.co.uk

‘I can’t wait for next February when the next instalment is released and will definitely be passing this on to friends.’ ***** Amazon.co.uk

‘A hard book to put down, full of adventure with plenty of twists and turns. Its an easy uncomplicated read that takes a grip of you as soon as you start to read the first chapter.’ ***** Waterstones.com

‘A superb read. A brilliant book that I couldn’t put down! Aimed at kids but I enjoyed it and I’m 42!’ ***** Play.com

You can pick up your own copy of Dot Robot from Puffin, Waterstones, Borders, Play or Amazon. The official site of the book is doyouknowanysecrets.com (hmmm, is it all it seems?) You can read about all things Dot Robot on this blog here.