Guest Post – Interview With The Pet Defenders by Gareth P Jones
It’s no secret that my son and I are HUGE fans of Gareth’s books. We always read them with a huge smile on our faces and Gareth’s new series, Pet Defenders does just that!
I am over the moon to have been asked by the lovely people at Stripes Publishing / Little Tiger Press to be part of the blog tour for this super funny book which is released on the 9th February 2017.
Illustrated by the super talented brilliant Steve May, Pet Defenders of the Earth follows Mitzy and Biskit and it is their job to save the world from alien invasions – just so long as they can stop fighting like cat and dog for long enough to do it! Beth at Stripes Publishing describes it as The Secret Life of Pets meets The X Files!
Biskit works alone. So when the unruly Pet Defenders dog agent is teamed up with Mitzy – a rookie and, even worse, a cat – he’s not happy. Can Biskit put his ego aside and work with Mitzy to save the world from an alien attack of terrifying proportions? When the humunga-dunga beetle rolls into town, the dynamic duo are going to need all their skills to stop the creature from laying waste to the world as they know it…
So for todays guest post I have come across a transcript of an interview conducted in February 2017 in an unknown location…..
The Pet Defenders Code: 1. The safety of Planet Earth depends on you. 2. Humans MUST NOT know the truth. GOOD LUCK – you’ll need it…
From Gareth P. Jones, winner of the Blue Peter Award and author of successful young series fiction, including NINA MEERKATS, comes a brand-new comic caper. THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS meets THE X FILES – Pet Defenders are secret agents with a difference.
It’s up to Mitzy and Biskit to save the world from alien invasions – just so long as they can stop fighting like cat and dog for long enough to do it!
Secret agent Biskit is not happy when he discovers his new partner Mitzy is a cat – everyone knows that cats and dogs don’t mix. But saving the earth from alien invasions must come first and the planet is under attack! A cluster of cow pats has flown into town and they’re whipping up a stink… It’s time for Biskit and Mitzy to put aside their differences and kick some alien butt!
For fans of funny and action-packed animal adventures including Andrew Cope’s Spy Dog series, Astrosaurs and Jeremy Strong.
Interview with the Pet Defenders
Transcript of Interview conducted February 2017
Location unknown
To celebrate the publication of Pet Defenders: Attack of the Alien Dung, (Stripes) award-winning author Gareth P Jones secured an exclusive interview with the book’s protagonists (a dog called Biskit, and a cat called Mitzy). For security reasons, Gareth was blindfolded then brought to a secret location. As the blindfold was removed he observed he was in some kind of windowless room. A single bulb hung from the ceiling. In front of him stood a scruffy brown mongrel and a tabby cat with white paws and a white smudge on her nose. Looking up he noticed a seagull perched above his head.
GPJ: Oh, hello. Biskit and Mitzy, isn’t it?
Biskit: How do you know that? How does he know that?
Mitzy: I’ve no idea but it’s not good. We should get the bird to drop the Forget-Me-Plop and wipe his memory now.
GPJ: What? No…. Hey, I can understand what you’re saying. How is that possible?
Mitzy: The room is coated with Universal Translation Paint. It is translating Biskit’s barks and my meows into a language you understand. It’s one of Example’s inventions.
GPJ: You mean Example One, the super intelligent lab mouse who heads up the Nothington Extra-terrestrial Research Division team, NERD for short?
Biskit: How do you know all this? No one is supposed to know any of this.
GPJ: Yes but I’m your author.
Biskit: What are you talking about?
GPJ: I created the series. I came up with the idea of a secret organization of pets keeping the planet safe from alien attack while us humans are totally oblivious. It’s fun, right?
Mitzy: Fun? You think our job sounds fun?
GPJ: Well, yes, look… this isn’t going as I planned. I wanted to do a light-hearted interview for Chelle’s book blog, Tales of Yesterday.
Biskit: Who’s Chelle? What is she doing with lots of tails?
Mitzy: We should probably wipe her memory too? I’ll send a seagull.
GPJ: No, please don’t wipe her memory. She’s a blogger.
Mitzy: What’s a blogger?
Biskit: Probably some kind of alien from the planet Blog, come to Earth to enslave humans.
GPJ: What? No. That’s not it. It means she writes stuff on her website… Look, it doesn’t matter. Can’t we just do this normally? I’ll ask you questions and you answer them.
Biskit: Sorry mate. We ask the questions.
Mitzy: Hm, maybe we should let him, Biskit. That way we can find out how much he knows.
Biskit: That makes sense. Go ahead, ask your questions Mr Author man.
GPJ: Oh. Thanks. Any chance you can untie me?
Biskit growls
GPJ: No? Fair enough. So Pet Defenders, what’s the scariest alien you’ve ever fought?
Mitzy: Sorry. That’s classified.
GPJ: OK. Then how many aliens have you encountered?
Mitzy: Yeah, that’s classified too.
GPJ: Er…. What’s your favourite colour?
Mitzy: We can’t tell you that.
GPJ: This is ridiculous. You haven’t told me a single thing and I created you. You should show me more respect.
Biskit: Respect? Why should we respect you?
GPJ: Because, um, er… Oh, I’ve got it. Because I haven’t written the fourth book yet. I could make your lives pretty uncomfortable.
Mitzy: You could if you were able to remember any of this.
Biskit: Yeah, see you round Mr Author.
GPJ: No. Wait! Please….
SPLAT!
Transcript ends.
Pet Defenders: Attack of the Alien Dung is published 9th of February. The second book in the series, Beards from Outer Space comes out in May, with the third (Escape from Planet Bogey) being published in September.
Gareth P Jones has no memory of the above conversation.
You can buy a copy of this book here or from your local bookshop
About Gareth P Jones
Gareth P. Jones is the author of many books for children, including the NINJA MEERKATS series, and THE CONSIDINE CURSE, for which he won the Blue Peter Book of the Year 2012 award. He also works as a producer of TV documentaries. He lives in Forest Hill, south east London, with his wife and children.
To find out more about Gareth visit his website – www.garethwrites.co.uk
Or why not follow Gareth on twitter – @jonesgarethp
About Steve May
Steve May is an illustrator and animator based in north London. He was born in sunny Hastings and has an MA in Animation from the Royal College of Art. As an illustrator he has produced work for a variety of clients including Puffin and Faber.
To find out more about Steve May visit – www.stevemay.biz
A huge thank you to Gareth for such a fab guest post and to Beth at Stripes Publishing for asking me to take part and for organising.
You can find some previous posts with Gareth P Jones on Tales using the following links –
Which Character From The Thornthwaite Betrayal Are You?
Adventures Of The Steampunk Pirates: The Leaky Battery Sets Sail
Pet Defenders: Attack Of The Alien Dung! Cover Reveal
Have you read Pet Defenders: Attack Of The Alien Dung!? Are you intrigued? Have you read any of Gareth’s other books? I would love to hear from you! Why not leave a comment using the reply button at the top of this post or tweet me on twitter using @chelleytoy !
Happy Reading
