Hill Start Publishing

Hill Start Publishing is the home of children's picture book Finlay's Rocket, and all future creative collaborations between writer Philip Latham and visual artist Ian Hill-Smith.

Hi hi hi. I will be at the civic tomorrow 9am-12pm, where you can purchase personalised signed copies. Plus I will be do...
23/04/2022

Hi hi hi. I will be at the civic tomorrow 9am-12pm, where you can purchase personalised signed copies. Plus I will be doing full readings at both 10am and 11am. Bring the kids down as there's loads of wonderful things happening on other stalls too.

You may have noticed that we've changed our name.We are no longer 'Finlay's Rocket', because shortly we'll be starting t...
25/01/2022

You may have noticed that we've changed our name.
We are no longer 'Finlay's Rocket', because shortly we'll be starting to make announcements about a second book that we have in development.
Watch this space :)

The second of our top tier backer commissions was presented by our backer to her grandson yesterday.  He's a young lad o...
01/01/2022

The second of our top tier backer commissions was presented by our backer to her grandson yesterday. He's a young lad of 13, so technically a little old for the book, or not old enough to revisit it yet perhaps, but as he's a member of my extended family he'd heard me read a near final draft of Finlay's Rocket one distant Christmas at his grandparent's house, before I'd drawn a single picture.

Ollie's 'rocket' - the thing he would most like to build - is a big house for all his family, with football and cricket facilities, and a pool. He loves fajitas, and his main ambition is to one day score a goal for (sorry Philip) Man City. His Gran is a massive Trekkie, so I thought I'd drop a reference to that in too.

This time next week, picture the scene....A child, who according to publishing industry lore should be aged somewhere be...
18/12/2021

This time next week, picture the scene....

A child, who according to publishing industry lore should be aged somewhere between three and eight, stands amongst the tattered debris of present unwrapping, a discarded PS5 here, an ignored Paw Patrol Movie Ultimate City Tower Playset there. An Olaf mini bean bag has been disembowelled in violent protest.
The child shakes with barely contained rage, eyes red with tears of fury and hurt, fists clenched, and they mutter in a guttural rumble that really shouldn't be possible in one so young, through a jaw clenched so tight you worry that their adult teeth won't come through, one short sentence that will haunt you for the rest of your days:
"Where's.....my...... Finlay's.... Rocket...?"

Don't let this happen to you. For a mere Β£7.99 you can save Christmas morning. Order here :)
https://hillstartpublishing.com/books

Our book is now an OFFICIAL LIBRARY BOOK and is available in Middlewich library πŸ˜πŸ‘πŸ»Everybody involved in the book is ext...
17/12/2021

Our book is now an OFFICIAL LIBRARY BOOK and is available in Middlewich library πŸ˜πŸ‘πŸ»
Everybody involved in the book is extremely proud 😁

15/12/2021

Yesterday I had perhaps the ultimate accolade for the book:
"We've had the grandkids all morning, and I'm bloody sick of them asking me to read Finlay's Rocket to them."

We're down at the Wych Centre 'til 3, and we've had some interest from Disney
04/12/2021

We're down at the Wych Centre 'til 3, and we've had some interest from Disney

04/12/2021

We've got 20 of the numbered limited edition copies left, and we'll be at The Wych Centre tomorrow selling and signing. We might even read, write and draw a bit if the muse gets upon us :)

I'm at the Grosvenor Pulford Hotel this evening, doing a wonderful Christmas Market!Of you're in the Wrexham /Chester ar...
16/11/2021

I'm at the Grosvenor Pulford Hotel this evening, doing a wonderful Christmas Market!
Of you're in the Wrexham /Chester area, come down and see me πŸ˜πŸ‘πŸ»πŸ‘‹πŸ»

The top tier of funding available to our backers on the Kickstarter included a bespoke illustration.The idea was to crea...
15/11/2021

The top tier of funding available to our backers on the Kickstarter included a bespoke illustration.
The idea was to create a personalised front page for a child. Much like Finlay decided to build a rocket, what would your child/grandchild/niece/nephew.... decide to make? What are their dreams and ambitions?
Harriet, or Hatty, loves music and has a penchant for castles. She's also very taken with unicorns and Grease and Frozen, and the family dog, Fern. And generally gets on with her brother, who is a massive AC/DC fan. So I just had to stick them all in.
Her favourite song is currently Paradise City, and in my rough I had the crowd singing 'the girl's are green and the grass is pretty', but it all got a bit busy in reality, so Fern's wagging tail is subtly thudding out the distinctive opening drum beat.

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Middlewich

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