“An impressive job of publicising his work”

Yesterday I quoted from a recent BBC conversation with British fabulist G. P. Taylor. Back in September 2008 Taylor complained to the Telegraph that the BBC was refusing to book him on its interview shows. ”Once they had decided that I was promoting Christianity in my books I found the door firmly shut,” he claimed.

A BCC spokesman responded, “There is no truth in the claim that there is a BBC ban on G P Taylor.” Jonathan Wynne-Jones, the paper’s religious affairs correspondent, did some additional reporting on Taylor’s claim:

Internal correspondence between BBC staff, obtained by the author under the Freedom of Information Act, shows unease about the writer, although the documents question his character rather than his faith.

One email was sent by Christine Morgan, BBC radio’s executive producer of religion. She wrote: “He does an impressive job of publicising his work but he is not universally admired... He has a very high opinion of his own books and in recent press releases there were constant references to him being the writer to take on J K Rowling’s mantle. There’s something quite revealing about their tone."

In that same Telegraph article Taylor dropped another pronouncement:

He says that once his present series of books is complete, he will write under another name and employ an actor to do any public appearances, in an attempt to stop his work being “discriminated” against.

About a year later, in October 2009, told the Yorkshire Post that he was “ending his career prematurely to look after his 11 year-old daughter,” who was unfortunately having to deal with a chronic illness.

Since 2009 Taylor has published four books, including a new series. In addition to speaking to the BBC in favor of age labels on children’s books, he’s currently involved in some movie adaptations.

The Film Stage reports that European producers are casting for Taylor’s Mariah Mundi, with Martin Sheen among the actors considered. “Notarius316” commented on that story:

I think Sheen will be amazing and having read the full story in Variety I am looking forward to the Mariah film.

Interestingly, Notarius316’s Disqus profile indicates he/she also commented on a blog posting about the career of G. P. Taylor:

would you like a chat so I can tell you what went on with Putnam?
GP
email me via my website ...

An impressive job, indeed.