New book this summer. It's a long story...

So, where do we go from minipigs? The answer takes the shape of my new book, Walking With Sausage Dogs, published in hardback this summer, and here is the cover.


Keeping pets is a lovely idea. When building a family, they complement the kids. But what happens when things get out of hand?


For writer and house husband, Matt Whyman, it`s a case of catastrophe management in coping with four children and all the ill-advised animals amassed by his career wife, Emma. 


Just as Matt gets to grips with managing her two maxed out minipigs, she falls for a miniature Dachshund - the kind of dog he wouldn`t be seen dead with.


Hercules isn`t big or clever, but Emma is determined. She`ll do everything, she promises...

Hercules sizes up the previous book

Walking With Sausage Dogs is published on July 5th 2012 by Hodder & Stoughton.

new edition

Oink is now available in Germany. It's translated by the lovely Gabriele Zigldrum and published by Page & Turner.

Boy Kills Man - digital edition

In 2004, I wrote a novel that was very different from anything I had done before. A story about Colombian child assassins, Boy Kills Man paid no heed to happy endings. I didn't see why I should sugar a very real, raw and shocking reality for kids caught up in gang culture. My editor, who was expecting a follow up to a teen comedy about skateboarding, took a deep breath and got behind it.

Close to publication, a report that an early reader of the book had been left traumatised made the pages of the Times Educational Supplement. This was mostly because I'd been quoted as saying that I was pleased. I felt it was better that the book provoked a reaction rather than be forgotten, and also served as a springboard for a conversation about violence and its impact on young people. Despite a slightly scary start - I worried it would be pulled - the book went on to be shortlisted for the BookTrust Teenage Book Award, and featured on various picks of the year.

I remain very proud of this book. A film is in development and readers still get in touch with questions and comments.

Now, eight years after first publication, Boy Kills Man is available as an ebook. It's released on March 19th at £3.99, and downloadable from all the usual outlets.

minipigs in paperback

It's paperback time in the UK for my memoir about family life with badly-researched pet pigs. Given that Butch and Roxi are now pretty much maxed-out minipigs, the book has a fresh new look and name.

Pig in the Middle is published on October 13th by Hodder & Stoughton. Also available as an e-book.

Oink: My Life With Mini-Pigs

This week sees publication of the hardback in the USA. It's also available as an ebook, and an unabridged audiobook (CD/Mp3), as read by Simon Vance (the voice of Stieg Larsson's novels). Check out a sample here.


To mark publication, Simon & Schuster USA are offering two free copies to American readers over on the Oinkminipigs Facebook page. All you have to do is take a look at a picture of Roxi and guess her weight (clue: aim high!). The winners will be announced on Friday.

Finally, my thanks to the Richmond Times-Dispatch for a lovely early review:

"Written with wry humor and accompanied by numerous photos, Oink at first appears to be a light read — and Whyman's nimble touch with language confirms that impression — but on a deeper level, its center falls as much on people as it does on pigs. Butch and Roxi may be the ostensible stars, but it's the six Whymans — and particularly Matt and Emma — who tug at the reader's heart while simultaneously eliciting chuckles and the occasional belly laugh … a moving salute to love, family and commitment."

Pig in the Middle

In the UK, my pig memoir gets a fresh new jacket and title for the paperback. No more stunt pigs on the cover. Just Butch and Roxi, a line up of wellies and the kind of lawn I can only dream about.

Pig in the Middle is published on October 13th by Hodder & Stoughton.

Bring on the butterflies ...

Above is the French book club edition of OINK, which I thought I'd share. It's a far cry from:

 ... but I like it all the same.