Biography

James Daniel locks himself in a dark cupboard all day and writes different bits of stuff. He started his career on BBC Radio 5, providing comedy snippets for Rave and working alongside the likes of Rob Brydon and Ruth Jones. Since then, he’s been a rubbish stand-up comic and written sketches for TV and radio, including a particularly bad one for Freddie Starr that he’d rather not talk about. 

Moving into the days of CD-Rom, James scripted two comedy-adventure titles: Spud and The Quivering, both published by Charybdis Software.

Working with Mark Landon and Gert Thomas, James co-wrote BBC Wales’ TV sitcom Hang The DJ, then he teamed up with Landon again to write the radio comedy White Collar Rapids. For 3 years he taught sitcom writing at Cardiff University, pushing his pet theory that 37 is funnier than 36. But he doesn’t do that any more.

James’ first children’s story, The Pickle-Smith Trunk-Warmer, has been 25 years in the making. He blames the delay on a mix of other projects, life, work, daytime TV and a really comfy sofa.

James is married to Rebekah, has a son called Jamie and lives in the rainiest bit of South Wales. 

The Pickle-Smith Trunk-Warmer by James Daniel
EarthMonkey Media Ltd (ISBN: 978-0-9567442-0-3)
Price: £6.99
Available at: www.picklesmith.co.uk

Indigo (Indy) Pickle-Smith is a brainy schoolboy inventor – famous in Topsy-on-the-Wibble for making clever widgets like The Pickle-Smith Metal Detector. But he’s had his share of flops too, like The Pickle-Smith Petal Detector, which was just a bee tied to a stick. Every genius has their off days.
 
Still, Indy’s latest invention will be his crowning glory. The Pickle-Smith Trunk-Warmer is a must-have for elephants...at last they can go skiing and not worry about TrunkFrost.
 
Or at least, that’s what Indy hopes! But he doesn’t know if it works yet. He needs to find an elephant he can test it on. And there’s only one in the whole village – which he’s not allowed to borrow.
 
Join Indy as he jets off to Africa on a gizmo-critical mission. Meet a shy elephant called Brian, too many Mango Sludge Frogs and the only warty jungle trolls with their very own knitting circle.
 
Will Indy escape the trolls’ lair?  Will he get to test his invention?  And come to think of it, do elephants want to go skiing anyway?
James Daniel answers all these questions in “The Pickle-Smith Trunk-Warmer” – his first children’s book, with illustrations by Gavin Brearey.