Bowvayne

Biography

Bowvayne (also known as Bow) has investigated myths and mysteries, presented children's television programmes, performed hundreds of public speaking engagements, written a television series in Australia, movie screenplays, and a manual on how to write creatively.

As a teenager, Bowvayne was encouraged by Kate Bush and Donovan to turn his song lyrics into children's books. He took their advice and has now sold more than one million books around the world. He is the best-selling author of the 'Mythbusters' series, The Misadventures of Danny Cloke series, and the humorous but campaigning Skin Deep, endorsed by Australia's Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer MP. His work has been compared favourably to writer Roald Dahl in both the UK and Australian press.

Albums

Bowvayne's 2001 debut album, Molten, was recorded in Australia and includes rocker Joe Camilleri (Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons, The Revelators and his Black Sorrows). As well as playing a vast array of instruments, Joe was also the producer for the album, which was recorded at Camilleri's Woodstock Studios.

Work is completed on his second album, The Mark of Gold Light, in collaboration with ith Jim Eldritch and Matt Zander. The album will be themed with short pieces of narration.

Singles

2001 Hot for You is taken from the album Molten. It is a different edit from the album track itself, and includes two bonus edits – the Shanghai Radio Edit and Shanghai 12" re-mix.

Videos

2002 Hot for You.

Books

Bow's first fiction book, a children's fantasy entitled The Forbidden Jewel, was published in 1987 and was endorsed by Kate Bush by writing the foreword "If you like adventure, fantasy and magic, then this is the book for you". His next novel, All Manner of Magic, was the best-selling children's book at the 1990 Singapore International Book Fair – a book fair held annually at the World Trade Center. In 1992, Bow wrote four books for the well-known Australian characters, the Kangaroo Creek Gang series, entitled Treasure Map, The Liar Bird, Superstickious and One Joke Too Many.

The "Mythbusters" series of books have published and sold internationally, and include Mythbusters – First Cases (1991), Mythbusters – Nut Cases (1993) (School Book Fairs' Book of the Term in the autumn of 1993), and Mythbusters – Real-Life Adventures in the World of the Supernatural (1996), published by Puffin Books. This involved Bowvayne and his team travelling all over the world investigating mysteries from monsters and buried treasure to UFOs and ghosts. From 1993 to 1996, they also made appearances on the UK Channel 4 morning variety show The Big Breakfast in this capacity.

In 1996 the books The Monster Store (a collection of children's short stories), and Creative Sparkle (a creative writing manual) were published in Singapore and Malaysia.

Alexander Downer, MP, Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs endorsed Bowvayne's twelfth published book, Skin Deep, when it was launched in Australia in 1997. The tale of a schoolboy racist bully who turns green, it won plaudits around the world for its rich comedic seam and subtlety of moral message.

Bow's latest book series, The Misadventures of Danny Cloke, is published by Usborne Publishing. The first novel, A Turn in the Grave, was released in 2004, short-listed in the UK for two book awards, and has been translated into numerous languages. A movie screenplay for A Turn in the Grave is being written. The sequel, A Spell Behind Bars is now published, and A Twist in the Tail will follow soon.

Television and film credits

In other fields of the entertainment industry, Bow has written scripts for television including LA, a lifestyle series screened on Australia's Channel 9 in 1999. He and Rising Sun Pictures secured funding from the South Australian Film Corporation to work on his screenplay, The Prize Turkey's Christmas. This project in ongoing.

Bow has also been involved in the television industry as a presenter. He wrote and presented It's Preposterous for Banksia (1995), presented numerous segments of the Television South Coast to Coast news programme on ITV in the UK between 1988 and 1992, and also appeared on UK Channel 4's The Big Breakfast between 1993 and 1996. He wrote and presented Preposterous Poems, a mixture of real-life and animation for children, a co-operative project between Channel 9/Banksia and Kickscreen UK. In 1994, Bow had a stand-up comedy slot at the Edinburgh Fringe. Bow received an acting credit in the recent successful horror movie, Wolf Creek.

In January 2005, Bowvayne commenced legal proceedings in Australia against Beyond Productions, the producer of the MythBusters television show, alleging passing off in relation to the use of the name "Mythbusters". Bow asserted that he had invented the word in 1988, see numerous interviews e.g. Big Breakfast TV show, The Times (UK), and The Today programme, Nine network, and that he had used the name continuously since in relation to pursuing myths and mysteries all around the world. He cited his series of books including a title by one of the most famous publishers in the world, namely Penguin Books under the banner "Mythbusters" in 1991, 1993, and 1996. In February 2007, the Federal Court of Australia dismissed Bow's claims against Beyond Productions. A parallel action, relying on the same three books and a collection of television appearances, a television pilot episode, and Beyond's response to Bow's TV concept on officially headed notepaper, as well as Beyond's Title and Business Searches showing Bow's clear prior claim, that proved that Beyond had knowledge, all was dismissed. In the UK Beyond Properties Pty Limited was again a defendant. These claims were also dismissed.