OFFICIAL LONDON THEATRE ONLINE ACCEPTS OUR THEATRE TOKEN GIFT CARDS

Perhaps you were lucky enough to receive one of our Official Theatre Token Gift Cards for Christmas.

To book a London Show in 2021 when most performances are to resume, now in order to avoid all those premium telephone numbers many Theatres use, its cheaper, quicker and easier, to use the new online booking service from Official London Theatre.

Regional Theatres however, in most cases are still not able to accept these Gift Cards Online, but this feature will be rolling out soon!

So with the exception of London, to book with your Theatre Token Card, please visit the Box Office in person, of the local Theatre of your choice (please check and see when it's open again). In person you will always get the best price and avoid those premium telephone numbers!

'YES I WANT TO SPEND A THEATRE TOKEN CARD'

Alternatively:

'TODAY I WOULD LIKE TO BUY A THEATRE TOKEN CARD'

SPOTLIGHT ON AUTHOR DUANE SIMOLKE

Gay author Duane Simolke wrote The Acorn Stories, Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure, Sons of Taldra: A Science Fiction Adventure, Selected Poems, Holding Me Together, and New Readings of Winesburg, Ohio. He also co-wrote The Return of Innocence and The Acorn Gathering: Writers Uniting Against Cancer. Three of his books received StoneWall Society Pride in the Arts Awards, and one received an AllBooks Reviewers Choice Award.

His writing has also appeared in nightFire, Mesquite, Caprock Sun, Beyond: Science Fiction and Fantasy, The Online Gay Community Magazine, The International Journal on World Peace, This Week in Texas, Gay Flash Fiction, and many other print or online outlets.

Simolke was born in New Orleans in 1965 and now lives in Lubbock, Texas. His interests include travel, scifi, books, movies, and music (mostly rock or dance). His writing reflects human diversity and he appreciates that so many other creative people now express that diversity in their work.

'MORE AT DUANE'S BLOG AND WEBSITE'

ADDITIONALLY:

'SEE THE AUTHOR'S TWITTER POSTS HERE'

TOKEN LINE REVEALS THE NEW FREE CHRISTMAS NATIONAL BOOK TOKEN

New Free Book Token Gift Card Design Available For Christmas 2020.

Now with 10 free gift cards for the festive season, we have more free designs than anywhere else!

Plus we will never charge you £1.99 for a card design, unlike some suppliers.

We will never charge you for UK and Ireland delivery, unlike most suppliers.

Want a fast and efficient service? Want it tracked and insured for free when spending £100+

NATIONAL BOOK TOKENS FOR CHRISTMAS 2020 CLICK HERE

THE TOKEN HOUSE PARTNERSHIP: Established Leeds 1983.

Firstbookshop.com / Firstbookshop.co.uk

Tokenline.com / Tokenline.co.uk

FIRST FOR BOOK TOKENS ONLINE 1999.

TWITTER HAS REVEALED THE NEW NATIONAL BOOK TOKENS

New Free Book Token Gift Card Designs Now Available.

We will never charge you £1.99 for a card design, unlike some suppliers.

We will never charge you for UK and Ireland delivery, unlike most suppliers.

Want a fast and efficient service? You have tried the rest, now try the best!

NEW BOOK TOKEN CARDS 2020 TWITTER CLICK HERE

THE TOKEN HOUSE PARTNERSHIP: Established Leeds 1983.

Firstbookshop.com / Firstbookshop.co.uk

Tokenline.com / Tokenline.co.uk

FIRST FOR BOOK TOKENS ONLINE 1999.

ZAYN ONE DIRECTION - Part Two Zarry

Since the formation of One Direction, exactly 121 months ago today, I have followed the progress of all the boys, however I would not call myself a 'Directioner'.

I have seen various trends develop online, but the two that have particularly caught my attention and interested me the most are mainly 'Zarry' but also to a certain extent the term 'Larry'.

Both terms involve a certain boy named Harry, to those unfamiliar with all these names and acronyms, we are talking here about Harry Styles.

So you thought that this blog and my blog last month were all about Zayn Malik? Well they are, but it would not be possible to discuss Zayn, without mentioning his bromance with the others!

Wait on, I here you say, didn't I promise to 'spill the tea' on what happened in private between Zayn and Harry? Well exactly, the nitty gritty, meat and two veg, was mainly unwitnessed, so how can any of us know for sure?

However, this is what I do know:

Zayn Malik has chosen to live a 'hetrosexual life' as most guys want a child to carry on their bloodline. There are several other current male celebrities I could mention here (but I wont) that chose this route too, after experimenting with their sexuality in the past. Two of these male celebrities were both also involved with One Direction!

Zayn said that he came away from his 5 years in One Direction, without having made a single friend: 'I have always been a bit like that though, always a bit of an island. I don't like to confer with too many people'.

In the early days, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson shared a penthouse in London together and later, circa 2016, they were both (coincidentally?) involved with the same property in Calabasas/Malibu. Hence the term 'Larry' evolved. It's Harry that is the 'wild card' not Louis or Zayn. Will Harry ever settle down and have children? I doubt it very much. If he does, it will certainly only be for the sake of a bloodline.

Zayn has said of Gigi Hadid, the soon to be mother of his child next month 'She is super organised and I'm really not. It helps that she can get things together for me a little bit. I lean on her a lot'

From the Summer of 2010, I was very busy relocating my Father to live with us at a new home in East Yorkshire, which had resulted from the death of my Mother in 2008. Zayn was still seen in the neighbourhood, however when the XFactor contestants returned to film at their homes, Zayn didn't. Instead he filmed this sequence at the HMV Music Store in Bradford City Centre.

The area was deteriorating, we were all happy to be breaking our links, for 'pastures new'.

Daily content in the media about One Direction has this year been at a new peak, mainly because of their '10th Anniversary'. However 'pastures new' is going to become a recurring theme here, mark my words!

ROGER C. (DJ Roger).

ZAYN ONE DIRECTION - Part One Malik

Although it's just Zayn these days (since around March 2015), when I knew him growing up from early 1993 until the Spring of 2010, he was one of the Maliks of East Bowling, Bradford, West Yorkshire UK. His name back then was spelt as Zain.

Most of my family are laid to rest in the West Bowling Cemetery, where I still return regularly to this day, although we now live in County Donegal, Ireland (the original home of family on other sides).

We always knew that Zayn's Mother, Tricia, was half Irish, so I suppose that was one of the reasons why my family and me would talk to her? Also she was a School Dinner Lady and one of my Grandads ran Canteens, Cafes & Restaurants throught West Yorkshire (then later in East Yorkshire) meaning that there were many things our 2 families had in common.

Zayn was constantly surrounded by females at home: 3 Sisters and 5 Aunties. Zayn said that made him soft, but later said 'I always felt that made me a stronger man'. Zayn and his Sisters, Doniya, Waliyha and Safaa, were often asked 'Who's the brown person? Is it your Mum or your Dad? and as everyone knows these days, it was his Dad that was British Pakistani and that Zayn grew up in a mixed race working class family. Safaa was always dressed and looked particularly cute when she was very young.

I did not know Zayn very well, but if he saw me he would always say 'Hello'. He was a shy boy. There was a school performance of Bugsy Malone, which we all saw him in. His performance was better than many of the others in the show. Particularly though, I remember asking him one day, how he had got on singing on stage at the school, when the performer Jay Sean had just visited, because everyone was talking about this locally and with myself being a Club DJ during the late 70s, I could never resist personally talking music, whenever the opportunity arose! His response was that it was 'cool' but that he was 'too nervous to enjoy the performance'. I said in reply 'Do you want to be a singer when you grow up?' and he said 'No, I am going to be an English Teacher'.

The whole local community were therefore quite surprised when hearing that Zayn was to attend an XFactor audition in Manchester on Sunday April 11th 2010. As he was in his 1st year of A Levels, we knew he was studying hard and were not surprised to find out a few days later that his Mum Tricia, had great trouble getting him out of bed at 4pm that Sunday morning!

I had wished Zayn well and said 'good luck lad' when I saw him out, on Friday 9th April 2010. Nobody could have imagined the journey of such tremendous and intense success which lay ahead.

This two part mini blog has been written Roger C. (also known as DJ ROGER) Joint Partner of The Token House Partnership.

The first installment is launched today, as part of One Direction's 10 Year Celebrations of 23 July 2020. The second installment will be published on 23 August 2020.

Part 1 has been named: 'ZAYN ONE DIRECTION - Part One Malik'.

Part 2 has been named: 'ZAYN ONE DIRECTION - Part Two Zarry'.

ACCOUNT FACILITIES & DISCOUNTS

All Colleges, Schools & Universities in the UK already have a 30 day account set up with us for National Book Tokens and Nationwide Theatre Tokens.

Churches & Catherdrals can apply for one by visiting the link below.

UK Libraries qualify too.

New customers can receive a discount on their first order, when spending £1000 or more!

For further details, simply go to our accounts page, located at:

Firstbookshop.net/accounts.htm

THE TOKEN HOUSE PARTNERSHIP: Established Leeds 1983.

Firstbookshop.com / Firstbookshop.co.uk

Tokenline.com / Tokenline.co.uk

RECRUITMENT OFFER 2020 - 2021

When recruiting at our Jobsites, all customers old or new, will now get their 2nd advert free: so that's buy one get one free!

This is how it works: once you have booked and paid for your recruitment advertisement on 0800 6125350 we will send you a unique code via email, which will enable you to take advantage of a further advert another time in the future, at no additional cost.

No other Recruitment Websites offer that?

For more details, with access to our Jobsite services, or one of our other services (from anyone of our 70 domains) simply go to our Partnership homepage, located at:

Tokenhouse.co.uk

THE TOKEN HOUSE PARTNERSHIP: Established Leeds 1983.

Eastyorkshirejobs.co.uk / Northyorkshirejobs.co.uk

Southyorkshirejobs.co.uk / Westyorkshirejobs.co.uk

SPENDING BOOK TOKENS DURING LOCKDOWN

During Coronavirus lockdown, UK Bookshops on the High Streets in Cities and Towns are closed. However, it's simple to spend a National Book Token Gift Card Online.

These cannot be redeemed at Amazon, because only proper Bookshops can deal in National Book Tokens (Members of The Booksellers Association) which Amazon are not. We therefore recommend that you use one of the freepost forms located HERE:

BUY BOOKS WITH BOOK TOKENS

Purchasing books without Book Tokens during lockdown and paying in full online by credit card or debit card, then because in most instances titles are cheaper than Amazon, UK postage is free at all times with no minimum order, during these challenging times it will always be best if you buy all titles HERE:

BUY BOOKS WITH CREDIT CARD OR DEBIT CARD

BUSINESS AS NORMAL - Subject To Changes Within Royal Mail

During Coronavirus lockdown, our online mail-order services, particularly for Books, Book Token Gift Cards and Theatre Token Gift Cards, are relatively unaffected.

When you purchase gift cards from us (in our 'tokenline' area) it's only our tokens for books (National Book Tokens) and our tokens for the theatre (National Theatre Tokens) that cary NO EXPIRY DATES and because UK postage is free at all times with no minimum order, then during these challenging times it will always be best if you buy your gift token cards (to spend now online or at a later date online or in person) HERE:

CLICK TO BUY GIFT TOKENS

When you purchase books from us (in our 'booksetc' area) and pay in full online by credit card or debit card, because in most instances titles are cheaper than Amazon, UK postage is free at all times with no minimum order, then during these challenging times it will always be best if you buy your books HERE:

CLICK TO BUY BOOKS

'See any changes to our delivery schedules, as they are announced, live here at royalmail.com'

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL OUR JOBSITE DOMAINS REMAIN COMPLETELY UNAFFECTED DURING LOCKDOWN AND THEIR BUY ONE GET ONE FREE OFFER, FOR ALL RECRUITMENT ADVERTS, WILL NOW STAY IN PLACE UNTIL THE END OF 2020.

THE VALLEY OF LOST SECRETS : a rare talent found

The publishing house of Harry Potter: Bloomsbury Children's, signs 'rare talent' Lesley Parr.

Bloomsbury Children’s Books will publish Lesley Parr’s debut novel The Valley of Lost Secrets, featuring two children evacuated to Wales during the Second World War with a mystery to solve.

Fiction editorial director Zöe Griffiths acquired world rights in a two-book deal from Amber Caravéo at the Skylark Literary agency. Publication of the first book is set for January 2021 with the second book coming out in 2022.

The Valley of Lost Secrets tells the story of Jimmy and his younger brother Ronnie who are evacuated to Llanbryn, Wales, from a war-torn London during the Second World War. Jimmy thinks he is safe there, but the discovery of a human skull will shake this belief, and will bring to light a mystery that had plagued the village for years.

Griffiths said: "I am beyond delighted to welcome Lesley to the Bloomsbury list. I was immediately captivated by Jimmy’s voice and transported back to 1939. Lesley writes the most authentic, flawed yet relatable characters. This is the kind of fiction that is timeless, with relationships and characters that speak to every reader. Hers is a rare talent and we are very proud to publish her."

Parr said: "From the very beginning, Bloomsbury shared my vision for the story I wanted to tell. A story about home and family, and the different ways we find them. I’m really excited to introduce Jimmy, Ronnie and Florence into the world, and hope future readers will love them as much as I do."

Caravéo added: "I couldn’t be happier to see Lesley Parr settled at Bloomsbury. Zöe and Bloomsbury are the perfect team to publish this extraordinary novel."

'READ MORE AT THEBOOKSELLER.COM'

HAIRSPRAY 2020 Paul Merton Makes West End Debut

Comedian Paul Merton is to make his West End musical debut in Hairspray.
Merton, who will perform the part of Wilbur Turnblad, will star alongside the previously announced Michael Ball as Edna Turnblad.
Also joining the cast is Rita Simons in the role of Velma Von Tussle and Jonny Amies as Link Larkin.
Merton will appear in the show at the London Coliseum for an 18-week run, alongside Lizzie Bea and Marisha Wallace.
The musical is directed by Jack O’Brien and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, the show’s original creative team. It has music by March Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and a book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan. It is produced by Adam Spiegel Productions & Fiery Angel.

Our Theatre Token Gift Cards can be used throughout this show's run!

'READ MORE AT THESTAGE.CO.UK'