National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) has today announced the acquisition of Sleepydog’s first television series, Weird & Wonderful Hotels!

The series will air in April 2010 on NGCI’s Nat Geo Adventure channel, which is available in more than 40 countries around the world including: Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Latin America, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, Israel, Africa and the Middle East.

Each episode showcases the world’s most unique and peculiar lodging experiences, and uncovers the inspiration behind these one-of-a-kind destinations. Accommodations range from the delightfully rustic to the outright bizarre!

“Weird and Wonderful Hotels is full of quirky charm as it offers an exclusive tour of the world’s most unusual spots to rest your head along with luxurious retreats and eco-friendly lodges. The series is a natural fit for the Nat Geo Adventure audience,” said Carlyn Staudt, Senior Vice President of Global Acquisitions for National Geographic Channel.

Be sure to take a look at our video preview for a first look at the show.

Our latest eBook for the iPhone and iPod touch is now available to buy on the App Store.

Tommy Trouble is a heartfelt and moving story, written by Stephen Potts.

Priced at just £1.19, this eBook features beautiful illustrations and also includes a fun, interactive quiz to test your knowledge!

Click here to launch iTunes and see our full range of eBooks on the App Store.

Leicester Tigers supporters were treated to a extra special reading of Boris Baloo, when the book was officially launched at Welford Road on Sunday.

Author and Assistant Coach, Ben Herring was joined by Tigers prop Boris Stanokovich and flanker Geoff Parling to give their first public reading to more than 100 attendees.

Herring said:

“The launch went superbly and we couldn’t have asked for a better turn out. The room was pretty much full so we were absolutely delighted. It was nice to read to a captive audience. The children were all listening with their eyes up to the front and we got a real kick out of it.”

Visit the Leicester Tigers website to watch an exclusive interview with Ben Herring from the book launch as well as a star reading with the author and Boris Stankovich.

Printed copies of Boris Baloo will be available from a stall in Final Whistle in the Caterpillar Stand at Tigers next home game against London Irish on Saturday (kick off 5.35pm) for a recommended £10 donation to the Matt Hampson Trust. Copies are also available to order online from the Matt Hampson website.

Sleepydog’s eBook version of Boris Baloo for the iPhone and iPod touch is available to download now from the iTunes App Store. The eBook costs £2.99 with all proceeds going to the Matt Hampson Trust.

Click here to launch iTunes and see our full range of eBooks on the App Store.

Our latest eBooks for the iPhone and iPod touch are now available to buy on the App Store.

The Ghastly McNastys and the Jam Sandwich Adventure is a hilarious high seas adventure featuring fearsome pirates, fearless children and a cat that thinks he’s dog!

Dead Man Talking is a brand new story by The 2 Steves, which follows the comedy adventures of a dead rap star and a teenage classical pianist.

Priced at just £1.19, each eBook also includes an interactive bonus quiz to test your knowledge!

Click here to launch iTunes and see our full range of eBooks on the App Store.

Our latest eBook for the iPhone and iPod touch is now available to buy on the App Store.

Boris Baloo is a beautifully illustrated book, written by Leicester Tigers‘ Assistant Coach, Ben Herring.

Priced at just £2.99, this eBook features beautiful illustrations and also includes a fun, interactive quiz to test your knowledge!

All profits from the sale of Boris Baloo will be donated to The Matt Hampson Trust.

Matt Hampson, Leicester Tigers and England U21 player, was paralysed from the neck down when a scrum collapsed in 2006.

Click here to launch iTunes and see our full range of eBooks on the App Store.

Jean-Luc Godard memorably remarked that “all you need for a movie is a girl and a gun“, but because we like to put a fresh twist on everything, in Slingers one of our girls is a gun. The relationship that stems from Frank carrying her and not quite understanding her makes for some interesting situations and it’s this odd-couple dynamic that gets one of the biggest grins from people discussing the potential of the show.

Slingers was built around it characters first and foremost. If you like them then you’ll follow them anywhere. Luckily the setting and the technology that forms the backdrop makes for some interesting situations, but as Toby is fond of saying, if you follow Frank into a bar for a quiet drink something is going to happen. He’s just that kind of guy.

But we also spent a great deal of time thinking about current technology and where its heading. We’ll have missed stuff for sure, but every now and again we spot something that either makes us redraft a scene (because the future happens far faster these days) or smile because we know we’re not too far off the mark. Nik recently pushed this article our way via Twitter and you could be looking at one of GUN’s ancestors – right down to the beginnings of her signature green glow:

A lot of modern technology is currently catching up with the science fiction we grew up on, but that’s ok. Slingers is also about style and attitude and that’s something that our mid-Atlantic aesthetic (American scale combined with a British sensibility) has in spades. Thinking about it in that way probably goes a long way to explain the lasting influence of a character like Dredd. Or maybe it’s just his ability to kick ass and arse alike:

Slingers has killer robots too. We’re hoping our budget is as unflappable as Joe Dredd.

Note: You can check out some fan art and read the SFX magazine piece on Slingers here.

Sleepydog’s forthcoming television series, Slingers has been featured in the latest issue of SFX magazine.

Talking about how we developed the Slingers concept, writer Mike Atherton said:

“Our approach was always that Slingers would be a ’60s-style heist show that just happened to be set in space. I’m not trying to dismiss the SF element because I live and breathe this stuff myself, but our initial take was to try and focus on something different from just the tech and the ships.”

The coverage also includes some fantastic concept art by the Brownlee Brothers, so grab a copy of this month’s SFX magazine to read the full article.

Become a fan of Slingers and keep up-to-date with all the latest news by joining our Facebook group!

Our latest eBooks for the iPhone and iPod touch are now available to buy on the App Store.

Beneath the Moon and Beneath the Stars are two delightful collections of poems for children, written by Hazel Bowden.

Priced at just £1.19, each eBook features beautiful illustrations and also includes a fun, interactive quiz to test your knowledge!

Click here to launch iTunes and see our full range of eBooks on the App Store.

Our ‘Heart of…’ series of eBooks for the iPhone and iPod touch are now available to try completely free!

Written by Louise Cooper, these spine-tingling Gothic romance stories  are crammed with mystery, excitement and adventure.

Each free eBook contains one chapter of the full book and a sample quiz to test your knowledge.

Find out what happens in the rest of the story by purchasing the full version for just £1.19.

Click here to launch iTunes and see our full range of eBooks on the App Store.

Season one of Weird & Wonderful Hotels is now complete, and we couldn’t wait to share this video preview with you!

Later this month, The Fremantle Corporation will be promoting the show at NATPE, an industry event which attracts TV execs from more than 70 countries worldwide.

We’ll be posting more details of where and when you’ll be able to watch the full series in the near future, so watch this space!