Penny Thomas, Publisher at children’s and YA publisher Firefly Press, has acquired World Rights in teen/YA comedy thriller Dirk Jones is NOT the Chosen One by Gatlin Perrin.
Dirk isn’t the chosen one. Not even close. So how did they end up in the middle of a potential apocalypse?
All Dirk wanted was to escape another argument with their parents and go for a nice quiet coffee. Instead, they’ve been kidnapped by agents, attacked by mal-realmers and forced to wear a boiler suit that they’re pretty sure someone died in.
When Dirk is taken from a shopping centre in north Wales to Base, a secret, underground … well … base, they learn way more than they need to. More about other realms, more about the battle between good and evil, and more about the absolutely terrifying Violent Jack, an evil mal-realmer determined to bring about the end of the world.
Both sides need the chosen one. But there’s not a lot Dirk can do about it, is there? It’s not like it’s them.
Unfortunately for Dirk, not everyone knows that.
‘Gatlin has created a brilliantly original and action-packed world, with one of the most memorable and quirky casts of characters I’ve ever come across. This story is comical and creepy, but full of heart, and we can’t wait for readers to meet Dirk and the team as they – rather chaotically – attempt to save the world,’ said Lucy Mohan, Firefly Editor.
Perrin’s previous novel, His Royal Hopeless (Chicken House, 2021, written under the name Chloë Perrin) was longlisted for the Times/Chicken House Children’s Fiction Competition.
Gatlin Perrin said: ‘I’m so happy Firefly has chosen to give Dirk’s queer, funny and frightening adventure a proper Welsh home.’
The novel is supported by the Creative Wales and Welsh Books Council’s New Audience Fund, and is slated for publication in October 2025.