Author & Truck Driver
About
A driver and freelance writer, I live in the north-east highlands of Scotland here with my twins, two cats (Pebble and Luna), the Dixie Chicks (including Travis, Dwight, Emmylou 1 and 2, Jolene, Patsy and Reba), several nervous fish, a beautiful palomino Arabian (Starla) and a herd of miniature horses (Manny, Spike, Esme, Lily, Kitty and Sirius). I have taken a solemn vow not to get any more animals. I will probably break this vow.
My Scottish historical-to-urban fantasy REBEL ANGELS series was published in the US by Tor Publishing (having been published in the UK since 2010 by Strident): FIREBRAND, BLOODSTONE, WOLFSBANE and ICEFALL.
I was one of the Erin Hunter team, writing SURVIVORS and BRAVELANDS and regularly touring the US to promote both series, until being fired in June 2020 for standing up for women’s sex-based rights.
I write short fiction, too, for for secondary Key Stage 3. My most recent series was the four-part CLASS OF THE TITANS for OUP: THE CYCLOPES’ REBELLION, THE GREAT ESCAPE, FIRE AND FURY and THE SPELL OF DOOM. LIFE OF THE PARTY, MIND’S EYE and SEA FEVER have just been republished in gorgeous new covers by Ransom Publishing, and short stories THE CHANGELING and MISTY appear in their sci fi and ghost collections. CYBER FEVER is published by ReadZone Books, along with short stories ROCKFACE and THE KINDEST CUT…
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The children’s author CANCELLED by her publisher after backing J.K. Rowling: GILLIAN PHILIP tells how she was left to fear for her young readers in a world where daring to speak your mind can spell disaster
GILLIAN PHILIP – 9 August 2020 – The Mail on Sunday
The first sign of trouble was the unusually high number of new Twitter notifications that had pinged overnight on my mobile phone.
As a successful author with an established social media profile, I’m used to a steady stream of messages, but this ran to hundreds. And the tone of them was different – horribly so.
Instead of chat from book-lovers, there was an onslaught of abusive tweets – anonymous, of course – that contained among them threats of death and sexual violence.
In case that was too subtle, several contributors decorated their messages with images of guns. ‘I’m going to punch u in the throat’ declared one of those that are printable.
It was far from a pleasant start to my day but, if I’m honest, I had been expecting at least some negative reaction.
The reason? I had dared to offer support on Twitter for J.K. Rowling’s stand against allowing transgender people to self-identify as male or female.
What did surprise – and devastate – me was the cataclysmic fallout over the next 24 hours of posting the simple hashtag ‘#IStandWithJKRowling’. I couldn’t have dared to imagine the damage that it was possible for a faceless mob of trolls to inflict.
But much more of a shock was the spineless way that my publishers capitulated in the face of this foam-flecked online protest.
They summarily sacked me and, in doing so, destroyed my livelihood without making any attempt to hear my side of the story…
Scots author Gillian Philip dumped for backing JK Rowling in transgender row
JACK HAUGH – 7 July 2020 – Herald Scotland
… In a statement shared with the Daily Mail, Ms Philip said: “I am disappointed that the hard work and professional attitude I have brought to my work for HarperCollins and for Working Partners counted for nothing in the face of an abusive mob of anonymous Twitter trolls.
“It is concerning that my concerns about women’s legal rights and spaces have been presented as ‘transphobia’, and that this accusation has been allowed to stand by my former employers.”
A spokesperson from Working Partners said: “Erin Hunter is not a single person but a diverse team of creatives and writers.
“We recently became aware that Gillian Philip had associated the Erin Hunter pen-name with her personal views on Twitter, thus associating them with the whole collective…
‘I’ve gone from children’s author to truck driver – all because I stood up for JK Rowling’: A powerful account of what it feels like to be cancelled – and lose your livelihood – just for being true to your beliefs
HELEN CARROLL – 29 September 2022 – Daily Mail
Having manoeuvred her 32-tonne lorry into a lay-by and joined her fellow HGV drivers for a bacon roll in the nearby greasy spoon, Gillian Philip couldn’t help smiling at the stark contrast with her previous career.
As a successful children’s author, the last work lunch she had enjoyed had been in a swanky London restaurant. That was another life entirely — one in which Gillian wore stilettos rather than steel-capped boots. But, two years ago, she had been unceremoniously dumped by both her literary agent and the company that had commissioned her to write books for more than a decade.
Her crime? Certainly not lack of talent or diligence — her books sold well. Yet that counted for nothing when she fell foul of the Twitter mob for expressing support online for fellow author J. K. Rowling…
GILLIAN PHILIP: The writers who support Rushdie are all too often censorship cheerleaders
ASHLEY CORNELL – August 17 2022 – S Chronicles
Last Friday’s brutal attack on Sir Salman Rushdie was a shocking example of the ongoing threat to freedom of expression in our society.
Since that barbaric incident in upstate New York, politicians, artists, writers, and commentators have lined up to express their outrage and support for everyone’s right to speak their minds and tell their stories without fear.
But it would be easier to take those words seriously if so many of our cultural leaders, especially publishers, broadcasters and educators, had not shamefully colluded with intolerance in the past.
This week they formulate their slogans about freedom. But in their actions in recent years they have all too often been the allies of totalitarianism, persecuting dissenters and enforcing groupthink. They endlessly trumpet their commitment to diversity, but they have only contempt for diversity of opinion.
From children’s author to Queen of the Road… Writer on becoming a lorry driver
WITH the shortage of HGV drivers hitting supermarket supplies, one successful writer retrained as a trucker…. and found the haulage business less sexist than publishing
GILLIAN PHILIP – Sep 20, 2021 – Express
The death of my husband Ian last year following a long and distressing illness, coupled with the loss of my job as a children’s author saw me looking around for a new source of income. The fees for Ian’s care had eaten away at our savings and I needed a new career. That was when a friend told me: “You like driving. You should give it a go.”
She meant professionally, as an HGV driver.
This was long before news stories started to emerge that Britain was short of around 100,000 lorry drivers, leading to empty supermarkets shelves, supply chain delays and fears of Christmas shortages.
The dearth of truckers is not new, but the coronavirus pandemic, Brexit and tax changes have all contributed to the lack of qualified drivers…
Gillian Philip vs Working Partners & HarperCollins
TRIBUNAL TWEETS – 9 June 2022 – Open Justice with Tribunal Tweets
Writer Gillian Philip added #IStandWithJKRowling to her Twitter account in 2020 resulting in her publishers HarperCollins and book creators Working Partners terminating her contract.
Gillian’s employment tribunal claim against both companies alleges she was discriminated against because of her age and for holding and expressing gender-critical views. Both were aware of her gender critical views beforehand but her support of JK Rowling generated a Twitter storm and she believes a coordinated attempt to get her fired…
SoA response to inaccuracies in Private Eye article (Issue 1557)
29 September 2021 – Society of Authors
The Books & Bookmen article in this week’s Private Eye has a number of factual inaccuracies and unsubstantiated and defamatory inferences.
Firstly, Joanne Harris’ assertion that the article in Issue 1556, (which claimed that Philip Pullman was “sentenced to undergo urgent re-education”) is “rubbish” is absolutely correct.
The columnist repeats their incorrect claim in Issue 1557, saying that the Society of Authors (SoA) and its Management Committee on 9 September “ordered” that Philip Pullman take part in unconscious bias training. In fact, the training had been booked for months. Philip was invited to join it, along with all SoA staff, directors and group committee members. As the SoA works towards becoming a more inclusive and reflective organisation this training is an important part of that process. The training, attended by more than 40 people actually took place on 9 September, the day that Private Eye says the “order” was made….