GP Taylor visits Ivy Manchester this Sunday – as his blockbuster Hollywood movie is filmed. 

I’m so excited that this Sunday Ivy Manchester will host a fantastic guest for interview at 7pm at our Didsbury site on Barlow Moor Rd, one of Britain’s best selling authors.

We recently hosted the author of The Shack, Wm Paul Young. Now it’s time for some home grown talent.

GP Taylor is the author of the best-selling novels Shadowmancer, Wormwood and Tersias. Like myself he has been a police officer and Anglican Vicar, but is also a former rock band roadie and motorcyclist. He worked in the music industry with such bands as The Stranglers, Sex Pistols and Adam and the Ants. He became involved in the occult and lived a life that was, in his own words “into all sorts of weird and wonderful things and wasn’t leading a godly life”. He goes on to say, “I was promiscuous: I was a liar, a cheat and a drunk,”

We will learn on Sunday how he then turned to Christianity. This is a great event to bring friends along to and I expect we’ll pack the event out so get there early!

Having dropped out of school himself, Graham Taylor is now passionate about the education of children, and believes we underestimate their potential. He tours the country giving talks to children. “There is nothing better,” he says. So at 4pm at the Church centre Graham will entertain families and kids with a story telling workshop with our children’s leader Dave Hill.

“Children relate to me,” GP says. “They get excited about books – what can be better than that?”

His books have been translated into forty-eight languages and are being now being turned into Hollywood films to the tune of £50 million, but he had to sell his motorbike to fund the first print run of children’s novel Shadowmancer. The book grew in popularity by word of mouth before Faber and Faber bought the rights to it, and his next ten books, for £3.5million. The rights to the production were sold for a further £2.5million!

He went on to write the Mariah Mundi series which critics hailed as ‘Hotter than Potter’  – a rival to JK Rowling’s franchise. It is now being turned into £25 million Hollywood film starring Michael Sheen, Sam Niall, Iona Gruffud and Keeley Hawes -’Mariah Mundi and the Midas Box’ is set for release later this year.

Graham is married with three children and now devotes most of his time to caring for his daughter Lydia, who has Chrohn’s Disease.