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Archive
Behind-The-Books Blog
Think you’re any good at carving a pumpkin?
Friday, October 30th, 2009
Think again. Check out Scott Cummings’ amazing pumpkin sculptures. He’s a junior school teacher in Texas who just does this in his spare time and apparently it only takes him one hour, maximum two. If this inspires you to try your hand at something similar, atleast you’ve got two days till Halloween…
For a pumpkin gutting [...]
Dinner at eight? If only…
Thursday, October 29th, 2009
I feel the need for a little grumble. I had a lovely meal out at Sfizio in Ware the other evening for a friend’s birthday – good food, very drinkable red wine, attentive waiters and even some live music – but as it had gone half ten by the time we were served the main [...]
This Is It movie
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
The movie This is It hits cinemas today (for two weeks only). It’s the footage of Michael Jackson’s rehearsals for the 2009 concert tour he never got the chance to perform. The trailer claims that it’s the movie “the world has been waiting for” and that would normally pass as the over-hyped-up spiel of blockbuster [...]
Applying work tactics to life
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
The alarm on my mobile has just gone off (and scared the hell out of me, I might add) with a reminder that it is one of my friend’s birthday today. Brilliant! I have now dutifully emailed her a Happy Birthday e-card and proved myself to be A Good Friend.
Left to my own natural devices [...]
Autumn in the Countryside
Monday, October 26th, 2009
To celebrate a special occasion this weekend, my husband whisked me off on a romantic weekend break to a little village in Suffolk called Lavenham. He’d read an article in The Times recommending special places to visit in the UK and The Great House in medieval Lavenham, boasting superb cuisines and numerous awards had been [...]
A caboose?
Friday, October 23rd, 2009
My sister used the word ‘caboose’ yesterday. The conversation went something like this:
Sister: “I had a dream last night where I was in the caboose of a train and -”
Me: ‘I’m sorry…a caboose??’
Sister: ‘Yes, a caboose’
Me: “A caboose. What era are you from?? “Sorry I’m late, terrible commute in - the platform was so packed [...]
Have you got the Fever?
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
Hi Sushi in Camden certainly had when it hosted the launch party for Cosplay Fever on Tuesday night, and I can honestly say it was a first for me – sipping my wine and chatting to a griffin …
The book is the latest venture from cult graphic novelists Pete ‘The Artist’ Lumby and Rob ‘Uncle [...]
Wacky author biogs
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
For me, the dafter an author biography is, the better! Showing a good sense of humour makes them far more interesting and memorable (just like a good personal ad in the dating pages – not that I’d know anything about that!).
I’ve just found a new favourite: Matt Rudd, author of William Walker’s First Year of [...]
Social media helps the fight against cancer
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and a few days ago Everywhere’s #Beatcancer Campaign set a new Guiness World Record for the distribution of the largest mass message through social media.
In the space of 24 hours (between16 - 17th October) they recorded 209,771 social media messages (tweets, facebook updates and blog posts) that included the [...]
In need of fashion advice.
Monday, October 19th, 2009
Winter is definitely here. Today I woke up in the dark, fumbled my way to the shower (still in the dark so as not to wake my other-half) ,and attempted to find something suitable to wear to work which didn’t make me look like (quoting said other-half): “a 60-year-old spinster”.
I’ll refrain from sharing my retort [...]
Am I the only one who doesn’t like House?
Friday, October 16th, 2009
A friend lent me the entire box set of House recently (I was grieving over the fact I’d just finished the complete series of The West Wing on DVD and would now have to rely on standard TV viewing…) And I have to say I was really looking forward to getting into a new series. I [...]
How good a Storyman are you?
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
Here’s a little something to procrastinate with…
And test your knowledge of books at the same time.
It’s Hangman with a book title theme.
I scored 20 first go. (Should I be familiar with The Wizard of Earthsea? )
Go on, have a go and see if you can do better… CLICK HERE
(Feel free to post your scores.)
Chiara Priorelli, [...]
Prepare for Halloween
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
According to Tesco, it’s already Christmas. I was in there yesterday and noticed they’ve already started putting out advent calendars. Is there really a demand for Christmas stuff two months in advance?? I thought it was customary to atleast wait until after Halloween. One festivity (pagan or otherwise) at a time please!
So please, readers, forget [...]
The BBC Panorama v Ryanair cat-fight
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
Last night I caught the last half of BBC Panorama’s exposé on Ryanair Why Hate Ryanair? - which basically slams the airline for its hidden charges and Michael O’Leary’s cost-cutting approach to business.
Today, Ryanair has responded by giving away 1.1Million free seats to represent the 11 lies featured in the programme. Nice comeback. (Hey Panorama, [...]
Proof that there’s always a silver lining…
Monday, October 12th, 2009
Nick Barley has now been announced as the new Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, with immediate effect. There’s a nice interview with him in The Times today which tells you a bit about his background and his vision for the future of the festival.
Nick’s future is bright, yet it’s interesting to read that [...]
The B in Allison & Busby
Friday, October 9th, 2009
Did you know that Allison & Busby’s first offices were leased at the premises of another publisher – though out of office hours only? Or that the characters behind the august company name first met at a party in the house JM Barrie wrote Peter Pan?
No, well neither did I, and it was tid-bits like [...]
Inflight movie reviews
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
I’m now back from my holiday in Oz and can attest to the fact that a return flight London- Abu Dhabi-Sydney will see you clocking up a total of 42 hours of actual flight time.
That’s a lot of hours. And a lot of pressure on the inflight entertainment.
Luckily, I had an array of old and new films to [...]
Blog posting hiatus
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
Where was our blog posting on Monday?
And what about Tuesday??
And today?
Delayed flights and viruses have caused a temporary lull in the blog postings.
I know it’s been long and empty wait. Must feel something like this…
I’ll be back tomorrow I promise.
Chiara Priorelli, Publicity Manager
Favourite pubs in London
Friday, October 2nd, 2009
I’m not a fan of dirty old man pubs and as much as I love glossy bars, there’s nothing quite like a low-key, cosy pub serving local beer and comfort food.
Round the corner from our lovely offices is the very popular Carpenter’s Arms. It has a beautiful outside area, complete with obligatory fairly lights and is [...]
Cutting out the middle man
Thursday, October 1st, 2009
In recent months we have been selling books direct - from our gleaming new website of course, but also over the phone. And it’s been wonderful speaking to readers! The women who actually were Land Girls during the Second World War and were after a copy of the fictional account of a group of girls [...]
Currently we are...
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...reading
The Rose of Sebastopol, by Katharine Mcmahon Lara: Mariella is an interesting protagonist – so far, not your traditional heroine and still second fiddle to the beautiful, enigmatic Rosa. This is the author’s aim I suppose, but I’m still interested to see if Mariella does finally come into her own – or if as readers you’ll always wish the story was told from Rosa’s point of view instead.
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