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Behind-The-Books Blog
Articles by Lara
What’s in a name?
Thursday, October 18th, 2012
I read a thought-provoking article the other day in Stylist, on a crime writing prize judged by grande dame herself Ruth Rendell. What was fascinating to me were the trends that evolved from the entries. Firstly, many of the protagonists were red-haired (or flame-coloured, crimson, ruby, scarlet, auburn, burgundy – depending on the thesaurus to hand.) [...]
Ode to Chocolate…
Tuesday, October 9th, 2012
Following the very successful launch of D E Meredith’s Devoured, our lovely author popped in last week to drop off a positively drool-worthy box of posh chocolates. It’s safe to say they didn’t last long. And now, still with chocolate on the brain, and just when the days are becoming more grey and miserable, here’s [...]
Publishing Open House…
Monday, October 8th, 2012
In these challenging days of publishing there are some seriously interesting marketing ideas afoot. Not least so that of Random House, US who, in the spirit of Open House London are hosting an exclusive event in their New York offices this coming November. For $25 those who’ve always wondered what happens behind the scenes in [...]
Post-it Love…
Tuesday, September 25th, 2012
Books, fax machines, photocopiers are all being packed up around us as we prepare for the Great Office Move. I’m hesitating over what to pack up and what not to. Is that file important? Will I need that dictionary? Can those samples be packed up? As my office stationery dwindles I’ve come to the conclusion [...]
Is an unread book easier to ignore on a Kindle?
Tuesday, September 18th, 2012
While we can still go away outside of school holiday times we’re making the most of it. So last week while everyone else was manically sewing on labels and dusting off blazers, we were packing up for a blissful week in northern France. At least that was our plan. Unfortunately we took along an unwelcome [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: An Agatha Christie Moment
Wednesday, September 5th, 2012
Stylist has alerted us to the fact that it is Agatha Christie week in Devon from the 9-16th September and has featured a nice article about her iconic cover art. Cover art being a daily discussion in the A&B office (depending on how it’s going the discussion can either end in much despair or a [...]
The Seven Year Itch
Friday, August 24th, 2012
We are moving offices soon so there’s a great deal of ruthless clearing out and decluttering going on at A&B. We have been at Charlotte Mews for almost seven years now and we love this area (Susie, for its proximity to The Groucho; Chiara for the amazing foodie spots in the area, Christina for the [...]
Does your book match your bikini…?
Friday, August 17th, 2012
For me, now travelling avec enfant, there are other considerations that affect my search too. Trendy hotspots Mykonos, Ibiza and Puerto Banus are now off the list. There’ll be no more hobnobbing with celebs, dancing till dawn and… matching my bikini to my reading list as the Huffington Post recommends here: Book Bikini Matching. But [...]
Olympic Art
Friday, August 10th, 2012
‘Write about what you know’ they always say. Pfft. Look at me, I’m going to write about art about which I know next to nothing. Our author Ruth Dudley Edwards knows quite a bit about it though, and in her upcoming book Killing the Emperors (available in November) she courts controversy with a very unforgiving [...]
The Olympig Games…
Monday, July 30th, 2012
Last week Michael Bond was in the office. Best known for his Paddington Bear creation, he also writes our fabulously funny Monsieur Pamplemousse series starring sniffer dog extraodinaire, Pommes Frites. Lesser known are his Tales of Olga da Polga, any mention of which makes our publicity manager’s eyes glaze over with childhood nostalgia. Olga in [...]
Getting into the Olympic spirit…
Friday, July 27th, 2012
The Booed… Anyone else a bit confused about the Olympic Games starting a few days before the opening ceremony? Not half as confused as the North Korean women’s football team whose faces were shown on a screen next to the South Korean flag, just before kick-off. As the two countries are technically still at war [...]
The (Unintentional) Book Thief
Friday, July 20th, 2012
It’s a long-running joke in our house that we’re destined to be penniless due to my inability to return library books on time. Personally, I like to think of the overdue fines as small (but regular) contributions towards keeping libraries afloat, but for some reason this justification is no longer washing with my other half. [...]
Wednesday’s Cover Story – A Cover’s Vacancy
Wednesday, July 11th, 2012
The one news item in the publishing trade that (briefly) eclipsed Fifty Shades (enough already – we get it, porn sells!) was the unveiling of the cover design for JK Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy. To say this was a highly anticipated moment in cover design history is the understatement of the year and of course [...]
Burgess – ‘A musician who writes novels’
Thursday, July 5th, 2012
That, apparently, is how Anthony Burgess said he wanted to be remembered, not as the author of the most memorably violent dystopian novel of the sixties. So it’s fitting that as part of last weekend’s conference to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his most famous publication, a musical version of A Clockwork Orange was performed. [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: How old is James Bond?
Wednesday, July 4th, 2012
Late thirties perhaps? Forty? Surely not mid-forties? In fact, showing a surprising tolerance for martinis, admirable athleticism and an insatiable appetite for beautiful women bearing concealed weapons, the spry spy is now fifty years old – or at least his onscreen presence is. I love a good spy thriller. And although I’ve watched every Bond [...]
Twittering about Trains
Friday, June 29th, 2012
London transport is cottoning on to the twittersphere it would seem. Bashtagging, where disgruntled customers voice their concerns on Twitter using appropriate (or arguably inappropriate) hashtags, has become the most direct way of complaining – and getting a response. South West trains has embraced this new wave of information sharing and harnessed it in order [...]
Wednesday Cover Story: Don’t Judge a Reader by Their Book Cover
Wednesday, June 27th, 2012
So the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon rages on. For two days running now we’ve had a hot and heavy discussion in the office about people reading it in public. What happens when commuting readers get to a naughty bit? Do their pupils dilate? Do they blush and start squirming in their seats? Have you [...]
Surprise Endings
Friday, June 22nd, 2012
I’ve just finished reading one of my favourite author’s new manuscripts (to see the rest of her oeuvre see here). I loved it – which is not surprising. What is surprising is that there was a surprise ending. Nothing odd there you might say, but usually don’t you have at least an inkling that a [...]
My kind of aliens…
Monday, June 11th, 2012
The Twitter world has been going crazy about aliens of late. At first I wondered if this was another 21st Century The War of the Worlds moment but it turns out it’s just massive hype around the new Prometheus film . I say hype like it’s a bad thing but for people who like that [...]
Maternity calls…
Friday, August 19th, 2011
This will be my last blog for some time as I’ve officially started my maternity leave! I’ve had 9 months warning that this day would come, but still it’s somehow snuck up on me. I am knowingly informed that henceforth I will become obsessed with the colour and consistency of baby poo and I can [...]
Currently we are...
…Reading
Dark Places, by Gillian Flynn. Chiara: I was captivated by Gone Girl and both Sophie and Rachel Caine recommended this earlier book of hers so have opted for this as my holiday read. It's a long flight to San Francisco...…Tweeting
- So #FallofNightTour is over *sniff*. But we had a blast with @rachelcaine and the #Daylighters competition continues: http://t.co/TyCp56egZJ
(about 15 hours ago) - @batmanVsherlock Hope you are also allowing time for food, drink and a bit of sleep! Follow us back so you can DM your address.
(about 16 hours ago) - @Lauren2905_ sounds like you need to pay a visit to the blood mobile! Good luck entering the #Daylighters competition.
(about 20 hours ago) - Do you have any favourite books you've recently re-discovered? http://t.co/fZ9n9g4Ysy
(about 21 hours ago) - @sophieemay97 Hi! @rachelcaine was there for a school event the other week, @wstonecardiff might still have some signed copies though.
(about 1 day ago)
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