Today is Freedom Day – South Africa’s National Holiday. So, tonight I’m inviting a few of my South African friends over for dinner to celebrate – really just an excuse to impress them and cook up some recipes from our new release The South African Illustrated Cookbook, by Lehla Eldridge. On tonight’s menu: Darling Evita’s […]
While hardly reeling from the London Book Fair (half my meetings were with overseas agents and publishers who didn’t make it due to ‘volcanic action’), I’m actually quite glad to be in the office again. I have been sorting through the various catalogues, flyers and whatnot I’d picked up at the fair, when I came […]
Saturday 22nd May, 9.30am-1.30pm STOCKPORT COLLEGE As part of Stockport’s Culture Feast, Stockport Libraries are holding a special readers event with well-known writers Anna Dean (author of the Dido Kent historical crime novels) and Stephen Booth, and debut author Anne Chilvers. They will be talking about their books and writing experience at Peter Barkworth Theatre […]
The last day of the London Book Fair is always the quieter of the three days, but as I walked through the hall at Earl’s Court it was obvious that the travel mayhem caused by Iceland’s volcano had hit the fair more than I had expected. There were empty stands – still unpacked where foreign […]
Debut thriller writer Richard Jay Parker beat a string of nominated authors to win 2nd place in the Author Blog Awards’ Best Microblog category for his tweets @bookwalter – second only to Neil Gaiman.
On the platform of the northbound Northern Line at Waterloo (where I spend a minimum of a minute every morning heading into the office) there is a poster for The Hungry Ghosts, by Anne Berry (basically the book cover blown up to poster proportions). I have spent the last few weeks admiring this image, so […]
Did you watch it? It seems that a fair number of us apparently apathetic voters around the country did tune in for the first leaders debate on Thursday night. It was definitely subjected to a ‘water-cooler’ moment here at the A&B office, as well as at the offices of my husband. OK, so some of […]
Crime writer, Kate Charles has been elected to become a member to the exclusive Detection Club – restricted to the very top crime writers in the UK. She joins the elite list of members which have included Agatha Christie and Dorothy L Sayers.
Friday 18 June, 7.30pm BREWERY ARTS CENTRE, KENDAL Thriller-writer Zoë Sharp, will be speaking about her writing and new book, Fourth Day, at the Brewery Arts Centre, Highgate, Kendal, LA9 4HE – together with Diane James. The event is part of the Brewery’s Crime Week festival – tickets are £5 includes a welcoming glass of […]
Interactive e-books here we come! Released just a week ago, the Alice app for iPad by Atomic Antelope has caused quite a stir. See this sneak preview on YouTube: Using the old artwork from Lewis Carroll’s original, it’s a very attractive looking application. Shaking the screen allows you to interact with the illustrations; my personal […]
The London Book Fair is upon us – kicking off this Monday for three days. Unlike the editorial and sales/rights team who will be busy with back-to-back meetings with literary agents, rights managers, foreign publishers etc., I get an easy ride at this event. I’ll just popping along on Wednesday, attending the Publisher’s Publicity Circle […]
The bestselling author of the Cotswold mystery series will be signing copies of her books (including her latest release ‘Slaughter in the Cotswolds’) at Waterstone’s in Cirencester at 11.00am on Saturday 17th April.
I saw a woman reading Hilary Mantel‘s new book Wolf Hall on the tube this morning which has prompted me to bring up the subject of books released with two covers. This particular woman was reading the version with the black cover, but it is also published in white. Our Publishing Director, Susie (who is […]
As a relatively new iPhone user, I’m still discovering plenty that my new gadget has to offer. A browse through the app store the other day revealed plenty of freebies… From the useful: The National Trust app – suggestions for days out around the UK, might very well use this come summer time. To the […]
If your living room needs a new sofa, or you can not live through another summer without an ice-crusher, I have good news for you. There is no need to fight through the crowds and chaos at Ikea, because right now there’s a sale on at Habitat. My favourite find is this lovely glass jug. […]
What a result! Richard Jay Parker has been shortlisted for the Author Blog Awards, in light of his popular microblogging on Twitter @bookwalter! If you didn’t know this already – read our News. If you did know this already – well, it would be remiss of me to not mention it here too – it […]
I’ve recently watched The Other Boleyn Girl which I absolutely loved. I suspect my enthusiasm may have stemmed from the rather delicious Eric Bana playing the part of Henry VIII. How someone this good looking could possibly have been cast as the king who in actual fact was rather less pleasing to the eye, is […]
Debut thriller writer Richard Jay Parker has proved to be a force to be reckoned with on Twitter, after making the shortlist for the Author Blog Awards – brushing shoulders with big-name authors such as Paulho Coelho and Neil Gaiman.
Bloomsbury has announced that they will be rejacketing the entire Harry Potter series this winter to appeal to the ‘next generation of fans’. They are calling it The Signature Look. Great news for the artists and designers behind the revamp, although the first image released doesn’t excite me at all. Am I the only one? […]
It’s Good Friday tomorrow. At least I’m hoping so, because it ain’t such a Good Thursday here in London. We’re seeing the first of the April showers (Spring, oh Spring! Where art thou Spring?!) and a recent fire at the BT Exchange in Paddington (where was the blessed rain then, I ask?) is creating havoc […]
There are definitely times when I’d happily hang a book cover on my wall or I take to displaying it front cover outwards on the bookshelf and The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt is definitely one of those. Not only does it ‘fit’ so well with the story inside, of an Edwardian mother and author […]