Lesley, Author at Allison & Busby

I'll have a Russian Stoat, please.

2 August, 2010

Doom Bar, Iron Horse and Smild (the latter probably accurately pronounced with a bit of a slur). ‘Why are you throwing these strange words at us Lesley’, you may very well ask, ‘what on earth are they? ‘Beers, of course’, would be my worldly and slightly superior reply. About a week ago I enjoyed a […]

Not for the needle-phobic

26 July, 2010

Today, in amongst the usual post that arrived at 13 Charlotte Mews (and the not so usual – a Russian food delivery service also caught my eye…) was a leaflet from the NHS Blood Donation people. Now I am the not- so-proud possessor of a Donor card given that in the past 6 or so […]

Market research and free wine…

20 July, 2010

I’m a bit of a sucker for market research. A few years ago I remember being very pleased with myself when I got paid to spend an hour talking about women’s deodorant, but hey, that’s just me. I also spent hours in a MRA scanner doing brain experiments at university, an easy way to make […]

Colouring in the World Cup

12 July, 2010

So, that it then. The World Cup is over and everyone around the world, even those who detest football, probably won’t be able to avoid the news and pictures of Spain’s win. What many people may not know is that England’s lacklustre performance has had a ripple effect in the publishing world – news is […]

Fishy reads… (literally)

8 July, 2010

There are a number of anglers in my family. My dad, my husband and my father-in-law are all keen anglers which has its up and downsides. The gutting of fish being one of the latter. But on the plus side, buying birthday presents for any one of them is actually quite easy as I can […]

World Cup woes..

29 June, 2010

So, that was it then, England’s (belated) exit from the World Cup. Humph, well can everyone now please put away the plethora of flags, please? Yes, even you Mr Cabbie with your rather ingenious St George flap sock contraptions that go over your wing mirrors. In a tournament where England really didn’t dazzle, the few […]

If it was my home.

24 June, 2010

There’s obviously been a lot in the press recently about the BP oil spill, but as with many things, if it isn’t on your doorstep it’s quite easy to be blazé about the impact. Which is why I’m so impressed with this website which puts the spill into startling perspective. Visit www.ifitwasmyhome.com and you’ll find […]

Roll up, roll up – get your publishing tour here

22 June, 2010

There are always some novel ideas being floated as to alternative ways for us publishers to make some money. Could marketing a grand tour of our offices could be one of them? Read this article on Publishing Perspectives. This piece made me smile, though I’m not completely convinced it would work in practice. Yet it […]

Tough acts to follow

14 June, 2010

Working on this side of the publishing industry’s fence I know how difficult it can be to be a debut author. There are so many hurdles to cross and people you need to win over, starting with your agent, to your editor, to the all-important sales team (I would say that wouldn’t I?!) before the […]

Sign of the times?

7 June, 2010

Last weekend, I had a lovely but all-too-brief wander through my favourite city, Cambridge. The market square was packed, the sun was (briefly) out and the gorgeous John Lewis (Robert Sayle for those of a certain age it now seems) and Arcade development are still a wonderful novelty to me. As time was quite short, […]

What every bride-to-be needs?

25 May, 2010

This August I will have been a ‘Mrs’ for a whole year. And 2010 is a busy one for weddings and I’ll be a bridesmaid for the first time next spring. Should I suggest this cake topper for the bride that has everything already sorted?! Lesley Crooks, Sales & Digital Manager

One of life’s great little discoveries

17 May, 2010

Now, I’ve never been one to forget a friend’s / mum’s / significant pet’s birthday… yeah right… but I’m now all set for any future near-miss date disasters because I have now discovered Cupcake Bouquet. Yes – that’s a bouquet of cupcakes. And if I’m any kind of guide, I’d swap a bunch of flowers for one of […]

Daddy gadget classes…

10 May, 2010

Ha! Here’s a news story that caught my eye the other day. I can appreciate that preparing for impending fatherhood must be a daunting business. There’s your hormonal partner for one and the joys of anticipation when it comes to nappy changing for another. But I hadn’t quite realized that parents were feeling quite so clueless about […]

Americans go crazy for the iPad

6 May, 2010

While I was on holiday at the beginning of April, I happened to be in New York over the Easter weekend. It was lovely! The weather was balmy to my winter-numbed skin, the blossom in Central Park was beautiful (see pic) and there was a buzz in the air. That buzz though may have had […]

Letters of Note

30 April, 2010

Blogging is an ephemeral business: if we have second thoughts about a blog there’s always the option of erasing it from the online world. Which makes me wonder whether this is the reason we are becoming more fascinated with the letters of yester year? Were people more decisive or opinionated when the missive was a […]

Election Debate

20 April, 2010

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 […]

Discovering more free apps

13 April, 2010

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 […]

Chips with everything!

22 March, 2010

About this time last year, when the snow was thick on the streets of London, I walked to work through some eerily quiet streets – pleasant crunching of white underfoot. Until that is, I neared Tottenham Street and my path onward was hampered by tape and a policeman directing me back the other way. Gigs, […]

Too cool for the simple garden gnome?

10 March, 2010

I don’t often read the free London papers, just when I’m stuck without a book usually, but while crammed onto the Central Line the other day, I (really) couldn’t avoid reading over one girl’s shoulder. Apparently the average garden gnome is going to have his work cut out for him this coming year as a […]

The Olympics – now coming to a city near you

2 March, 2010

So the winter Olympics have come to a roaring, cow-bell-clanging end. I watched some heart-breaking moments involving heavy rain and a defective exit gate on the men’s parallel giant slalom on Saturday and was quite gobsmacked that it wasn’t considered necessary to restart the run between Detkov and Bozzetto – am I the only one? […]

T-shirt joy at JOY!

25 February, 2010

Have you ever noticed how once you see one example of something they keep cropping up where ever you go? This week for me it has been t-shirts, ones with funny/naughty slogans, they have been here, there and everywhere, often leaving me staring after people in the street in a confused fashion. And when I […]