Susie, Author at Allison & Busby

Athletes, Seinfeld and Friday Laughs

3 June, 2011

I found out this week that I have failed to get any Olympic tickets. Ok, I did go for some very popular heats (swimming finals, gymnastic finals, athletics etc) but I figured I’d at least get a good shot at getting some to table tennis. But no. Nada. So, whilst I have failed in my […]

How good is your eyesight? Spot the book!

27 May, 2011

It’s always a little thrill to see our books featured in unusual places – caught on camera behind a TV presenter, in a poster that we didn’t commission… in a photograph promoting the launch of a new optometrist office… Yes, that’s right. We just got word that Stop Me, by Richard Jay Parker has featured […]

Veg out on veg this week

23 May, 2011

It is a fairly recognised fact that plant-based foods are the healthiest foods for our bodies and I try to incorporate quite a few vegetarian meals into my culinary week. So, whilst leafing through Morrisons’ free magazine, which I happened to pick up over the weekend, I was delighted to come across a snippet of […]

Could The Hoff be anything but The Hoff?

13 May, 2011

I believe it is a universal fact that everyone will have some kind of reaction to the mention of two simple words. And the words are: The Hoff. Whether you can bear to admit it or not, the man has become an icon. Yes, I watched Knightrider. Yes, I watched Baywatch (the early series), yet […]

Marathons and other challenges

15 April, 2011

The London Book Fair is now behind us. With three full days of back-to-back meetings, the frantic grabbing at cups of coffee, the wading through the crowds and the racing to seminars, the exhaustion by the end of the day… it is, effectively, the publishing equivalent of a marathon. Except the women wear heels and […]

The Kennedys – why all the fuss?

8 April, 2011

Last night The History Channel screened the first episode of the apparently controversial four-part drama The Kennedys (with Katie Holmes and Greg Kinnear playing the presedential couple). I don’t have The History Channel so will have to wait until it comes to BBC2 later this spring, but I am definitely interested in watching it. This […]

The long wait for Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

1 April, 2011

Since 9am this morning we have been impatiently waiting for the delivery of the finished copies of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford. If you have yet to hear about this book, I must gush and tell you that this debut has been a worldwide word-of-mouth sensation… After approximately two […]

Wannabe a writer? Be a Figmentling.

22 March, 2011

Talk about the internet and inevitably the words “there is just so much out there” will crop up in conversation. It’s a fact – trawling the web can be truly overwhelming…which is why I particularly love the last page in Easy Living magazine where they select websites that have caught their eye that particular month, […]

The perfect compromise…?

21 March, 2011

It struck me last week that the last four books I had read had been digital editions. They were downloaded to my iPhone either through Kobo’s app, a handy PDF reader that has meant I’ve read some upcoming A&B titles before they’ve gone to print, and finally through my new discovery of the Overdrive Media […]

Uncomfortable with the notion of women who kill?

14 March, 2011

A new series Snapped: Women Who Kill starts tonight on the Crime and Investigation Network chronicling the lives of seemingly ordinary women who suddenly became killers. Looking at various cases such as Tracey Andrewes, who stabbed her fiancé thirty times with a pen-knife after an argument whilst driving home, and Lady Sarah Ferguson’s aide who […]

Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Get Carter

11 March, 2011

Today marks the start of a weekend of events in Newcastle to celebrate 40 years since Get Carter, the novel by Ted Lewis, was immortalised on screen. It has become one of the most iconic films in British cinema, starring Michael Caine in the lead role of Jack Carter as he goes on a rampage […]

Snippets from World Book Night

8 March, 2011

There were hundreds of articles, programmes and events celebrating World Book Night on Saturday but here are just a few that caught our attention for one reason or another… THE EVENT A&B’s editorial administrator, Georgina Phipps, attended the World Book Night event at the Royal Festival Hall featuring readings from various authors and here are […]

Playing with Blue Suede Shoes

3 March, 2011

A new exhibition is opening tomorrow at the Apthorp Gallery at artsdepot entitled Blue Suede Shoes by a group of artists who go by the collective name Gumbo. “Using the well known phrase ‘Blue Suede shoes’ as a starting point, these artists played a game of ‘pass it on’ to produce a sequence of new […]

Save Oliver Twist’s Workhouse!

28 February, 2011

Our office is just down the road from one of the few remaining Georgian workhouses in London – the Cleveland Street Workhouse. However, it is currently under threat, as plans are in place to have it demolished. University College London Hospital wants to knock it down and erect an 11-storey modern building in its place. […]

To invest or not invest in Art?

25 February, 2011

Today, on my usual lunch-time wander, I passed the Rebecca Hossack Gallery on Charlotte Street. who happened to be having a one-day sale of some of their artists’ work. The display included a few pieces from Adam Barrow‘s limited edition Letters and Months series – quirky collages made up of postage stamps and iconic images […]

I Was Here (reading…)

14 February, 2011

I am back from a fabulous week of skiing and snowboarding in the Dolomites. But it wasn’t all about speeding down the slopes, hitting the Sella Ronda circuit and trying not to stack it on the way down the piste. There was also time to relax and enjoy the mountain setting… I Was Here reading […]

Shaun White? Or Wipe Out?

4 February, 2011

I am heading to Corvara tomorrow, a lovely village in the Dolomites, for a week’s holiday in the snow and where I plan to try my hand (or rather, feet) at snowboarding. My initial bravado (‘I’m a good skier, how hard can it be?‘ didn’t last long so I sensibly took myself to Snow & […]

Trust me, I’m a Doctor…

3 February, 2011

I will be interested to listen to today’s discussion, Doctors in the Dock, on BBC Radio 4’s programme Face the Facts (will catch it later on bbciplayer). It centered around the question: Is the General Medical Council the right organisation to regulate the medical profession? The plan to instate an independent regulator to discipline doctors […]

A tribute to translators

28 January, 2011

Today I saw the longlist for The 2011 BTBA Fiction Longlist. I am lucky in that I know four languages – the perks of coming from an international background (or, how my other-half ‘endearingly’ puts it, “being a mutt”). And I do love languages, all with their own unique rhythms, inflections, tones and expressions. So […]

The Devil makes work for idle hands…

21 January, 2011

Well, in this case, the little Devil is rather ingenious. I’m a huge fan of the likes of Stomp and Tap Dogs, and now have come across this brilliant video by the Up and Over It dance duo (who have toured with the likes of the Riverdance troupe) with their innovative take on Irish Dance. […]

Introducing the gorgeous Linnea Design diaries

14 January, 2011

What a nice Friday treat – my 2011 Linnea Design Diary arrived in the post for me today! You wouldn’t think a diary could bring someone so much pleasure, but these limited edition diaries are always gorgeous and this year’s edition is particularly beautiful. Each page shows a full month (which I find very useful) […]