Time for Christmas markets!

21 December, 2010

The fact that we are experiencing a white Christmas does add a little something to the festivities. Ok, the man shouting expletives into his mobile phone (as he explains to whoever is on the receiving end that his train is delayed by an hour due to the weather conditions) does not fall in line with […]

Testing times…

17 December, 2010

Yesterday evening we enjoyed a very jolly office Christmas party. It involved a luminous tree; adequate amounts tinsel, tea light candles carefully strewn around the office (and not too close to our large archive of books), copious amounts of cava and mulled wine, a ridiculously large spread of food (note-to-self: remember, Chiara, when you next […]

Porn for book lovers (bookshelf series, 3)

14 December, 2010

Following my battle building bookshelves and search for more inspiring book-storage ideas, today I share with you the most recent discoveries. There is no doubt that some book collections are worth framing, but whether you have signed first editions of classics or just beautifully coloured paperbacks that would make a nice splash on the wall, […]

Support Reading with the Big Give Xmas Challenge

7 December, 2010

‘Tis the season of giving… and this week, giving is worth double. The Big Give 2010 Christmas Challenge runs from 6th – 10th December and means that any online donations to partnering charities made through The Big Give will be worth double the amount! One of the charities that is part of the initiative is […]

Wednesday Cover Story: Covering the AIDS issue

1 December, 2010

Today is World Aids Day and as I thought about the AIDS issue I had a quick browse on Amazon to see what books were out there on the topic. And my search brought up a fair amount, but mostly quite stern, scientific, textbook-looking books. Of course, AIDS is indeed a very serious topic and […]

I’d like to dedicate this week to…

30 November, 2010

Historical figures and events have days named after them. Allison & Busby authors are getting weeks celebrated in their honour! First we had the Morganville Vampire Week at Chrissie’s Corner Blog in honour of Rachel Caine‘s hit series (links to all the week’s posts can be found at here at our UK Fans of the […]

Onassis, a Robert Lindsay production…

26 November, 2010

This week I went to the Novello Theatre to see the play Onassis, by Martin Sherman (based on the novel Nemisis, by Peter Evans). It wasn’t what I had expected; less of a story with an actual plot than a sequence of vignettes – moments in Onassis‘ life in which the audience gets a glimpse […]

Really get into Get Carter…

19 November, 2010

Spotted in this morning’s Metro – an ad for a special viewing of Get Carter, the classic cult film starring Michael Caine. A title which always catches my eye since it is based on the novel by Ted Lewis which, I can proudly say, we publish. The special screening will take place on 2nd Dec […]

Dedicated to…

18 November, 2010

Have you ever wondered who is behind the dedications that authors add to their books?  And who would you mention if you were to publish a book? I’ve often thought about it and always enjoy hearing the stories associated with the named individuals.  So, it’s with very great pleasure, that I introduce young Imogen Rose […]

In search of the innovative bookshelf (bookshelf series, 2)

16 November, 2010

Following my recent bookshelf-building exploits, and the fact that I’m still short of space, I’ve been on the hunt for innovative ideas as to how I could store more books in my flat.  And there are plenty of interesting ideas out there, albeit some more useful than others (considering a few assume you must reside […]

THE HIDDEN DANCE WINS BEST DEBUT NOVEL AWARD

15 November, 2010

Susan Wooldridge’s novel The Hidden Dance has won the Best Debut Novel Award in the Big Red Read as well as taking second place in the Fiction Awards.

And what if we could trade places…

12 November, 2010

Today, after emailing a reader who bought one of our books, I was greeted with this charming response: ‘You’re obviously not the daughter of Commissario Brunetti in the Donna Leon novels!‘ He was, of course, referring to Chiara Brunetti – whose Christian name I share. Ah, if only I could say that I was indeed […]

Battle of the Bookshelf (bookshelf series, 1)

8 November, 2010

This Sunday, I spent the day building IKEA bookshelves.  Two Billy bookshelves to be precise, in the way all IKEA instructions inevitably are. (Love those Swedes – even I feel DIY worthy. Tack very much.) Basically, there comes a point were you can no longer choose to send a book to Oxfam in order to […]

Friday fun…and a reason not to hate Mondays.

5 November, 2010

I’m usually depressed at the number of adverts I see on the tube which generally project the image that we are all leading very unsatisfactory lives.  It would seem that the majority of us need more sleep (Take Pro-Plus!), need more energy (Red Bull Gives you Wings!), need a holiday (shot of the Maldives with […]

Everyone wants a little Happiness At Work…

28 October, 2010

Tomorrow marks the opening of a new exhibition at the Print House Gallery in Dalston, featuring work by past and present members of the studio Happiness At Work, and including work from illustrator Harriet Russell… She also happens to be one of our authors… ‘Author of what book?’, I hear you ask… Author of Envelopes: […]

Wednesday Cover Story: Revamping the Republic

20 October, 2010

The acclaimed Republic trilogy, by Jack Ludlow – including The Pillars of Rome (a Top Ten bestseller), The Sword of Revenge and The Gods of War – has been a great success for us. Now the Romans are getting a revamp and so far, the first two books in the trilogy have been released with […]

Foodie forces at work today

15 October, 2010

Today has been a bit of a food-themed day. Granted, seeing as my mind is generally food-obsessed, that probably doesn’t differentiate it from any other day, but let’s just say there were more external factors feeding into this today. I spent my morning preparing extracts from The South African Illustrated Cookbook for House & Home […]

Pics from Death on the Marais Launch!

1 October, 2010

Last night we celebrated the launch of Death on the Marais – the first book in a brand new crime series, set in rural France in the 1960s, by the already much-acclaimed author Adrian Magson. The soiree was hosted by the the inimitable David Headley (who is also Adrian’s literary agent) at his equally inimitable […]

And the operative word is: BIG

24 September, 2010

Yesterday I attended the monthly PPC Meeting at Foyles – where a room full of publicists congregate to listen to a few editors/producers/reviewers who come to talk about what kinds of authors they are interested in and how we might work together. These meetings are usually quite useful because programmes, book pages, contacts and remits […]

Enter our Speech Bubble Competition

21 September, 2010

The Reading Festival of Crime Writing took place this past weekend, which saw almost two thousand crime enthusiasts flocking to Reading’s Town Hall and the Central Library over the fours days to hear from the top of the crop on the crime writing circuit. Our authors Rebecca Tope, Mike Ripley, Zoë Sharp, Richard Jay Parker […]

Remembering the sinking of the City of Benares

17 September, 2010

This year is the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, which was fought between the RAF and the German Luftwaffe over the summer and autumn of 1940, and the Blitz and this month sees a plethora of commemorative events and exhibitions to mark this piece of history. Find out more about events around London […]