Series 5 of Blue Murder (based on the books by Cath Staincliffe) is back on ITV with Caroline Quentin reprising her role as DCI Janine Lewis. Catch the show for the next six weeks, every Monday at 9pm (from 7 Sept – 12 Oct).
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and a few days ago Everywhere’s #Beatcancer Campaign set a new Guiness World Record for the distribution of the largest mass message through social media. In the space of 24 hours (between16 – 17th October) they recorded 209,771 social media messages (tweets, facebook updates and blog posts) that included […]
Winter is definitely here. Today I woke up in the dark, fumbled my way to the shower (still in the dark so as not to wake my other-half) ,and attempted to find something suitable to wear to work which didn’t make me look like (quoting said other-half): “a 60-year-old spinster”. I’ll refrain from sharing my […]
Thursday 26th November, 7pm UNIVERSITY OF DUNDEE Come and meet Scottish author Maggie Craig at the University of Dundee, for an event organised by Dundee Book Events. She will talking about and signing copies of her latest book One Sweet Moment, a compelling story of love amidst family pressures and the social divide, set in […]
A friend lent me the entire box set of House recently (I was grieving over the fact I’d just finished the complete series of The West Wing on DVD and would now have to rely on standard TV viewing…) And I have to say I was really looking forward to getting into a new series. I […]
Thursday 29 October EDINBURGH Alanna Knight, author of the much-loved Faro and Rose McQuinn mysteries, will be giving a talk for the Smithsonian Institution and taking their members on a tour of Edinburgh to the various sites mentioned in her books. So look out for her amongst the streets of Edinburgh later this month!
Here’s a little something to procrastinate with… And test your knowledge of books at the same time. It’s Hangman with a book title theme. I scored 20 first go. (Should I be familiar with The Wizard of Earthsea? ) Go on, have a go and see if you can do better… CLICK HERE (Feel free […]
According to Tesco, it’s already Christmas. I was in there yesterday and noticed they’ve already started putting out advent calendars. Is there really a demand for Christmas stuff two months in advance?? I thought it was customary to atleast wait until after Halloween. One festivity (pagan or otherwise) at a time please! So please, readers, […]
Last night I caught the last half of BBC Panorama’s exposé on Ryanair Why Hate Ryanair? – which basically slams the airline for its hidden charges and Michael O’Leary’s cost-cutting approach to business. Today, Ryanair has responded by giving away 1.1Million free seats to represent the 11 lies featured in the programme. Nice comeback. (Hey […]
Nick Barley has now been announced as the new Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, with immediate effect. There’s a nice interview with him in The Times today which tells you a bit about his background and his vision for the future of the festival. Nick’s future is bright, yet it’s interesting to read […]
Did you know that Allison & Busby’s first offices were leased at the premises of another publisher – though out of office hours only? Or that the characters behind the august company name first met at a party in the house JM Barrie wrote Peter Pan? No, well neither did I, and it was tid-bits […]
Saturday 17 October, TIME TBC HOLT BOOKSHOP, HOLT Come and meet Mary Nichols, author of The Summer House at Holt Bookshop in Holt, Norfolk.
I’m now back from my holiday in Oz and can attest to the fact that a return flight London- Abu Dhabi-Sydney will see you clocking up a total of 42 hours of actual flight time. That’s a lot of hours. And a lot of pressure on the inflight entertainment. Luckily, I had an array of old and new […]
Where was our blog posting on Monday? And what about Tuesday?? And today? Delayed flights and viruses have caused a temporary lull in the blog postings. I know it’s been long and empty wait. Must feel something like this… I’ll be back tomorrow I promise. Chiara Priorelli, Publicity Manager
Saturday 24 October, 11.00am CERES BOOKSHOP, SWAFFHAM Come and meet author Mary Nichols, author of The Summer House, who will be signing copies of her books at Ceres Bookshop, 20 London Street, Swaffham, Norfolk. For more information call the bookshop on 01760 722504.
Friday 30th October, 6.30pm-8.30pm STRATFORD LIBRARY, LONDON Alex Wheatle (author of Brixton Rocks and Island Songs), poets Nick Makoha and Malika Booker, and writer in residence Mark Norfolk, will be discussing their careers as black writers and the state of the arts now and for the future at Stratford Library, London E15. For more information […]
Monday 12th October, 7.00pm WORTHING LIBRARY To celebrate Black History Month, Alex Wheatle (author of Brixton Rock and Island Songs) and Lola Jaye will be speaking about their work and signing copies of their latest books at Worthing Library Lecture Hall. For more information or to reserve your free ticket, ask at the Worthing Library […]
I’m not a fan of dirty old man pubs and as much as I love glossy bars, there’s nothing quite like a low-key, cosy pub serving local beer and comfort food. Round the corner from our lovely offices is the very popular Carpenter’s Arms. It has a beautiful outside area, complete with obligatory fairly lights and […]
In recent months we have been selling books direct – from our gleaming new website of course, but also over the phone. And it’s been wonderful speaking to readers! The women who actually were Land Girls during the Second World War and were after a copy of the fictional account of a group of girls […]
The heroine in one of our books, Molly’s Millions, is a florist who loves yellow gerberas and drives a yellow WV Beetle. Do you think this creation was inspired by the book?? Ok, so it’s actually a Chevrolet Matiz, not a Beetle but let’s not pick at details…Click here and scroll through the pictures for […]
Christina (our Art Editor) currently has this image saved on her desktop and when I spotted it, I decided it would look very nice as a print in my living room. I asked her where she found the image and as it turns out, the illustrator happens to be Mick Wiggins, the man who did the artwork […]