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Books

Tweeting Miranda Dickinson

Authors, Books By Dec 16, 2010 7 Comments

This time last year when I was still flailing around trying to figure out how Twitter worked, one of the first authors I started following was Miranda Dickinson. Her debut novel, Fairytale of New York, had just been published. For an aspiring author, it was fantastic to follow someone whose dream of publication had so recently come true and who was excited enough about that, let alone people’s positive reaction to her book and how incredibly well it was doing. (It was a Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller and shortlisted for the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2010.)

The Hating Game Web Splash

Book launch, Books By Dec 01, 2010 2 Comments

One of my lovely and talented writer pals, Talli Roland, launches the ebook of her brilliant, witty and fast-paced debut novel, The Hating Game, today and you can make it a bestseller. Here’s what you do: Help Talli Roland’s debut novel THE HATING GAME hit the Kindle bestseller list at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk by spreading the word today. Even a few sales in a short period of time on Amazon helps push the book up the rankings, making it more visible to other readers.

Cardiff Bay Lunch by Simone Mansell Broome

Book reviews, Poetry By Nov 08, 2010 5 Comments

I first heard Simone Mansell Broome read her poems at a poetry magazine launch in 2009. Hers were the poems that stood out for me that night because they spoke of real life events that I could identify with but they were also delivered with a healthy dose of humour, real warmth, empathy and a highly-perceptive understanding of human nature…

Pieces o’ Eight: Read Like a Pirate

Books By Sep 19, 2010 9 Comments

One of the blogs I regularly read is that of short story writer Nik Perring. (If you haven’t yet read his collection Not So Perfect: Stories, do. It is simply brilliant.) On Wednesday, Nik blogged and encouraged everyone to put word-of-mouth into practice and spread the word about good books and good writing by blogging recommendations or by writing an amazon…

Like Bees to Honey by Caroline Smailes

Book reviews, Books By Aug 13, 2010 9 Comments

You know that feeling you sometimes get when you step off an aeroplane in a Mediterranean country? When the warm air envelops you like a deep sigh? Your whole body relaxes and that’s the moment when you realise that you’re in a foreign country, and now properly on holiday. That’s how it feels to open the pages of Like Bees to Honey and start reading.