News Roundup: The People’s Book Prize, P-Town, New Books & General Naughtiness

Happy hump day! That actually sounds a lot naughtier than intended, but this news post is brought to you by a night-shift brain in holiday mode whose WordPress internet connection is finally working again, so I’m feeling rather frivolous (and borderline incoherent. Be warned.)

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So what’s been going on in the last week?

Eagle-eyed readers of this blog might have noticed a big update to the New & Upcoming Releases page, which is now crammed full of releases up to and including next February. I tried my best to scout around for titles, but if there are authors out there with a book that I’ve missed (and some of you are proper secret squirrels when it comes to this publicity malarkey) please let us know so we can list it.

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Sticking with the theme of new books, Suzanne Egerton’s Out Late with Friends and Regrets and Orla Broderick’s The January Flower are both autumn nominations for this year’s People’s Book Prize. The prize is aimed at finding, supporting and promoting new and undiscovered works and, as the title of the prize suggests, the public are entirely responsible for choosing the winners. See this page to find out how you can add your vote. Good luck to all involved!

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Andrea Bramhall (who will be guest-blogging here on Friday) had some good news this week when she found out that her début novel Ladyfish is going to be released as an audio book. The title will be available from September 24th and is available to pre-order here. In a busy week, Andrea has also been blogging over on Women & Words about her second novel Clean Slate, which is hot off the presses this month.

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A heads-up now for anyone who might be reading this blog from t’other side of the pond and fancies seeing three UK LesFic authors in Province Town this October. R.J. Samuel recently announced that she is set to conquer her fear of flying (good luck!) by heading over to Women’s Week in P-Town:

I’ve almost worked up the courage to book my flights (petrified of flying  ).. I’m thrilled to be going to Provincetown for Women’s Week!! I’ll be reading on the GCLS Author Panel on Friday October 18th with Liz Bradbury, Deej Garden, Joan Timberlake, Melissa Brayden, and Barbara Sawyer. I’m so looking forward to the week and meeting FB friends in person.

R.J. will join Andrea Bramhall and I.Beacham as UK flag-flyers for this week-long fest celebrating everything to do with lesbian culture.

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I think we’ll close out this round up by returning to our theme of naughtiness with a couple of new novellas.

Terry Baker has given a glowing review to Clare Ashton’s short story The Dildo in the Kitchen Drawer:

This is a wacky, zany, hilarious short story with Clare Ashton’s wicked sense of humor shining through on every page. I say wicked, because I’m not sure if I’m going to forgive her for naming the dog Terry! But I digress.

Although the story is short, it is crammed full to the brim with great scenarios and lovable fully formed characters, including the naughty dog and his antics. His owner, Mrs Smedley needs a medal for putting up with him. Look out for the gorgons too.

The full review can be found here at Terry’s blog.

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Rosen Trevithick has also been dabbling in the dangly-bits arena and her comedy novella My Granny Writes Erotica is free on amazon until Friday (US readers, don’t think I’ve forgotten you: see this link instead.) It doesn’t fall into the category of LesFic but it is funny, very British, has some nice things to say about writing in general and is well worth an hour or two of your time. Plus, it’s free, so I’m thinking this is a win-win scenario really.

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And with that I bid you farewell and hand the blog reins over to Ms Ashton while I go and sun myself in Madeira for a week.

Obrigado!

News Round Up: Kiki Archer at All Things Lesbian, VG Lee in Brighton, Val McDermid in Chipping Norton, and Rosen Trevithick on Creating an Author Persona

The miserable cold snap we are currently suffering seems to have sent our UK authors scurrying into hibernation, but we have dug deep and unearthed some snippets of news for this Round-Up! Hopefully, with a thaw in sight, they’ll be peeking their heads above the snowline in the coming weeks.

Never one to let us down, Kiki Archer has been interviewed over at the All Things Lesbian blog. Answering a question about the supposed scarcity of lesbian fiction, Kiki had this to say:

The lesbian fiction genre is thriving amongst lesbians, or at least that seems to be the case in the UK. I write for lesbians. I know that many of my straight family and friends have read my books and enjoyed them, but it is not important to me to actively try and ‘widen’ my readership. The lesbian community are very loyal and the support that I have received has been absolutely fantastic.

It seems somewhat strange that a blog primarily focused upon the lesbian community should believe lesbian fiction isn’t “very prevalent in today’s climate”. Perhaps they just don’t know where to look! Read the whole interview here.

One author who certainly never hibernates is VG Lee. Brighton Pink Fringe (May 17th-19th) will be featuring her one woman play, The Lady of the Wild West Hill! at the Marlborough Theatre.

Jean Bushell and her friends are getting older but still hope for something more from their lives. Malcolm, Jean’s octogenarian neighbour wants a special someone and some guppies. Karen wants a dance partner, her mother wants a knitting pattern and straight Stella would like to be sexually rampant. But what or who does Jean hope for?

VG has promised to update her events listing with more information as she gets it.

On the subject of author appearances, Val McDermid will be Getting Away with Murder at the Chipping Norton Literary Festival on Sunday 21st April:

How better to finish the 2013 festival than with a murder? Or several murders? Join ChipLitFest Patron Mark Billingham and his panel of best-selling crime-writers, Stuart MacBride, Val McDermid, and Martyn Waites, for a thrilling evening of criminally great entertainment.

Information on location and ticket availability can be found at the above links.

And finally, a fun blog filled with sage advice from Rosen Trevithick who gives the inside scoop on How to Create an Author Persona You Can Live With :

Everybody has many editions of themselves, from the mild mannered parent we show our children to the foul mouthed hooligan we become at a football match. Being an author is no different. It is simply not desirable to tell your readers that you pick your nose and that poor reviews reduce you to a jabbering wreck lying in an empty bathtub screaming ‘Why?’

Words to abide by, but my personal favourite was this little gem:

Nobody will buy your book if you tell people that it could be a big pile of pants.