Category Archives: Culture

A PUBLISHER’S YEAR: APRIL – AWARDS, AGENTS, SERIES

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We have been very busy at Sapere Books in March and April. At the beginning of March, Catherine Isaacs was announced as the winner of the Romantic Novelists’ Association Popular Fiction Award, which we sponsored, for her absolutely brilliant novel, YOU ME EVERYTHING. We were thrilled to be involved with the award and we have agreed to sponsor it for at least two more years.

A week later we were at London Book Fair, catching up with all of the literary agents we currently work with and meeting with plenty of new ones to discuss what we are looking for. I can’t reveal the outcomes just yet, but we mentioned that we were looking for nautical fiction to one agent and she told us she has an author who has planned a 20-book series of naval thrillers! She is currently discussing the offer with the author, so fingers crossed we will be announcing our first nautical fiction writer very soon!

March saw the release of Alexandra Walsh’s debut thriller, THE CATHERINE HOWARD CONSPIRACY, which has been racing up the charts, as well as the fourth book in Graham Brack’s Josef Slonsky series – FIELD OF DEATH – which readers have completely fallen in love with. April also saw the release of new titles in two more of our most popular series: The Lady Fan Mysteries by Elizabeth Bailey and The Charles Dickens Investigations Series by J C Briggs.

We are preparing lots of fantastic titles for release over the summer, and we have realised that we do not have as many contemporary romantic fiction titles as we do crime and thriller, so we are about to start scouting for romance authors who are writing heart-warming British-set romances, which have the potential to become three or more book series – in the style of Debbie Johnson’s ‘Comfort Food Café’ series and Hannah Ellis’s ‘Hope Cove’ series.

Our most exciting news for April is that we have just officially offered someone our Editorial Assistant job and she accepted! I can’t give any more details just yet, but in next month’s blog post I will be able to introduce her properly!

Amy Durant

SISTER SCRIBES: APRIL READING ROUND UP

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Susanna:

Have you ever read a book that was so good that, while you looked forward to reading more by the same author, at the same time you couldn’t help feeling a bit wary of doing so – you know, in case the next book didn’t live up to expectations..? For me, psychological thriller writer Linda Huber is one of these writers. Since reading The Cold Cold Sea, I’ve never been able to open another of her books without that little iffy moment of wariness.

Linda Huber’s strength lies in her ability to build a creepy atmosphere that creates a thread that runs throughout each book, growing stronger the further you get into the plot. Her latest book, Stolen Sister, is billed as a ‘gripping family drama,’ but it is much more than this. It is a well-crafted, psychologically complex story that is fueled by strong characterisation. It is a chilling tale of ordinary people in what they gradually realise is an extraordinary situation and I wanted to reach inside the story and tell them what was really going on. A thoroughly gripping read.

 

Jane:

The first of my holiday reads followed me around for a while after I’d finished it – always a sign of a great book as far I as was concerned.

I was absolutely fascinated by the premise of Julie Cohen’s Louis and Louise; one life lived twice in a different gender. As well as being a satisfying story it made me think long and hard about gender identity and how it is shaped from childhood and the choices we make – often unwittingly – because of it.

Julie Cohen is a great storyteller and the small town in Maine where most of the book is set came to life in her skilled hands. It takes Louis and Louise from birth until their early thirties, flashing between the present and the defining moments of their childhoods. I found their relationship with their twin friends (a boy and a girl) echoed their own gender identities beautifully.

One thing that jarred a little was the few paragraphs – one quite early on – where the author ‘stepped in’ and explained to the reader what was happening and this really wasn’t necessary.  To me it smacked of over zealous editing on the part of the publisher and was quite annoying being treated like an idiot. Otherwise a great book I’d thoroughly recommend.

Also on holiday I struggled through Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (sorry Cass!), mainly for research purposes, and read Angela Barton’s Magnolia House. This romance has received a ton of five star reviews and tells the story of Rowan, whose life spins apart just after she moves to London and how her new housemates and old friends help her to pull it back together.

But my most amazing holiday read of all was Madeleine Bunting’s Island Song. I’m a fussy reader at the best of times, but this marvellous novel drew me in right at the beginning and held me there until the end. The writing is so natural, so clever, I don’t even really know why it is so effective, but it carried me into a world of wartime Guernsey and 1990s London I was reluctant to leave.

The premise is not an original one; mysterious mother dies leaving daughter to uncover the truth about her life, but the richness of the storytelling and the layers of complexity made it an absolute joy to read. Easily my book of the year so far and I recommend it without reservation.

 

SISTER SCRIBES GUEST: R L FEARNLEY ON ELVES, ENCHANTMENTS AND EMANCIPATION

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Becci is a sister scribe from Reading Writers  – as well as being on the committee together and going to  the regular meetings, we like to write together in local cafés. She writes under the name R.L. Fearnley and is a fantasy poet and novelist, performing her poetry all across the country and delivering creative writing workshops in a variety of settings. Her poetry collection, ‘Octopus Medicine’ was published under ‘Becci Louise’ by Two Rivers Press in 2017. She is working on her first novel.

Lonely children love other worlds. I know this because I was a lonely child. I found solace in alternative landscapes filled with dragons, wizards and magic. The idea of riding on the back of a fire-breathing monster was one of the few things that made me feel powerful. I loved the stories of dragon-riding heroes and farm-boys-turned-champions. It made me feel that anyone, no matter how humble and invisible, could have the potential for more. I devoured these stories with gusto; Christopher Paolini’s ‘Eragon’ was a favourite, as was J.R.R. Tolkein’s ‘The Hobbit’ and C.S. Lewis’ ‘Chronicles of Narnia’. Of course, I wrote my own stories too. Looking back on them now, I see a fatal flaw that I was, perhaps, too young or too socially conditioned to see.

Where are all the women in fantasy stories?

To be fair, they are there. You see them in the flowing golden locks of Tolkein’s Galadriel, the serious and distant personality of Paolini’s Aryen and Lewis’ stuck-up, lipstick-loving Susan, where liking make-up is apparently reason enough to get you thrown out of Narnia. Women in fantasy when I was growing up all seemed to look the same. You knew you were reading a ‘strong, fantastical female’ if she:

  • Was an elf of some description
  • Had almond-shaped eyes (whatever that means)
  • Had high cheek bones
  • Had full lips
  • Had ‘ivory skin’ (looked dead or never saw sunlight)
  • Had long flowing hair, usually black or blonde.

Normally, she was tall, aloof and had no sense of humour. She was ferocious with a sword but devoid of personality. She was almost always the motive for action or the trophy at the end of it. She was, actually, quite boring.

I notice, from my early teenage attempts to write fantasy stories, that all the ones with female protagonists were unfinished. I just couldn’t seem to write them. I thought, in my youth, that it was because I liked doing ‘boy stuff’, like climbing trees and hunting insects, so of course I empathised with male characters more. Now, I think I just read very few fantasy narratives in which women were written as if they were real people.

Fortunately, a recent flurry of phenomenal female fantasy writers is challenging this trend. Jen Williams’ brilliant ‘Copper Cat’ trilogy has a fierce, humorous central female character who knows what she wants and goes out to get it. N.K. Jemisin’s stunning ‘Broken Earth’ Trilogy is populated with female characters displaying the range of human strength and vice, and her female characters are almost exclusively of colour (another thing you rarely see in fantasy!) Naomi Novik’s brilliant protagonist in ‘Uprooted’, who’s growth is joyous to witness, also pushes female-centred fantasy to new heights. And I find, suddenly, that I have plenty of inspiration. I no longer read books where I, a woman, am irrelevant. I realise that I don’t have to write ‘women’ in my stories, I just have to write ‘people’. It should not be a revelation to see that these two things are not mutually exclusive. After all, in worlds where anything is possible, why can’t the quiet, plain girl at the back of the class be the one who takes up the sword and slays the troll?

You Got This by Bryony Gordon Book Review

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You Got This by Bryony Gordon Book Review

You Got This is a truly fabulous book for teenage girls. Being a teenager is hard, and being a teenage girl even more so. It is a time I would not want to go back to. Especially with all of the toxic message girls get now. The rise of social media has also caused problems. This brilliant book from the amazing Bryony Gordon covers periods, comparisons and has a fantastic chapter letting teenage girls know they are not snowflakes, but are instead brave people who are standing up for equality on the basis of gender and race. I am so sick of the word ‘snowflake’. The generation who calls out racism and sexism anytime they see it are not ‘sensitive’. They are brave and making the world a better place. This book also covers mental health extensively which is to be commended. The mental health of our children is so important and educating them about mental health is essential. I also loved the bit on how girls are taught to compare themselves to others. This book is fun, smart, entertaining and full of everything I wish I had been told when I was a teenager. Absolutely brilliant.

 

I wanted to be a unicorn. I wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted to be an astronaut.

But the thing I really wanted to be more than anything else, was a little less like me.

It was only recently that I realised not wanting to be me was at the heart of every dumb decision I ever made. And so now I am writing this book containing all the life lessons I wish someone had taught me.

A book for the teenage girl in me. And for every teenage girl out there. Because the most powerful thing you can be when you grow up is yourself.

You Got This is available here.

 

The Moment of Lift By Melinda Gates Book Review

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The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World, the moment of lift, Melinda Gates, book reviewThe Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

Melinda Gates is the perfect example of an extraordinary woman who does not get the credit she deserves because she just happens to be married to a rich, famous man. It would be easy to dismiss her on the basis of privilege, and many people do. But to judge a woman by her husband is sexist. Melinda Gates stands as a giant in her own right. She has done so much for women’s rights and to make the world a better place. Her new book, The Moment of Lift, should be read by every single person in the world. Then the world would be a better place for everyone. Full of blistering facts and, yes, some harrowing tales; The Moment of Lift is a call to action. The book is powerful and puts up the fights for women’s rights. I hear that women have never had it so good a lot, and yet there is still so much to be done. I challenge anyone to read this book and not be inspired. When you read it you want to do something. The book covers so many aspects of gender bias: from FGM, contraception and inequality at home. Even the fact that most women do most of the domestic work is in here, and so it should be. Only recently was childcare and domestic world including by economists when it came fo GDP. Women’s work has been largely invisible and, in many ways, still is. Melinda also writes about herself and her marriage in this book. She is honest and brave. Her voice is in this book and so is her strength. It is powerful stuff. This book is essential reading and gets Frost’s Gold Standard stamp of approval. Only the second thing so far to do so.

 

A debut from Melinda Gates, a timely and necessary call to action for women’s empowerment.

“How can we summon a moment of lift for human beings – and especially for women? Because when you lift up women, you lift up humanity.”

For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift a society up, you need to stop keeping women down.

In this moving and compelling book, Melinda shares lessons she’s learned from the inspiring people she’s met during her work and travels around the world. As she writes in the introduction, “That is why I had to write this book – to share the stories of people who have given focus and urgency to my life. I want all of us to see ways we can lift women up where we live.”

Melinda’s unforgettable narrative is backed by startling data as she presents the issues that most need our attention – from child marriage to lack of access to contraceptives to gender inequity in the workplace. And, for the first time, she writes about her personal life and the road to equality in her own marriage. Throughout, she shows how there has never been more opportunity to change the world – and ourselves.

Writing with emotion, candour, and grace, she introduces us to remarkable women and shows the power of connecting with one another.

When we lift others up, they lift us up, too.

The Moment of Lift is available here.

SISTER SCRIBES: JANE CABLE ON GETTING TO KNOW YOUR PUBLISHER

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Although I signed with Sapere Books last summer it’s taken the relationship a little time to get going. That was perfectly understandable – my first book with them, Another You, wasn’t due out until this June so it was quite a way through their work schedule – but it was still a little frustrating for me.

The frustration was completely unwarranted, but every time I saw a gorgeous new cover appear on the private Facebook group for their authors, I wished it was mine. And waiting for the edit notes was absolute purgatory. Would the book pass muster? How much would they want me to change?

Then, about ten days ago, the first batch of edits arrived from editorial director Amy. And there were no dramas. Absolutely no dramas. Most of what she said made perfect sense and her intentions were clear. I knew exactly what I needed to do and it was a joy to roll my sleeves up and get to work, knowing that the book would be better for it.

The timetable was clear too. The first half of the book would arrive before Easter, the second after. Writer friends were concerned it was tight with the proposed publication date but I’d more or less cleared my diary so I’d have ample time for rewriting. I say more or less, because there was one very important event coming up I wasn’t going to miss. And that was Sapere’s first birthday party.

London is a relatively long trek from Cornwall and I decided to let the train take the strain, arriving in time for lunch with a former colleague. After that I tramped the streets of Kensington and the south west corner of Hyde Park in the name of research for my current wip. As it happened it was a beautiful spring day and although I was a little footsore by the time I stopped for a cuppa it didn’t feel like a chore at all.

The party was in the West End, in a light and airy room above a characterful pub. Almost at once I met Caoimhe (pictured left), Sapere’s marketing director. Just days after the edit notes arrived we had started emailing about promoting the book but as a former indie author, having a professional on board was new territory for me. There’d been some shuffling around, trying not to tread on toes, but problems have a way of melting away once you’ve met someone face to face. Hopefully I convinced her I’m not a control freak and just want to support everything she’s planning to do for Another You.

I also met Amy (pictured right) for the first time, and Richard, the other third of the Sapere powerhouse. I have to say all three are incredible people, full of energy and good humour, and you can see how well they gel as a team. But a really big pleasure was meeting other Sapere authors – and the shame of it that it was impossible to talk to everyone. Hopefully next time…

I could go on about the party, but I’d like to add a word about the new cover for Another You, which was revealed on Friday. I’d seen it just five days before, when it popped up on my phone on Sunday evening. I clicked it open. There were tears in my eyes. That soldier, walking away head bent, was just so perfect. As was the landscape around him which beautifully reflects part of Studland Bay where the book is set. So many covers disappoint authors but I love this one whole-heartedly, because whoever briefed the designer (that’s you, Amy) clearly knew the book.

Thank you, Sapere. You’re awesome.

 

The Daughters of Ironbridge by Mollie Walton

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It’s great to discover a new saga author and Mollie Walton should be flying high today with her debut The Daughters of Ironbridge. Walton takes us deep into the dark heart of the industrial landscape, setting her story in the iron making  towns of Shropshire.

The Daughters of Ironbridge is the tale of two young young girls born in the same month of the same year and yet their lives are worlds apart. Annie Woodvine’s father works in the furnaces owned by the King family and has done so for as long as she can remember. But Annie is bright and intelligent, and she has big dreams. So, when she is asked to run messages for the wealthy King family, she grabs the opportunity with both hands, seeing it as a way out of the drudgery that would otherwise befall her.

Margaret King is surrounded by privilege and wealth. But behind closed doors, nothing is what it seems. When Anny arrives, Margaret finds her first ally and friend. Together they plan to change their lives. But can friendship exist across the divide?

As disaster looms over the ironworks, Margaret and Anny find themselves surrounded by secrets and betrayal. Can they hold true to each other and overcome their fate? Or are they destined to repeat the mistakes of the past?

Walton’s descriptions of both character and setting are vivid. The main characters are well drawn and the tentative relationship between the two girls deftly handled and therefore believable. That said, the supporting characters are both a delight and a horror – there are plenty of antagonists for the girls to fight against and readers are sure to hear more from them in the books to follow.

The Shropshire countryside is a place of stark contrasts, the bucolic beauty of the woodland a sharp relief to the brutal darkness of the furnace, which echoes throughout the plot and its many twists and turns.

The Daughters of Ironbridge is the first in a trilogy and book one ended leaving me impatient for the next one in the series. The story will appeal to readers of Rosie Goodwin and Dilly Court.

‘The Daughters of Ironbridge has that compulsive, page-turning quality, irresistible characters the reader gets hugely invested in, and Walton has created a brilliantly alive, vivid and breathing world in Ironbridge’ – Louisa Treger

 

Mollie Walton has always been fascinated by history and on a trip to Shropshire, while gazing down from the iron bridge, found the inspiration for what has become her debut saga novel, part of a trilogy titled THE IRONBRIDGE SAGA, published by Bonnier Zaffre.

www.molliewalton.co.uk

The Tiger Catcher Paullina Simons | Recommended Reads

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the tiger catcher paullina simons

An interesting, entertaining and pacy novel.

The first novel in a beautiful, heartbreaking new saga from Paullina Simons, the international bestselling author of Tully and The Bronze Horseman.

Can true love ever die?
Julian lives a charmed life in Los Angeles. Surrounded by friends, he is young, handsome, and runs a successful business. Everything changes after he has a fateful encounter with a mysterious young woman named Josephine. Julian’s world is turned upside down by a love affair that takes him–and everyone else in his life–by storm. For the two new lovers, the City of Angels is transformed into a magical playground.
But Josephine is not what she seems and carries secrets that threaten to tear them apart―seemingly forever.
A broken man, his faith in tatters, Julian meets a mysterious stranger who tells him how to find Josephine again if he is willing to give up everything and take a death-defying trip from which no one has ever returned.
So begins Julian and Josephine’s extraordinary adventure of love, loss, and the mystical forces that bind people across time and space. It is a journey that propels Julian toward an impossible choice which will lead him to love fulfilled…
…or to oblivion.
The Tiger Catcher takes readers from the depths of despair to the dizzying heights of joy in the first novel of an unforgettable trilogy of love lost and found. For all fans of Outlander, The Time Traveler’s Wife and Jojo Moyes.

 

Available here.