'I've never felt less festive': the art of writing Christmas novels, 365 days a year

Drinking sherry, bingeing Downton Abbey ... how authors keep up the spirit of the season, even when writing during heatwaves and a nightmarish ChristmasChristmas novels are not a new phenomenon. Charles Dickens sold out of his first print run of A Christmas Carol in days in December 1843, while Agatha Christie played on seasonal stresses with titles including The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding in 1923 and Hercule Poirot’s Christmas in 1938. But these days, there are acres of festive crime and rags-to-riches romances under the mistletoe to choose from. All tastes are catered for, whether it’s a love of trains (Edward Marston’s Victorian railway detective story A Christmas Railway Mystery), religion (Unlikely Santa: An Amish Christmas Story) or even festive erotica. Ebook retailer Smashwords stocks romance titles including The Old Dragon of the Mountain’s Christmas, and the inventive-sounding A Cyborg’s Old Terran Christmas. (“Interstellar bride Nell and her three children are forced to enter space-sleep capsules in the hope of surviving a calamity. She wakes over 700 years later on a ship of cyborg warriors. In this strange environment, Nell can’t imagine what their future will hold, but she is determined to keep her promise and make Christmas for her children.”)It may sound futuristic, but it is part of a long tradition beloved by readers. As Christina Storey at Allison & Busby, an independent publisher whose titles this year range from Anna Jacobs’ Christmas in... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2020-12-17 15:22:04 UTC ]
News tagged with: #print run #allison busby #wonderful time #independent publisher

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Calvin Literary Festival Recap: Celebrating 25 Years, A New Director

More than 2,000 readers and writers attended the Calvin College Festival of Faith & Writing in Grand Rapids, Mich. to celebrate religious expression in literature. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-04-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Photo Mania: MoCCA Arts Festival 2016

The MoCCA Arts Festival, an annual showcase for independent and self-published comics held April 2-3 at the Metropolitan West event space, attracted a mob of fans to its new location on the westside of Manhattan. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-04-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Iona Grey wins Romantic Novel of the Year

Iona Grey has been honoured with the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s "highest accolade", The Goldsboro Books Romantic Novel of the Year, for her book Letters to the Lost (Simon & Schuster). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-03-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Atkinson wins second Costa Novel Award in three years

The category winners of the Costa Book Awards 2015 have been revealed, with Kate Atkinson winning in the Novel category for the second time in three years. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2016-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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From the Fringes to the Mainstream: Ten Years of Growth In Graphic Novel Publishing

To mark this exciting decade in graphic novel publishing, PW invited seven publishing professionals to reflect on the growth of the last ten years and to peer into the future of graphic novel publishing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-12-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The seven stages of writing a novel

Anna Caltabiano self-published her first novel at the age of 14. Now with three published novels under her belt, the 18-year-old author and student shares some marvellous writing tips for teenage writers and beyondCheck out the Guardian children’s books homepageThe seven stages of writing a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-12-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #fourth time #guardian children #leigh bardugo #books site


Enright wins Irish novel of the year award

Anne Enright has won the Irish novel of the year award at the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards 2015, during a ceremony which also saw prizes given to J P Donleavy, Louise O’Neill, Eoin Colfer and Niall Breslin. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Radio 4 to air T S Eliot's Practical Cats poems on Christmas Day

Actor Jeremy Irons will read T S Eliot’s Old Possum's Book Of Practical Cats poems on Radio 4 on Christmas Day morning as part of a host of literature-related festive programming. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-11-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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SMP to Publish Day's Last 'Crossfire' Novel

St. Martin's Press will publish 'One With You' on April 5 in the U.S., taking the series over from Penguin's Berkley imprint, which released the previous four books in the series. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hilary wins Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year award

Debut author Sarah Hilary has scooped the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award for Someone Else’s Skin (Headline). Hilary was presented with the award by title sponsor Simon Theakston and broadcaster Mark Lawson at the opening night of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-07-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #peculier crime #skin headline #opening night #16th july #stiff competition #irish authors


Three debuts on Theakstons crime novel of the year shortlist

Three debuts have made the shortlist for the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award 2015. Antonia Hodgson’s debut The Devil in the Marshalsea (Hodder & Stoughton), a murder mystery set in the Marshalsea prison in 1727, is shortlisted alongside Hachette stablemate Sarah... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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What 50 Years of Writing Have Taught Me

Anne Roiphe, a major voice in feminist lit, reflects on her 50-year writing career as her 10th novel is published. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BEA 2015: Franzen says 'It gets harder to write novels, not easier.'

A capacity crowd of approximately 1,000 people turned out to watch BEA's curtain-raising event, a highly anticipated conversation between bestselling novelist Jonathan Franzen and Laura Miller of Salon.com. The discussion centered on 'Purity,' Franzen's fifth novel and his first since 2010's... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Paul Kingsnorth's crowdfunded novel wins book of the year award

The Wake wins honour from the Bookseller magazine, recognising both the book and its innovative publisher UnboundPaul Kingsnorth’s crowdfunded novel The Wake, which the author wrote in an invented form of Old English and originally envisaged self-publishing, has won the inaugural book of the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Photo Mania: Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2015

Held in the Toronto Reference Library building, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival reinforced its reputation as one of the best comics arts festivals in the world, attracting an international slate of artists, publishers, fans, and comics-loving librarians Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Indie Bookstore Day: ‘Christmas in May’

The inaugural nationwide celebration of indies was a success, with more than 25 stores exceeding their 2014 numbers for the same day within the first three hours. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Photo Mania: MoCCA Arts Festival 2015

This year's MoCCA Art Fest featured comics legends like Aline Kominsky-Crumb and lots of new comers like Kris Mukai, who was awarded a MoCCA Arts Fest 2015 Award of Excellence. Despite having to find a new venue for next year, this year's show was full of enthusiasm and lots of great indie... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #photo mania #aline kominsky-crumb #graphic novels


AWP 2015: The Art and Business of Writing Children's Books

Although AWP 2015 focused on literature written for and by adults, children's authors held their own at the conference and presented their ideas about how to best publish for Middle Grade and YA readers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-04-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stirling's Struck is Romantic Novel of the Year

Joss Stirling’s Struck (Oxford University Press) has become the first YA novel to be awarded the prize for Romantic Novel of the Year by the Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA). At the association's annual awards (RoNAs), held this evening (16th March) in London, Jill Mansell and Carole... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Beyoncé writes foreword for 22-Day Revolution diet book

Yellow Kite is to publish The 22-Day Revolution, a book about the benefits of a plant-based diet, with a foreword written by Beyoncé. Founded on the principle that it takes 21 days to make or break a habit, The 22-Day Revolution by exercise physiologist and nutrition expert Marco Borges is a... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #yellow kite #foreword written #practical guide #lose weight #health concerns