'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 ]
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Arts Council withholds Poetry Society grant

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Tue, 26/07/2011 - 11:52 Arts Council England (ACE) has confirmed it is withholding the Poetry Society's quarterly grant payment of almost £78,500, in the wake of the major internal row and resignations. The payment was due to the Poetry Society at... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Summersdale buys An Apple a Day

Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 25/07/2011 - 15:44 Summersdale has bought world rights to a book about anorexia by Emma Woolf, the writer of the Sunday Times column An Apple a Day. Commissioning editor Jennifer Barclay bought the rights from Sarah Such of Sarah Such Literary... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Angry Robot signs near-future novel

Written By: Katie Allen Publication Date: Thu, 21/07/2011 - 12:40 Angry Robot is to publish a debut novel by Canadian writer Madeline Ashby. vN is set in a near-future where robots and humans live side by side, and follows Amy, who has grown up with a cybernetic mother and human father. Alone... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Brent libraries judicial review: day two

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 21/07/2011 - 09:18 Brent council's plan to close six of its 12 libraries was made "with great care and expressed attention to the 1964 Act" and other relevant legislation, the High Court heard yesterday (20th July). The council had faced... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Brent libraries judicial review: day one

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 20/07/2011 - 09:10 Brent council failed to comply with its legal obligations under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act when planning the closure of six of its libraries, the High Court was told on the first day of the judicial review... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fnac announces five-year plan

Written By: Barbara Casassus Publication Date: Wed, 20/07/2011 - 14:20 French cultural product chain Fnac has announced a new five-year strategic plan to help lift flagging sales as consumer habits change and competition from the internet erodes traditional markets. Called Fnac 2015, the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Arts Council to 'speak up for libraries'

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Thu, 14/07/2011 - 10:05 The Arts Council has given the first indication of how it intends to approach its forthcoming responsibility for libraries by publishing a review of its strategic goals. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Fathers Day fails to boost June book sales - BRC

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 12/07/2011 - 09:37 Widespread offers and Fathers Day failed to affect book sales falling in June compared to 2010, according to the British Retail Consortium. Figures out today show total sales in the UK were up 1.5% last month in comparison to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Media Decoder: Sheila Bair to Write Book on Financial Crisis

Sheila C. Bair, who ended a tumultuous five-year term as chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation this month, has landed a book deal to give her inside account of the financial crisis. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2011-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oldie launches Soho Literary Festival

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Tue, 05/07/2011 - 08:49 The Oldie magazine team is launching a new literary festival, based in London's Soho, with authors including Man Booker-winner Howard Jacobson and Michael Morpurgo set to appear. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Morgan to be Arts Council libraries director

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Tue, 05/07/2011 - 09:59 Nicola Morgan is to be the libraries director at the Arts Council. Morgan is currently programme manager, sector improvement at the Museums, Libraries and Archives council, which winds up this autumn. She will take up her new... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-07-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Marie Claire publisher claims new technology boosts newsletter subs 60% in a year

IPC Media claims its email marketing has been "revolutionised" by a new technology platform that has led newsletter subscriptions to increase almost 60% in a single year. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Crossan writes three YA titles for Bloomsbury

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 30/06/2011 - 15:01 Bloomsbury has acquired three YA books by Irish author, Sarah Crossan. Senior commissioning editor Ele Fountain acquired the trio of titles through Julia Churchill at Greenhouse, with the first title, Breathe, to be... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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French novel UK bestseller

Written By: Philip Stone Publication Date: Tue, 28/06/2011 - 15:11 Dawn French’s A Tiny Bit Marvellous (Penguin), the bestselling hardback début novel of 2010, was the bestselling book in the UK last week, while Lynda La Plante, writing since 1983, scores her first ever Bookseller number one.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writing young-adult fiction: Better than going to the prom.

Young-adult books are being sold to an audience that can't vote, yet they're being written by people commonly referred to on the Internet as "the olds." We should know. We're two of them. Both of us have made our living writing. One of us in journalism (Grady) and the other in literary fiction... Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2011-06-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Goldsboro Books set for "record-breaking" year

Publication Date: Thu, 16/06/2011 - 09:10 Goldsboro Books has revealed it is on-track for a record-breaking financial year after moving premises in March. The 12-year-old independent London bookshop, which specialises in first edition signed copies, said May prevailed as its “best ever” month... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hachette's Red wins Consumer Mag of the Year

Times Higher Education and publisher Hachette Filipacchi were among the big winners at the 2011 PPA Awards last night, hosted by Scottish comedian Kevin Bridges and with a special appearance by 'Happy Days' actor Henry Winkler. Continue reading at Media Week

[ Media Week | 2011-06-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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W&N wins auction for second Semple novel

Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 10/06/2011 - 10:49 Weidenfeld & Nicolson has triumphed in an auction for the second novel by American author Maria Semple, staking a six-figure sum for the title. Editorial director Arzu Tahsin bought UK and Commonwealth rights to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Donaldson backs National Library Day

Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Fri, 10/06/2011 - 14:53 The newly crowned children's laureate Julia Donaldson has given her support for National Libraries Day, the new initiative set to carry on the success of last February's Save Our Libraries Day. Donaldson said: "Hooray for... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Retailers hit out at Christmas pricing

Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 10/06/2011 - 08:30 Penguin has defended the £30 r.r.p. price of Jamie Oliver's new cookbook as "fantastic value" after retailers accused the company of "profiteering". Many booksellers have noted the price of potential bestselling hardback books... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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