'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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‘They’ve stolen our history’: Why one designer has been fighting for inclusion for 50 years

Acclaimed designer and thought leader Cheryl D. Miller shares her decades-long quest for design justice. Cheryl D. Miller is an acclaimed New York communications designer, artist, and theologian. She is the author of the memoir Black Coral: A Daughter’s Apology to Her Asian Island Mother and... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2020-12-17 08:00:08 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury lands first novel in 48 years by Wole Soyinka

Bloomsbury is to publish Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka, the Nobel Laureate's first novel in 48 years.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-12-09 16:14:16 UTC ]
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10 Middle Grade Graphic Novels to Gift This Year

Whatever the young reader in your life is into, there's a graphic novel for them! Find newer middle grade graphic novels to gift this year. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-11-25 11:37:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #young reader #graphic novel


Osman's debut novel announced as W H Smith Book of the Year

Richard Osman's debut crime novel The Thursday Murder Club (Viking) has been named W H Smith's Book of the Year for 2020.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-05 01:31:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #richard osman #debut crime #book of the year #w h smith #debut novel


‘The Cold Millions,’ Jess Walter’s celebration of forgotten heroes, is one of the most captivating novels of the year

What might have been an earnest historical novel about the labor movement is transformed by Walter’s irresistible voice and characters. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-10-29 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Nigeria’s Digital Aké Arts and Book Festival Opens Today

The seventh Aké Arts and Book Festival in Lagos is all online and available for all to see. Events are free and open to the public. The post Nigeria’s Digital Aké Arts and Book Festival Opens Today appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-10-22 19:32:42 UTC ]
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Ramona Quimby and the Art of Writing From a Kid’s Mind

When I made the extremely practical decision to abandon my career in publishing to become a writer, I didn’t know I wanted to write children’s books. I thought I wanted to write for adults. Accordingly, my first published work was an illustrated book about fortune-telling; my second was about... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-06 08:49:59 UTC ]
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Ethan Hawke's new novel on art, love and fame to William Heinemann

William Heinemann is publishing the first novel in almost 20 years from actor, writer and director Ethan Hawke: A Bright Ray of Darkness. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-05 04:15:41 UTC ]
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The Literary Arts Emergency Fund will award 3.5 million to 282 literary organizations this year.

Exclusive: the Literary Arts Emergency Fund, launched and administered by the Academy of American Poets, the Community of Literary Magazine & Presses, and the National Book Foundation, has announced that it will distribute $3.5 million in emergency funding to 282 nonprofit literary arts... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-15 19:00:39 UTC ]
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'The end of an innocent world': An oral history of the first National Book Festival, which debuted three days before 9/11

Ahead of the 20th National Book Festival, Laura Bush, Scott Turow, Michael Beschloss and others look back at the event’s storied beginning. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-15 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The best new audiobooks include a 30-year-old novel that’s as timely as ever

Gore Vidal’s “Hollywood” is finally getting the audiobook treatment, and not a moment too soon. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-14 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Susanna Clarke’s First Novel in 16 Years Is a Wonder

The new book from the author of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell takes place in one house, but in it, she finds infinite space. Continue reading at Slate

[ Slate | 2020-09-10 18:15:39 UTC ]
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Coronavirus Impact: Nigeria’s Aké Arts and Book Festival 2020 is Digital

The Aké Arts and Book Festival has a strong activist context for many of its 2020 events, set around the theme 'African Time.' The post Coronavirus Impact: Nigeria’s Aké Arts and Book Festival 2020 is Digital appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-08-24 17:43:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital appeared #coronavirus impact #ak arts #book festival


Ilze Hugo on Writing a Pandemic Novel and Seeing it Come True

Few science fiction writers have their vision of the future tested immediately upon publication. But that’s what happened to Ilze Hugo, whose novel about a mysterious epidemic, The Down Days, debuted in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. “To be published right in the middle of all this is the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-08-07 08:48:58 UTC ]
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McKinty's The Chain named Theakston Crime Novel of the Year

Adrian McKinty has won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Prize for The Chain (Orion), part of a “life changing” turnaround after he gave up writing and became an Uber driver to make ends meet. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-22 21:01:02 UTC ]
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How to write about a 4-year-old poet’s book deal without getting sad.

This is definitely a clickbait title because I don’t really know the answer. In contemplating Nadim Shamma-Sourgen’s recently announced book deal with Walker Books (who will publish a collection of his “astonishing” poetry next summer) I have spent the last 15 minutes of my life cycling through... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-07-22 15:38:53 UTC ]
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Like the rest of our lives, the National Book Festival will be online this year.

The latest live event to shift its plans in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic: the National Book Festival. Organizers announced Thursday that the festival, which was originally set to take place Aug. 29 at the Washington Convention Center will now run online from Sept. 25-27. The event... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-05-28 16:22:19 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #coronavirus pandemic #originally set #draws hundreds #book festival


Coronavirus forces National Book Festival to shift to online-only format this year

The Library of Congress’s annual event usually draws hundreds of thousands of attendees. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-05-28 15:10:21 UTC ]
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Own It! to launch arts festival

Own It! is launching a week-long online arts festival, featuring live readings, conversations and workshops from authors and artists it publishes and represents. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-26 22:34:42 UTC ]
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National Writing Day launches online #writefromhome campaign

National Writing Day is launching a bank of online writing resources for students, as part of a campaign to encourage them to write during lockdown. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-28 22:46:41 UTC ]
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