'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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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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Andersen to publish second YA novel from Sally Nicholls with 'bumper' Christmas campaign

Andersen Press will publish Sally Nicholls' The Silent Stars Go By in November.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-27 07:51:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #andersen press #christmas campaign #ya novel


Holly Bourne: 'This was something I’d wanted to write about for years'

Holly Bourne answers our questions about her YA novel tackling toxic relationships, The Places I've Cried in Public (Usborne), which has been shortlisted for the YA Book Prize 2020.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-23 08:58:47 UTC ]
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Primadonna Festival asks supporters to save the date for next year

The Primadonna Festival, founded a year ago to give "prominence to work by women", is calling off its inaugural July event at Laffitts Hall due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is however asking its supporters to save the date for next year when it will run from Friday 30th July to Sunday 1st... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-01 08:00:00 UTC ]
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Five years after Henning Mankell’s death, his gritty first novel makes a welcome appearance

Mankell’s 1972 book, “The Rock Blaster,” now available in English, explores the struggles of a working-class man. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-03-05 17:00:00 UTC ]
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British Book awards balance art and selling power to decide best writer in 30 years

Novelists rub shoulders with presidents, chefs, comedians and thriller megastars on longlist to define the title with the biggest impact on the book worldIt could be almost the setup for a joke, but a former president, a Booker winner and an erotic fiction superstar have walked on to the British... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-02-14 06:01:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #biggest impact #booker winner #barack obama #hilary mantel #el james #30th anniversary #jacqueline wilson #julia donaldson #stephenie meyer #dragon tattoo #completely fine #jackie morris #british book #novelists


There’s no shortage of novels about what happens when the Earth stops spinning. ‘The Last Day’ may set a new standard.

Author Andrew Hunter Murray has thoroughly thought through the ramifications of his conceit. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-02-10 20:30:06 UTC ]
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Lily King Writes a Novel of Budding Artistry

In King’s fifth novel, a young woman determined to have it all faces the challenges of living a creative life. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-01-10 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Charts: Kay and Ross ‘most-read’ since Christmas Day

Adam Kay’s Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas (Picador) and Ryan’s Christmas by self-published author L.J. Ross were the most read books since Christmas Day, according to Amazon. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-01-02 10:20:56 UTC ]
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Charlesworth Press printing 36,000 personalised books a day as Christmas looms

Yorkshire print firm Charlesworth Press says it is currently producing up to 36,000 personalised children’s books every day as Christmas demand for the bespoke items ramps up. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-10 19:12:36 UTC ]
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Photo Essay: Christy Awards 2019 and The Art of Writing Conference

The Christy Awards, which are presented by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association to recognize Christian works of the year that have had an impact on contemporary culture, took place on Nov. 6 in Nashville, Tenn. The event was preceded by the annual Art of Writing conference, which is... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-11-12 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #annual art #photo essay #writing conference #christy awards #contemporary culture #publishers association


Elena Ferrante’s first novel in 5 years has an English-language pub date.

According to the Bookseller, Elena Ferrante’s first novel in five years will be published in English in June 2020 by Europa Editions. The Lying Life of Adults (great title? or greatest title?) is out in Italian this coming November 7, and the English version will, of course, appear in a... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-10-28 12:11:35 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #english version #elena ferrante #europa editions #lying life #ann goldstein #first novel


Capital Crime festival to return to London for second year

Capital Crime will return to London for a second year following the success of the 2019 festival.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-22 12:48:12 UTC ]
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Inaugural Paisley Book Festival to launch next year

Paisley will host its first ever book festival in February 2020, honouring the "brilliant political thinkers and creatives that have long been associated with the area", say organisers.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-22 11:53:08 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury Children's sinks its Claus into Pounder's festive novel

Bloomsbury Children’s has snapped up Sibéal Pounder's “Wicked-style retelling of every Santa story you've ever read”, which centres around Ms Claus.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-16 02:59:48 UTC ]
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Libraries Connected launches programme for BBC Novels That Shaped Our World festival

Libraries Connected has launched a programme of activities and partnerships as part of the BBC’s The Novels That Shaped Our World festival. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-10 15:45:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bbc novels #world festival #libraries connected #libraries


David Mitchell just announced his first novel in five years.

Today, Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell announced his next project: Utopia Avenue, which will be first full-length novel since 2014’s The Bone Clocks. (I suppose he has some time now that he’s done writing The Matrix 4.) Mitchell said in his announcement that the idea for the book came in part... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-26 12:40:53 UTC ]
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David Mitchell announces Utopia Avenue, his first novel in five years

Due out next summer, the novel will explore the power of music, following the career of the eponymous psychedelic bandCloud Atlas author David Mitchell is to tackle the story of “the strangest British band you’ve never heard of” in his first novel for five years, Utopia Avenue.Announcing the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2019-09-26 10:42:58 UTC ]
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Attica Locke left Hollywood to write novels. Now she’s found success in both worlds.

Her fifth book, “Heaven, My Home,” is on the horizon along with her TV adaptation of Celeste Ng’s “Little Fires Everywhere.” Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2019-09-16 15:42:34 UTC ]
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On the Occasion of Margaret Atwood Day, Here Are Some Photos of Her Over the Years

Well, today is the day you’ve all been waiting for: Margaret Atwood’s hotly hyped, closely guarded, imperfectly embargoed, Booker-shortlisted The Testaments is on the bookstore shelves. For the superfans among you, we’ve collected a selection of photographs of Atwood below, from childhood to the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2019-09-10 08:49:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #margaret atwood #ve collected #bookstore shelves #bookstore