‘Jaws at 35,000 feet’: the flight attendant whose thriller debut sold for seven figures

TJ Newman dreamt up her terror-in-the-skies novel Falling while guarding the cockpit as the pilots took a toilet break. She reveals how she kept going through furlough and 41 rejectionsFlight attendant Torri Newman was working on the red-eye flight from Los Angeles to New York when the idea for her debut novel came to her. To be precise, she was blocking access to the cockpit, a security procedure required when pilots take a toilet break. “I was standing at the front of the airplane,” she says, “looking out at the passengers. It was dark and they were all asleep. And I had this thought, ‘All of their lives, our lives, are in the hands of the pilots.’ That’s not exactly new – but the flipside of that also came to mind. With that much power and responsibility, how vulnerable does that make a commercial pilot?”Newman, speaking via Zoom from her home in Phoenix, Arizona, was rattled. “I just couldn’t shake the thought. A few days later, I was working a different trip with a different set of pilots, and I said to the captain, ‘Hey, what would you do if your family was taken, and you were told that if you didn’t crash the plane, they would be killed?” What was his reaction? “He had no clue what he would do – the thought terrified him.”I almost gave up. But seeing two authors at a Q&A reminded my why I had to keep going Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2021-05-04 05:00:21 UTC ]
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Three debut novels on Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize shortlist

Three debut novelists are in the running for the 2015 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic novels. Writer Caitlin Moran, actress Helen Lederer and Nina Stibbe have all made the shortlist for the prize, alongside Alexander McCall Smith, Irvine Welsh and Joseph O'Neill. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-04-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Election 2015: Tory £5bn tax avoidance figure 'flaky' – live

Keep up with all the latest election news with Andrew Sparrow and the Guardian politics team, as the battle buses roll out across the UKCameron says Labour will pick voters’ pockets with taxesLiving standards key to election – data shows slowest recovery since 1920sLib Dems pledge £2bn extra... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-03-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Kickstarter Debuts Spotlight Showcase

The crowdfunding site has launched Spotlight, customizable presentation pages that can be used for marketing, educational or commercial purposes. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Nielsen’s BookInsights: UK Publishers Sold £2.2 Billion in 2014

UK publishers sold £2.2 billion of books in 2004, with ebooks accounting for nearly half UK fiction sales—though print in other categories proved resilient. The post Nielsen’s BookInsights: UK Publishers Sold £2.2 Billion in 2014 appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Debuts Top February Charts

New titles dominated the top spots on bestseller lists across international markets last month. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rob Biddulph wins Waterstones ​children’s book prize 2015 with debut book Blown Away

The tale of a misplaced penguin scoops the overall prize for new and emerging authors, with Sally Green taking the teen category and Robin Stevens winning the younger fiction awardSee Rob Biddulph’s step-by-step guide to How to draw… a windy dayAn adventure story about Penguin Blue and his... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Debut author organises own £200k marketing campaign

A debut author has arranged a marketing and publicity campaign she estimates is worth £200,000 to support the release of her book, and which her agent said “must be unique for a first-time author”. Janet Kelly’s Dear Beneficiary, about an older woman who has a relationship with a Nigerian man... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Viking's Mount buys 'incredible' debut

Viking has acquired an “incredible debut work of fiction” by an Australian writer. Publisher Mary Mount bought world rights, excluding Australia New Zealand, to Abigail Ulman’s Hot Little Hands from Peter Straus at Rogers, Coleridge and White. Mount said: “Abigail Ulman’s work is tender,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pratchett fundraising at £40,000

Close to £40,000 has been raised in memory of Sir Terry Pratchett in just five days. Pratchett, the author of books including the Discworld series, died on 12th March. He had been suffering from Alzheimer’s. A JustGiving fundraising page set up in his memory by his publisher Penguin Random... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Twins thriller to Bloomsbury

Bloomsbury has signed a literary thriller about identical twins from writer Ann Morgan. Beside Myself follows two twin sisters, Ellie and Helen, who swap places aged six. At first, it is a game, but when Ellie refuses to switch back, Helen is forced into a new identity, developing a host of... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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McVeigh publishes debut novel

Salt is publishing the first novel by Paul McVeigh, director of the London Short Story Festival (LSSF). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sphere signs thriller from Fountain

Sphere has bought a psychological thriller titled Painkiller by Private Eye staff writer N J Fountain. Cath Burke, fiction publisher at Sphere, bought UK and Commonwealth rights to the novel in a deal brokered by Piers Blofeld at Sheil Land Associates. Painkiller tells the story of a once... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus signs debut by Scholastic's Sanger

Quercus has bought a debut novel by Scholastic Books’ employee David Sanger. Editor Richard Arcus bought world rights, excluding the US, to All Their Minds in Tandem from Becky Thomas at Fox Mason. All Their Minds in Tandem takes place in New Georgetown, West Virginia, in October 1879, the... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #becky thomas #fox mason #west virginia #small town


MCB acquires YA debut from Reuter Hapgood

Macmillan Children’s Books has acquired a YA romance from journalist Harriet Reuter Hapgood for a six-figure sum.   The Square Root of Summer is described as a YA contemporary with a twist, in which seventeen-year-old physics prodigy Gottie Oppenheimer navigates a summer of grief, trying to... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pan Mac signs debut crime series

Pan Macmillan has acquired two novels in a debut crime series by journalist Michelle Davies in a three-way auction. Editor Catherine Richards bought UK and Commonwealth rights for the novels from Jane Gregory. The first, Gone Astray, follows Lesley Kinnock and her husband Mack, who win £12m on... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tom Rob Smith thriller tops chart

Tom Rob Smith scores his first UK Top 50 number one with the paperback of his latest thriller, The Farm. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Former soldier's debut to Michael Joseph

Michael Joseph has signed a novel about the war in Afghanistan from former soldier and debut author Barney Campbell. Publishing director Roland White bought UK and Commonwealth rights to Rain in a deal with Annabel Merullo at PFD. Rain follows a young officer at the heart of the conflict in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Peru’s Colmena Editores Gives Edgy Debut Authors a Voice

One of Peru's fledgling publishers, Colmena Editores, is making room for edgy new generation of authors, while also offering classics and criticism. The post Peru’s Colmena Editores Gives Edgy Debut Authors a Voice appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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NLT raises £75,000 from charity auction

The National Literacy Trust (NLT) has raised £75,000 for its work in improving child literacy at a charity auction held yesterday (12th February) in London. Guests at the auction, which was hosted by Private Eye editor Ian Hislop, bid for items including a signed pair of Frank Lampard’s... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scribd Adds 10,000 Comics and Graphic Novels

Ebook subscription service Scribd has expanded its library to one million titles with the recent addition of more than 10,000 comic books and graphic novels. The post Scribd Adds 10,000 Comics and Graphic Novels appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-02-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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