‘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 thrillers to Orenda Books

New independent publisher Orenda Books has made a flurry of new acquisitions since launching just last month. Orenda Books founder Karen Sullivan has acquired world English language rights for Canada-Australia writer Paul E Hardistry’s debut eco-thriller The Abrupt Physics of Dying. The book... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Rise of the Seven-Figure Advance

Major deals have become the new normal in book publishing, thanks to steeper competition for fewer high-profile projects Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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SIBA Receives $40,000 Grant On Its 40th Anniversary

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance received a $40,000 grant from the Reba and Dave Williams Foundation in honor of its 40th anniversary serving Southern booksellers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Oyster Debuts Online Literary Journal

Oyster, the ebook subscription service, is launching the 'Oyster Review,' an online literary journal that will publish original material on books and writing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Canongate signs Kavanagh debut

Canongate has signed a debut novel from Tasha Kavanagh, who has previously published picture books under her maiden name, Tasha Pym. Editorial director of fiction Louisa Joyner acquired world English language rights to Things We Have in Common in a deal with Sue Armstrong at Conville & Walsh. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Chu re-signs with Angry Robot in six-figure deal

Angry Robot has signed a six-figure deal for three more novels by Wesley Chu. The deal is the biggest that the sci-fi publisher has done. World English rights to the the new series, beginning with The Rise of Io, were signed from agent Russell Galen, Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ali Smith wins £10,000 Goldsmiths Prize

Novelist Ali Smith has won the Goldsmiths Prize, awarded for "boldly original" fiction. Smith won the £10,000 award, now in its second year, for How to be Both (Hamish Hamilton), the two-part novel which lost out to Richard Flanagan on the shortlist for this year's Man Booker. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Madefire, JumpStart Debut Neopet Motion Books

Madefire, creator of the Motion Books interactive comics platform, is teaming up with educational games creator JumpStart to create motion books digital stories for its Neopets online community. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Debut Novelist Wins Canada’s Biggest Lit Prize

When the winner of the C$100,000 Scotiabank Giller Prize was announced at a gala in Toronto last night, the spotlight was on a new writer, Sean Michaels, and his debut novel 'Us Conductors,' published by Random House Canada. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Transworld signs Jasmon debut

Transworld is to publish a “spellbinding and charged” debut novel by Sarah Jasmon. Assistant editor Bella Bosworth bought UK and Commonwealth rights to The Summer of Secrets and one other novel from Carrie Plitt of Conville & Walsh. The Summer of Secrets tells the story of Helen, a shy... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scribd adds 30,000 audiobooks to its subscription service

Scribd's ebook subscription service seems to be making some inroads on Amazon's turf, and now the company is looking to take a swipe at Audible's lunch. From today, subscribers will be able to access a library of 30,000 audiobook titles that include... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2014-11-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Scribd Adds 30,000 Audiobooks

The popularity of the digital subscription model continues to grow with the announcement that ebook subscription service Scribd will now offer unlimited access to more than 30,000 audiobooks. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Falconry book wins £20,000 prize

Author Helen Macdonald wins the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction for H is for Hawk, a memoir about how becoming a falconer helped her deal with grief. Continue reading at BBC News

[ BBC News | 2014-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Book People donates £13,000 to RNIB

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) has created four talking books for blind and partially sighted children thanks to a £13,000 donation from The Book People. The Book People donated the money to the RNIB Read campaign, which is aimed at making reading more accessible for blind... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Halloween: Can you figure out the culprit of a locked-room mystery?

Editor Otto Penzler explains how he selected the 'locked-room mysteries' that are included in 'The Black Lizard Big Book of Locked-Room Mysteries.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2014-11-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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H&S acquires debut from 15-year-old

Hodder & Stoughton has acquired The Catalyst, the first novel in a fantasy crossover series from 15-year-old debut author Helena Coggan.   The book, which Coggan started writing when she was just 13, is about teenager Rose Elmsworth, who lives in a world divided into the Gifted (who have... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Harris and May win at Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards

Robert Harris (pictured) and Peter May were among the winners at the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards 2014. The awards, held on Friday (24th October) at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel, included accolades for books as well as for film and television. Harris won the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins Debuts Global Podcast Network

HarperCollins has launched HarperCollins Presents, a global podcast network that incorporates the publisher’s existing podcast programs such as BookD and HarperAudio Presents. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mills & Boon signs women's fiction debut

Harlequin UK's Mills & Boon imprint has signed two novels by debut author Eva Woods. Commissioning editor Anna Baggaley signed UK and Commonwealth rights from Diana Beaumont at Rupert Heath Literary Agency. The first book in the deal, The Thirty List, follows a newly-divorced woman setting... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HC signs O'Porter in six-figure deal for adult novels

HarperCollins has signed a six-figure deal for two novels by TV presenter Dawn O'Porter. Commercial women's fiction director Kimberley Young signed a deal for world rights in all languages with Adrian Sington at Sington & Co Ltd. The books will be O'Porter's first adult novels. She has... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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