‘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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Frankfurt Book Fair 2013: CONTEC Makes Its Debut

In March of this year, following a wonderful day of programming at TOC Bologna, I sat at dinner with a few of our speakers from the day—my friend and CONTEC Frankfurt speaker Paul Rhodes included—and the conversations at that table were simply absorbing. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Quercus buys YA concubine debut

Quercus has signed world rights to a YA novel it describes as "The Handmaid's Tale meets... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber buys Australian debut

Faber has acquired a debut novel set in medieval England from Australian author Robyn Cadwallader... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-10-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin buys Hofmeyr YA debut

Puffin editorial director Ben Horslen has pre-empted world rights to an "exceptionally... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Auctions for North Korea debut

Patrick Walsh of Conville & Walsh said he has had "very serious interest worldwide... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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STUDYeBUDDY Preps For Frankfurt Debut

Seven months after its New Delhi launch, the STUDYeBUDDY e-bookstore now offers digital content from 32 publishers, including Usborne, Crabtree Publishing, Kendall Hunt, Ashgate, Ocra, Carson-Dellosa, Global Finance School, Pustak Mahal, Popular Prakashan, and Aardash Books. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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China’s CN Times Books Debuts U.S. List

CN Times Books is the U.S. publishing subsidiary of Beijing Media Time Book Co. Ltd., one of the largest trade book publishers in China. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Yves Bonnefoy Wins $150,000 Guadalajara Book Fair Prize

Following a controversial choice last year, FIL comes back with an august winner for it's $150k prize for literature: French poet, essayist and critic Yves Bonnefoy. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-09-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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With Oyster, Keep 100,000 Books In Your Pocket For $10 A Month

Whether for movies, music, or magazines, the all–access model has proven it's here to stay. Now, what Spotify has done for music and Netflix has done for movies, a startup called Oyster is trying to do for that most analog of relics: the book. The basic premise of Oyster's invite–only iPhone... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder Children's Books buys YA debut

Hodder Children's Books has bought two novels from debut author Carla Spradbery, acquiring... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Digital Dominates Event Attendance Marketing

Arguably, the most important change in the event management business over the past decade has been the shift to digital attendance marketing. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-09-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Datapoint Discussion: “10,000″ Titles Offered Through Kindle Matchbook

Amazon is merely predicting that 10,000 books will be available through its Kindle Matchbook program by the time it launches in October. Will they get there? Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Atwood Debuts New Novel ‘MaddAdam’ on Wattpad

In a promotional event timed to coincide with the global release of Margaret Atwood’s new novel MaddAdam, her publisher, Doubleday, is teaming with Wattpad to release an exclusive essay about the book as well as excerpts from the other novels in the dystopian trilogy of which it is a part. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Smashwords Debuts India E-book Distribution, Preorder Services

Smashwords, a self-publishing platform and indie ebook distributor, has launched a series of new features to aid authors and publishers in distribution and marketing of ebooks. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2013-08-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Governments Requested Information On 38,000 Facebook Users In The First Half Of 2013

Facebook received about 38,000 data requests from government agents in 71 countries in the first half of 2013, according to the company's first Global Government Requests Report, which it published today. The report comprises both criminal and national security requests made in the first six... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2013-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Attendance Up at Shows in Q2

Professional attendance at U.S. tradeshows was up dramatically in the second quarter of 2013, according to a report released recently by the Center for Exihibition Industry Research (CEIR). Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2013-08-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Virgin acquires Francesca Martinez debut

Virgin Books has bought What the F**k is Normal?, a first book by comedian Francesca Martinez.... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Walker Books to give away 70,000 books

Walker Books will give away 70,000 free books this summer as part of the Royal National Institute... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2013-08-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gay-Themed Russian YA Novel Sold with Warning Label

As a result of laws prohibiting 'homosexual propaganda' in Russia, a young adult novel featuring a gay character, is sold with adult-age warning labels. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2013-08-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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