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31 Aug 2007: Anyone want to guess what this is? (Answer below)
click to enlarge
While looking at pictures from the underworld, I came across this one. Anyone want to guess what it is? This may help or it may not (depending on what you know about me) but my grandfather used to tell me stories about them when I was a little kid - at my request. He worked underground and came into contact with them from time to time. They're ludicrously dangerous, but up until now I'd never seen one. I hadn't realised how pretty they were.
Continue reading "Anyone want to guess what this is? (Answer below)" »
posted on August 31, 2007 01:39 PM | link | Comments (5) | Leave a comment
31 Aug 2007: Bebo
I don't know about all this web marketing stuff. I mean, who cares? Who's interested in reading a bunch of made up marketing about a book? Isn't the point just to read the book? I'd like to hear your thoughts.
Sigh. But still, I do it. Click on the badge to visit The Red Men's Bebo page. More to follow...
posted on August 31, 2007 10:00 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
31 Aug 2007: Snowcase #29
Snowcase #29 was going to be published here, but I've decided against it. It was too disturbing for general blog viewing. Sorry, Larry.
posted on August 31, 2007 06:43 AM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
31 Aug 2007: Snowcase #28
Sharon Richardson sends in a tale of how four friends meet and the life they lead, stepping out into the big bad world, thinking they're on their own. Girls on Tour is her first novel based on her life with her friends and everything good and bad in between.
Continue reading "Snowcase #28" »
posted on August 31, 2007 06:41 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
30 Aug 2007: A note
I have had a query from one of our authors on all this office moving malarky, so here is a clarificatory note.
The Snowbooks office remains at 120 Pentonville Road where we enjoy the friendship and neighbourliness of our landlords Kogan Page. I will work from there Thursday and Friday every week, at least. I will work from home (in the country) Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday most weeks. However, it will vary a lot, as in the exciting world of publishing no two weeks are the same. For the purposes of post, telephones and meetings, nothing has changed, and our London office is our main home.
Hope that's clear.
posted on August 30, 2007 11:47 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
30 Aug 2007: Underworlds
Like everyone else I've ever asked about this, I find the idea of hidden underground vaults, lost waterways, forgotten tunnels and concealed subterranean chambers fascinating. For instance, the Deep Level Shelters under London, each protecting 8000 people during the height of the Blitz, are still down there hidden 150 feet beneath familiar streets. I've passed their unimposing doors hundreds of times not recognising them for what they are. Similarly, the idea that the Fleet River courses beneath the foundations of the street that takes its name, but hasn't seen the light for two hundred years is strangely compelling. I wrote a little sliver of a short story a while back for Litro trying to capture something of that feeling. And this morning I was looking at these wonderful pictures when the title of the one below caught my eye. It's only funny if you're a particular kind of nerd.
Continue reading "Underworlds" »
posted on August 30, 2007 08:46 AM | link | Comments (9) | Leave a comment
29 Aug 2007: Frustrated talent
I am enjoying the spoof Microsoft iPod ad. I am enjoying it a lot. If you haven't seen it, it's a step-by-step guide to how Microsoft would have screwed up the iPod packaging. And supposedly the frustrated Microsoft marketing team themselves are responsible. Hooray for them. I hope after they all get fired they get much better jobs. Go here to the land of YouTube if you want to know what I'm talking about or click the 'Continue reading...' link below.
Continue reading "Frustrated talent" »
posted on August 29, 2007 06:26 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
29 Aug 2007: SnowSentinels
You can't be too careful about security in a young publishing firm. Lots of IP secrets, contracts, data and the blueprints to exciting new plans and so forth. Here, Amber and Mimey from the SnowCorps Security Division Inc guard the entrance to the office.
Also note excellent wiring job using brown packing tape.
posted on August 29, 2007 03:53 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
29 Aug 2007: Snowbooks Army
Right, troops, I need a hand. Any volunteers, enlist here!
The submissions for Richard and Judy's Best Read 2008 have to be in in a couple of weeks. They invite publishers to include some marketing information about the titles we submit. What I'd really like is to include endorsements from SnowBlog readers saying how much they enjoyed the books I'm submitting.
Continue reading "Snowbooks Army" »
posted on August 29, 2007 10:26 AM | link | Comments (18) | Leave a comment
29 Aug 2007: Reading books so you don't have to
Reading linguistics books is fun. Fun, I tell you. They're sort of the opposite of Eats, Shoots and Leaves. They assume that speakers of a language know what they're doing and they study them to learn the rules they're using. Lynne Truss and others (even the otherwise marvellous John Humphreys) assume that the rules come first and anyone not following them is 'speaking badly'. Now, naturally, I like the idea of a standard version of English for use in books and the like, but anyone who views changes to spoken language as a bad thing should really have the courage of their convictions and speak only Old English or maybe Sanskrit.
Continue reading "Reading books so you don't have to" »
posted on August 29, 2007 09:43 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
29 Aug 2007: Reader Review
Maggie, whose excellent idea it was in the first place to have reader reviews on this website, has sent in a lovely review of The Other Eden. She says it was one of the best books she's read - how marvellous!
Continue reading "Reader Review" »
posted on August 29, 2007 09:16 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
29 Aug 2007: And the winner is...
... Alan Trotter!
Alan wins the prize of the two tickets to the Globe to see Love's Labours Lost as he correctly answered the questions. Honourable mentions also go to Richard Wright. Both answered all ten questions, and because I've got nothing at all better to do I wrote a little thing in Excel to randomly pick one. I call it the Ibble-Obble-O-Meter (ibble obble being the preferred method of choice for playground decisions when I were a lass. Ibble obble black bobble ibble obble out. Still, as it happens, used today on occasion in Snowbooks' strategic planning meetings.) When I get a chance I'll have to make a rosette for Richard, as I promised, who is officially a Super Snowbooks Fan.
Alan, email me your address and they'll be in the post!
posted on August 29, 2007 09:04 AM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
29 Aug 2007: Sorry about that blog hiatus
I didn't realise that moving house and office would require, erm, some effort. Last week I packed a bin liner of clothes, and put my RealWorld Adobe books in a box, and somehow my small brain thought that would be sufficient. Not so.
Anyhoo, three days of box lugging, van loading and sitting on the M25 in said (unairconditioned) van later (and because Rob is my BFF, he had to lug with me - and do all the IT set up), here we are! Everything's working! Everything's perfect! Item #1: my new study in the countryside.
Continue reading "Sorry about that blog hiatus" »
posted on August 29, 2007 08:08 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
24 Aug 2007: Proper competition...
...with a proper prize!
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posted on August 24, 2007 12:36 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
24 Aug 2007: Hey hey! It's Fiction Friday
So there are some new Snowcases for you to enjoy. I think reading people's comments on the writing has been fascinating, so don't hold back.
Also, I've been meaning to say for ages - you *must* go and look at the revamped Book Depository site if you haven't already. A thing of beauty.
posted on August 24, 2007 11:52 AM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
24 Aug 2007: Snowcase #27
Dominic Pike started writing when he was a small fish, and has an MSc in Creative Writing from Edinburgh University. He is working on short stories and two novels.
In Her Wake
Fresh from burying his wife Juliette, Oscar is forced to confront his own craven inadequacies during a visit from her lover, Chris.
Continue reading "Snowcase #27" »
posted on August 24, 2007 10:22 AM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
24 Aug 2007: Snowcase #26
Adam C Britten teaches Religious Education at a secondary school in Bradford. In "Tiberius Steele and the Golden Leopard", Tiberius Steele, the multi-millionaire adventurer, travels into the heart of Africa to save a beautiful woman and restore the fortunes of an oppressed people.
What a name! Tiberius Steel! Love it. And a corking opening line to boot.
Continue reading "Snowcase #26" »
posted on August 24, 2007 09:40 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
24 Aug 2007: Snowcase #25
Jason writes software for an aerospace company. He prefers writing fiction, however, because "there's less burning wreckage to clear up if he gets it wrong." Pentecost Hotel is his first novel.
Standing at a funeral, Bill finds that, for the life of him, he can't quite remember how he got there. But he remembers the music...
Continue reading "Snowcase #25" »
posted on August 24, 2007 09:39 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
24 Aug 2007: Snowcase #24
Poppy writes: "In 2000 I stuck a sign above my laptop saying "Life's too short - eat pudding first" and plunged into writing. Occasionally I stop for pudding."
Broken Bonds is a 7000 word short story in which a child survives a train crash and forms a close bond with one of his rescuers.
Continue reading "Snowcase #24" »
posted on August 24, 2007 07:23 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
24 Aug 2007: Snowcase #23
Prospero, this next writer's pseudoynm, writes when the spirit take him and shakes him till his teeth rattle. Prospero is afraid of ghosts and suffers a lot from whiplash. He has submitted Family Fortunes, a piece of flash fiction.
On an forgotten rock somewhere in an unremembered sea, a tiny community struggles to survive on what the uncaring waves throw up on their shore.
Continue reading "Snowcase #23" »
posted on August 24, 2007 06:50 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
24 Aug 2007: Snowcase #22
Vaughan is a web producer at the BBC, who is looking to take his writing beyond the 'blog that is not quite a blog' which he writes as An Unreliable Witness.
Animal Fables
A sequence of fairy tales for adults who never quite grew up, and for those strange, solitary children who grow up too soon.
Continue reading "Snowcase #22" »
posted on August 24, 2007 06:48 AM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
22 Aug 2007: Shop
Phew, that took longer than I thought. Now, for your delectation and convenience, there is a single page where you can buy any Snowbook. Go there and make it worth all the hours!
posted on August 22, 2007 03:36 PM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
22 Aug 2007: Is there an etymologist in the house?
Just pondering the word 'always' and its roots. Glancing at an online dictionary the origin is supposedly:
Origin: 1200-50; ME alwayes, alleweyes, alles weis, gen. (denoting distribution; cf. once) of all wei; alle- lost its gen. ending and was treated as a compounding element under influence of alle wey. So, "always" comes from the germanic for "all ways". Which to my mind doesn't reflect its meaning. "All ways" should mean something like "Anyhow"
Continue reading "Is there an etymologist in the house?" »
posted on August 22, 2007 08:03 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
21 Aug 2007: Ooh, ooh a review!
Hooray for Sally Zigmund! Here is her review of THE NEEDLE IN THE BLOOD by Sarah Bower.
------------
1066 and all that. Much of what is known about the Norman invasion of England and its aftermath is gleaned from the Bayeux Tapestry, which is, in fact, not a tapestry at all but an embroidery.
But who commissioned it, designed it and why? Who were the women who stitched it? Did they transfer their own thoughts and feelings onto the cloth? Why the references to Aesop's fables? Who are the mysterious priest and the woman called Aelfgytha who appear in an early panel?
Continue reading "Ooh, ooh a review!" »
posted on August 21, 2007 06:47 PM | link | Comments (7) | Leave a comment
21 Aug 2007: Review our books
Snowblog reader Maggie B wrote in with a fine question. She wondered how to submit a review of a Snowbooks book to this website. A very fine question indeed, and one that, to my shame, I had never considered. It's the simple ideas that are the best.
A morning of faffing around in movable type and on various techie forums and I'm not much closer to having a brainwave as to how I can set up such a thing. So I think I'll take the easy route and invite reviews of any of our books to be submitted via email. I'll then put them up on the blog and on the book's own page - if they're good, that is (I don't mean positive; I mean thoughtful, useful and well-written. You can pan the book, but you have to do it intelligently!)
So come, one and all! Review our books! There are plenty to choose from in our catalogue.
posted on August 21, 2007 12:54 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
21 Aug 2007: More Linty goodness
Lint is in Dazed and Confused this month, which is quite something. And here's another thing I thought you might be interested in: an animation that was done of Steve Aylett's story 'The Man Whose Head Expanded' (which appeared in the Serpent's Tail anthology 'Perverted By Language' - stories based on Fall songs). If you want to know what the hell it's all about, better buy the book.
posted on August 21, 2007 12:06 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
21 Aug 2007: John Pilger
Politics? Yes. But also TV. Plus it's a brief post.
I think the most important questions I had about Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were answered in last night's screening of John Pilger's film The War on Democracy. And once it had covered U.S. interference in Venezuela, the film worked its way around a few other notable parts of Latin America. I'd love to recommend that you watch it when it's repeated, because it's important stuff, but it doesn't appear to be on again. So if you didn't stay up until twenty to one last night - or tape it - you're out of luck for the time being. Mind you, I'm amazed and delighted that they showed it in the first place - although they did move it an hour later at the last minute. It's explosive stuff, though the style is often very laid back. So if the controller for ITV happens to be reading this, I wonder if you could delay a few Judge Judy or Sally Jessy Raphael repeats and give the Snowblog readership another chance to see this amazing film on ITV2 or 3? Thanks. Failing that, the DVD is out in October '07 (I think). Anyone who wonders whether the press and the government - particularly in the US - can be trusted to further democracy, the answers will be available in October. (Sneak preview answer: 'No. Uh uh. Definitely not.').
posted on August 21, 2007 08:52 AM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
20 Aug 2007: My little brother...
... got married at the weekend. Shocking, really, as I'm sure he's only 7 years old.
Signing the register and, below, David and his astonishingly beautiful wife Claire in dad's morris minor.
What a wonderful - and emotional - weeked. Am I cream crackered today, though. Extra coffee all round.
posted on August 20, 2007 12:20 PM | link | Comments (6) | Leave a comment
17 Aug 2007: Snowcase #21
Andrew Duggan lives in Cheshire and keeps the wolf from the door by working in the computer industry. 'Scars Beneath The Skin' is his second completed novel.
A journey into darkness. A precarious route back to salvation. Love at the point of suicide in a world that's falling apart.
Continue reading "Snowcase #21" »
posted on August 17, 2007 04:31 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
17 Aug 2007: Snowcase #20
Michelle Fattig, author of the Annie Books series, is a school psychologist, and medical technologist, who volunteers as a parent advocate, and provides professional development to parents and educators.
The excerpt here is from A Prairie Day with Annie. Michelle says: "The Annie Books are a must read for any parent, teacher, or student with the challenges of Attention Deficit Disorders."
Continue reading "Snowcase #20" »
posted on August 17, 2007 04:16 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
17 Aug 2007: Preposterously excellent Friday music
Courtesy of Rob who shared it with me encouraged me to buy my own copy, I am currently listening to the Pirates of the Carribean soundtrack and it makes me want to go a-marauding. Bom, bom, bom. Cymbals! Violins going crazy. Yat ta tat tat. Here come the trumpets! Ahoy, me hearties! Oh, and the big chorus voices, as George Harrison called them.
Rob, is there any way we can share a snippet with the snowblog readers? To get their bloods all fired up?
From Rob: Ahh, the irony of Em suggesting we flirt with music piracy because of pirate music. I barely dare to do this, knowing that media lawyers are like overcaffeinated t-rexs when it comes to copyright violations. But here's a snippet. It's only 25 seconds and if you in any way enjoy it, you should quickly buy the album from somewhere like here or here so that it's clear to everyone that this is an inducement to purchase and not a reason to throw Em and me in jail. (And probably you too, Anna.) I've already had to correct that unfortunate typing error Em made in the first line of this post.
posted on August 17, 2007 03:54 PM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
17 Aug 2007: Snowcase #19
Kris Williams started writing Ghost Port for his son Oscar, intending for it to be a personalised bedtime story. Three years later it has grown into the first of a planned series.
Ghost Port is a scary place. Ask Oscar J. Pennicot: in just two days he has been attacked by zombies and pirate ghosts, and buried alive.
Continue reading "Snowcase #19" »
posted on August 17, 2007 03:19 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
17 Aug 2007: Crows
I had to post this article from the Guardian in its entirety, because it made me inexplicably happy. The inclusion of the phrase "tasty morsel" and the indepth discussion around long sticks / short sticks were just lovely. Go you crows!
Crows match great apes in skilful tool use
- Task revealed Caledonian crows' advanced logic
- Birds' strategy echoes early human evolution
James Randerson, science correspondent The Guardian Friday August 17 2007
A tool-using strategy that was key to the advancement of early humans has been observed by scientists in a bird. "Metatool use", the ability to use one tool on another, is something that humans and great apes such as chimps and orang-utans are capable of, but with which monkeys struggle.
posted on August 17, 2007 02:29 PM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
17 Aug 2007: Snowcase #18
Emma Gibbs is 26 and a non-fiction editor at a London publishing house. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Leeds.
Across A Dark Sea
As Bombay swelters under the summer sun, the Abels are forced from their home to seek a new, strange life in England.
Continue reading "Snowcase #18" »
posted on August 17, 2007 12:32 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
17 Aug 2007: Snowcase #17
Keith Latch read his first novel, The Voice of the Night by Dean Koontz, at age twelve. Thus began his love affair with things that go bump in the night. He has submitted his novel, entitled BEST-SELLER, to the Snowcase.
Rob Caulder has wanted to be a writer his entire life, but now he's learning: It's deadly at the top.
Continue reading "Snowcase #17" »
posted on August 17, 2007 11:21 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
17 Aug 2007: Snowcase #16
Anita Sivakumaran is a PHD student in the department of Creative writing in Lancaster University. She has always wanted to be a writer, and "isn't qualified to be anything else". 'The Ghost That Killed Babu' is her first novel, literary in intent.
Kavitha returns to Madras after years of trying to stay away. A ghost killed her childhood friend. Or was it her brother? A ghost tried to kill her brother. Or was it her?
The Ghost That Killed Babu
Continue reading "Snowcase #16" »
posted on August 17, 2007 10:36 AM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
17 Aug 2007: What's the truth about Chavez?
For anyone new to the blog, I put a green 'p' next to political posts so that them as don't want to read 'em don't have to. Not even a little bit by accident.
Continue reading "What's the truth about Chavez?" »
posted on August 17, 2007 06:29 AM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
16 Aug 2007: Fiction Friday and no more free books
The Snowcase is very popular, very popular indeed. Hooray! I particularly like that people are commenting on the posts - just as I hoped. There's a piece Emob* wrote for the Bookseller here.
Thing is, it's *so* popular that this blog is in danger of becoming one long list of Snowcases. Plus, even though you've been angels with your formatting, it takes five or ten minutes to format and post each one - and ten minutes really adds up when there's a lot of posting to be done. So, to keep things on an even keel, I'm going to update the blog with Snowcases once a week. We wondered which day we should choose. Although Rob's suggestion for a catchy alliterative title - Fiction F'ursday - was very good, very good indeed, we decided in the end on Fiction Friday. There should be sufficient to keep you going throughout the week, and should allow me to actually get on with some work.
*Emob: a concatenation of Emma and Rob. We are a team. Could also have been Roma, or Erob, or Emmarob... oh, you get the gist.
Continue reading "Fiction Friday and no more free books" »
posted on August 16, 2007 02:04 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
16 Aug 2007: Many top Reporters are Dead...
...wrong about what constitutes good journalistic practice. See what I did there? I cheated with a headline. The Guardian had one a bit like that today.
* Amateur discovers 1934, not 1998, is hottest year
* Climatologists insist trend is still towards warming
I particularly like the 'Climatologists insist' bit. You really get the sense that their views are under pressure and they're trying not to crumble.
Continue reading "Many top Reporters are Dead..." »
posted on August 16, 2007 06:35 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
15 Aug 2007: Snowcase #15
Gillian McDade is from Northern Ireland and has been working as a journalist for nine years. She has completed her first novel Losing Patience and has started work on a follow-up.
Patience is a klutzy reporter working at The Daily Times but when she is sent to cover a breaking news story in Afghanistan, she manages to cause an international terrorism alert.
Continue reading "Snowcase #15" »
posted on August 15, 2007 07:03 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
15 Aug 2007: Snowcase #14
Hannah G. Davies is a freelance arts journalist living in London. She has never knowingly misplaced any friends or family members. Statues is her first novel.
Kate has misplaced her father; Alice has lost her best friend. This is the story of their search.
Continue reading "Snowcase #14" »
posted on August 15, 2007 05:45 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
15 Aug 2007: Snowcase #13
Gordon Thomson is a tyro writer and civil engineer, and lover of all things Japanese. He does not unfortunately bear any resemblance to the hero in his story. Twilight is his 674th book (all still waiting for a lucky publisher!)
He has submitted TWILIGHT. Thomas Twilight is an American detective with a difference, a man undergoing a severe mid-life crisis while trying to cope with the eccentricities of living in the mad city that is 2006 London...
Continue reading "Snowcase #13" »
posted on August 15, 2007 05:42 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
15 Aug 2007: Snowcase #12
Rebecca Connell is 27 and has already gone through three careers as an agent's assistant, a TV producer and a brand consultant. She is more consistent when it comes to writing, she says! She has submitted THE ART OF LOSING to the Snowcase.
Undercover, Louise grows close to the man with whom her late mother had an affair twenty years earlier - and the secrets she discovers have the potential to rewrite her past.
Continue reading "Snowcase #12" »
posted on August 15, 2007 02:37 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
15 Aug 2007: Snowcase #11
Mike Manson has had two non-fiction books published. This is his first novel.'This isn't my story,' he says. He has to. He signed the Official Secrets Act.
Max doesn't work. Now he's been offered a job - in the dole office. The hot summer of '76; the dole office; cider and a riot.
Continue reading "Snowcase #11" »
posted on August 15, 2007 02:34 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
15 Aug 2007: Snowcase #10
The author of Snowcase #10, Anthony Black, is a former army officer and disaffected journalist. He has sent in 'The Failure', a 60,000 word novel.
A powerful metaphor for the Iraq war? Or the drunken ramblings of an angry newsreader?
Continue reading "Snowcase #10" »
posted on August 15, 2007 02:27 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
15 Aug 2007: Did *I* say that?
I'll tell you what's a little weird: writing a piece for a newspaper or magazine and having to wait for it to be published to find out what you said. I understand that editors will want to correct mistakes, but every time I see something I wrote in print (novels excluded) it's changed in ways both inexplicable and frustrating. Sometimes expressions I wouldn't use have appeared; sometimes conclusions I wouldn't have drawn have been added. My least favourite was when someone went through a humorous piece I'd written and removed all the setups while leaving the punchlines. Anyone reading it would have assumed I was a moron. And not a funny moron either. Perhaps there's some reason that the world has to be this way. And perhaps telling you beforehand - never mind asking permission - is impossible. But I think I'd prefer it if whoever edited me added their names to the credits at the top. Then it would be clear that I'm not the only moron involved.
posted on August 15, 2007 10:19 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
15 Aug 2007: Snowcase #9
Nearly in double digits! Here's a (beautifully formatted - thank you!) snowcase submission from Juliet O'Callaghan. Juliet began her career as a nurse, then trained as a teacher of psychology. The opening pages of her first novel, about sex, guilt and dying, were long-listed in the UKA Press Competition.
The novel is How to Love Flynn. Ashley is dying; she writes a manual on how to love her husband, intended for Esther, his best friend, but then Kasia, the Nurse arrives...
Continue reading "Snowcase #9" »
posted on August 15, 2007 10:18 AM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
15 Aug 2007: Welcome, friends from the Commonwealth!
There's a rather nice mention of the Snowcase Bookseller story on this eminent blog written by Mr Graham Beattie "Former Managing Director/Publisher of Penguin Books NZ Ltd., and Scholastic NZ Ltd. Former Books & Poetry Editor, Citymix Magazine. Now works as a consultant within the publishing industry and as a book reviewer, book blogger and judge of book awards". Blimey. See what fine company you're in, esteemed Snowblog readers?
Anyway, it's sparked a flurry of query letters, which I thought I'd answer here. *Yes*, Snowbooks is delighted to accept submissions from anywhere in the world. *Yes*, we are ably and happily represented and distributed by Hardie Grant in Australia and New Zealand. *No*, the free books club does not extend to Australia, sadly. We are not made of stamps.
posted on August 15, 2007 08:05 AM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
14 Aug 2007: Success!
Nora, who from now on I shall know and address as 'Snowcase #5', writes to say:
"I just wanted to say that your 'Snowcase' idea has been a success. People have been e-mailing me direct, so just wanted to let you know that it's worked brilliantly since you posted an excerpt from Oops! I'm the Paparazzi. I've literally been 'snowed under' with e-mails and calls expressing interest in my work and/or sending good wishes. So thank you for that. Here's a couple of snippets from comments I've had that specifically mention Snowbooks and your renowned blog.
posted on August 14, 2007 10:47 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
14 Aug 2007: Snowcase #8
This next author is a psychologist and writer. This extract, from the first chapter of his second novel, was inspired by his work with asylum seekers. The novel is called All Our Yesterdays.
Joseph, an ex boy soldier and 'A' level student hopes for refugee status in the UK. Natalie, a fellow student, inadvertently sabotages his plans.
Continue reading "Snowcase #8" »
posted on August 14, 2007 09:57 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
14 Aug 2007: Snowcase: A bit more guidance
The Snowcase is going very well indeed. Hooray!
Since we're getting quite a lot of interest, I've drawn up some guidelines to make life easier for me. Thanks in advance for following them!
posted on August 14, 2007 09:49 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
14 Aug 2007: Snowcase #7
Snowcase #7 is from David Stockley, and is called The Re-Birth. It is the first historical novel to have been written using Graham Hancock's extraordinary 'alternative history' as its main source and inspiration.
A lifelong student of ancient history, David has long been fascinated by the research of Hancock, Bauval and others. The Re-Birth is his second novel.
Continue reading "Snowcase #7" »
posted on August 14, 2007 09:15 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
14 Aug 2007: Snowcase #6
This seems to be going very well indeed - some of the Snowcasers have told me they have had email and phone enquiries already! Go snowbooks, go snowbooks...
Next up is a piece from Hannah Davies who found Snowbooks through the Bookseller piece. I love that she's sent a photo in of herself! Hannah once worked in the film industry. Now she lives in Spain and writes. This is her first book but not her last, she says.
This is the start of The Voices of Angels - the story of a twelve year old boy who believes he's a guardian angel sent to earth to save his father's life.
Continue reading "Snowcase #6" »
posted on August 14, 2007 08:58 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
14 Aug 2007: Greetings, earthlings
If you've come here from the Bookseller article, hello! Have a look around. You'll find the 'snowcase' blog posts marked as such if you scroll down. Peppered amongst them is the usual Snowblog fare: zombies, politics, sandwich recommendations, linguistics, notes on which authors I fancy, pony pictures and references to me being on Radio 4. Something for everyone, really.
In other parts of the site is our world famous open rejection letter, our online catalogue, Snowbooks Design Services and our free books club. You could spend all day here, really.
In other news: I feel the need, the need for speed! It's Top Gun's 20th birthday today. Lordy, aren't we *old*?
Continue reading "Greetings, earthlings" »
posted on August 14, 2007 10:07 AM | link | Comments (5) | Leave a comment
14 Aug 2007: Snowcase #5
Extra points to Nora Blonde for getting a reference to snow in her Snowcase submission. Nora is an author (35 books published), former journalist, rocket science author, scriptwriter, artist and (sometimes) photographer - a skill picked up somewhere along the line.
"Oops! I'm the Paparazzi" is contemporary fiction. "Very loosely based on my experiences as a former newspaper journalist (but you'll never get me to admit it)."
Continue reading "Snowcase #5" »
posted on August 14, 2007 09:03 AM | link | Comments (5) | Leave a comment
13 Aug 2007: Oh no! Zombies!*
Oh, I should think it pretty much goes without saying that you don't have the time or the interest to do a quiz on how well you'd survive a zombie attack. Here's the link in case you change your mind.
*said in Groundskeeper Willy's voice, of course
Continue reading "Oh no! Zombies!*" »
posted on August 13, 2007 03:22 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
13 Aug 2007: Recommendation
Oh, boy, can I recommend this week's Prêt à Manger Veggie Special. It has mustard, gherkins, cheese, lettuce, tomato and some mystery ingredient that makes it just amazing.
(I hope the mystery ingredient isn't parma ham or something. 15-odd years of vegetarianism down the pan. Tasty, though.)
posted on August 13, 2007 03:04 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
13 Aug 2007: Ooh yes!
Now that's more like it! Bloody lovely books arriving in big boxes. I like to think that the printers choose that sort of packaging just for us, to make it look like the books are arriving packed in snow.
The full set. Buy them all today on a 3 for 2 special!
posted on August 13, 2007 02:37 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
13 Aug 2007: Management of temperament
OK, a good chat to Rob, a deep breath and a good morning's worth of heads-down work, and things are looking up. The Bookseller (hello Tom!) are interested in running a story on the Snowcase, which is very friendly of them. I have learned a new thing in Photoshop (always a pleasure) about duotones. I have done one of my bank recs. I have fixed my computer's USB ports. I have sent out a few invoices. All is well with the world.
I might have said it here before: the most important attribute to crack when running your own business is to manage your own temperament.
Continue reading "Management of temperament" »
posted on August 13, 2007 01:58 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
13 Aug 2007: Snowcase #4
Here's a snowcase submission from Caroline called Kill-Grief, in which an 18th-century nurse finds that no amount of rotgut gin can help her escape her crime-filled past.
Caroline says: "I live in Buckinghamshire and I'm currently getting away without having a day job, instead dossing about at home looking after my baby son."
(I can't wait to read all of this one - sounds great!)
Continue reading "Snowcase #4" »
posted on August 13, 2007 01:01 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
13 Aug 2007: Gah
The first email of the week - the *very first email* - is a request from a customer to authorise returns of more than 3000 units across four titles.
There is a shop two doors along from the office called Pentonville Rubber. They sell foam, rubber mats and bean bags in horrible colours. There is no parking. Their window is broken. The foam is all discoloured round the edges. And how much demand for rubber mats can there possibly be? Sometimes I wonder how they stay in business.
Today, I'm thinking that their industry looks a damn sight easier than mine.
posted on August 13, 2007 09:29 AM | link | Comments (8) | Leave a comment
13 Aug 2007: Snowcase #3
Derek Haycock has emailed the start of his novel, Franklin's Orb. Derek lives in Suffolk and writes full-time, mainly novels in the mystery genre.
A unique work of art, in the unlikeliest of settings, acts as a beacon for a journey of self-realisation and salvation.
Continue reading "Snowcase #3" »
posted on August 13, 2007 09:23 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
13 Aug 2007: Snowcase #2
Rachel Green has sent in "Dead Line", an urban fantasy novel. Rachel writes in the hills of Derbyshire with her two wyves, two children and two dogs. Her first book, "An Ungodly Child" won the regional prize in the "Undiscovered Authors" contest 2007 and will be published next year.
When the fate of the world rests on one mostly-innocent man and the elves are out to kill him, sometimes you wish you could kill him first. Then you're working to a Dead Line.
Continue reading "Snowcase #2" »
posted on August 13, 2007 09:12 AM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
12 Aug 2007: Listen! Do you smell that? It's language.
A word about smell and then linguistics.
Anna mentioned this to me recently: you buy something, say deodorant, and it has a distinctive smell that you don't think of as your smell - in other words, you now smell like someone else. I'm experiencing this today in a particularly weird way. My new deodorant is obviously made by a company who believe that the nose is gender-blind, because I now smell like my girlfriend from my early twenties. Alternatively it might just be that she's recently started stalking me. Tamsin? I don't owe you money or something, do I?
Continue reading "Listen! Do you smell that? It's language." »
posted on August 12, 2007 09:44 AM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
12 Aug 2007: Snowcase #1
That was quick! Hot off the mark, Richard Wright has sent in an excerpt from his horror novel THY FEARFUL SYMMETRY. Richard is a horror author and occasional playwright living in Glasgow, whose work has appeared in America and the UK.
In Glasgow's west end, an angel and demon fall in love, bringing the apocalyptic wrath of their masters down on the city and the world.
Continue reading "Snowcase #1" »
posted on August 12, 2007 09:02 AM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
11 Aug 2007: Snowcase
I've had a mini-idea. I'd like to invite any writers who may be reading to submit some of their work for the express purpose of showcasing - ahem, *snow*casing - it on this blog.
Lots of people read this blog, as I discover when I go to events and people who I didn't know read it say 'Hi Emma! Love the blog!" (=unnerving but nice) and most of them work in publishing. If you'd like to have some of your writing showcased here, you have to be happy to post your email address, too (we can do the clever [at] thing to avoid spam). Who knows: if a publisher or agent is reading and likes your work, they might email you. Can't hurt, can it?
//update// Guidelines for submission here!//
posted on August 11, 2007 09:37 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
10 Aug 2007: Various and sundry
First, a complaint. I upgraded to Adobe CS3 software in May 2007. Well, I say upgraded - I was recommended by the supplier to buy CS2 and use adobe's free upgrade to CS3. "It'll be cheaper and simple," they said.
Continue reading "Various and sundry" »
posted on August 10, 2007 09:00 AM | link | Comments (5) | Leave a comment
08 Aug 2007: The Snowbooks Alternative Booker Longlist
In a mashup of Vintage's Twins initiative, the concept of 'if you liked this you'll love that', and my inevitable clamour for attention when it's not directed at Snowbooks, here is an Alternative Booker Longlist drawn exclusively from Snowbooks titles.
Continue reading "The Snowbooks Alternative Booker Longlist" »
posted on August 8, 2007 06:20 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
07 Aug 2007: Snowbooks Publishing Services
Nice to look at and cheep
So do you want to have your covers designed by Snowbooks?
Bet you do. I would. Not only are they nice to look at, they sell books. But did you know that they are also about as cheap as you can get? You can download our new ratecard here. It shows you that cover design is only £550 - and that includes all original and stock artwork.
Seriously, it's a bargain. *And* we are quick and nice to deal with. Ask anyone. I'm sure Scott Pack would give us a reference, wouldn't you, Scott? We can turn a brief around in a couple of days, if pushed.
Leave a comment or email me for more info.
posted on August 7, 2007 06:55 PM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment
07 Aug 2007: For an audience of one...
...a picture of a moth. Click picture for mega moth close-up.
posted on August 7, 2007 06:53 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
07 Aug 2007: Five Things I like
Yey, I've finished my bookkeeping for the week. I am a good person. In exchange I am going to treat myself to a frivolous blog post that has only the most tenuous links to publishing. It is Five Things I Like.
Continue reading "Five Things I like" »
posted on August 7, 2007 04:53 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
07 Aug 2007: I rather fancy Neil Gaiman
And he rather fancies Lint, mentioning it as he does on his blog. He says it's "astonishingly funny" which, you know, it is.
From Rob: Also, does someone want to tell me how he pronounces his surname? I should think Mr Steve Aylett knows for a start.
posted on August 7, 2007 01:10 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
07 Aug 2007: The man in the shop that sells everything looked at me funny...
... when I put a copy of OK! magazine on the counter. "What?" I said, smiling. "Nothing," he said. "It's just you normally buy cashew nuts and Irn Bru." Fair point.
Anyway, blinking heck, look at this:
"A witty, sparkling read, it says." Eee!
posted on August 7, 2007 01:02 PM | link | Comments (0) | Leave a comment
05 Aug 2007: A lesson in nature photography
Still no bats, but I have learned a valuable lesson about taking pictures of critters. As soon as you put the camera in your bag you will come across, and thus startle, something interesting. Which will run away while you're fiddling with lens caps, etc; So here are the departing hindquarters of a buzzard and a deer. Would anyone like to tell me what make of deer this particular butt is associated with?
posted on August 5, 2007 02:38 PM | link | Comments (2) | Leave a comment
05 Aug 2007: Capitalism versus democracy in the U.S.
Oh no, it's the dreaded green 'P' of politics again. If you're easily offended by wacko-lefty politics (or easily bored by them) then back away. Here instead is a link to Cute Overload.
Continue reading "Capitalism versus democracy in the U.S." »
posted on August 5, 2007 08:20 AM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
04 Aug 2007: Sorry bat lovers
I'm still trying to work out how to get a picture of Mr Bat. Obviously I'll need to use a flash because he only comes out at night, but before the flash goes off, how will I tell if there's a bat in frame? And what if after the flash goes off the bat crashes its fuzzy little head into my barn? Problems.
Continue reading "Sorry bat lovers" »
posted on August 4, 2007 11:10 AM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
03 Aug 2007: And now I'm in the paper!
Well, in the paper's blog. Go here to read an article expanding on the Today programme on the Guardian Unlimited blog.
Thanks to Rob for contributing, oh, say, 115% of the Guardian piece.
posted on August 3, 2007 04:26 PM | link | Comments (3) | Leave a comment
03 Aug 2007: I was on the radio!
That was fun! You can hear me gently disagreeing with Fay Weldon on Radio 4's Today programme here. Scroll down the page and click on 0800-0830, and fast forward to about 18.28 or download an MP3 file here (it's about 4-5MB - or click the little arrow to 'stream' the file (whatever that means)).
I think I'll tell you what it was like in detail because I found it fascinating.
Continue reading "I was on the radio!" »
posted on August 3, 2007 09:21 AM | link | Comments (11) | Leave a comment
03 Aug 2007: How to achieve authentic gothic ambience
Very exciting, this living in the country. All day long the house martins swoop about catching invisible things - or just playing - I can't tell which. And then at dusk there's a little pause before a bat takes over the bug patrol. It loops around and around the barn, so close to the windows it almost looks like it's inside instead of outside. Then of course last night it took me a moment to realise that it *was* actually inside, circling silently around my living room.
Continue reading "How to achieve authentic gothic ambience" »
posted on August 3, 2007 08:37 AM | link | Comments (4) | Leave a comment
02 Aug 2007: Today tomorrow
I've taken a rather circuitous route into the office this morning. Bike to office, walk to Kings Cross, tube to White City, tube back from White City, bus back to office. See, I was going to be on the Today programme but there was a collapsing bridge in Minneapolis that needed to be talked about (Anna is fine, phew).
I might be on it tomorrow, talking about cover design. I wasn't going to tell the internets because it made me a bit nervous thinking people might be listening, but heck. The real question now is what will I wear *tomorrow*? I've used up my allocation of just-bohemian-enough, just-smart-enough appearing-on-the-radio wear. Of course, it would be ridiculous for a person to have selected just the right pair of radio-going pants, so underwear selection won't be a problem...
I used to get up at 5.30 a lot when I had a proper job, but those days are long gone and my system is threatening to go on strike unless it gets artificial stimulants, stat. To the coffee machine!
//update - it has been rescheduled for 8.20am tomorrow. Eeek. Nobody ask me about it because I'm nervous.//
posted on August 2, 2007 08:19 AM | link | Comments (5) | Leave a comment
01 Aug 2007: Lint review
There's an absolutely brilliant review of Lint at Estella's Revenge today. Don't miss it - it's not only a good review but acts as an excellent precis of the book, too.
posted on August 1, 2007 09:01 AM | link | Comments (1) | Leave a comment