
SUMMER STARTS EARLY WITH NADIA MARKS
The Hellenic Centre hosted the launch of Secrets Under the Sun, the latest novel from Nadia Marks – following on from her brilliantly received novel Among the Lemon Trees. Secret’s Under the Sun is Nadia’s second novel with Pan Macmillan and transports us to the small seaside town of Larnaka in Cyprus. Three childhood friends have reunited for the funeral of Katerina, the much-loved old woman who had a profound effect on their lives. Her loss leaves the...

TIME TO GET EVEN AT THE PLAYBOY CLUB
Photo by Adrian Pope. Last night I had the pleasure of attending Martina Cole’s star-studded launch of her latest novel, Get Even – an unflinching portrait of a family torn apart by violence and betrayal, but ultimately bound together by loyalty – at London’s swanky Playboy Club. Get Even is Martina’s twenty-second novel. And who better to chart the rise and somewhat dramatic fall and to explore the psyche of the...

FROM BEETLE BOY TO THE SECRET COOKING CLUB
Justin Somper and Amy Finegan had the pleasure of working with some smashing debut authors from Chicken House today during our DELIVERING AUTHOR EVENTS WITH CONFIDENCE session – designed for authors who want to get out on the road more and need to improve their confidence when talking to a variety of audiences. L to R: Justin Somper (AuthorProfile), M.G. Leonard (Beetle Boy), James Nicol (The Apprentice Witch’s Handbook), Laurel...

10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ISLAND
Last night, to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of her novel, THE ISLAND, Victoria Hislop hosted a special rooftop event for her readers in London. A highlight of the evening was an exclusive UK screening of episode one of Το Νησί – the Greek television adaptation of Victoria’s brilliant novel – shown for the first time with English subtitles. I can assure you, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house!...

ANITA NAIK: AUTHOR, COLUMNIST, BLOGGER AND JOURNALIST
Anita Naik is an author, columnist, blogger and journalist. She started her career as advice columnist on the teen magazine Just 17, leaving to write a sex and relationship column for More magazine and then Closer magazine and Teen Now. As the author of over 40 non-fiction books, including The Lazy Girl’s Guide series, and a media spokesperson for the Department of Children, Schools and Families (now Department of Education),...

AFTER NATASHA
Natasha Farrant’s series The Diaries of Bluebell Gadsby includes After Iris, Flora in Love and All About Pumpkin – all of which are narrated by Bluebell herself, also known as Blue, who informs us at the start of After Iris that the book, is “a combination of conventional diary entries and transcripts of short films shot by the author on the camera she was given for her 13th birthday.” Natasha...