Authors in the Media – December 2024

‘Tis the season for agency authors in December.

George Harrison‘s debut novel Season, received high praise in the Daily Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday.

The Telegraph’s Declan Ryan said, ‘Harrison feels – and captures – this world rather well. We’re served the recognisable cocktail of frustrated tenderness, zealotry and madness that we induce when we outsource our happiness to millionaires in leisure-wear.

Sticking with the newspapers, Mira Harrison, author of the One in Three, was reviewed in the New Zealand Listener, the Otago Daily Times, interviewed on the podcast Write Spot with Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature, and was the Book of the Day in the New Zealand Herald.

Mary Novakovich received a mention in The Guardian for her audiobook version of My Family and Other Enemies. A blend of memoir and travelogue, this vivid portrait of Lika in central Croatia tells of a family and Croatian region steeped in culture and tumultuous history. Read by the author.

Fellow travel writer Ros Belford, saw her book Children of the Volcano picked out by Wanderlust as one of the books of the year.

the author – fresh from a break-up – relocates to Sicily to give her daughters a childhood to remember, and herself a new go at life. What follows falls into the ‘inspirational’ bracket of books about overcoming the odds, though it paints a portrait of island life that will have travellers intrigued.

Last but not least, Rikki Stein‘s memoir, Moving Music, continues to generate coverage. This month a review in AfroPop Worldwide, and an accompanying interview. An audiobook version, read by the author is coming soon.

Mark LeVine, longtime contributor to Afropop Worldwide said, ‘While this book will no doubt inspire musicians and fans who already love these genres, we can hope it also inspires a new generation of behind-the-scenes forces in the business, who can help move the music, the artists who create and perform it, and the industry people who more often than not hinder if not outright ruin it, back to a foundation of the Underground Spiritual Game that has always animated the most powerful, creative and at least for a time, successful pop music.

Songlines also has picked the book as one it its ‘Books of the Year‘, saying ‘Rikki was also crucial to the success of the musicians of Joujouka, that extraordinary village of Moroccan musicians. And then there are the stories about the Grateful Dead, Guinea’s Les Ballet Africaines, the ever-courageous Ugandan singer Bobi Wine, and more. A great read.

Here’s to 2025!

Authors in the Media – November 2024

A busy November for agency authors.

Debut novelist Tom Gaisford, whose forthcoming book will be published by Cinto Press, gets a mention in the Guernsey Press’s feature about famous Guernsey authors.

The Bookseller ran an article on the deal, and publication will be supported with an “extensive” marketing and publicity campaign.

Sanctuary follows immigration lawyer Alex Donovan and explores the treatment of asylum seekers in the UK. Donovan “dreams up a madcap plan to claim asylum in his own country”and shines a light on the murky world of asylum in the UK—still a very live issue.

One to watch!

Ed Peppitt was featured in People’s Friend magazine. His book, The Beacon Bike, is out now in hardback and audio.

The Beacon Bike is the inspirational tale of one man’s quest to fulfil the promise he made to himself as a small child, nestled in the bed of an attic room while the glow of Dungeness lighthouse flashed past his window – a comforting, ever-present companion. It is also a loving tribute to the coast; not only its beautiful landscape, but also the communities that make it so special. It celebrates the generosity of spirit found in people around the country, as well as the history of the iconic lights that brighten their world.

Stablemates Daniel Stables and Shafik Meghji will take part in the National Geographic Travel UK Masterclasses in the new year, on the panel for ‘The Art of Travel Writing’ virtual workshop on 20 Jan.

Josh Nelken-Zitser received the prestigious AxelSpringer Award for Change, for his article with Ida Reihani for the Journalistic Piece of the Year for their story on Iran’s funding of gender-affirming surgeries.

Josh is a Senior News Reporter at Business Insider’s London bureau, covering breaking news, foreign affairs, and US politics.

Mira Harrison launched her new novel One in Three in London. This coming-of-age story tells of a young doctor struggling with the demands of endless hours on call in NHS hospitals. Set in 1989 against the backdrop of the unfolding AIDS epidemic.

Mira is a doctor-turned-writer, who trained in the NHS. Mira has published two medical textbooks and two collections of stories about women working in public hospitals. Originally from Watford, Mira studied at Southampton University Medical School and pursued a career in obstetrics and gynaecology. She has worked in hospitals in England and New Zealand. One In Three is her debut novel, based on her experiences as a junior doctor.

Finally, Susan L. Schwartz featured in Beau Monde Traveler Magazine explaining the history of the Rob Roy cocktail and how it is made.

Susan runs the Lush Life Manual, and runs cocktail tours in London and Venice, with an accompanying podcast.