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Mhairi McFarlane talks to Indie Thinking about bringing her characters to life

A question you get asked often as an author is: ‘Where do your characters come from?’ The answer, of course, is life, but the risk in saying that is people can take it to mean: ‘Every single character is a thinly veiled version of someone I know.’ Not only is… Read More

4 Questions for Jonas Jonasson

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO START AGAIN. AND AGAIN. Featuring one violent killer, two shrewd business brains and many crates of Moldovan red wine,Hitman Anders and the Meaning of it all is a madcap new novel from the one-of-a-kind author of The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window… Read More

“Foxlowe has lived in many old notebooks” – Eleanor Wasserberg

In the heady, tearful, beaming hours and days after the phone-call that told me my Word document was going to become a book, I found myself leafing through old notebooks (Foxlowe has lived in many) and particularly the one I’d taken on a disastrous (as it seemed then) writing retreat… Read More

King Power by Richard III

The most unlikely story in the history of sport, told by our greatest football writer. On 25th March 2015, when King Richard III, recently rescued from a municipal car park, was reburied in Leicester Cathedral, his beloved football team had just lost 4-3 to Tottenham Hotspur and were… Read More

“To me, the landscape and setting of a story are as much a character as the plucky hero” – Beth Lewis, author of The Wolf Road

I grew up outside, a stone’s throw from the savage North Cornwall coast. Between my house and sheer, wave-beaten cliffs were fields, scrubland and deep valleys, with barely another house in sight. My childhood was wind and mud and salt spray and sand between my toes. I rambled along… Read More

“Southampton is a city of striking contrasts” – Jaime Raven, author of The Madam

Author Jaime Raven talks to Indie Thinking about the city of Southampton, and how it inspired the characters and story of The Madam – published May 19th. Southampton is a city of striking contrasts. It has a rich cultural heritage and is full of medieval remains that attract thousands of… Read More

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo – Special Anniversary Editions

To commemorate the centenary of the Battle of the Somme HarperCollins Children’s Books publish two stunning new editions of this modern classic of World War One, both featuring a new introduction by the author and insightful testimonies from soldiers. Told in the voice of Private Tommo Peaceful, the story… Read More

Recommended by Dubray Books: The Trouble with Goats and Sheep

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon England,1976. Mrs Creasy is missing and The Avenue is alive with whispers. As the summer shimmers endlessly on, ten-year-olds Grace and Tilly decide to take matters into their own hands. And as the cul-de-sac starts giving up its secrets, the amateur… Read More

Recommended by The Grove Bookshop: Devotion by Louisa Young

Mike Sansbury, bookshop manager of The Grove Bookshop, recommends Devotion, the new novel from the bestselling author of My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You and The Heroes’ Welcome. Devotion is a novel of family, love, race and politics set during the electric change of the 1930s. Tom loves… Read More

Sooyong Park introduces The Great Soul of Siberia

There are five races of tiger on our planet and all but one live in tropical regions: the Siberian Tiger Panthera tigris altaica is the exception. Mysterious and elusive, and with only 350 remaining in the wild, the Siberian tiger remains a complete enigma. One man has set out to… Read More

Ian Sansom talks about writing book number three (of 43)

Welcome to Westmorland. Perhaps the most scenic county in England! Home of the poets! Land of the great artists! District of the Great lakes! And the scene of a mysterious crime… In Westmorland Alone, Swanton Morley, the People’s Professor, once again sets off in his Lagonda to continue his history… Read More

Recommended by Blackwell’s Edinburgh: The Great Soul of Siberia

The Great Soul of Siberia by Sooyong Park There are five races of tiger on our planet and all but one live in tropical regions: the Siberian Tiger Panthera tigris altaica is the exception. Mysterious and elusive, and with only 350 remaining in the wild, the Siberian tiger remains a… Read More

Recommended by Mr. B’s Emporium: Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

Danielle Culling from Mr. B’s Emporium of Reading Delights reviews the brilliant Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy. I am more than happy to confess that I knew I simply had to read this book based on the cover alone. Never judge a book and all that – pah, when… Read More

Recommended by The Bookshop Kibworth: Missing, Presumed

Debbie James from The Bookshop Kibworth recommends Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner Mid-December, and Cambridgeshire is blanketed with snow. Detective Sergeant Manon Bradshaw tries to sleep after yet another soul-destroying Internet date – the low murmuring of her police radio her only solace. Over the airwaves come reports… Read More

A message to independent bookshops from Michael Morpurgo

Michael Morpurgo Month We are celebrating the nation’s favourite storyteller, and want you to get involved! Each week during the month of March we will be highlighting titles based around themes close to the author’s heart: War, Journeys, Legends and Animals. It’s a chance for everyone to get involved and… Read More