Blog archive (September 2012)

We’ve had a brilliant week here at Bluemoose Towers, rounded off today with some more excellent news. We are really chuffed to tell you about our involvement with New Writing North’s Read Regional 2012 campaign.

This annual campaign connects local authors to local readers and includes writers and poets across the North-East, Yorkshire and Humberside. Our very own Michael Stewart will be getting involved and showcasing his book KING CROW.

Stephen May, writer of Life! Death! Prizes! popped up his road and had a cuppa with our author Benjamin Myers. The result of their chat was a little interview about life and writing which Stephen has posted on his blog. Here’s a little excerpt:

I had a great time selling books in The Hebden Bridge Bookshop, even cajoled two unlikely browsers to purchase THORN by Michael Dean and THE HARDEST CLIMB by Alistair Sutcliffe, two of the latest Bluemoose titles. The Moose was on tour over the weekend, going down to Waterstones’s Chelmsford on Saturday for the book signing of THORN by Michael Dean. It was a great success, good to meet Michael and have a chat to Marissa, the very passionate book lover and manager of the Wats store.

After a nervous wait of a few weeks, we’re really pleased with the review for PIG IRON by Benjamin Myers for The Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize. We’ve added it as it appears on the Guardian website, written by Sam Jordison.

NOD by Adrian Barnes, our new book, arrives into the Bluemoose warehouse today and we’re all very excited!

Ben Myers, author of PIG IRON says about NOD, ‘Think WARRIORS, the film, scripted by JG Ballard with excerpts from Ray Bradbury.’ KING CROW author Michael Stewart says the first chapter of NOD is one of the best openings of any book he’s ever read. He went on to say he loved every single page of it.

This morning I am to be let loose on the unsuspecting book buying public of Hebden Bridge. Gillian and Ross, the proprietors of The Hebden Bridge Bookshop have left the county for the day and have given me the keys.

It’s really important for us as a small independent publisher to get out and about as often as possible and spread the word. We like to meet as many readers and budding writers as we can. We do this for several reasons. Obviously, we want to make people aware of Bluemoose books and the brilliant titles we have to offer, we may also be lucky enough to find our next author, but equally we want to let people know about what we are trying to achieve with Bluemoose Books, our experience as an independent publisher and the state of the publishing industry as a whole.

We published THE HARDEST CLIMB by Alistair Sutcliffe in 2011 and it got a great response from a varied readership. Hardcore climbers, adventure seekers, appreciators of extreme sports as well as those who love a true story about hope against adversity and persistence (or is it stubbornness?) in seemingly impossible situations and the human instinct for survival, all loved this book.