We are immensely proud to announce that we will be publishing Jenny Downham’s second novel in December this year – see here. YOU AGAINST ME arrived in its entirety a few months ago and glued us to our chairs until we’d finished reading. It is an incredibly special book. The manuscript has been recently making its way around our sales, marketing and publicity departments, and reminds me of the time we received the manuscript for Jenny’s first novel, BEFORE I DIE – we were at a Random House Children’s Books sales conference in Amsterdam (ah, those conference days are long gone) where two A4 copies were feverishly passed around about fifty people, who invariably embarrassed themselves by crying on trains and planes all the way home. More on Jenny’s new novel to follow - watch this space.

..or rather barks.. or growls?  More suggestions for dog ’speech’ description please! In fact, have a go at naming this mystery(ie. ‘where the barks went’, ‘growls in hiding’ etc) and send us your ideas - best suggestions win a DFC badge! Just leave your doggy verb or title & your email address as a comment below.. 

One Robin Etherington - a rather sharp-eyed and sharp-witted young man - has already solved ‘The Mystery of Lost Words’ by bringing to our attention that fact that text & speech bubbles were missing from the final page of Dave Shelton’s miniature treat, THE STAKEOUT – !! ‘Eek!!’ I hear you say – but never fear, thanks to our crime-busting dog duo and their trusty sidekicks, Robin & Dave, the final pages have been restored for your viewing pleasure! Just click here  to read the rectified newsletter :)  ..Phew!

If you should need any brainfood whilst thinking up your doggy descriptions, take a look at Dave Shelton’s fascinating website  - it’s crammed with glimpses of new work and beautiful pages from Dave’s old sketchbooks – a real insight into his hilarious, engaging and completely charming work.

I’ll be keeping my eyes on the comments box..   ’til next time!

OUT NOW! The paperback edition of Margo Lanagan’s TENDER MORSELS – one of the most illuminating and heartbreaking novels I have read in the last, ooh, about thirty-eight years.

When I read Margo’s short story ‘Singing my Sister Down’  from her collection BLACK JUICE (which someone else  published, grrr), I nearly fell off my chair. Here was a writer who was just so skilled at storytelling but also managed to blast the whole young adult genre out of the water – the story was/is beautiful, terrifying, empathetic and wise. I recently had lunch with her lovely agent, Jill Grinberg,  much of which was spent simply sighing  in awe at  what a wonderful writer Margo is.

I urge ANYONE  (above perhaps fourteen years old, before any Daily Mail journalists start hyperventilating) to read this book now. It’s extraordinary and gripping and beautiful. And not only TENDER MORSELS -  there’s a wealth of thrilling worlds in Margo’s collections of short stories, BLACK JUICE, RED SPIKES and WHITE TIME. If every secondary school in the land had copies of Margo’s books… well, forget Fabio, there just might well be a Literary World Cup.

PS: this really isn’t supposed to be a raving-about-all-our-books-blog-because-surely-by-publishing-in-the-first-place-we’re-showing-we-love-them blog (you’re right, bookwitch). But sometimes you just can’t help it.

….er, um,  for some reason I have been putting this off.   Okay then, I confess, I am a blog virgin. This is my first ever blog. Not really something I should be boasting about these days I suppose. And not really of interest to anyone else but me.   But then   I loudly promised everyone at the very well attended (including the Philippine Ambassador no less) launch  that my first blog would be about Candy’s book Tall Story.  And not wanting to let his excellency and everyone else down here  it is.  And a bit late.   I think the danger for a publisher is that you want to say ‘Read It, just read it, it’s wonderful’ about every single  new book you publish.   And that really isn’t very interesting is it? Here’s what springs to mind about Candy:   Of all the writers I have ever edited and published only one other writer has ever inserted herself into her prose in quite the same way Candy does.  And that is Jacqueline Wilson. I am not saying they write the same way. Not at all. They don’t.   But both of them,  just like with Brighton rock , have their own personality and tone of voice echoing all the way through,   in every sentence, every phrase and every lick and curl of their prose.  They both write inimitably, with passion and humour and intelligence.  And when you are lucky enough to  meet them in person you can see exactly why they write the way they do.  I think this quality is particularly important in a children’s book.  Candy’s story just flows into the reader, like a jug of story being tipped into the head.  And its a very good story.  And I am very proud and pleased to be publishing it.

Now go and read it dammit.

..from our new blogspot here at DFB! We’re both excited and nervous about this new space on our site, where we’ll be updating you on our goings-on both in and out of the office – it’s a bit like first-date nerves! We really hope you’ll love it.

We’ve found a heady match with Candy Gourlay though, and her loveable debut novel, TALL STORY. Candy’s jaunty humour really sparkles in this story, but she also manages to weave in some exotic Filipino magic, making this a really flavoursome read. Mmmm!

…And we went to Candy’s fantastic launch for TALL STORY last night! It was a really vibrant event at Waterstones, Islington, buzzing with family, friends, neighbours, and a whole host of other Candy supporters! We even got badges!! You can see me sporting mine in my photo, but here’s a close-up!

It was a really fun, energetic and emotional atmosphere. The Ambassador for The Philippines - Antonio M. Lagdameo – even attended! 

But I think that for me, the highlight was the collective performance of Bob Marley’s ‘One love’ – which Candy’s family and extended family (from her neighbourhood & beyond!) had filmed, sung and practised to perform for us all. There were both English and Tagalog verses that were performed live alongside pre-recorded footage of singing, dancing and general hilarity both in The Philippines and the UK. It was really emotionally-charged and uplifting, really bringing home Candy’s TALL STORY themes of family, home and unity, despite distance. And I was really impressed with the young performers!! You may want to keep your eyes glued to Candy’s site for a glimpse of it..

Anyway, enough rabbiting for now – I’m sure the others want to tell you more about our antics!..

TTFN,

Tilda!