David Gilman’s MASTER OF WAR published today by Head of Zeus

MASTER OF WAR, the new book from award-winning author and screenwriter David Gilman, is released today by Head of Zeus. It is the first title in a new series following the adventures of Thomas Blackstone, a stonemason-turned-archer living during the Hundred Years' War.

A paid-for ebook sampler extract from MASTER OF WAR has had more than 10,000 early downloads and received rave reviews on Amazon, with one reader describing it as "a fantastic read with action from start to finish".

Goldsboro Books have signed first editions in stock.

Praise for David Gilman:

'What Gilman does superlatively is heart-pounding action.'
--Amanda Craig, The Times

Praise for MASTER OF WAR:

'Gilman has just proved himself to be rather excellent. … In David Gilman I see flashes of brilliance that surpass Bernard Cornwell. ' --Bookbag

'If you only read one historical debut this year, make it this one.  The prose is sharper than a bodkin arrow, the pace faster than thought and to be honest it was a book that I just couldn't put down without being left to wonder what was next for the lead hero... Great stuff.' --Gareth Wilson, Falcata Times

See more here.

Blake Friedmann Authors at the Edinburgh Festival!

The Edinburgh International Book Festival kicks off on 10th August, with many Blake Friedmann authors on the bill.

Deon Meyer will be in conversation with Gordon Ferris on the subject of crime fiction on Sunday 11 August - details here. See more about Deon Meyer here.

Peter James will be talking about his Roy Grace novels on Tuesday 13th August - details here. See more about Peter James here.

Achmat Dangor will be talking with Sindiwe Magona about 'Getting Over Apartheid' on Monday 19th August - details here.

Laurie Penny will be discussing her book DISCORDIA and the Greek Financial Crisis on Tuesday 20th August - details here.

South African author Henrietta Rose-Innes will appear with Sifiso Mzobe as part of the First Book Award Nominee series of events on Monday 26th August - details here. Henrietta will also be participating in one of the daily Imprisoned Writers events on Monday 19th August, run by Amnesty International at 17:30 in the Peppers Theatre. See more about Henrietta Rose-Innes here.

Meanwhile as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Eddie Argos' show ISLANDERS is on at Underbelly, Cowgate from 1st - 25th August (Details here), as is Rachel Hirons' show DIRTY LAUNDRY (details here). More information about Rachel Hirons here.

Carole Blake, Isobel Dixon and Juliet Pickering will also be attending the Book Festival.

The Edinburgh Festival is one of the largest arts events in the world and takes place for three weeks every August in Scotland's capital city. More information about the festival here.

Vote for Peter James to win a Sussex Award!

Peter James has been shortlisted for the Outstanding Contribution to Sussex Award 2013. This is handed to someone who has professionally or personally made the county a better place. Previous winners include Nick Dodds, head of the Brighton Festival; Roger French, chief executive of Brighton and Hove Bus Company; and Tony Bloom, Chairman of Brighton and Hove Albion. The nominees have been chosen by a select panel of judges, with the winner to be voted for by members of the public.

Peter James was born in Brighton and is regarded as one of the best crime writers of his generation. DEAD MAN'S TIME, the 9th book in his best-selling Roy Grace series, was released earlier this year, and spent 2 months in the hardback top 10 bestseller list.

As well as his literary achievements, he is patron of Sussex Crimestoppers, The Whitehawk Inn and Friends of Seaford Library, as well as joint patron of Neighbourhood Watch. He is also vice president of Brighton's Old Police Cells Museum, ambassador for Brighton University and a Martlets Hospice Champion. He regularly supports The Sussex Community Foundation, The Backup Trust for Spinal Injuries, The Chichester Life Centre, Book Trade Benevolent Society, Starehe Boys' Centre in Kenya and Action Medical Research.

You can vote for Peter James to win the award here.

Praise for the Roy Grace series:
 
'Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business.' -- Karin Slaughter
 
'The rapid-fire suspense builds to a terrifying, graphic conclusion that leaves tantalizing room for future instalments in the series.'
 -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

'What makes his books better than other people's books I think is that the ordinary people in these books react in the way they would react.  They have absolute emotional credibility.'
-- Jeff Park, 'Front Row' BBC Radio
 
'Exceptional, knock-your-socks-off.' -- Washington Post

LIVES LIKE LOADED GUNS by Lyndall Gordon shortlisted for the Comisso Prize

Fazi Editore's Italian edition of LIVES LIKE LOADED GUNS, Lyndall Gordon's widely-praised biography of Emily Dickinson, has been shortlisted for the Comisso Prize. The Comisso Prize is one of Italy's most prestigious prizes, with previous winners including Adrian Desmond and Roberto Pazzi.
 
The Prize has two sections: Biography and Fiction. For biography, this year's three finalists, chosen by a jury consisting of teachers and journalists, are:

• Lyndall Gordon - Come un fucile carico. La vita di Emily Dickinson, (Lives Like Loaded Guns), published by Fazi Editore
• Marco Santagata - Dante. Il romanzo della sua vita, published by Mondadori
• Patrick Wilcken - Il poeta nel laboratorio. Vita di Claude Lévi-Strauss, published by Il Saggiatore

See more about the prize here.

Lyndall's ground-breaking biography of Emily Dickinson, following the vehement feud between the Dickinson family and Emily's brother's mistress after the enigmatic American poet's death, and exploding the myth of the reclusive genius, was a Telegraph Book of the Year 2010, listed in the Independent's Pick of 2010 and picked as one of four Biography and Memoir Best Books of 2010 by The Economist.

Lyndall Gordon lives in Oxford. An acclaimed biographer, she has been winner of the Cheltenham Prize and the James Tait Black Prize, and long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize. In addition to her Emily Dickinson, Virginia Woolf and Charlotte Bronte biographies, she is also author of the recently re-issued HENRY JAMES: Two Women and his Art;  THE IMPERFECT LIFE OF T S ELIOT. VINDICATION: A Life of Mary Wollstonecraft  was long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize, 2005.. She wrote a memoir of a fifties childhood in South Africa, SHARED LIVES, and her new memoir, DIVIDED LIVES: Dreams of a Mother and Daughter, will be published by Virago in 2014.

Praise for Lyndall Gordon:

'Gordon is one of the best biographers writing today.' - -  Catherine Hollis, Sacramento Book Review

'A gifted storyteller.' - - Carmela Ciuraru, Miami Herald

'Lyndall Gordon is known for the thoroughness of her research and meticulous attention to detail … a fine researcher's eye … an exceptional and unusual mind.' - -  Janet van Eeden, The Witness

Praise for LIVES LIKE LOADED GUNS:

'Explodes all previous theories in an electrifying family portrait…a Shakespearean tale of a house divided. A jolting and utterly intriguing watershed achievement.' - - Starred review, Booklist

In November, a jury of 60 readers will vote for the winner. The prize of €5000 will be awarded in a ceremony in Treviso in North-East Italy on 30 November.

'Lyndall Gordon proposes a theory to account for the enigma of Emily Dickinson's life as a notorious recluse which is so brilliant that, if this were a novel, a reviewer would be duty-bound not to reveal a thrilling twist…Unforcedly and powerfully original.' - - Caroline Moore, 'Book of the Week', Sunday Telegraph

'As rich as a novel by Henry James.' - - Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, The Telegraph

'Few portraits of Emily Dickinson are as vivid, few explorations of a family feud more riveting.' - - Carol Herman, Washington Times

 

'Gordon takes the lid off the violent emotional life of the Dickinson family and its far-reaching effects on the poet's work. What she exposes is a seething Peyton Place of adultery, betrayal and lifelong feuding.' - - Claire Harman, Literary Review

Lyndall's website: www.lyndallgordon.net

Margie Orford signs with Head of Zeus

Published to acclaim in South Africa by Jonathan Ball, Margie Orford's entire Clare Hart series has been acquired  in the UK by Laura Palmer of Head of Zeus,  in a deal brokered by Isobel Dixon. Head of Zeus will publish the fourth title in the series, GALLOWS HILL, in 2014, accompanied by the re-issued backlist. This will be followed by the fifth Clare Hart book, WATER MUSIC, which is just out in South Africa from Jonathan Ball.

Laura Palmer of Head of Zeus says: 'Margie Orford is a brilliant, sophisticated crime writer dealing with universal themes in an unusual setting. At Head of Zeus, we're looking forward to publishing all of her novels with fabulous new packaging, and bringing Clare Hart to a wider British readership.'

Margie Orford says: 'I am delighted that the Clare Hart series has found such a stylish home in Head of Zeus and  it will  be such a pleasure to be working with Laura Palmer again.'

Isobel Dixon, Margie's agent, says: 'Readers who've loved the suspense and flair of Margie's novels, and the stormy relationship between heroine Clare Hart and cop Riedwaan Faizal, will be happy to know there's more in store soon. Laura Palmer and the excellent Head of Zeus team have exciting plans for Margie Orford in 2014.'

Margie Orford, has been described as 'the Queen of South African Crime Fiction' - the Clare Hart series has been published in France, Germany, Holland, Spain, Russia and the Czech Republic. She was born in London and grew up in Namibia, the setting for BLOOD ROSE, the second novel in the series, which is also optioned for film. A Fulbright Scholar, she was educated in South Africa and the United States. She is Executive Vice-President of South African PEN, the patron of Rape Crisis and of the children's book charity, the Little Hands Trust. She lives in Cape Town.

Praise for Margie Orford:

'Margie Orford writes with great human insight, at times with poetic beauty, and always the ever-present deep, dark undertow of menace.' - Peter James

'The queen of South African crime thriller writers.' - Sue Grant-Marshall, The Weekender

Praise for GALLOWS HILL (Shortlisted for Herman Charles Bosman Prize 2012):

'Published to much acclaim, and it's understandable why. Orford's fourth Claire Hart thriller is the fastest most compelling read of them all.' - Mike Nicol, Books Live

'Orford's fourth Clare Hart thriller offers a superbly packaged, high-energy tale of murder, mass graves, corruption, cover-ups, crooked politicians, smuggling and gangsters. … A complex and intelligent plot unfolds at just the right pace, making this book very difficult to put down. I now have a new favorite crime author.' - James Retief, Cape Times

'Margie Orford's pacy dialogue and expert twist of the genre's base elements is masterful. GALLOWS HILL is the fourth book in the Clare Hart series and a great reason for any crime thriller fan to acquire the preceding titles.' - Nicole Roughley, Fairlady Magazine

For further rights queries contact Isobel Dixon: Isobel@blakefriedmann.co.uk
For PR queries contact Becci Sharpe: becci@headofzeus.co