KNIGHTLEY & SON selected for New Voices

KNIGHTLEY & SON by Rohan Gavin will be a part of the Spring 2014 Indies Introduce New Voices promotion.   This scheme was initiated by the American Booksellers Association, made up of independent bookstores across the US.   Titles selected will be featured in a two-page spread in the ABC Best Books for Children Catalogue.  The entire list of Spring Picks is featured with bookseller quotes on IndieBound.org.

Rohan Gavin is a screenwriter and debut novelist. KNIGHTLEY & SON, the story of a father-and-son detective duo, will be published by Bloomsbury UK on 2 January 2014 and Bloomsbury US in April 2014. French rights are sold to Gallimard.

US two-book deal with St Martins for Tony Park

Isobel Dixon is delighted to share the news of Tony Park’s first US deal with St Martins. Keith Kahla and Sally Richardson at St Martins have signed up two of Park’s pacy African adventure thrillers THE DELTA and IVORY. THE DELTA will be published on the Fall 2014 list, and IVORY in Fall 2015.

THE DELTA features a feisty female mercenary Sonja Kurtz and in IVORY, Alex Tremain is a modern-day pirate in trouble. All Park’s novels are action-packed standalones, set against different African backdrops.

His newest title THE PREY comes out in the UK (Quercus) and Australia (Macmillan) in early November 2013.

Tony Park fell in love with South Africa on a short trip in 1995 and he and his wife now divide their time between their home in Sydney and the Kruger Park area. He is published by AST in Russia and Gold Book in Hungary. In his home country, Australia, Tony is a consistent Number One bestseller, published by Macmillan

Praise for TONY PARK:

'An author who is starting to challenge the veteran Wilbur Smith for the title of 'master of the African thriller'' -- Geoffrey Wansell, Daily Mail

'Tony Park is one of Australia's best thriller writers and his African-based novels are consistently entertaining and thought-provoking.' -- Canberra Times

'Park's heroes are tough, blokey types - soldiers and coppers - and his heroines sassy and smart, but Africa always steals the show…a great way to spend a winter evening, transported to somewhere warm and exotic.' -- Georgia Gowing, The Independent Weekly

'He just gets better and better. His descriptions of the southern African bush and mountain jungles are so vivid you can just about feel the sun on your skin and smell the dust and animals.' -- Frank Walker, Sun Herald

'If you like action adventures, with a spy theme, some education - either travel or technological - and a little romance, then this guy's for real…Rip-snorting romps that keep you guessing at all levels. What puts this into the top echelon of the genre is that the people, even the heroes, are fallible human beings.' -- June Joyce, Waikato Times

Praise for THE DELTA

'An all-action, old-fashioned full-on Boy's Own romp from an author who is starting to challenge Wilbur Smith for the title of master of the African thriller …. Break-neck in pace, with narrow escapes from death on every page, its charm is infectious' -- Daily Mail

'An environmentally conscious, heart-thumping thriller.' -- Australian Bookseller and Publisher

'Colourful and strikingly written.' -- Barry Forshaw, Crime Time

'He gives a realistic account of the continent's wildlife and its people and his characters are inherently human - that is, flawed - and believable.' -- Lauren de Beer, Business Day

'THE DELTA is a riveting thriller and certainly one of the author's best as it seamlessly blends real concerns - climate change, water and other environmental and political issues - with a cracking adventure led by a bold woman.' -- Gold Coast Bulletin

Margie Orford snapped up by Witness Impulse, HarperCollins, US

Isobel Dixon is delighted to announce that North American rights in Margie Orford’s highly acclaimed Clare Hart series have been acquired by Margaux Weisman for the Witness Impulse list. Witness, an imprint of William Morrow/HarperCollins, is an innovative new digital mystery, suspense, and thriller line. It launches in October 2013 and is already home to a host of internationally bestselling authors. They have bought all five of the Clare Hart titles: DADDY’S GIRL, LIKE CLOCKWORK, BLOOD ROSE, GALLOWS HILL and WATER MUSIC.

Margaux Weisman of Witness says: “Margie Orford is unlike any other writer in our stable. Her books will help us take the Witness brand to the next level. Dr. Clare Hart is one of the strongest thriller heroines I’ve encountered, and I’m so happy to introduce her to a US audience.”

Margie Orford, has been described as 'the Queen of South African Crime Fiction'. The Clare Hart series has been published in the UK, South Africa, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Iceland, Norway, 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.

2013 is proving to be an exciting year for Margie; with the highly praised publication of WATER MUSIC in South Africa by Jonathan Ball, the sale of UK rights to the entire series to Head of Zeus and a host of Scandinavian deals this summer, we’re thrilled that Clare Hart will be heading across the Atlantic too.

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 WATER MUSIC:

‘What Orford excels at is bringing together many of the disparate worlds we have in one country... I loved every word.’ Pretoria News

‘Margie Orford gives genre writing swagger, she makes it look good…every detail in WATER MUSIC convinces. Every sentence is clipped, pared down, muscular, every emotion captured with poise and precision. WATER MUSIC is Orford’s best work yet.’ – Jonathan Amid, Slipnet

For further rights queries contact Isobel Dixon: Isobel@blakefriedmann.co.uk

Carole Blake celebrates fifty years in publishing

Carole celebrated her golden publishing anniversary with a bang, as Blake Friedmann hosted celebrations in the Stationers’ Hall.

Over 300 of Carole’s friends joined her to celebrate this fantastic milestone, with guests including authors, colleagues past and present, fellow agents and publishers, coming from around Europe and across the Atlantic to show their appreciation. With speeches from Film and TV Agent Conrad Williams and bestselling crime writer Peter James, introduced by Blake Friedmann Agent Isobel Dixon, it was clear that Carole’s enthusiasm, selflessness and sense of humour are well-recognised by everyone who knows her.

The expertise, friends and memories Carole has accumulated in her fifty years is quite overwhelming, but as Isobel Dixon made very clear, this was “very much NOT a retirement party”. Carole is looking forward to many more years in publishing still to come, and for that we are all very thankful.

HEAP HOUSE’S Clod interns at Hot Key

Clod, hero of Edward Carey’s IREMONGER trilogy, has begun an internship at Hot Key Books. He has made friends with the Hot Key team, who have treated him to Hot Cross Buns, and his duties include feeding Nigel McDowell the shredder and making tea with Joe Dulcie the Kettle. You can read Clod’s blog about his internship here.

Every member of the Iremonger family in HEAP HOUSE by Edward Carey gets a birth object that they will keep with them their entire life. And Clod is the only one who can hear them say their name. If you are interested in finding out what your own birth object would be, you can use Hot Key’s Birth Object Randomiser.

HEAP HOUSE is published by Hot Key in beautiful hardback complete with illustrations by Edward himself. It  will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman, Roald Dahl and Mervyn Peake, young and old alike.

Novelist, visual artist and playwright Edward Carey is the author of two acclaimed novels, published in many countries around the world. OBSERVATORY MANSIONS was shortlisted for the Borders Discover New Writers Award and ALVA AND IRVA was longlisted for the 2005 IMPAC Literary Award. Both were accompanied by artworks by the author.

Visit Edward Carey's Website Here