NOT DEAD YET beats FIFTY SHADES trilogy to No. 1 spot in UK paperback bestseller list!

The top three spots in the UK paperback bestseller list had been held by E.L. James' FIFTY SHADES titles for 25 consecutive weeks.  NOT DEAD YET, which was published in paperback on 27 September, is the new No. 1 in the Sunday Times paperback bestseller lists and the first book to have gone above one of the FIFTY SHADES books since April 22. NOT DEAD YET is the 8th in the Roy Grace series and was published in hardback in June earlier this year. It shot straight to No 1 in the hardback list, which marked it as the 5th consecutive No. 1 in the Roy Grace series, and which makes this the 6th No. 1 - a remarkable achievement!

Peter James says: 'To say I am over the moon would be an understatement!  To have ended the Fifty Shades Of Grey trilogy's dominance of the paperback bestseller list is a dream come true.  This is one of the best days of my life!" 

Wayne Brooks, Publishing Director at Macmillan says:
'Seeing their author in the number one slot is what all editors dream of. Seeing them rise above a trilogy that's had over five months in the top slot is something else. I'm thrilled for Peter and I'm thrilled for Pan Macmillan.'

Carole Blake, Peter James' agent says: 'Peter has always been No. 1 for me, so it's great to see him back in his rightful place at the top of the bestseller list.'

In other fantastic news, DEAD MAN'S GRIP won the prestigious Barry Award for Best British novel last week at Bouchercon in the US and James' standalone PERFECT PEOPLE is on the long list for the Wellcome Prize. The shortlist is announced this week. 

Peter James' novels have sold over 13 million copies and are published in 35 languages.

Praise for NOT DEAD YET:

'James's thrillers... have attracted a massive following - and, reading this, it's not hard to see why. NOT DEAD YET is brilliantly paced and plotted... I'm now a Peter James addict. You'll gulp this book down in three infatuated sittings, deaf to the telephone, indifferent to any distractions.' -- Reader's Digest

'As always James has done meticulous background research lending authenticity to his legendary plotting skills.' -- Daily Mail

Gaby Chiappe's Episode of THE PARADISE tonight on BBC1

Gaby Chiappe's episode of period drama set in the first Victorian department store, THE PARADISE, transmits tonight on BBC1 at 9pm. The episode was directed by David Drury, and stars Sarah Lancashire, Joanna Vanderham (WHAT MAISIE KNEW), Elaine Cassidy, Emun Elliott (PROMETHEUS) and GAME OF THRONES' Patrick Malahide. The series was created by Bill Gallagher, and is loosely based on the novel by Zola. A new co-production deal between BBC America Worldwide and Masterpiece will see THE PARADISE coming to PBS.

HarperCollins closes major new deal with Barbara Erskine

Barbara Erskine has agreed a new two book deal with her longstanding UK publisher. Many of her novels have been major bestsellers in many languages, with the sales of her most recent title, RIVER OF DESTINY, seeing a huge growth in both physical and digital formats.

Her first novel LADY OF THE HAY has sold over 3 million copies world wide and celebrated its' twenty fifth anniversary in 2011 with an exclusive new story added to the new edition. HarperCollins has successfully published her titles since 1991 and the new deal will see her contracted to them to 2017.

Barbara Erskine said of the new deal, 'I am so pleased to be renewing my relationship with HarperCollins for another two books and am looking forward greatly to an exciting future with them.

Click here for more details.

Praise for Barbara Erskine:

'Barbara Erskine's storytelling talent is undeniable.' -- The Times

JOHN SATURNALL’S FEAST feature on The Leonard Lopate Late Show

During his two week book tour of America, Lawrence Norfolk sits down with Leonard Lopate to discuss the history of food in Britain and his most recent work JOHN SATURNALL'S FEAST.

Speaking about the cuisine of Britain during the 17th century, Norfolk relishes in the details of food preparation, saying that British food then was just as good as  that of France and Italy.

JOHN SATURNALL'S FEAST tells the story of a young orphan who becomes a kitchen boy at a manor house and rises through the ranks to become the greatest cook of his time.  It's a story of food, ancient myths, forbidden love and John's rise from outcast to hero through his sensuous cooking ability.

Click here to listen to the full segment.

Praise for JOHN SATURNALL'S FEAST:
'Dense in research and intellectual ambition…Norfolk's novels have always expanded their readers' vocabularies, and JOHN SATURNALL'S FEAST is no exception…What may come across as a novel indicting Protestantism's suppression of fun, sex and good food (it's Protestant groups who smash up the manor and lay waste to its subterranean kitchens where Saturnall finesses his culinary skills; it's civil war that destroys his supply lines and thwarts his surreptitious affair with Lucretia), is really a broader exploration of control.' -- Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian

'Norfolk, the author of ornate period novels, here uses his talent for detail to evoke the life of a cook of a seventeenth century British manor.' --The New Yorker

'Imaginative, quietly intricate and very well put together. All its strands are made to converge or mirror one another in a way that warms your heart.'  -- Jonathan McAloon, The Spectator
 
'A feast…a groaning table laden with delicious and carefully made sweets …those happy to gobble up Norfolk's delectable fantasies of marchpane and spun sugar are in for a treat.' -- Diane Purkiss, The Independent

Hodder pre-empts THE THREE by Sarah Lotz in a major six-figure deal

Just days before Frankfurt, Hodder and Stoughton have had a major pre-emptive offer accepted for world rights in THE THREE and one other novel by Sarah Lotz. The offer was made on the strength of a 33 page partial manuscript less than a day after Oliver Munson had submitted to a select group of editors. Rights have so far been sold by Hodder in the US to Reagan Arthur Books, Editrice Nord in Italy and Fleuve Noir in France with auctions and offering underway in many other territories. 

Oli says: "When Anne and Oliver turned up on our doorstep unannounced, I knew they meant business. There was a phenomenal amount of interest in the incredibly brief time THE THREE was on the market but the passion and commitment shown by the two of them quickly convinced both author and agent that Hodder was the right home for Sarah's terrifying imagination"

Hodder will publish THE THREE in February 2014:

The world is stunned when four commuter planes crash within hours of each other on different continents. Facing global panic, officials are under pressure to find the causes. With terrorist attacks and environmental factors ruled out, there doesn't appear to be a correlation between the crashes, except that in three of the four air disasters a child survivor is found in the wreckage.

Dubbed 'The Three' by the international press, the children all exhibit disturbing behavioural problems, presumably caused by the horror they lived through and the unrelenting press attention. This attention becomes more than just intrusive when a rapture cult led by a charismatic evangelical minister insists that the survivors are three of the four harbingers of the apocalypse. The Three are forced to go into hiding, but as the children's behaviour becomes increasingly disturbing, even their guardians begin to question their miraculous survival...

Sarah Lotz is a screenwriter and novelist who has written horror books under the name S L Grey with author Louis Greenberg, and a YA zombie series with her daughter, Savannah, under the pseudonym Lily Herne.