Emlyn Rees

Shabby – because there is no word for Hygge in English.

We all know Shabby when we see it. It’s that welcoming pair of pants drying on the radiator. That half-mouldy, but perfectly gin-and-tonic-worthy lemon on display in the fruit bowl. That tin of plum tomatoes in the cupboard with a sell-by date of 1983. It’s never dusting higher than your tallest friend’s line of sight.

But Shabby is more than just an attitude; it’s a quintessentially British way of life, tried and tested for generations, and founded on the Four Central Pillars of Shabbism, Messiness, Dilapidation, Clutter and Bodged Works.

Being Shabby is about spending less time fussing and clearing up and getting stressed out about stuff that doesn’t really matter anyway. And more time hanging out with your family and friends. It’s a celebration of a life that is neither tidy nor empty, but rather one that is splendidly cluttered and full.

Shabby – because life’s just too bloody short to waste time striving for perfection, or caring too much about what other people think about you and yours. Instead of worrying about what could be, it’s time to start celebrating what actually is.

You can order your copy of Shabby here.

We’ve just launched Parody Central. Please do go check it out – for all your parody needs!

And you can also find out more about ‘Twas the Fight Before Christmas, our latest parody for this Christmas…

Really looking forward to this on March 12th.

It’s a full-day conference for new & experienced writers, run by the Beach Hut Writing Academy Conference and taking place in the gorgeous Brighton sea front Angel House.

There’ll be plenty going on, including workshops and lunch with bestselling authors, screenwriters, agents and editors, all sharing their insider secrets.

The conference is currently SOLD OUT, but you can join the waiting list for last minute tickets here.

Hope to see you there.

Postcard

From Monday September 25th, I will be digitally detoxing, meaning I’ll be offline through until the publication of Switch It Off! – our paper smartphone, that’s actually an activity book shaped like a phone.

Maybe it’s something you might like to try yourself.

You can check out what the book’s about here.

Or you can visit Swoffler.com, the online community for offline activities & fun, which  has plenty of crafts, adventures, games, gifts & fun to help you hang out more with your family & friends.

Looking forward to appearing at the brilliant Hertford Children’s Book Festival for our event there on Sunday 4th October – where we’ll be discussing all things Bar Hunt, Hungover Caterpillar & signing copies of our new book, Switch It Off! – “the activity book shaped like a phone”. Get your tickets here.

Hope to see some of you there. Other events on that Sunday include Holly Smale of Geek Girl fame and real actors from the real Paddington film.

In the wake of We’re Going on a Bar Hunt and The Very Hungover Caterpillar, we’ve written The Teenager Who Came to Tea, once again illustrated by the brilliant Gillian Johnson.

Here’s a sneak peek of the cover:

And here’s what our lovely publishers, Little, Brown, have to say:

“But the teenager didn’t take just one Pringle. He took a selfie of himself pouring a whole tube of them into his mouth, before sending it to his best mate, along with the letters LOL!”

The bestselling authors of We’re Going on a Bar Hunt and The Very Hungover Caterpillar bring you another hilarious parody of a much-loved children’s book, this time turning the spotlight not only on modern teens, but firmly on their parents too.

When the doorbell rings, just as Sophie and her Dad are sitting down for their tea, they’re half-expecting a visit from a tiger, but what slouches in through their doorway is even more curious than that… a teenager.

A perfect read for anyone who remembers the original, or has ever been a teenager or is the parent of a teenager today.

Out on November 5th. Preorder here.

Really looking forward to chatting to James about his (truly) brilliant debut thriller, Tenacity, on Thursday 30th July.

Here’s the cover:

Here’s what it’s about:

Suicide must be investigated.

Especially when a Royal Navy sailor kills himself on a nuclear submarine, only days after his wife’s brutal murder.
Now Lieutenant Danielle Lewis, the Navy’s finest Special Branch investigator, must interrogate the tight-knit, male crew of HMS Tenacity to determine if there’s a link.
Isolated, and standing alone in the face of extreme hostility, Dan soon realises that she may have to choose between the truth and her own survival.
Justice must be served, but with a possible killer on board the pressure is rising and her time is running out…

Tense, dramatic, claustrophobic and brilliant, this is Headline’s crime launch for 2015.

Here’s what I had to say about it:

“Verdict: Author J. S. Law has worked on helicopters, ships and towards the end of his naval career, submarines. He now works providing nuclear training and education to the defence and civil sectors. Tenacity is his debut novel and the first in the Lieutenant Danielle Lewis series. A brilliant debut thriller. Breathlessly plotted. The perfect book to dive into this summer. *****”

But, even better, here’s what Patricia Cornwell said:

“addictively readable”

A better writer, and more succinct too.

Tickets for the event – to be held in the Royal Navy Subamarine Museum in Gosport, no less – are available here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/launch-of-tenacity-by-js-law-tickets-17466982214

Tenacity by J. S. Law

Verdict: Author J. S. Law has worked on helicopters, ships and towards the end of his naval career, submarines. He now works providing nuclear training and education to the defence and civil sectors. Tenacity is his debut novel and the first in the Lieutenant Danielle Lewis series. A brilliant debut thriller. Breathlessly plotted. The perfect book to dive into this summer. *****

Here’s the official publisher’s blurb below:

Suicide must be investigated.

Especially when a Royal Navy sailor kills himself on a nuclear submarine, only days after his wife’s brutal murder.

Now Lieutenant Danielle Lewis, the Navy’s finest Special Branch investigator, must interrogate the tight-knit, male crew of HMS Tenacity to determine if there’s a link.

Isolated, and standing alone in the face of extreme hostility, Dan soon realises that she may have to choose between the truth and her own survival.

Justice must be served, but with a possible killer on board the pressure is rising and her time is running out…

The Killing Lessons by Saul Black

Verdict: Possibly the best US thriller I’ve read since The Silence of the Lambs, and in Valerie Hart you’ve got a female protagonist to give Clarice Starling a run for her money too. A startling narrative from start to finish. Heart-stopping. *****

Here’s the official publisher’s blurb below:

When the two strangers turn up at Rowena Cooper’s isolated Colorado farmhouse, she knows instantly that it’s the end of everything. For the two haunted and driven men, on the other hand, it’s just another stop on a long and bloody journey. And they still have many miles to go, and victims to sacrifice, before their work is done.

For San Francisco homicide detective Valerie Hart, their trail of corpses – women abducted, tortured and left with a seemingly random series of objects inside them – has brought her from obsession to the edge of physical and psychological destruction. And she’s losing hope of making a breakthrough before that happens.

But the slaughter at the Cooper farmhouse didn’t quite go according to plan. There was a survivor, Rowena’s 10-year-old daughter Nell, who now holds the key to the killings. Injured, half-frozen, terrified, Nell has only one place to go. And that place could be even more terrifying than what she’s running from.

Here’s Zoella giving her best pal a copy of The Very Hungover Caterpillar for Christmas…

Right on the five minute mark…