Success for the Salt-Stained Book

In January 2013 the Salt-Stained Book was entered in the international monthly book awards run by Acclaimed Books of Cornwall. More than 1200 votes were cast from 52 countries across 64 titles. The SSB was the overall winner as well as winner of the printed book section. It received 301 votes and glowing comments from readers.

Managing Director, Peter Lihou offered a personal message of congratulations to Julia. "Over the years, we've seen a great many popular titles gain the tangible applause of their fans by their votes and comments, but The Salt-Stained Book enjoys particularly warm support. It really is quite an accomplishment for an author to inspire their readers so much that they get online and vote in such numbers and leave extremely flattering comments. Julia is a very worthy winner!"

more reviews

Beginning to feel thoughly spoiled (not complaining, mind) Here's a really good review of FYFF from Robert Kirkpatrick for the Children's Books History Society and a Strong Winds Trilogy review by Dennis Hamley in the delightful Armadillo magazine. I was tremendously grateful to Jackie Wilkin for including the SWT in her Christmas Books round up in Life - the WI magazine. 

Reviews for Fifty Years in the Fiction Factory

I'll admit I was feeling a trifle depressed about the published anonymity of Fifty Years in the Fiction Factory - and I'll further admit that I know I was being illogical when the whole point of the book was that it was about someone whose work was ephemeral and whose name unknown. Cally Phillips was characteristically quick off the mark and reviewed FYFF beautifully (as is her wont) in the Independent EBook Review. Robert Kirkpatrick and Roger Johnston wrote welcome special interest reviews and then there was ....hush.

It was such a relief when Kathleen Jones included a review in her regular book blog She completely got the point of the book as being social history. "This is not a biography", she wrote - and as a distiunguished biographer, she should know. She then repeated her kind comments on Amazon. Meanwhile novelist Peggy Woodford wrote a sympathetic and interested review for the Church Times. In The Oldie Historian Juliet Gardiner focussed on George Orwell's pioneering coments on the 'twopenny weekly' and used this as a means to evaluate the Allingham family as 'entrepreneurs of cheap print'. I'd promise to quit my moaning -- except that the TLS emailed yesterday and asked for an illustration. I long to hear what their reviewer has to say ...

the year's dying, 2012

Sadness and gratitude in my Authors Electric blog for December

Water off a duck's back?

I really enjoyed sailing with Dick Durham and Bob Aylott from Yachting Monthly but I think Ted Evans, owner of Ragged Robin (Arthur Ransome's Lottie Blossom) may want to keel haul someone when he sees the picture of AR at work on board Lottie, included as if it was PD. Honestly Ted, I didn't give it to them. Though I did recommend Christina Hardyment's new book where the photo is printed on the PD page ....

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