White moves back to Penguin

We recently reported that Selina Walker had moved within the Random House UK imprint Transworld Publishers to Century and Arrow Imprints, and now we heard that Publishing Director of the new Swordfish Imprint at Orion Publishing, and military writer Rowland White is moving back to Penguin UK as reported by The Bookseller –

White said: "Orion provided me with a wonderful opportunity and I've enjoyed working there alongside some very talented publishers. The invitation to return to Michael Joseph was impossible to turn down and I realised that Penguin was where my heart lay."

Moore added: "I am truly delighted that Rowland is coming back to Michael Joseph. The team here has missed him and his commercial publishing skill—his return will be hugely welcomed by all."

White joined Orion from Michael Joseph in January 2010, this year launching his commercial non-fiction imprint there called Swordfish, which began publishing this summer. The Bookseller understands the future of the imprint is currently under discussion, with White's end date at Orion and start date at MJ still to be confirmed.

Read More Here

We were delighted with Rowland’s first Swordfish acquisition – Matthew Dunn’s Spartan [aka ‘Spycatcher’].

Last week, The Telegraph featured an interesting interview with former MI6 Field Operative turned Thriller Writer – Matthew Dunn

Dunn was born in London, the son of a merchant seaman turned photographer. Educated at a state school, he read politics and economics at the University of East Anglia before taking a PhD in international relations at Cambridge. It was there that a tutor raised the matter of his future.

“There was a discussion about doing something academic. Part of me was attracted to that but I also had fire in the belly. I mentioned the diplomatic service and at some point he said there was another aspect of the service that might be of interest, also involving travel and complex situations. We knew what we were talking about.”

Six months of selection followed, involving tests of mental agility, role playing, repeated interviews and intrusive vetting. Five of the dozen people on his course were women, the successful ones a cross-section of society.

“MI6 is not some elitist club. The officer has to able to interact with any kind of person. You can’t have people who have lived only in a gentlemen’s club environment. It’s not like joining the Household Cavalry.”

What bound the new recruits? “We all felt anything was possible. You don’t enter with the mindset that 'this is impossible’. You just have to think of a way to do it. One of the questions in interview was, 'Who do you look up to?’ My response was, 'Frankly, nobody’. A degree of self-confidence is required, but not arrogance.”

Part of the selection process was conducted at Fort Monckton, the MI6 training establishment near Portsmouth. Candidates were sent into the naval town to test their ability to extract information.

“They might ask you to come back with 10 passport numbers,” says Dunn. “I had to sit in the pub and ingratiate myself with a group of strangers, getting as many personal details as I could. I did OK – some did tarot card readings or magic tricks to get details.”

A black tie dinner at Monckton marked Dunn’s formal acceptance into SIS. It was 1995 and he was 27. He was to find himself at the sharp end of SIS operations. “The Directorate of Requirements and Production is the operational side of the service. Officers operating in particularly hazardous areas were those who had excelled in the paramilitary side of training. I worked with the Increment, the SAS unit attached to SIS.

They provided back-up for anything that might be extremely dangerous. I was trained in close quarter and unarmed combat. I was good at it, I enjoyed it. Yes, there is an element of James Bond. There were no watches that could burn holes through walls but you might have a letter with explosives in it that could blow off a door.”

Dunn’s first job was with a team targeting rogue states. Officers are eased into operations – non-lethal ones first – often shadowing experienced colleagues. Dunn became an agent runner, responsible for about 20 in all. Some of those he recruited would have been tortured and executed if exposed.

Read More from The Telegraph here

Newsy Stuff

Crimefest have announced their Awards shortlist –

The awards will be given out at Cimefest during the Gala Dinner at the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel on Saturday, 22 May. The Awards are as follows -

eDUNNIT AWARD
The eDunnit Award is for the best crime fiction ebook first published in the UK in 2009.

The award is sponsored by Reader from Sony and the winning author receives £1,000 and a Sony eReader. The winner also receives a commemorative award provided by Bristol Blue Glass.

eDunnit Award nominees:
Josh Bazell for Beat The Reaper (Random House)
Steve Berry for The Charlemagne Pursuit (Hodder & Stoughton)
Juan Gomez-Jurado for Contract With God (Orion)
Bernard Knight for Crowner Royal (Simon & Schuster)
Carol McCleary for The Alchemy of Murder (Hodder & Stoughton)

Eligible titles were submitted by publishers for the longlist, and leading British crime fiction reviewers voted for the winning title from the shortlisted entries containing additional econtent.

One CrimeFest delegate whose vote coincides with the winning title will be randomly selected and receives an eReader courtesy of Sony.

THE LAST LAUGH AWARD

The Last Laugh Award is for the best humorous crime novel first published in the British Isles in 2009. The £500 award is sponsored by Goldsboro Books, Britain's book collector's bookseller. The winner also receives a commemorative award provided by Bristol Blue Glass.

Last Laugh Award nominees:
Colin Bateman for The Day of the Jack Russell (Headline)
Josh Bazell for Beat the Reaper (Random House)
Chris Ewan for The Good Thief's Guide to Paris (Long Barn Books)
Suzette Hill for Bone Idle (Constable & Robinson)
Malcolm Pryce for From Aberystwyth with Love (Bloomsbury)
Len Tyler for Ten Little Herrings (Macmillan)

Eligible titles were submitted by publishers for the longlist, and leading British crime fiction reviewers voted to establish the shortlist and the winning title.
One CrimeFest delegate whose vote coincides with the winning title will be randomly selected and receives copies of the shortlisted titles.

SOUNDS OF CRIME AWARDS


The Sounds of Crime Awards are for the best abridged and unabridged crime audiobooks first published in the UK in 2009 in both printed and digital formats, and available for download from the Audible UK website. The Bristol Blue commemorative award goes to both the author and the reader of he winning entry.

The Sounds of Crime Awards are sponsored by Audible UK, the Internet's leading premium spoken audio source.

Nominees for Best Abridged Crime Audiobook:
Dan Brown for The Lost Symbol (abridged by Karen DiMattia). Reader: Paul Michael (Orion)
Lee Child for Gone Tomorrow (abridged by Carolanne Lyme). Reader: Kerry Shale (Random House)
Peter James for Dead Tomorrow (abridged by Kati Nicholl). Reader: William Gaminara (Pan Macmillan)
Stieg Larsson for The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (translated by Reg Keeland; abridged by Isabel Morgan). Reader: Martin Wenner (Quercus)
Stieg Larsson for The Girl Who Played with Fire (translated by Reg Keeland; abridged by Isabel Morgan). Reader: Martin Wenner (Quercus)
Ian Rankin for The Complaints (abridged by Kati Nicholl). Reader: James Macpherson (Orion)

Nominees for Best Unabridged Crime Audiobook:

Dan Brown for The Lost Symbol. Reader: Paul Michael (Whole Story Audio Books)
Michael Connelly for The Scarecrow. Reader: Peter Giles (Orion)
Peter James for Dead Tomorrow. Reader: David Bauckham (Whole Story Audio Books)
Stieg Larsson for The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (translated by Reg Keeland). Reader: Saul Reichlin (Whole Story Audio Books)
Stieg Larsson for The Girl Who Played with Fire (translated by Reg Keeland). Reader: Saul Reichlin (Whole Story Audio Books)
Ian Rankin for The Complaints. Reader: Peter Forbes (Whole Story Audio Books)

Eligible titles were submitted by publishers for the longlist, and Audible UK customers and recipients of the CrimeFest newsletter voted to establish the shortlists and winners. One Audible UK customer or CrimeFest delegate whose votes coincides with the winning titles will be randomly selected and receives an iPod and the shortlisted titles. More info about the conference can be found here.

Forthcoming books to look forward to -

Orion are due to publish The Somnabulist the debut novel by Essie Fox. It is said to be a gripping Victorian Gothic mystery that is wonderfully commercial with shades of Sarah Waters and Diane Setterfield, along with nods to Wilkie Collins and Charlotte Bronte. Orion have also acquired the rights to the debut novel of thriller writer and ex-MI6 field operative Matthew Dunn. in a substantial pre-emptive deal for three books. All three will feature Dunn's charismatic British MI6 operator Will Cochrane. The debut novel is entitled, Megiddo after the codename of the book's villain. Megiddo will be published in hardback in July 2011. More information can be found here.

Craig Russell has been contracted to produce two more books in his Lennox series for Quercus Publishers. The first book in the series Lennox was contracted by Jane Wood back in 2008. Information can be found here. Jane wood has also acquired the rights to six of Tony Park’s African standalone thrillers. Information regarding this can be found here. The first to be published will be Silent Predator in November 2010.

The Watermen by Patrick Easter is the first of a new historical series by a debut author and is set around the London docks in the late 18th Century. The Waterman introduces Tom Pascoe a patrolman with the Marine Police, Britain's first organised Police Force and will be published by Quercus.

Poolbeg Press, Ireland are due to publish Murder at Shandy Hill by Michael Sheridan’s and is an account of a sensational Victorian murder played out with a potent mix of love, betrayal, lust and naked hatred – said to be Ireland's answer to The Suspicions of Mr Whicher

Simon & Schuster are due to publish Babylon Nights – the second novel by Daniel Depp which sees private investigator David Spandau hired as bodyguard to a Hollywood actress at the Cannes Film Festival.

The Courier by Ava McCarthy is the follow up to The Insider, which sold in 12 territories. Feisty heroine Harry Martinez witnesses a brutal murder and uncovers a trail of diamond-smuggling which takes her from exclusive horse racing society in Ireland to the brutal world of jewel mining in South Africa. The Courier is due to be published by HarperCollins. They are also due to publish The Woodcutter a standalone novel by Reginald Hill

Random House are due to publish A Dance of Ghosts by Kevin Brooks. A Dance of Ghosts introduces readers to Essex-based private detective John Craine. Brooks is better known as a young adult writer.

The debut novel by Gerry O'Carroll, a legendary Irish detective is The Gathering of Souls. This is the first in a series featuring Detectives Moss Quinn and Joe Doyle and is due to be published by Liberties Press, Ireland. The Gathering of Souls is an authentic, dark tale of obsession, revenge and redemption.

Doubleday are due to publish The Fat Years by Chan Koon-Chung. Said to be the Chinese version of Nineteen Eighty-Four it has been banned in mainland China and follows a writer, obsessed with detective stories as he goes on a quest to uncover the events of a month mysteriously absent from official Chinese records. The Fat Years will be published in the summer of 2011.

From Little Brown Publishers comes Tania Carver’s second novel The Creeper in September 2010 and in January 2011 The Stonehenge Legacy by Sam Christer. In The Stonehenge Legacy a policewoman and an Oxford historian investigate the murder of a man found at Stonehenge.

Macmillan will publish James Herbert’s Ash in October 2010 and it features his most popular character David Ash, the sceptical paranormal detective. David Jackson’s Pariah is due to be published by Macmillan and is out in March 2011. It is a slick, edgy and cinematic novel following New York Police Detective Callum Doyle as he battles to save his family – and himself – from a dangerous and mysterious killer. Also forthcoming from them is Brian McGilloway’s new novel Little Girl Lost in April 2011. Brian McGilloway who is better known for his excellent Inspector Devlin Series introduces readers to his first female lead in Detective Lucy Vaughan.

Serpent’s Tail are due to publish Falling Glass by Adrian McKinty in March 2011. In Falling Glass Killian a Northern Ireland enforcer finds himself in the world of cross and double-cross as he searches for the wife and daughter of a businessman.

After a seven year hiatus Tom Clancy will have his first book published in December 2010. The book Dead or Alive will be published simultaneously in the US and in the UK.

The world’s fascination with Stieg Larsson does not seem to be abating. Columbia Pictures a subsidiary of Sony Corp have bought the movie rights to Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy. They will be working alongside Yellow Bird AB who made the Swedish language versions of the films. More information can be found in the following article.

Ridley Scott the director of Gladiator is due to adapt Richard Harris’s novel Pompeii into a four hour mini-series. More information can be found here.

China Miéville’s novel The City and The City has won the British Science Fiction Award for best novel. The City and The City is story of a murder investigation in parallel worlds. The full article can be found here. The City and The City has also been nominated for the 2010 Hugo Awards Best Novel. The 2010 Hugo Awards will be presented in Melbourne, Australia during Aussiecon 4, the 68th World Science Fiction Convention. The Hugo Awards Ceremony will take place on Sunday 5 September 2010.