Sarra Manning's Blog, page 2

It Felt Like A Kiss US publication today too!

Good morning, America!

We took it right to the wire but have managed to publish It Felt Like A Kiss in the States today too! Hurrah. Its available only on Amazon. This is not likely to change. The ebook is a very reasonable $2.99 and there is (or will be) a print on demand paperback, though I don’t have the pricing information for that yet. To buy, click here.

I am absolutely thrilled that I was able to have a transatlantic release day. I hope to have news of foreign editions soon, but if your local Amazon or bookshops don’t stock my books, then you can always order them from Book Despository, who do free international shipping.

IT FELT LIKE A KISS – PUBLISHED TODAY!!!

Hello! Hello!

Thrilled that after all the delays, It Felt Like a Kiss is finally published today in paperback and ebook.

And very soon, maybe later today, I will give you details of the US release of It Felt Like A Kiss (though it will only be available on Amazon, as ebook and print on demand paperback.)

It Felt Like A Kiss

A touching and funny love story for every girl who’s tried to right Mr Wrong…

Ellie Cohen is living her dream. A great job at an exclusive Mayfair art gallery, loyal mates, loving family, and really, really good hair. Well, there’s the famous rock-star father who refuses to acknowledge her and a succession of ‘challenging’ boyfriends, but nobody’s perfect.

But when a vengeful ex sells Ellie out to the press, she suddenly finds herself fighting to keep her job, her reputation and her sanity. Then David Gold – handsome, charming but ruthlessly ambitious – is sent in to manage the media crisis . . . and Ellie.

David thinks she’s a gold-digger and Ellie thinks he’s a shark in a Savile Row suit, so it’s just as well that falling in love is the last thing on their minds . . .

“Bright, funny, romantic – a total joy to read”

Mhairi McFarlane, Author of You Had Me At Hello

“A fantastically addictive, beautifully written read.’”

Paige Toon

Book recs for 2014

2013 didn’t have a lot going for out personally, but at least I had books! 2014 is shaping up to be another stellar year with all sorts of good reading to come. Here are the ones that I’ve already added to my wishlisr.

Eat My Heart Out by Zoe PIlger

Debut novel from John Pilger’s daughter, Zoe. Ann-Marie is heartbroken and lovesick until she falls in with legendary feminist, Stephanie Haight, who is determined to rescue Ann-Marie and her entire generation. Whether it involves funsexytimes with bad men, naked cleaning jobs, burlesque parties and ceremonies to invoke ancient spirit goddesses, Ann-Marie is on a missio to find herself.

Out January 30th

Wake by Anna Hope

Spare Brides by Adele Parks

Two very different novels from two different writers about the women left behind after World War One. Anna Hope’s debut novel, Wake, tells the tale of three women all coping with their own grief as they wait the arrival of the body of The Unknown Soldier. This is a beautiful moving book that perfectly captures the mood and patina of the times.

I’m also very excited to read the wonderful Adele Park’s first period novel, Spare Brides. It starts in 1920 at the start of a new decade full of hope but for four women, tainted by the scars of the war, happiness is something to be snatched at, rather than savoured.

Wake is out 16th January, Spare Brides February 13th

How To Be A Heroine: Or, what I’ve learned from reading too much by Samantha Ellis

Part memoir, part how-to guide, this wonderful non-fic book has been dubbed shelf-help, rather than self-help. Faced with some thorny life dilemmas, Ellis finds solutions in the lessons learned by such literary heroines as Petrova Fossil and Scarlett O’Hara. Petrova for the win. Always.

Out January 2nd.

Goose by Dawn O’Porter

I loved Dawn’s debut novel, Paper Aeroplanes, and can’t wait to find out what happens next to Renee and Flo, now in their final year of school and making plans for the rest of their lives. Can their friendship survive once they’re out in the big, wide world?

Out May 1st

Her by Harriet Lane

Alys, Always, Lane’s debut novel was a clever, creepy story about a woman always on the outside of life who worms her way into the lives of a family after she witnesses the death of their mother. Her, about two unlikely women who strike up a friendship, though Nina remember Emma and what she did from years before, promises to be equally twisty and thrilling.

Out June 12th

The Dynamite Room by Jason Hewitt

I’m a sucker for a WW2 novel and The Dynamite Room, about an eleven year old girl taken hostage in her Suffolk home by a German soldier, sent on a mission to prepare for the invasion of England, pushes all my buttons. Every single one of them!

Out March 27th

Mrs. Sinclair’s Suitcase by Louise Walters

Another novel mostly set during World War Two, Mrs Sinclair’s Suitcase is about an unhappily married woman who falls in love with a Polish squadron leader when his plane crashes in the field behind her house. Their story is pieced together by the woman’s granddaughter who finds a letter in her grandmother’s belongings after her death and stumbles upon a secret that will have a huge impact on her life too.

Out February 27th

A Boy Called Hope by Lara Williamson

Lara is a friend and dear ex-colleague from my J17 days. She’s spent years working on her writing and going through the chore of finding an agent and so I’m bursting with pride and excitement that her debut novel is published this year. It promises to be an absolute heartbreaker about a boy who wants many things in life from shipping his older sister off to the North Pole to helping Sherlock Holmes fight zombies. But mostly, he wants his dad to love him.

Out March 1st

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

Sarah Waters is one of my favourite authors and although this is months and months away, I’m very excited that there’ll be a new novel from her this year. Another post-WW1 novel, this is about the lodgers of a large villa in Camberwell and a genteel family fallen on hard times.

Out September 14th

I also hear that some bint called Sarra Manning has two novels out this year. Anyone know anything about her? If you fancy taking a punt, then It Felt Like a Kiss is out January 30th and her new YA novel, The Worst Girlfriend in the World, is out on May 1st.

Happy reading and a Happy New Year!

Live on,

Sarra x

2013 – a year of exceedingly good books

Happy Holidays, lovely readers

I am writing this in between keeping my food levels topped up so they never dip below ‘extremely full.’

If you’re sick of telly, bored of board games and have book tokens or one of those new fangled e-readers, you might be wondering what to read next. So, I thought I’d do a round up of some of my favourite reads of 2013. Luckily, I can type one-handed and hold a mince pie with the other hand.

You Had Me At Hello by Mhairi McFarlane

If you’re the last person left in Britain who hasn’t read this equally funny and heartbreaking novel about what happens when you meet up with The One Man You Never Got Enough Of, this is the time to remedy that situation.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

I think Life After Life is the most extraordinary book I’ve read and probably in my Top 10 all-time favourite reads. It’s the stop/start/rewind story of Ursula Todd and the many, many lives she lived and the many deaths she suffered. She lives her life again and again but only sometimes does she get it right.

Longbourn by Jo Baker

Pride And Prejudice from the servants’ point of view – this isn’t Jane Austen lite but a 180 degree spin on the book we know so well. LOngbourn shows what life was like below stairs and the tragedy, drudgery and unexpected love experienced by the Bennets’ maid Sarah as the events of Pride And Prejudice play out.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

Anyone who has even a passing interest in YA fiction or wants to read a heart-tugging love story should read Eleanor & Park. Rainbow Rowell can write about the simple act of a boy and a girl holding hands and slay you. (She also released the wonderful Fangirl this year too.

Red Ink by Julie Mayhew

Full disclosure, Julie is a good friend of mine, but she’s still written a bloody good coming of age novel.

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

I also loved Code Name Verity and I did have plans to write my own novel about a girl flying for the Air Transport Auxiliary during WW2, but, quite frankly, Elizabeth Wein beat me to it and I could never write anything as amazing as Rose Under Fire.

All Change (Cazalet Chronicles) by Elizabeth Jane Howard

The fifth Cazalet Chronicle novel catches up with the Cazalets in the 1950′s after the turbulent effects of WW2 and a changing world of class and tradition. If you’ve never read The Cazalets, the first book in the series, The Light Years, is only 95p on Kindle. I feel like a pusher, because you will binge read all five of them in quick succession.

Pomfret Towers by Angela Thirkell

Virago have just reissed four Angela Thirkell novels, all with beautiful covers, and they are reading crack to me. Set in the 1930′s; it’s all bossy girls, timid girls, country house parties, posh types, arty types, faithful family retainers. What’s not to like?

The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud

I don’t normally read thrillers, but rather than being a crime novel, this an agreeably creepy read that captures all the pain and rage of a woman who feels so sidelined that she’s almost invisible. I way over-identified.

This is just a small selection of the books I loved this year. I’ll be compiling a list of the books that I can’t wait to read in 2014. There are quite a lot of them, so check back in a couple of days.

Now, I have an urgent appointment with a turkey sandwich…

Live on,

Sarra x

Bad news, good news…

Greetings

So, I’m going to give you the bad news first. The release date of It Felt Like A Kiss has changed yet again.

The good news? It’s been brought forward two weeks so it’s now coming out on January 30th, a whole two weeks early! Hurrah! It’s available for pre-order as an old fashioned paperback here and as one of those new-fangled e-books here.

I also hope to have news very soon about the US release, so yays all round.

Live on,

Sarra x

Authors for the Philippines

Greetings one and all

Like so many people, I’ve been terribly moved by the plight of the people in the Philippines who have been devastated by the damage caused by Typhoon Halyan. Over 2500 people have been killed. Over 650,000 people have lost their homes. Many places in the Philippines are without food and water, especially on the more remote islands, and they desperately need foreign aid.

Just as she did after the terrible earthquake in Japan a couple of years ago, YA author and all round good egg, Keris Stainton, has organised an auction to benefit the victims of the typhoon. Lots of bookish types from JoJo Moyes to Meg Rosoff and James Dawson are auctioning signed books, limited edition goodies and first editions. You can also bid to win a critique or help with a submission from authors, agents and publishers. Even a chance to meet some of your favourite authors.

I am offering two prizes. The first is a signed copy of Adorkable, plus a limited edition I ♥ Dorks mug (from my Brazilian publishers) and an Adorkable Manifesto postcard.

The second item is a signed advance proof of my next adult novel It Felt Like A Kiss, which isn’t out until February 13th, so you’ll be getting it for Christmas!

But like I said, there are so many items to bid on. Close to 200, with more to go up on the site, so please take a look and get bidding. You’ll win something special and donate to a very worthy cause.

Sarra x

The Booby Trap on sale today

Hello lovers!

A while ago Dawn O’Porter asked if I’d like to contribute you to a book she was compiling about boobs with all the proceeds going to breast cancer charities. I said yes, one thousand per cent yes like an X-Factor judge, because like everyone else I know breast cancer isn’t something that happens to other people. It happened to my grandmother. It happened to one of my close friends. I had an agonising week last year waiting for the results of a biopsy on a suspect lump and sitting in a crowded clinic with women who needed or might have needed treatment for breast cancer reminded me yet again why it’s so important to support charities that are doing everything they can to find a cure and support people who are battling the disease.

So, I’m proud as anything to have a short story, Some Girls Are Bigger Than Other, in The Booby Trap and Other Bits and Boobs, which goes on sale today. I’m in some awesome company too. Caitlin Moran, Sarah Millican, Marian Keyes and a whole roster of writers and famous people off of the telly have contributed. It’s out today and not only do you get some top notch writing, but you also donate money to charities that are doing a wonderful job. I think that’s called a win.

Live on

Sarra x

It Felt Like A Kiss – cover reveal

Hello!

Yes! At last! This is the cover for It Felt Like a Kiss It’s out on February 13th and it’s available for pre-order now.

It’s proper coming out, finally. It will also be available as an ebook, will let you know the details when I have them. Hopefully I might have some news about foreign editions, but nothing as yet, though it will be be released as an audiobook too. And I will be posting some sneak previews here, a bit nearer the time.

I have a cover. Yay!

Hope you guys like the outside and that in a few months, you’ll love the inside too.

Live on Sarra x

Your summer reading list

Tis summer. Exams are over. Or you’re heading off on your holidays. Or just sitting in the garden enjoying that rare beast that is the British summer and slurping down a cool drink (I’m obsessed with elderflower cordial at the moment,) you’ll want something to read. Even more than you usually want something to read.

So, cause I’m helpful, I’ve compiled a list of books I’ve enjoyed recently and books that I’m hoping to fall in love with.

YA/COMING OF AGE

Eleanor & Park By Rainbow Rowell

You will fall in love with Eleanor and Park like they are real people. In my head, I kind of think they are. This is one of those books that you read, then think about every day for at least a year, then roughly every week for the rest of your life.

Red Ink by Julie Mayhew

Full disclosure, I’m happy to say that I’ve shared pizza and a cocktail with Julie on a few occasions but before I knew her like that, I knew that she was writing this book. Red Ink is definitely more coming of age than YA. 15 year old Melon’s mother is killed and she has to learn to fend for herself and to discover what is true and what’s not. It’s equally heartbreaking and hopeful and heart-in-your-mouth funny.

Paper Aeroplanes by Dawn O’Porter

I’m always a bit sceptical and curled of tongue when celebrities turn their hand to novel writing. Like, yeah, I guess it is easy when you have a ghostwriter to do it for you. But then along comes Paper Aeroplanes, one hundred per cent written by Dawn herself, and I don’t care that it is written by a celebrity, because it gets all the messy complicated stuff that happens with best friends. It understands what it feels like not to fit in. And there’s one bit that made me clutch my heart and swallow extra hard.

Penelope by Rebecca Harrington

I’m a sucker for a US college novel, apart from when it’s one of those identikit New Adult books that say nothing to me about my life. Happily, Penelope is not about some doe-eyed, klutzy virgin with some family angst and a dark secret who ends up playing hide the sausage with some beefcake-y yet sensitive type called Zach or Kai or some such… Hang on, where was I? Actually, Penelope is about a klutzy virgin but this is more Perks Of Being A Wallflower territory than New Adult. Penelope, newly arrived at Harvard, is shy and ineffectual and struggles with all the things that should make college fun and then she falls in love with Gustav, a Gatsby-esque Argentinian student. Rebecca Harrington is skilled at investing her characters with quirks and traits that make them easily recognisable and I way over-identified with Penelope and her total lack of social skills.

GROWN-UP BOOKS

Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade by Patrick Dennis

Auntie Mame was the reissued novel all the cool kids raved about last year, but I don’t always get to books right away. When I did get round to it, I LOVED and even GUFFAWED at this tale of a newly orphanned Patrick going to love with his eccentric, bohemian, camp as a row of pink tents Auntie Mame. Every chapter is a comic gem and I have the sequel on its way.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

I think I’ve mentioned Life After Life before, but it’s so good, it deserves another mention. Ursula is born on a snowy night in 1910 and promptly dies. Then the book starts again and this time she lives. And repeat. And repeat. Atkinson takes us on a magical journey through the many lives and deaths of Ursula, through Spanish Flu and murderous husbands and the Blitz. It’s an extraordinary novel and one that you want to reread as soon as you’ve read the last page.

Longbourn by Jo Baker

Not out until mid-August, you NEED to pre-order this novel which is Pride And Prejudice from the Bennet family’s maid’s point of view, except that doesn’t do this story justice. It’s not just P&P Redux but giving a voice to the silent servants of Longbourn who toiled away so the Bennets could wake up the blazing log fire each morning, or slogged through the mud to Meriton so the Bennet sisters could have new rosettes for their dancing slippers. It’s also very much the story of Sarah, the housemaid, her life and loves and dreams that are always restricted by the rigid rules of life below stairs.

Kiss Me First by Lottie Moggach

A debut novel about loneliness and identity theft and people’s right to die all told in a compelling and creepy voice. If you search on Facebook, this novel was launched with a clever app that freaked me the hell out!

TO BE READ

So many books, so few hours in the day to get to them all.

The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan

Published by Virago (one of my favourite publishers who I dream of being signed to,) starting in 1947 and read by every single one of my friends who have all told me I will love it. Apparently, The Engagements begins with a female copywriter coming up with the famous ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ tagline for a De Beers ad and how those three words resonate for other women.

Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple

Just out in paperback, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, is a darkly funny book set in Seattle about a whirlwind of a woman who suddenly disappears much to the consternation of her husband and teenage daughter.

The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell

1920′s Manhattan, which to me means flappers, gangsters, bathtub gin, speakeasies and all those good things. Rose, a police stenographer, becomes obsessed with her new colleague, the glamorous and mysterious Odalie. And then Rose is accused of murder…

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

This is the book that has all the Twitter literati frothing at the mouth. I hear that it’s so good, that I might want to give up writing completely!

‘A writer needs 4 things to achieve greatness; desire, disappointment & the sea.’

‘That’s only 3.’

‘You have to do disappointment twice.’

NON FIC

The Churchills: A Family at the Heart of History by Mary S Lovell

I love a good saga-ish biography, preferably featuring posh types with scandalous lives so this biography of the Churchill family (there were a lot more to them than just old Winston) doesn’t disappoint. Written by Mary S Lovell who wrote the amazing The Mitford Girls so you know you’re in good hands.

Be Awesome: Modern Life for Modern Ladies by Hadley Freeman

I love Hadley Freeman’s pieces for The Guardian and this book does exactly what it promises in all kinds of funny ways as Hadley writes about feminism, sex, being single and everything else in between.

Running Like a Girl by Alexandra Heminsley

Hemmo, as she’s known on Twitter, is one of the most inspiring women I know. She’s run five marathons and encouraged me to run with some cunning reverse psychology (“Well, maybe you’re just not a runner, Sarra”) which ended up with my own personal best – a ten mile yomp in the pouring rain. I gave up running after I tore a calf muscle in a step aerobics class, but having spent the last year eating all my feelings, this book is making me want to buy a new pair of trainers and embark on a couch to 5k. Hemmo shares her running journey and imbues even the most reluctant runner with a can-do attitude. She is also a world authority on sports bras for ladies with big bosoms.

Hope you find a few things in here that you might want to read. This is SUCH a good year for good books.

Live on

Sarra x