Robin Stevens's Blog, page 5

Hello! Magazine article

I was interviewed in Hello! Magazine last week! I spoke to Matthew Moore about the importance of bookshops, why queer representation is so important in children’s books and about why I decided to write the Ministry of Unladylike Activity series after the end of the Murder Most Unladylike books.

“It’s important to educate adults on what the stakes are here, it’s important to keep pointing out what it means to be queer, why queer role models need to be visible, and we need to be telling stories about queer people, because that is how we change minds. We need to have the courage of our convictions about why this matters and it matters to keep getting books into children’s hands and keep sharing stories, showing the diversity of the real world through stories. The most important thing is not to give up and to understand that ultimately we have to keep pushing because it really does matter. Childhood affects the rest of your life and if kids don’t access those stories they’ll turn into sadder adults.”

Me! In Hello! Magazine!

You can read the whole story at the link – I hope you enjoy it!

Lancashire Post review of The Body in the Blitz

A lovely review for The Body in the Blitz in the Lancashire Post!

Who knew spying could be dead funny? Robin Stevens, multi-award-winning author of the Murder Most Unladylike series, gathers up her murder-mystery loving fans and sweeps them back to wartime and into the lives of a feisty group of children who are hell-bent on saving the world.

The Body in the Blitz is the second sleuthing adventures in this action-packed series which delivers spills, thrills and laughter from first page to last, and is proving to be an all-round, hands-down, dead-cert winner.

… California-born Stevens is the best thing since Agatha Christie when it comes to murder mysteries for young readers. Packed with a dazzling cast of goodies and baddies, rich in seductive period detail and exciting backdrops, and with a plotline that includes bags of intrigue, some deft detective work and a gang of the canniest kids in town, this series is another Robin Stevens classic.

Pam Norfolk, Lancashire Post

Happy publication day to The Body in the Blitz!

The big day is here! The Body in the Blitz is out NOW in all bookstores in the UK and Ireland! It’s also out now in India, and if you’re in Australia and New Zealand, your only have a week to wait – your publication date is the 17th of October (pre-order from Dymocks!). Usually South Africa, Hong Kong and other countries and territories follow by the end of the month – so wherever you are, hopefully you’ll be able to get your hands on a copy soon!

I’m so glad that Eric, May and Nuala’s second adventure is here at last – it’s a book that took a lot of work, and one I’m very proud of. And I’m hearing from early readers that they like it – so hopefully you will too! If you do enjoy it, please let me know on social media. I’d love to hear what you think (unless you hate Eric, in which case, please keep it to yourself). I’m particularly excited to hear your thoughts on the return of some beloved characters from Murder Most Unladylike …

If you’d like to meet me, check here and on my calendar for the latest event details. Please note that we’ll be putting up timings and event links for a Belfast signing, a Dublin signing and a Witney signing next week – I’ll share those on my social media as soon as they’re ready. I’ll also be doing an Instagram Live event on the 18th at 7:30pm UK time for everyone who can’t meet me in person!

Happy reading, Detectives!

The Body in the Blitz tour 2023!

The time has come! I’m going on tour across the UK and Ireland for The Body in the Blitz, and you’re all invited to come along.

Below is the latest schedule – it’s not final, as I know we’re still working on a few dates (they’re noted in here as TBC, and I’ll update them when I can), but most things are now set. So here goes!

Bath Children’s Literature Festival – Saturday 30th September, 2:30pm. This is a talk followed by a signing. We have special PRE-RELEASE for the book, so it will be on sale that day!

Ilkley Literature Festival – Sunday 8th October, 10:30am. This is a talk followed by a signing. We have special PRE-RELEASE for the book, so it will be on sale that day!

Abingdon Mostly Books Event – Thursday 12th October, 6pm. This is the book’s launch event! This will be a talk followed by a signing. The cost of the ticket includes the price of the book and a £5 voucher.

Reading Waterstones Signing – Saturday 14th October, 11am. This is a signing event – the cost is the cost of the book! You can also bring along old books for me to sign if you want!

Birmingham Waterstones Signing – Sunday 15th October, 11:30am. This is a signing event – the cost is the cost of the book! You can also bring along old books for me to sign if you want!

Lincoln New Theatre Royal – Monday 23rd October, 10:30am. This is a talk followed by a signing, in partnership with Lincoln Waterstones.

Witney signing event TBC – 25th October.

London St James Church – Friday 27th October, 2pm. This is a talk followed by a signing, in partnership with Piccadilly Waterstones.

Manchester Arndale Waterstones Signing – 4th November, 2pm. This is a signing event – the cost is the cost of the book! You can also bring along old books for me to sign if you want!

Belfast signing event TBC – 11th November.

Dublin Book Festival event – 12th November, 10am. This is a talk followed by a signing – please note that there may be another Dublin event added on this day, since this event has already sold out once!

Newcastle Books On Tyne event – 18th November, 2pm. This is a talk followed by a signing.

Signed and dedicated copies of The Body in the Blitz available now!

I have some great news: I’m absolutely delighted to be partnering with Daunt Books to bring you signed and dedicated pre-order copies of The Body in the Blitz!

The book is available from the Daunt website now, and can be delivered anywhere in the world (perfect for fans who don’t live anywhere I’ll be travelling to on this autumn’s tour). You can ask for any personalisation you want, too (though be aware that I will sign whatever I see on the spreadsheet, so please make sure you’ve spelled everything correctly).

Just head to the link now to reserve your copy – and don’t delay, because this page will only be open until early October. I’m going to be heading in-store to sign and dedicate all of the books during the week of publication, and after that cut-off point I won’t be able to sign anything more. Unless, of course, you come to one of my signing events!

The Body in the Blitz – extract!

Hello Detectives! Today is the 12th of September, which means there’s just ONE MONTH TO GO until the second book in my new series, The Body in the Blitz, is published!

And today I have a very special treat for you – an extract from the second chapter of the book. Nuala and May are on their way to London, to do important work for the Ministry … but what and who will they find when they get there?

If you’re excited to read more, please do pre-order – from Waterstones, from Blackwell’s, from Eason, from Amazon or from your local indie (please contact them directly – some of them may even be getting in the special indies-only version of the cover!). If you’d like a signed copy, watch this space – I should have an announcement about that on this website in the next few days.

And if you’d like to meet me this autumn, check out my calendar! I’ve got events in Ilkley, Oxfordshire, Lincoln, London, Manchester and Newcastle up already, and more will be added in the next few weeks.

Finally, remember to sign up to my newsletter if you haven’t yet – newsletter members got this extract yesterday, and they’re always the first to know about exciting news from the world of my books.

The Body in the Blitz – paperback edition!

I’m excited to say that The Body in the Blitz is publishing in paperback this October!

I’m so thrilled about this – paperback is the format fans have been asking for, and it’s going to fit perfectly in classrooms, in Christmas stockings and on shelves next to the books in my Murder Most Unladylike series.

There will be two beautiful editions to choose from, one with yellow sprayed edges and then a special edition for independent bookstores with green sprayed edges and a die cut cover. We’ve updated the cover to match the paperback of Ministry of Unladylike Activity and added in some really lovely endpapers from my illustrator Jan Bielecki – this is a very beautiful book!

There is a signed edition available for pre-order too – and remember that I’ll be doing a tour this autumn, all across the UK and Ireland, so you can meet me and get your book signed in person! We’re finalising plans at the moment, and the events will be up on my calendar and my social media as soon as they’re confirmed. So keep an eye out!

July update – and two new interviews with me!

Hello detectives! I hope your summer is going well.

I’ve just handed in the FINAL DRAFT of The Body in the Blitz – I’m so proud and excited (and exhausted) to say that it is now DONE! It’ll publish on the 12th of October this year – and you can find out a tiny bit about what’s in it here!

Last week I did a very fun interview with 2 Kid Interviews – they were brilliant and very thorough interviewers, and you can watch the whole thing below:

I also have a new blog post up on the Novelry about what to remember when you’re writing a crime novel – I hope it’ll be useful for all of the budding crime writers out there!

If you want to ask me any burning questions right now, the best places to do it are TikTok and Tumblr. I can’t answer everyone, but I am replying to a few questions a week on both places!

And remember, I’ll be up in Scotland in August – first at Waterstones Silverburn Glasgow on the 19th and then Edinburgh Festival on the 20th. So get your tickets now!

The Robin Stevens Summer Reading Challenge 2023!

It’s summer – and The Body in the Blitz will publish in LESS THAN THREE MONTHS! So to celebrate, my publisher Puffin is running a Robin Stevens summer reading challenge to get you ready for May, Eric and Nuala’s next adventure.

Just read (or reread!) any five of my published books, in any format (you can read on Kindle, or listen on audio), and then get an adult to submit your completed challenge on the Puffin website to win your very own Detective Society badge and put you in a draw to win a copy of the new book!

It’s very easy and (hopefully) very fun – and it’ll help you prepare for The Body in the Blitz. This is the book that’ll bring back a LOT of your favourite characters from the MMU series – so you’ll want to be totally up to date on who everyone is before October!

Happy reading, Detectives – and enjoy yourselves!

The Body in the Blitz at Bath Festival 2023

I promised I’d start sharing events for the Body in the Blitz tour soon – and here’s the first one!

I’ll be at Bath Children’s Lit Fest on the 30th of September this year for my first EVER The Body in the Blitz event!

This is huge for me – and huge for you, as well, because even though the book won’t be officially out until the 12th of October, fans will be able to buy copies on the day. That’s right: you’ll get to read my new book two weeks before everyone else!

And not just that – last year I wasn’t able to stay and sign (the venue wasn’t set up for all authors to sign, sadly!) but they’ve fixed that this year, so I am able to sign copies of the book and chat to you!

I’m very excited – I think this is the perfect way to kick off my new tour. Book your tickets now – and, as I always say, if you’re not near Bath do NOT despair. More events coming very soon, in more than one country!