Robin Stevens's Blog, page 58

Competition – Win Two Jolly Foul Play Detective Notebooks!

Over the past week, my lovely marketing team have been sending out beautiful detective notebooks to celebrate the upcoming release of Jolly Foul Play (24th of March, less than two months to go!). They’ve gone out to bloggers, booksellers and reviewers – and now I want to make sure that fans have a chance to grab some too.

My publishers, Puffin, have given me the go-ahead to hold a competition to give one aspiring detective (and their best friend) their very own Jolly Foul Play notebooks. Not only is there plenty of space inside them to let you write down your own cases, but there’s a special extract of Jolly Foul Play in the back, and a few handy tips on how to become an even better detective in the front of the book.

I’m launching the competition now, and closing it in a week’s time, on Monday 15th February at 3:30pm. It’s open to all British and Irish fans under the age of 18, and you can enter either by posting a comment here, or commenting on my Instagram post.

All I want to know from you is this: if you won these notebooks, what mystery would you and your detective society try to solve?

Answers below or on Instagram, please – and good luck! May the best society win!

Happy Birthday, Blue Violet!

The day is finally here! From this very minute onwards, my short story The Case of the Blue Violet is available to download. This is the first-ever book birthday I’ve celebrated without being able to hold something in my hands, which feels a little strange, but it’s lovely to know that the story is out there, and you can all read it!

Some of you have been asking me questions about what exactly the story is, and where it’s available, so I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you a bit more about it. Here goes . . .

The Case of the Blue Violet is a short story. I think it runs to about 4,000 words – it’s not a full-length Daisy & Hazel adventure, and there is no murder, just a puzzle involving a Big Girl and a mysterious letter . . .
It’s narrated by Daisy Wells. This was the first time I got to write in her voice, and it was amazingly fun.
It’s perfect if you’re waiting for Jolly Foul Play . I’ve set it after First Class Murder, but before the beginning of Jolly Foul Play, so you won’t be thrown out of the timeline!
If you buy Blue Violet, you’ll also get access to an exclusive extract from Jolly Foul Play at the back of the book.
We’ve chosen to flip the colours on the cover to show you that it’s a short story, not a full book – but it’s still illustrated by Nina Tara, the woman who’s illustrated all of my covers for the series.
At the moment, it’s only available as an ebook. This doesn’t mean that it won’t appear in print at some point in the future, but at the moment there aren’t any plans to do so.
It also isn’t available in North America yet. This is because it’s only published by my UK publishers, Puffin. My US publishers, S&S, would have to buy the rights to publish it – and they may do so in future, but again I haven’t heard any concrete plans about that yet.
This isn’t the first short story about Daisy & Hazel I’ve written! I wrote another last year, called The Case of Lavinia’s Missing Tie, and it’s available for free here. That one is set before the series begins – it’s the case Hazel refers to in the very first chapter of Murder Most Unladylike.

So, there you go! I hope that was helpful, and if you do download Blue Violet, I hope you have as much fun being back in Hazel and Daisy’s world as I did while I was writing it. Enjoy!

Deal Announcement: Wells & Wong 4 & 5 to Simon and Schuster US!

It’s been an incredible year for my books already, and I’ve got some more brilliant news to share with you all: Daisy and Hazel’s fourth and fifth adventures (coming March and October in the UK) have just been bought by my US publishers, Simon and Schuster!

S&S originally took three books (Murder Most Unladylike, published as Murder is Bad Manners; Arsenic for Tea, to be published in April as Poison is Not Polite; and First Class Murder, to be published in summer 2017 under its original title), so this is a wonderful vote of confidence in the series.

I couldn’t be more pleased to be working with my editor Kristin and the rest of the US team again, and I can’t wait for US readers to get their hands on more of my books! Books 4 and 5 will come to the US in 2018, so there’s a little while to wait, but I’m delighted that they’re on their way. Here’s to lots more cases for my girl detectives!

From the Publishers Marketplace announcement:

Jolly Foul Play launch day invitation

I’m delighted to be able to formally invite you all to the public launch of Jolly Foul Play, the fourth full-length book in the Murder Most Unladylike series.

The book is out on the 24th March, and so on Saturday 26th March, at 3pm, I’ll be holding a tea at Waterstones Trafalgar Square in London to celebrate its birthday. I’ll be signing copies of the book (or all of the books, whichever you’d prefer!) and chatting to fans, so if you’d like to come along to meet me, this is the perfect opportunity! There will also be buns and detective activities available, and I’ll be reading from Jolly Foul Play.

Tickets are free, but the store would like you to book ahead of time, so they know how many people will be there.

If you’re friends and family, by the way, don’t worry – a separate invitiation is in the works for later in the day, so you won’t feel left out!

Cover Reveal: The Case of the Blue Violet

There are a lot of adventures coming up for Hazel and Daisy this year. Jolly Foul Play is out on March 24th, and the fifth book will be out in October. But to whet your appetites there’s a very special short story coming to you on February 4th – the first Deepdean Mini Mystery, The Case of the Blue Violet. The story will only be available as an ebook for the time being, but it’s very possible that in future it will appear as part of a physical edition.

Blue Violet is very different to anything I’ve done before – for the first time ever, I’ve written a Wells & Wong story that isn’t narrated by Hazel. This story is from Daisy’s point of view, as she tries to prove to you all that she’s just as good at telling a story as her Vice-President.

From the official description:

‘I am the Honourable Daisy Wells, President of the Detective Society, one of the greatest detectives ever known – and also a fourth former at Deepdean School for Girls.

Violet Darby – one of the Big Girls – recently asked me to solve a most puzzling romantic mystery. I knew I’d be able to crack the case, and I did, in just a day and a half. It was one of my greatest triumphs (Hazel Wong, my Vice-President and best friend, is telling me that this is boasting, but it is also the truth). Hazel didn’t believe I would have the patience to write the account of it, but of course, she was wrong. I did write it down, and it came out very well.

I now, therefore, present to you: the Case of the Blue Violet.’

The Case of the Blue Violet ebook also contains a teaser chapter for Jolly Foul Play (just in case you’re not excited enough about it yet), and I’m delighted to be able to reveal its cover at last!

What do you think? Do you like the way it fits with the other covers in the series? Let me know in the comments! And if you’d like to pre-order the story, just click here. 4th February isn’t so far away!

Murder Most Unladylike will be published in Vietnam!

It’s only January, but my books are already having a fantastic year!

I’m finally able to share the good news that Murder Most Unladylike, Arsenic for Tea, First Class Murder AND Jolly Foul Play will be published in Vietnam by Huy Hoang. This is the sixth foreign territory for the series (the books already have publishers in America, France, Italy, Germany and Taiwan). Once again, my books are becoming better travellers than I am (though I do think this gives me an excellent excuse for a future trip).

This year, I hope I finally get to see some more of my foreign editions, and of course I’ll share them with you as soon as I can. I can’t imagine not being able to read the books that I wrote – but all the same, I’m incredibly excited about it. Hazel and Daisy are taking over the world!

A Kirkus Star for Poison is Not Polite

I’m delighted to say that Poison is Not Polite, the US edition of Arsenic for Tea, has been given another review. This time it’s from Kirkus magazine – and they’ve given it a star as well! From the review:

‘Wells and Wong return in a classic country-estate mystery… this well-crafted and entertaining detective story, a stand-alone sequel to Murder Is Bad Manners (2014), is solidly set in a fading world of 1930s minor nobility and supported by a cast list and map. A first-rate whodunit, reminiscent of a game of Clue and terrific preparation for the works of Agatha Christie.’

Read the full (and very lovely) article at the Kirkus website, here. I really am so pleased – the book will be published in April, and it’s amazing to know that it’s being so well-recieved already!

 

Book Trust Read For My School 2016 Launch

Yesterday I was lucky enough to visit Swaffield School in Wandsworth to help launch Book Trust’s 2016 Read For My School.

This is a competition that aims to get as many children reading as many books as possible this spring term – last year 3,500 schools read over 700,000 books, and this year Book Trust are hoping to hit a target of one million books read.

It’s an incredible target, and I’m delighted that they’re trying to meet it in such an enjoyable, accessible way. I believe that reading is fun, and that there’s no right way to be a reader, or any best sort of book to read. Every reader is different, and I think it’s fantastic that Read For My School celebrates that – there are not only prizes for the pupils who read the most books, but for the most improved readers, and the readers who explore the most new genres and authors.

I had a great time meeting Swaffield’s pupils, who are already impressive readers, and I hope I helped inspire them to do even more reading. Below are some pictures from the launch – as you can see, we all had a lovely morning!

The competition is open now, and will run until the end of term. Good luck to everyone taking part, and thanks again to Book Trust for making me a part of this year’s scheme!

With Swaffield Primary School. Launch of Let a Million Books Bloom – nationwide Read for My School Competition 2016. Copyright © 2016 Andrew Wiard

With Swaffield School, Book Trust CEO Diana Gerald and Wandsworth Councillor Kathy Tracey. Copyright © 2016 Andrew Wiard

Murder is Bad Manners is an ALA Notable Book

I’ve had more great news about my American books: the US edition of Murder Most Unladylike, Murder is Bad Manners, has been chosen as an ALA Notable Book for 2016!

According to the website, ‘Each year a committee of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best of the best in children’s books. According to the Notables Criteria, “notable” is defined as: Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to children’s books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (birth through age 14) that reflect and encourage children’s interests in exemplary ways.’

This is a huge vote of confidence in my book, and it’s in formidable company. If you’d like to take a look at the full list, it’s here. I’m honoured to be next to books like George, Hamster Princess and The Marvels: these really are some of the best middle-grade books around right now.

Thank you so much, ALSC – this is amazing news!

 

2016: A New Year for Me (And Daisy and Hazel)

It’s 2016, and the end of the first working week – my very first as a full-time author.

It still seems strange to say out loud, like I might be lying or confused. But it really does seem to be true. I get to do this all day (and all evening, and at weekends) – writing about Daisy and Hazel is my job. When I sit down to start writing my next book, next week, I’ll be able to spend hours at a time working on it, so I can make sure I actually get my head into the world and story I’m creating. It’s a pretty obvious writing tip – have enough time to write – but I couldn’t follow it before. I’ve given myself an amazing chance, and my resolution for this year is not to mess that up.

My home office!

If I need to, I can now spend all day reading about 1930s chocolates (did you know Terry’s Chocolate Oranges were introduced to the UK in 1932?), Cambridge climbing societies, 1930s fashion, and the Raj, while listening to Cole Porter (that is what I did on Tuesday). I can take time to think about my characters and make sure that their stories all fit together properly (that is what I did yesterday). I can sit down and read the whole of Gaudy Night (this is still ongoing). It all sounds suspiciously like fun to me, and probably to you, but I know that because I’ve got time to do this, book 5 will be so much better than it could have been if I’d had another job.

I’m incredibly excited about book 5, by the way. It will take place in Cambridge at Christmas, and feature Daisy’s brother Bertie, as well as Alexander from First Class Murder. I’m incredibly clear that my books have always been and will always be written for both boys and girls, but I like that I’m now able to write them about boys as well as girls.

So that’s what’s ahead for me over the next four months in terms of writing. But, of course, not having another job means that I’ll have more time to travel and meet all of you. If you’d like to come see me talk, I’ve begun to update the 2016 calendar – take a look through it here. This will keep on being added to, of course – and it also doesn’t include my school visit schedule, which is already filling up! If you’re a teacher or librarian who’d like me to visit you, please do email me. And if you’re not a teacher or librarian, please email me anyway – I love hearing from you!

And finally, I’ve got quite a few books and stories out this year. I’m not sure I’ve ever actually listed them all in one place – so here they are!

4th February: The Case of the Blue Violet. An ebook short story narrated by Daisy Wells. Pre-order here.

24th March: Jolly Foul Play. Daisy and Hazel’s fourth full-length adventure! Visit the book’s website page here.

26th April: Poison is Not Polite. Daisy and Hazel’s second adventure (published in the UK as Arsenic for Tea) comes to America! Visit the book’s website page here.

5th May: Mystery & Mayhem. This is an anthology of detective stories by 12 amazing children’s authors. I’ve taken a break from Wells & Wong to contribute a short story that is totally new! Pre-order here.

October 2016: Murder Most Unladylike Mystery Book 5. Title and release date still TBC – but this will be Daisy and Hazel’s fifth adventure, and it will be Christmassy!

I think one thing is obvious – this is going to be a pretty exciting year for me and my books …