Robin Stevens's Blog, page 64

It’s almost time for (Arsenic for) Tea …

It’s the final countdown. In less than a week, on Thursday 29th January, Arsenic for Tea will be officially out in the UK and Ireland.

It’s funny – I forgot how weird this final bit of waiting is. I feel jumpy, and strange, and I keep checking my Amazon rankings (I still don’t know what Amazon rankings mean, but I check them anyway) and my Goodreads reviews (which is a terrible idea, but again I do it anyway). I don’t even know what I’m trying to find out, I just need to find it out now.

Of course, what I’m actually waiting for is you. I wrote a book, my publishers edited it and honed it and chose its cover and its paper and publicised it and got it into the warehouse – and now it’s time for you to read it. Once again, I’m handing over my characters and my story to you, and all I can do is hope that you like them.

Today I got the first picture of Arsenic for Tea in the wild, from the fantastic Jim at YaYeahYeah – isn’t it beautiful? Isn’t it green?

Arsenic for Tea at Waterstones Birmingham – picture by Jim Dean

If you do begin to see Arsenic for Tea in stores – and, even better, if you buy it and read it, I’d love to see your pictures and hear your feedback. Did you guess whodunit? Did you have a bunbreak to help your little grey cells work? No kidding, talking to you is one of my very favourite things about being an author (second only to actually writing my books).

So, Arsenic for Tea is almost here – let’s celebrate together!

Kirkus Starred Review for Murder is Bad Manners

Murder is Bad Manners (the US edition of Murder Most Unladylike) will be out in North America in just three months, and I’ve just had some incredible news: it’s been given a starred review by Kirkus magazine.

I know what a high standard Kirkus has and how tough a star is to achieve – I am just bowled over to the point of incredulity by this.

From the review, which you can read in full on the Kirkus website:

‘This splendid school story/murder mystery opens with a map and a helpful cast of characters: the staff and students of Deepdean School, where Hazel Wong, daughter of an Anglophile Hong Kong banker, and Daisy Wells, golden-haired member of the English nobility, have formed the Wells & Wong Detective Society . . . Hazel’s outsider status allows her to comment humorously on the curious customs of the English world, while cheerful Daisy’s need to know and her privileged assumption that everyone will love her and do her bidding earns them access to places and information that help them solve their first serious case. There are clues, red herrings and suspenseful chases galore, as well as heaps of boarding school trivia that amuse and delight. An irresistible English import with sequels to come.’ – Kirkus Magazine

Wow.

Bookzone review of Arsenic for Tea

There are now less than two weeks to go until Arsenic for Tea is released in the UK, and it’s just been given its first blogger review!

Darren from The Book Zone for Boys says:

‘Not only is [Arsenic for Tea] a great sequel, but it is also a book that is even better then its predecessor . . .

the stage for this brilliant murder mystery story is Fallingford, a country mansion with obligatory sprawling grounds, and the cast a group of people with a plethora of eccentricities and foibles, most of whom just happen to be members of Daisy’s family. For Fallingford is the Wells family home, and Daisy and Hazel are there for the holidays. This makes for the perfect setting for our story . . .

Arsenic For Tea can be read as a standalone mystery but I would implore you to start with Murder Most Unladylike if for some unfathomable reason you or your children have not yet stumbled across the Wells and Wong Mysteries’

Read the whole review here - and thank you, Darren!

 

 

Launch Invitation: Time for Tea?

There are now fewer than 20 days until Arsenic for Tea is released in the UK. Rest assured, I’m just as excited as you are.

If you’d like to celebrate with me, I’ve got some good news: I’m holding an afternoon tea in the book’s honour in Waterstones Cambridge on Saturday 7th February at 3pm, and I want all of you to be there!

The event is free, and lashings of tea, ginger beer and cake will be served (don’t worry, quite arsenic free, though as they will be home-made I can’t guarantee that there won’t be lurking nuts). There will also be lots of activities for budding detectives, I’ll be reading from the book – and of course signing it as well!

Don’t be late…

Three January Giveaways

Surprise! Arsenic for Tea turns out to be GREEN!

Hello and welcome to the amazingly bumper publishing year that is my 2015! Arsenic for Tea (Wells & Wong 2) is out in the UK this month, Murder is Bad Manners (the US edition of Murder Most Unladylike) is out in North America in April, and First Class Murder (Wells & Wong 3) is out in the UK in July. It gives me palpitations, but mainly in a good way.

Anyway, I wanted to celebrate all of this bookish goodness with you, and so I am currently running three(!) Twitter giveaways for the three editions of my books currently in existence. (Before you ask, I am using Twitter because my last attempt to run a giveaway via this blog went horribly wrong. If Sierra Davenport reads this, a copy of the book is still waiting for her. Sierra, email me please!)

Two are UK-only giveaways, and one is US-only, and I reserve the right to choose another winner if I discover that the first person I pick is from the wrong territory. Not because I don’t want you to have the book, but because I would get in horrible trouble with my publishers, who I like a lot.

So…

To win a signed copy of Murder Most Unladylike, retweet this tweet and follow my Twitter account before noon UK time on the 9th January.

To win a signed copy of Arsenic for Tea, retweet this tweet and follow my Twitter account before noon UK time on the 9th January.

And to win a signed copy of the ARC (advanced review copy) of Murder is Bad Manners, retweet this tweet and follow my Twitter account before noon EST on the 9th January.

Good luck!

New Year’s Writing Resolutions: 2015

Blimey, it’s 2015 already! And that means that I have not one, but two books coming out this year – Arsenic for Tea in just 28 days(!), and First Class Murder in August. Madness.

It also means that it’s time for me to write my resolutions for the year ahead, and have a look back at my 2014 plans. In January 2014 I wrote this – so, did I do everything I wanted to back then? Well…

- I did finish Arsenic for Tea! I also very much hope that I made it better. You will be able to tell me whether I did at the end of this month…

– I did rework the Secret Project, but in such a hurry that I’m not sure whether it was much improved by my efforts. My resolution for this year is to not put too much writing stress on my plate – I still would love to turn SP into a real, finished book one day, but Daisy and Hazel have to come first.

– I did my first school visits! And I think they went fairly well. I’ve discovered that I love to do them, anyway. This year, I’m going to do lots more. I also need to remember to be active about getting them – so bookshops, schools and festivals, if you’re reading this now and you need an author to talk about amazing girl detectives, I’m your woman!

– I did write a short story set in the world of Murder Most Unladylike! It is called ‘The Case of Lavinia’s Missing School Tie’ and you can read it here. This year I’d like to write more – I’ve already got some ideas!

– I read a lot. I met my 100 book Goodreads challenge, and more. Here’s my 2014 on Goodreads (and before you wonder why I love everything I read, I only put my favourites up there – it doesn’t seem fair otherwise). I’m going to be doing another 100 book challenge in 2015, and I want to make sure that some of those are adult books, and non-fiction – as I said last year, it’s good for me to keep reading outside the children’s book market as well as in it.

– I did do some rereading. I read old favourites by authors like Noel Streatfeild and Eva Ibbotson – and they were just as wonderful this time around as I remembered. I’ll be doing more of that this year!

– I hope I helped other authors last year. I tried to! And I also hope that my babbling helped spread the word about my favourite children’s books. I’m going to the same in 2015 – actually, you couldn’t stop me talking about YA and MG books if you tried.

-

And now, with that sorted, what new resolutions do I have for this year?

– Very practically, I need to finish work on First Class Murder. So I’m putting that down as my first resolution. Wish me luck!

– Once it’s done, I want to work on a new project. I’m not sure what that will look like yet – whether it will be another Daisy and Hazel, or something quite different – but I certainly don’t want to stop writing. I love it!

– I also don’t want to stop reading, and even more importantly I want to remind myself not to ever be ashamed of either reading a book or not reading a book. There are so many good books out there that I don’t want to limit myself in any way – but I also know that it’s absolutely impossible to read everything that’s recommended to me! And that’s fine.

– I want to be proud of all of the nice things that happen to me and my books, without getting carried away by it – I know that fortunes change quickly in publishing, and that I’m currently very lucky!

– I want to keep being a member of SCBWI and other writers’ circles, and keep on supporting other writers. It’s a weird business, and it’s important to stick together!

– I also want to keep showing how very grateful I am to the people who support my books. I can’t ever say it enough, but I really want to try.

– Finally, and slightly differently, I want to make sure to be more than just an author. Writing is fun, and being part of the writing world is amazing, but it can also send you a bit nuts. It’s good to have non-writing friends, and do things that aren’t anything to do with books. I also happen to be moving house this year, so I need to give myself time off writing to do exciting things like paint walls and mow lawns and build IKEA furniture.

So, here’s to 2015. I hope it’ll be busy, and exciting, and very, very interesting.

2014 – year in review

2014 was a good year for me. Actually, it was sort of magical. I became a published author, an experience that has turned out to be terrifying, and weird, and utterly brilliant. I’ve watched my ideas, and my characters, come to life in the minds of people all over the world, and I think I’ve pretty much spent all twelve months in a state of joyous near-tears.

So, here are my best bits of 2014. You just have to imagine me sneaking away to cry a bit after each one.

Between January and May, I was mainly writing Arsenic for Tea. More on that later …

In June, Murder Most Unladylike was published in the UK!

Largely due to the efforts of my friends and relations, I actually got to see myself at the top of a bestseller list.

On the Blackwell’s Bestseller chart!

I had a launch at Waterstones …

Me and my book!

And another at Blackwell’s!

With a table of books at my Oxford launch – photo by Rebecca Waiting.

In September I did my first author event, in Oxford …

Four young detectives show off Murder Most Unladylike

And I took the book to the place where it all started, my old school, Cheltenham Ladies’ College.

I investigate my old gym!

In October I was a guest on Woman’s Hour …

At the BBC for Woman’s Hour!

… and I did research for my third book on the Orient Express! It was a hardship, I can tell you all.

Off we go!

In November, I was part of the SCBWI UK Mass Book Launch.

The Mass Book Launch – photo by Candy Gourlay

I also did an author event in Cambridge …

With some fantastic young detectives! Picture by Sylvie

And another in Hampstead …

A host of young detectives with the book!

And I helped launch the Blackwell’s Oxford Giving Tree.

Susie Day, bookseller Rebecca, me and Sally Nicholls with the Giving Tree

In December I finished off the year with an author event in Cheltenham.

Going . . . going . . . gone . . .

Murder Most Unladylike sold in America last year (it will be published in April 2015, under the title Murder is Bad Manners), but in 2014 Daisy and Hazel got their first deals in translation! The book will (rather mindblowingly) be published in French and Taiwanese in 2016.

I had some incredible reviews - Murder Most Unladylike was even The Times Children’s Book of the Week. Though my favourite review of all has to be Ruby Rose Scarlett’s…

Murder Most Unladylike was nominated for the Carnegie Award and longlisted for two other awards, the Redbridge Children’s Book Award and the Oxfordshire Book Award, and the US edition, Murder is Bad Manners, was selected for the spring 2015 American Booksellers’ Association’s Indies Introduce list. It also won two UKYA Book Blogger Awards – for Best Crime/Mystery and Best Friendship. (My boyfriend must receive an honorary mention here as Best Boyfriend for turning said awards into special winner’s mugs.)

My UKYA BBA mugs

This month, Murder Most Unladylike has been featuring in lots of end of year round-ups, including Amanda Craig’s New Statesman 2014 review, James Dawson’s top 5 UKYA books of 2014 and the Bookish Brits’ lists of favourite historical, debut and MG fiction.

All in all, there have been lots of perfect excuses to take LOTS of bunbreaks. Wow.

A bookish bunbreak!

But the important thing is that none of the wonderful things above would have happened without your support. Since Murder Most Unladylike’s publication, Daisy and Hazel have stopped being just mine – now they belong to every single person who’s read the book. I’m incredibly lucky that readers have wanted to spend time with my heroines, and every email, tweet or comment I’ve received from every reader has made me happier than you can probably imagine.

So thank you, so much (more than I can ever hope to express), to every reader, reviewer, bookseller, publisher, teacher, librarian, friend and family member – people who knew me before this year and people who met me through my book – who have talked about, sold, read and supported Murder Most Unladylike in 2014. You are all brilliant, and I am so grateful to you.

And now, although this year’s almost over, I’ve got lots of exciting announcements to make for 2015. First up, Daisy and Hazel’s second adventure, Arsenic for Tea, will be released on January 29th 2015.

The Stevens family model Arsenic for Tea.

The two books together

And I’m going to be celebrating its release! If you’re near Cambridge, I will be having a free public launch at Waterstones at 3pm on Saturday 7th February – with cake! Please consider yourselves invited.

I’ll also be at the Story Museum on the 14th February, ready to teach you how to write your own detective story and to explain what makes a good detective. Tickets cost £10, and the session will be extremely exciting.

In April, Murder is Bad Manners will be released in the US (in a gorgeous hardback edition!), and in August, the third Wells & Wong Mystery, First Class Murder, will be released in the UK.

So see you in 2015 for another year of detective fun – I can’t wait!

Murder Most Unladylike and Arsenic for Tea head to Taiwan!

I’m so excited to be able to share some really incredible news with you all: Hazel and Daisy’s first two adventures will soon be available in Taiwan!

Murder Most Unladylike and Arsenic for Tea will be published by Eastern, which is also the Taiwanese publisher of Because of Winn-Dixie, Lois Lowry’s The Giver and The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

This is an amazing way to end an amazing publishing year for me and the Wells & Wong Mysteries – I can’t believe that my stories are going so global! Actually, I think I’m still slightly in shock. I’ve got a lot to celebrate this Christmas!

School Library Journal reviews Murder is Bad Manners

Murder is Bad Manners (the US edition of Murder Most Unladylike) has received its first review, from the School Library Journal. And it’s lovely!

‘A cozy murder mystery with manifest charms, this series opener introduces a pair of boarding school sleuths covertly detecting a death no one else realizes has occurred. Narrator Hazel Wong, a sturdy Hong Kong transplant, and charismatic English Rose Daisy Wells forge a friendship based on their mutual deception of their classmates, concealing their abundant intelligence during lessons and instead deploying it in the service of the Wells & Wong Detective Society. Despite adopting the lingo of the native students, Hazel’s pleasant, frank narration displays her outsider status, a perspective that helps guide readers through the logistical and social nuances of their 1930s British countryside school. The mystery proves a twisty but conventional story replete with concealed relationships, professional jealousy, and genre-bound clues. Fresher and more compelling is the tension between the two detectives. Even as the friends remain bonded in cleverness, Hazel develops a conscientious concern for students and staff along with anxiety at tracking a murderer; her caution sparks conflict with Daisy’s gleeful curiosity and unperturbable confidence . . . Stevens’s engaging tale shines with the reflected charms of its detecting duo, a winsome combination of thoughtfulness and relish.’

–Robbin E. Friedman, Chappaqua Library, NY

Festive author events 2014

Over the past few days my Sherlock hat and I have been on the road, spreading the word about Murder Most Unladylike (which would be, in case you are wondering, perfect for the stocking of anyone 8 and up who enjoys mystery stories).

Ready for authoring!

On Thursday evening, Waterstones Hampstead were nice enough to invite me to their rather fancy Christmas author soiree (this is code for shopping with free mince pies).

My name in chalk at Waterstones Hampstead!

I got to meet customers and chat about Murder Most Unladylike . . .

Me, poised to sign books!

. . . and also hang out with some awesome children’s authors (yes, that’s the famous Animalium next to me. And yes, I did get extremely excited about that fact).

Children’s author party team

On Saturday, I visited the beautiful children’s department at Waterstones Cheltenham. It’s very special to me for two reasons: first, I went to school in Cheltenham, at Cheltenham Ladies’ College (if you want to imagine what Deepdean School might look like, you just have to click on this link . . .); and second, I spent several months after I left school actually working in the Waterstones building, as a barista at its Costa cafe on the first floor. I was quite horrible at making coffee, but I loved being around the books – it’s a fabulous store, and I think it’s looking even better now than it did then.

My lovely display, with added Christmas tree

I had an amazing time meeting everyone . . .

With some ace detectives at Waterstones Cheltenham

. . . so much so that we actually sold out of Murder Most Unladylike! (Maybe this has something to do with the fact that, after my stint as a barista, my next job was a bookseller?)

Here I am with the brilliant sisters who got the final two copies:

Going . . . going . . . gone . . .

I had an excellent time at both events – thank you to all of the Waterstones staff (especially Yael, Barbara and Antonia) who looked after me so well!

And now I leave you with a lovely festive shop window: Heffers in Cambridge, who have featured Murder Most Unladylike next to some really quite well-known books. Hooray – and happy December to you all!

Heffers Christmas window – Murder Most Unladylike in impressive company!