Robin Stevens's Blog, page 9

Two Christmas signings for Ministry of Unladylike Activity!

I won’t start announcing my 2023 spring/summer tour (in the planning stages at the moment, with lots of exciting events!) until early next year, but if you want to meet me and get copies of my books signed for you and your loved ones this Christmas, there are two ways to do it!

First, I’ll be at Hatchards Cheltenham on Thursday the 1st December from 5pm for their Christmas evening.

And second, I’ll be at Waterstones Piccadilly Christmas Evening on Thursday the 8th December from 6-8pm.

I will be masking up, but masks aren’t required for you, and there will be no restrictions on the number of books you can get signed. I hope you buy a lot of copies!

I’ll see as many of you as possible there, and if you can’t make it, don’t worry. We’re already thinking about how to make sure I visit lots of places that fans want me to next year, and I’ve booked in three festivals already that I can’t wait to share with you. So there will be lots of opportunities to see me!

November update – Ministry of Unladylike Activity Book 2!

Hello Detectives! I’ve been posting quite a few updates this month now that I’m back from the Ministry tour. I’ve been going through my author inbox and replying to all of the people who sent me messages while I was away – so if you’re waiting for a reply, you shouldn’t be waiting much longer!

I also have a big pile of letters to go through – everything from February this year until October, as well as the messages that people gave me in my signing queues. I’ll start working on those soon, so don’t worry if you are waiting for a reply – I’ll get to it, but it just might take a little while!

My main priority at the moment, though, is The Ministry of Unladylike Activity Book 2. I’ve just started work on it, and I’m at about 10,000 words of what will be a 65,000 word first draft. I’m quite a bit behind where I thought I’d be at this point in the year – I had long covid over the summer, and it really knocked me back. But in a funny way I’m so glad I waited – going on tour, and meeting so many fans, gave me a lot of new and interesting ideas that I know will make the book a lot better!

So don’t worry if I’m slow to reply, or if you don’t see me on social media very much. I’m back with May, Eric and Nuala, and they’ve just found a mysterious dead body in London …

I’m Children’s Author of the Day at London Book Fair 2023!

Huge news that was announced during my tour (I’m still catching up on everything!) – I’ve been asked to be one of the four headliners at the 2023 London Book Fair, a massive publishing industry event that takes place every year. It’s where rights to publish books all over the world are sold (for example, my agent might sell rights to publish my books in Spanish or Swedish!), and a huge platform to discuss the importance of books and reading.

And next year, I’ll be at that fair! I’m appearing alongside Dapo Adeola, Anne Cleeves and Colson Whitehead, three authors I hugely admire and respect. It’s such a dream come true, and I’m thrilled and honoured to have been asked. So look out for me in April next year, talking all about my books, and about children’s reading in general!

A Spoonful of Murder has arrived in the US and Canada!

Huge news for US and Canadian fans – the rest of my Murder Most Unladylike series is on the way after a long wait! The sixth book, A Spoonful of Murder, is out NOW, and Death in the Spotlight is on the way in Spring 2023. Top Marks for Murder and Death Sets Sail will follow, and then the two short story collections will publish last.

All of the books are illustrated by the brilliant Elizabeth Baddeley, whose work I have loved for years – I think her Daisy and Hazel are just wonderful, and I love the colours of her covers. Gorgeous!

Thanks to the team at S&S Books for Young Readers, especially Alexa Pastor, for finally bringing the rest of Daisy and Hazel’s adventures Stateside!

Guardian review of Ministry of Unladylike Activity!

The Guardian’s Kitty Empire (truly one of the best names in the business) has included Ministry of Unladylike Activity in her round-up of the best new children’s fiction!

I’m apparently a ‘blockbuster author’ and a ‘sensation’ (thank you!!) and Ministry has

‘much superb Agatha Christie-style whodunnitry. Portrayals of ordinary people caught in the war’s crosshairs underline the indiscriminate cruelty of xenophobia.’

You can read the whole review here, along with reviews of lots of other brilliant books!

Ministry of Unladylike Activity is Blackwell’s Children’s Book of the Year 2022!

Some really amazing news for Ministry today – it has been selected by Blackwell’s as their Children’s Book of the Year 2022!

This is the most incredible thing for a number of reasons – first, I used to work for Blackwell’s, and wrote the earliest draft of Murder Most Unladylike there back in 2010. So it’s a very special bookstore for me, and it always means a lot when booksellers today support my books. And second, Top Marks for Murder was also chosen as Children’s Book of the Year in 2019, so this is my second time getting this honour!

I am so proud and delighted, and so grateful to Blackwell’s booksellers for choosing it. What a lovely start for May, Eric and Nuala!

The Very Merry Murder Club is November’s Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month!

I’m thrilled to be able to say that The Very Merry Murder Club, the anthology of children’s mystery stories I co-edited last year with Serena Patel, is now out in paperback – and it’s been chosen as Waterstones Children’s Book of the month!

This is such a delight for me and for the 13 authors in the anthology (I didn’t contribute a story, since at the time we needed to be working on them I was very pregnant and very behind with the first draft of Ministry) – I love each of the authors we chose, and I adore our illustrator Harry Woodgate. It’s been such fun to work with our publisher Farshore and this has felt like a brilliant win for us all.

I did a quick tour of London bookstores on the 1st November to say hi to booksellers and sign copies of the book – those have all been sold by now, but the 13 contributors and Harry have also been signing, so it’s very possible to get out there and find special signed copies!

The special Waterstones sprayed editions at Waterstones Covent Garden!

I think VMMC is the perfect Christmas gift for the young detective in your life – and if you like my books, I hope you’ll discover a lot of new and exciting mystery writers!

Get your copy of the sprayed edge edition in your local Waterstones store, or online – and join the frosty foul play now!

Ministry of Unladylike Activity – thanks for a lovely tour!

Hello Detectives! I’m sorry I haven’t been updating this website much lately – I’ve been very busy on the Ministry autumn tour!

It was the first time I’ve really traveled since the beginning of the pandemic, and it was amazing being back on the road – I went to Manchester, Liverpool, Norwich, Dublin, Cork, London, Sevenoaks, Cheltenham, Birmingham and Bath. It made me so proud to be able to speak to fans face to face again, and to hear directly what my books have meant to people during the difficult times we’ve all been through.

I was delighted to meet a new generation of fans, and also to see some of my original readers again after so long – my very first Detective Society members are now at university, which is absolutely incredible to think about.

Speaking at my old school – the real Deepdean!

Huge thanks to everyone who was part of the tour – all the booksellers and festival staff who ran the events, my wonderful Puffin UK and Ireland teams, and all of the fans who came along to my events and signings! If you want to see what I’ve been up to, check out my Instagram and TikTok channels.

I’m now back in the office, and starting work on a very exciting project – the second Ministry book! I’ll share more about that when I can, as well as sharing some updates that have happened while I was on the road. A lot is happening right now in the MMU world, and I think 2023 will be amazing!

Happy publication day, Ministry of Unladylike Activity!

Today’s the day! The wait is finally over, Detectives, because Ministry is OUT NOW in the UK and Ireland!

This has been such a long time coming – I first had the idea for the book around the time I began to write Death Sets Sail, in 2019. I spent years researching and planning out my characters – Eric and Nuala both went through about five different names and backgrounds before I worked out exactly who they needed to be.

Then my writing was made more difficult by life events I never could have imagined back in 2019 – the pandemic, the death of my father, and my pregnancy. My life has changed in so many ways since I made up the concept of this story – it’s not surprising that the book is about new beginnings, teamwork and the way every person can work to make the world around them a better place. And, of course, spying and murder!

I am so proud of this book, so grateful for all of the people who helped make it a reality (check out my acknowledgements – possibly my longest ever?!) and so excited that you finally get to read it!

Here’s a picture of me and Ministry at last night’s celebratory dinner for the book – happy publication day, everyone, and here’s to a brand new generation of the Detective Society!

Ministry of Unladylike Activity – audio edition!

Last week I went into London to visit my publisher Puffin – and to record the author’s note for the Ministry of Unladylike Activity audiobook! It was a very emotional experience for me – I put a lot of myself into this book, and into the author’s note, and I hope that comes across when you listen to it!

Me, all ready to read!

I’m so delighted to have been able to do it – and so excited to hear my new audio narrators! This book is narrated by Thaddea Graham, who reads May’s voice, and Samantha Shortall, who reads Nuala’s. I’ve listened to samples of both of them, and I know they’re going to do an amazing job!

Because we’re working to get the audio edition just right, there will be a short wait until you’re able to download it – only a few weeks, don’t worry, but it won’t quite be ready on the 29th like the hardback and Kindle editions. I know it’ll be absolutely worth it, and I know we have a fantastic audio team run by the brilliant Stella working as hard as they can on it – but I wanted to let you know in case you’re wondering why your download isn’t there tomorrow!

And of course, if you really can’t wait … the hardback is in shops RIGHT NOW, ready for you to buy! Pre-orders will be going out tomorrow (Thursday), so start looking for them landing on your doorstep very soon.

I’m so excited to start my tour, and meet fans all over England and Ireland (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, I have not forgotten you – we have another tour planned in spring/summer 2023!). Happy publication week, Detectives – the wait is finally over!