This week I’m delighted to present my interview with author Isabel Ashdown. Her latest novel, Hurry Up and Wait kept me awake for a whole night as I couldn’t put it down. I do love coming- of-age stories…

They say the second book is the hardest, but you’ve done such a good job, and I think Hurry Up and Wait is even better than your debut Glasshopper which I really loved. How was the writing process for you? Was it easier or harder to write the second one?  To read the full interview, click here …

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Isabel Ashdown’s novels are currently in the Amazon Kindle January Sale at the special price of 89p.

Author Isabel Ashdown explores forbidden attractions in her new novel, Hurry Up and Wait.

“Look at this tangle of thorns.” – Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita

Throughout cultural history, society has long held a deep fascination with the idea of ‘inappropriate relationships’.

In the last century alone, scholars have pored over the works of Shakespeare to unveil Freudian interpretations of incestuous passions, while modern cinema presents us with portrayals of inter-generational desire with the likes of Sam Mende’s “American Beauty” or Hal Ashby’s cult film “Harold and Maude”. You only need to look at the recent media storm surrounding privacy super-injunctions to see that the public has an endless appetite for peering in on the lives of others, perhaps to judge, maybe even to compare. Whether it’s a married celebrity carrying on with the nanny, or the village teacher eloping with their teenage pupil, we all want to know more ….

My publishers Myriad Edition have teamed up with The News to offer three readers the chance to win a copy of Hurry Up and Wait.

The full article and details of the competition can be viewed on the links below (in two parts):

The News p12

The News p13

‘Der Leserpreis – die besten Buecher 2010′ is voted for by readers, and you can vote too.  All you have to do is select the ‘voten’ button under the book, enter your name and email address and click the brown tick button.  It doesn’t matter where you are in the world.  Vote here.

There’s just one week until voting closes (10th December). 

If you’ve read and enjoyed Glasshopper, please vote – these awards are really important to writers early on in their careers!

Trio of titles for Myriad

11.08.10 | Victoria Gallagher

“Myriad Editions commissioning editor for fiction Vicky Blunden has acquired a trio of new titles for the publisher’s spring list.

Blunden bought world rights to a “powerful” first novel by Ed Siegle, directly from the author. Invisibles will be published in March 2011 and tells of a quest to trace a missing man. Siegle won the 2004 V S Pritchett Memorial Prize for his short story “Nine Lives, One Life”.

Blunden also bought UK and Commonwealth rights to Isabel Ashdown’s novel Hurry Up And Wait from Adrian Weston of Raft. Ashdown won the 2008 Mail on Sunday Novel Competition and her debut, Glasshopper, was also published by Myriad. Her new book will tell of one woman’s teenage experience of “dangerous friendships and sexual awakening”. It will be published in late spring.

Finally Blunden acquired world rights to police intelligence analyst Elizabeth Haynes’ debut Into the Darkest Corner, also from Weston, plus two further titles. Into the Darkest Corner will be the first of Myriad’s spring releases when it is published on 14th February 2011.

Blunden said: “We signed Elizabeth’s first novel on the strength of a rough but absolutely compelling first draft, and the finished book has already attracted international rights interest—the German and French deals concluded after tense bidding wars. Elizabeth is a talented crime writer with an exciting career ahead of her.” “

The German translation of Glasshopper is now available for pre-order on Amazon.  Am Ende eines Sommers is published by Eichborn, with an official release date of August 2010.

Click here to see more.