Our authors are a busy bunch! Here’s a round-up of what they have been up to, and what’s been said about them, this weekend.
1. Peter Hain on The Stephen Nolan Show
Peter Hain, author of Outside In, appeared on The Stephen Nolan Show, on BBC Radio Ulster, for Stephen’s Big Friday Interview. Naturally the topics up for discussion involved Peter’s time as Northern Ireland Secretary, amongst others.
Peter’s Outside In was also featured in a really interesting book review in the Church of England newspaper, with the book reviewed from a faith-based perspective. They said ‘of whatever faith or worldview, each of us has much to learn from his all or something passion for truth’.
3. Shana Pearlman on the American elections
Shana Pearlman, author of The Palin Effect, continued her brilliant coverage of the American elections over at Dale&Co., this time talking about the hypocrisy among American progressives.
She said: ‘Progressives these days are more likely to get het up about a Republican presidential candidate’s feelings about contraception or Satan than they are about unauthorised military action overseas – it’s as though, for American progressives, the lives of innocent brown people are just collateral damage in the culture war.’
4. 100 years since the sinking of The Titanic: Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage
Hugh Brewster’s Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage is published this year, in time to mark the centenary of the sinking of The Titanic in April.
On his website he pondered how his efforts would stand out from others: ‘For the 100th anniversary there will be a slew of other new books, TV docs, a Julian Fellowes’ mini-series and James Cameron’s epic movie remastered in 3D. In this tidal wave of Titanic-iana, you might well ask, how will Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage stand out? I have had a few sleepless nights about this, but my early readers have been most encouraging. I’ve had remarkable help with this book from some of the world’s best Titanic historians and they tell me that they found the book to be fresh and compelling and containing much new information.’
5. Mark Seddon in The National
Over at The National, Mark Seddon, author of Standing for Something, contemplated the future of Greece’s economy, comparing their situation to that of Iceland:
‘The Icelandic economic recovery could provide both lessons and hope for countries such as Greece, which this week announced yet deeper austerity measures in return for a second euro bailout, a bailout that many observers believe buys time for others such as Portugal and Italy but, without economic growth, little else.’
6. How To Be An MP reviewed in The Independent
Paul Flynn’s How To Be An MP was reviewed in The Independent, who said:
‘This wry, sardonic account of the life of an MP by the veteran parliamentarian Paul Flynn, reveals that MPs must have the most arcane, illogical, inefficient, unreasonable and capricious set of rules governing their working lives of any job in the world.’
7. 25th Anniversary of the Bram Stoker Awards
Excitement continues to grow for this year’s Bram Stoker Awards at the World Horror Convention, with 2012 marking their 25th anniversary. No doubt the attendees will be reading The Lost Journal of Bram Stoker, published by The Robson Press. A long-lost notebook belonging to Stoker, was recently discovered in the attic of one of his great grandsons. Published to coincide with the Centenary of Stoker’s death the text of this notebook, written between 1871 and 1881 mostly in his native Dublin, will captivate scholars of Gothic literature and Dracula fans alike.