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Showing Tag: "fiction" (Show all posts)

Alcoholism in fiction

Posted by Yvonne Barlow on Wednesday, April 12, 2017,
So many alcoholics are associated with fiction - or they used to be - Dylan Thomas, Tennessee Williams, Ernest Hemingway, Dorothy Parker (she is credited with the line: "I like to have a Martini. Two at the very most. After three I'm under the table. After four I'm under the host.") These classic writers had booze problems and passed their addiction on to their characters.
Today alcoholism has almost disappeared from fiction. Paula Hawkins brought it back with A Girl on the Train (which I have...
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Independent reviews of an unusual debut crime novel

Posted by Yvonne Barlow on Thursday, November 19, 2015,
"Crime doesn't pay," goes the maxim. However, an unusual debut crime novel from CM Thompson has proven a success with independent Netgalley reviewers who, it seems, love What Lies in the Dark.
And we're immensely proud and keen to share - especially as Amazon have discounted the ebook to 99p.
Here are just some of the reviews:

“This is a debut novel that deserves to be read.”

“CM Thompson has perfectly captured human nature - our pettiness and rivalries; our emotions of apathy and anger, ...

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More than a little patronising

Posted by Yvonne Barlow on Thursday, May 21, 2015,
Leading women unite to launch #ThisBookClub
The Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction have asked six 'inspirational women' to reveal the novels they most want to share - and their suggestions are supposed to 'inspire book lovers across the nation to get together to talk about books.' The celebrities we've to be inspired by: Janet Ellis and her singer daughter; Emily Blunt and her sister; Mary Portas and her wife.
Hmm! Who has been inspiring book groups until now? Who are the readers who have been o...
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Urgently seeking book groups who read specific genre

Posted by Yvonne Barlow on Monday, September 22, 2014,
I love Hookline. I love watching feedback from the book groups who read our manuscripts and I get excited watching the vote tallies that finally reveal a winner. However, I have long felt some sadness for writers who submit work that comes from less popular genre - sci-fi, fantasy and the dark arts tend not to find favour among book group readers.
But I know there are book groups who read these sectors of fiction - and specialise in only reading others such as crime, historical fiction, etc.
As...
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Book groups and new writers

Posted by Yvonne Barlow on Friday, October 25, 2013,
What brings readers and writers together?
Last night I met with a book group who have judged Hookline submissions for three years. We had a keen discussion, but one of my questions was: Does reading the work of new writers make you consider writing a novel yourself?
The group were flabbergasted at the idea, and "no way" was the definitive response. Many in the group said that reading the work of new writers made them appreciate the elements that go into a good novel - stretching the scale of th...
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Yvonne Barlow Editor at Hookline Books - where book clubs and readers choose the novels that go to print.

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