A climate-denying MP and an activist go head-to-head in a Cornish pub for a very angry spat: Announcing 'The Wager and the Bear' by John Ironmonger
Our July news!
Happy Friday Scribblers,
A very hopeful morning to wake up to. It’s felt embarrassing and shameful at times to be British over the past twelve years, and I’m looking forward to a more humane government!
This week has been very tiring - down to Newcastle (8 hours of travelling, 15 minutes of pitching to book reps!) on Tuesday, and to a Pot Noodle sponsored careers fair on Thursday - there were noodle-themed bucket hats, uncomfortable bean bags (yes they may be more ‘fun’ but not for the back!) and equally uncomfortable conversations with young people aged 16-17, who mostly wanted to be footballers or nurses, but we tried to tell them about the joys of publishing haha!
Aside from that, this week has had a wonderful highlight - I’m going to be chatting about ‘The Dark Within Them’ on BBC Upload! I’ll be doing a pre-recorded interview and performing the opening chapter, so I’ll share that with you very soon.
It certainly is a joy to wear the author hat this year, as well as publisher - and allows me to completely sympathise with any authors on the querying journey, or the pushing-my-new-book journey haha!
Books in the news!
Sharon Duggal, Author of Should We Fall Behind (Bluemoose) has been loving ‘Lying Perfectly Still’ by Dr Laura Fish, who will be performing at a very special iteration of the Northern Publishers’ Fair in October, at Manchester Central Library - you won’t want to miss it!! For now, pop Sat 5th of October in your diary and I will tell you more very soon…
It’s tough to find climate narratives which are both enjoyable to read, encourage conversation about climate change, and which DON’T make the lovely reader depressed when they put the book down… but I have found the answer for you in ‘The Wager and the Bear’, by international best-seller John Ironmonger. Delighted to reveal this beautiful cover and pre-orders open now for Feb 2025.
An angry spat in a Cornish pub haunts two men, an activist and a politician, across decades, leading them onto an iceberg with a ravenous polar bear as their sole company. A heart-pounding tale of enduring love and tragedy against the backdrop of climate catastrophe.
MEDIA REVIEWS for 'The Whale at the End of the World':
'This is a tremendously enjoyable book.’ INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
'It's about the innate goodness of people and our connections with the wider world' - PRESS ASSOCIATION
'A gentle and uplifting tale of warding off apocalypse in a remote corner of Cornwall . . . charming' - FINANCIAL TIMES
In other news, we have three weeks left of our open reading period, for books to be published in 2025. Guidelines are here - do send to any writers you think would be a good fit!
Until next Friday,
Isabelle x