by Claire Buss, Deputy Editor, Write On! 

At Write On! and Pen to Print we want to help connect authors and readers, so we’ve created a spotlight page every Saturday, showcasing some of the exciting new reads available. The list has been curated by Lisa Rouiller and myself, based on books that you send us, so if you’re an author and you’d like your book in the spotlight, reach out to Lisa at pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk. Whether you’re an indie author, with a small press or mainstream publisher, we’d love to hear from you and shine a light on your new novel.

Write On! offers other opportunities for writers as well. If you’d like us to feature an extract from your book or a short story, please send the extract, book cover and blurb to pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk with the subject Write On! Showcase (ensuring you have your publisher’s permission, of course).

Pen to Print are also looking for short videos from people reading a passage from their favourite book or authors reading extracts from their own books. These videos will be featured on the Pen to Print YouTube channel and across our social media. Please send in your videos or links to pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk with the subject Video Stories.

 

Until The Morning by Dr Arinola Araba

This is a sequel to the popular ‘Love at First Byte’ which recounts the story of a young girl who experiences sexual abuse at the hands of family and friends. She gets pregnant by her step-dad and leaves home under a cloud.

Cici was conceived following an affair between her mum and a casual acquaintance. As a woman of Chinese and African heritage, she has yet to meet her biological father.

As Mum to two excitable and pre-teen kids (twins), she has moved on from her embattled past, including a relationship which led to the conception of her children. Now super-wealthy, she is renegotiating life and exploring her relationships with men. You will be drawn into the humorous account of her children’s plans to find their mother a husband.

Cici is on a journey to full recovery and love is on the cards. Share her struggles as motherhood, her growth in her Christian faith and romance all vie for her attention. A must-read for avid readers of romance.

Available to buy here
Connect with Dr Arinola Araba

I’ll Be Brief by Kieron Barton

We don’t all have time in our busy lives to sit down and enjoy a good book. This is a collection of short stories; both easy to read and snappy, with Fantasy, Sci-Fi and Comedy all rolled in to one. You are sure to find a favourite!

This enjoyable collection includes humorous tales of Mother Nature striking back, an undiscovered, underwater USSR base and a real heart- warmer of a lone security guard in an unexpected friendship.

The 28,000+ words, includes Author’s Notes in which Kieran Barton gives a little backstory and some personal input.

Included are seven short stories:

The Guard At Carrenbor Market
The Hero Of Taking His Time
Vegannihalation
Trench Warfare
Out Of Time
Not Quite Dickensian
The Colour Of Crime

The author also shares a sneak peak of his latest work-in-progress; only available if you purchase this short story collection.

Available to buy here

Ups And Downs by D B Carter

Carol has overcome countless obstacles to create her firm, and she’s done it on her own. But her beautiful apartment in central London and the trappings of success offer little compensation for the many years of illness and hurt she has endured. When disaster strikes at a critical moment for her company, all seems lost, until Carol and her feisty assistant Lila discover someone might be able to help. Unfortunately, it just happens to be Jonah, the man Carol wronged many years before. Can she avert disaster without reopening old wounds, or might facing the demons of her past lead to new beginnings? Is Carol beyond forgiveness, or will the flames of romance be fanned, long after her hopes had gone?

Available to buy here
Connect with D B Carter

Rain Will Come by Thomas Holgate

A thrilling, page-turning debut about a twisted killer and a broken cop — both with nothing to lose.

Paul Czarcik, the longest-tenured detective in the Illinois Bureau of Judicial Enforcement, puts the rest of the team to shame. Ruthless and riddled with vices, Czarcik always gets his man. And fast. Until now…

A double slaying isn’t the open-and-shut case of urban crime he’s used to. Connecting it to a high-profile Texas judge, Czarcik realizes something bigger is going on. It’s the work of a serial killer for whom Chicago is just the beginning. Now he’s inviting Czarcik to play catch-me-if-you-can on a cross-country murder spree.

Going rogue, Czarcik accepts the challenge. But as the bodies pile up, he must come to grips with the fact that nothing — not the killer, the victims, or the rules — is what it seems in this bloody game of cat and mouse.

Available to buy here

Charitable Thoughts by Janet Howson

Brenda Watt’s life has no purpose. She is sixty-five and has retired from a full-time job after working in the same offices for forty-two tedious and unhappy years. She has no family, no one she could call a close friend and has never had the time or inclination for hobbies, clubs or gyms. She feels lonely, isolated and useless. One day, she decides she needs a challenge and decides to volunteer at a local charity shop. This is the start of a transformation of her world. She discovers that charity shops are not the quiet, unassuming places she had always imagined them to be, as she experiences schoolgirl thieves, grooms who have lost their wedding outfits, drug runners, ferrets, floods and discarded goldfish. Brenda never imagined her life could be so interesting!

Available to Buy Here

The Garden Of Lost Memories by Ruby Hummingbird

Just because you feel ordinary doesn’t mean you aren’t extraordinary to someone else.

Sixty-two-year-old Elsie knows what she likes. Custard creams at four o’clock, jigsaw puzzles with a thousand pieces, her ivy-covered, lavender-scented garden.

Ten-year-old Billy would rather spend his Saturdays kicking a ball, or watching TV, or anything, really, other than being babysat by his grumpy neighbour Elsie and being force-fed custard creams.

If it was up to them, they’d have nothing to do with each other. Unfortunately, you can’t choose who you live next door to.

But there is always more to people than meets the eye…

Elsie doesn’t know that Billy’s afraid to go to school now, or why his mother woke him up in the middle of the night with an urgent shake, bags already packed, ready to flee their home.

Billy doesn’t know that the rusting red tin he finds buried in Elsie’s treasured garden is a ticking time bomb waiting to explode her carefully organised life. And that when he digs it up, he is unearthing a secret that has lain dormant for twenty-eight years…

This moving tale is for anyone who has ever felt the pangs of loneliness, or worried that their broken heart might never be the same again. Fans of Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, The Keeper Of Lost Things and The Library Of Lost And Found will fall head over heels for this life-affirming novel that shows us that if you’re willing to take a risk, happiness is only ever a heartbeat away.

Available to buy here
Connect with Ruby Hummingbird

The Fallout by J.C. Knox

It’s 1986 and George is woken by an explosion. Glancing out of his window, there’s a large mushroom-shaped plume of smoke billowing into the air. There’s been a nuclear explosion and he must act fast, if he and his wife are to stand any chance of survival. George and Sarah make their way to the nuclear bunker to wait until it’s safe enough to leave, but as the years roll by, it appears they will never get out. Monitoring the situation via the radio, George discovers that most of humanity has been wiped out. Three years after the initial blast, George and Sarah leave the bunker, but their home isn’t the way it was when they left. Other survivors have arrived and they are dying from radiation poisoning, illness and starvation. Fighting for survival, they want what George has. George must use his wits to keep himself and Sarah safe. Other survivors, starvation, illness, dehydration and fallout are all threats to their survival. The fight is on…

Available to buy here
Connect with J.C. Knox

Sword In The Stars by Cori McCarthy & Amy Rose Capetta

Ari, Merlin and her Rainbow knights must pull off a heist thousands of years in the past, to save humanity’s future.

The battle against the tyrannical Mercer corporation may have been won, but the war has only just begun. Now Ari and her cursed wizard Merlin must travel back in time to the unenlightened Middle Ages and steal King Arthur’s Grail: the very definition of impossible.

But the time travellers have to tread carefully. If they come face-to-face with the original Arthurian legend, it could produce a ripple effect that changes the course of history. It’s a risky game where the past can be even more dangerous than the future.

Available to buy here
Connect with Cory McCarthy & Amy Rose Capetta

The Sunday Potluck Club by Melissa Storm

New friends can be found in unexpected places. For Bridget and Amy, that place was the cancer ward of an Anchorage hospital. Now, as each struggles to overcome loss, they lean on each other for support, sharing suppers, laughter and tears.

Bridget and Amy aren’t about to let hardship knock them down. Bridget plans to return to her veterinarian school studies, Amy to her position as a second-grade teacher, but neither feels quite ready. And so the Sunday Potluck Club is born, a way for Bridget, Amy, and other women who have lost a loved one to find solace and understanding. Savouring favourite dishes while sharing memories and the comfort of connection, the members of the Sunday Potluck Club nourish body and soul.

As weeks go by and the group grows in unforeseen ways, both Bridget and Amy are inspired to find greater purpose.  Amy reaches out to a student whose father bravely faces his own struggle and Bridget volunteers at the local animal shelter, rehabilitating dogs whose unconditional love will bring others a chance to heal. With the help of two special men, Bridget and Amy are realising that there’s always room at the table for love and rekindled joy.

Available to buy here
Connect with Melissa Storm

Strangers by C.L. Taylor

Ursula, Gareth and Alice have never met before.

Ursula thinks she killed the love of her life.
Gareth’s been receiving strange postcards.
And Alice is being stalked.

None of them are used to relying on others, but when the three strangers’ lives unexpectedly collide, there’s only one thing for it: they have to stick together. Otherwise, one of them will die.

Three strangers, two secrets, one terrifying evening.

The million-copy bestseller returns with a gripping new novel that will keep you guessing until the end.

Available to buy here
Connect with C. L. Taylor

Remember, if you’re an author and you’d like to see your book in our Saturday Spotlight, email pentoprint@lbbd.gov.uk and send us the details of your new novel. 

Further Links

For details of Penguin RandomHouse new releases, visit their website here.

For details of Hachette new releases, visit their website here.

For details of HarperCollins new releases, visit their website here.

For details of PanMacmillan new releases, visit their website here.

For details of Simon & Schuster new releases, visit their website here.

 

Disclaimer: Amazon links are given for ease but please remember there are a number of other online retailers operating, including hive (which helps to support independent book shops), Kobo, Apple Books, Google Play and Nook as well as online stores for bookstores like Waterstones, Barnes & Noble and WHSmiths. Given the current situation though, please check first.

Read the latest issue of Write On! magazine online here