Archives: Book

Description.

My Fishing Life: A Story of the Sea

A transformative memoir about a woman who – dissatisfied with her desk job – drops the drudgery of life on land and finds freedom and strength on the sea, becoming one of the few women working in the fishing industry today.

Published today, by Robinson, Ashley’s book is both a rallying cry and a (funny) love letter to an oft misunderstood industry; it’s one woman’s unique story of boat, skipper, sea and catch ultimately becomes a transformative view of a world that impacts deeply on us all.

Ashley Mullenger had never planned to become a fisherman. A chance fishing trip – catching mackerel off the Norfolk coast – was the start of an obsession. One that resulted in a transformation from clean-cut office worker to commercial ‘Fisherman of the Year’, and proud working owner of two boats, Fairlass and Saoirse, alongside skipper Nigel.

This is a memoir of that journey, a life swept up in tides and elements, strength of mind and body, of old ways and new struggles. It’s about the bravery of crews, early mornings, weather-beaten characters and those that can sink pints as fast as they can haul pots. These coastal communities and age-old livelihoods are built on trust, courage and skill – but they are also fraying against politics, poverty and climate change. The reality of commercial fishing is rarely seen, but Ashley carries us across the waves and around the UK’s waters in vivid detail to show what is really happening at sea to land the fish on our plates.

 

Ashley Mullenger is a commercial fisherman working off the North Norfolk coast. She is one of the few women working in the industry and was named ‘Fisherman of the Year’ in 2022. Advocating for better representation and equality in the industry (only 2% of crew members are women), as well as raising awareness of issues the fishing communities are facing, she has built a following on social media: 10k Instagram followers and 6k on TikTok (with some videos viewed over 600k times). She shows daily life in fishing and encourages others to take up the profession.

Listen to Ashley on Women’s Hour here

Read about Ashley here and here Guardian

 

 

Mission Microraptor

Falling behind their classmates on a school trip to the Alps, Finn and Milo stumble upon an egg buried in ice.

Later that night it hatches and a 65-million-year-old baby is born: Arty is a microraptor brought back from extinction.

But keeping her safe proves harder. Wicked scientists will do anything to get their hands on her, and soon Finn and Milo must run for their lives …

Philip grew up in Athens, fell in love in Dublin and built a home in Windsor. He writes constantly: stories, screenplays, sketches, poems. As an engineer, he works in sustainability for one of the biggest brands in the world, and as a Scout leader, he takes kids on real-life adventures.

 

I Know Where You Buried Your Husband

Sophia, Safa, Ella, Ajola and Caoimhe have been friends since school. Difficult, unlikeable women; funny sharp and clever ones. The sort that would have probably ended up burned at the stake, a few hundred years ago. They know exactly how dangerous it is to be this sort of woman – and when one of them is about to be framed for murder, they know exactly what to do.

After inextricably binding their fates together via some bin bags, a spade and a stone circle, the women must separate their lives, leaving each of them navigating the daily challenges of womanhood alone and in their own way. But when old secrets start to re-emerge, the group must come back together to get their stories straight – and find out who it is that seems to know the truth.

Surviving the patriarchy can be hard, but burying it isn’t easy either…

Marie O’Hare is 34 years old and splits her time between teaching, competing in cross-country running events and raising her 5-year-old son in a dual Irish and British Pakistani family. She was recently awarded a Master’s with Distinction in Novel Writing from Middlesex University. She is represented by Claire Wilson at RCW Literary Agency.

The Dagger and the Flame

In Fantome, a kingdom of cobbled streets, flickering lamplight, beautiful buildings, and secret catacombs, Shade-magic is a scarce and deadly commodity controlled by two enemy guilds: the Cloaks and the Daggers – the thieves and the assassins. On the night of her mother’s murder, 17-year-old Seraphine runs for her life. Seeking sanctuary with the Cloaks, Sera’s heart is set on revenge. But are her secret abilities a match for the dark-haired boy whose quicksilver eyes follow her around the city?

Nothing can prepare Sera for the moment she finally comes face-to-face with Ransom, heir to the Order of Daggers. And Ransom is shocked to discover that this unassuming farmgirl wields a strange and blazing magic he has never seen before…

Among rumours of monsters stalking the streets and the rival guilds grappling for control of Fantome’s underworld, Sera and Ransom are drawn together by something more than just magic and must face a deadly choice – forgiveness or vengeance? Kiss or kill? Dagger or Flame?

Catherine Doyle is an award-winning author of children’s literature, including the best-selling Storm Keeper trilogy and the best-selling Twin Crowns series, co-authored with Katherine Webber. Catherine holds a first-class BA in Psychology and a first-class MA in Publishing. Her published work, which includes ten novels for children and teenagers, has been published all around the world, and translated into over 25 languages. She currently lives in the West of Ireland with her husband Jack and their dog, Cali. Catherine is represented by publishing by Claire Wilson at RCW Literary Agency.

I Am Rebel

“I’m Tom’s dog, and he’s my human. We belong to each other.” 

Rebel is a good dog, and he loves his simple, perfect life on the farm with his owner Tom – until one day the war comes too close… Now Tom is determined to join the rebellion to defeat the king’s men. But Rebel knows war is dangerous, and he will stop at nothing to save the human he loves. Rebel must bring Tom home before it’s too late.

Ross Montgomery started writing stories as a teenager, when he really should have been doing homework, and continued doing so at university. After graduating, he experimented with working as a pig farmer and a postman before deciding to channel these skills into teaching at a primary school. He wrote Alex, the Dog and the Unopenable Door when he really should have been marking homework. He has since published The Tornado Chasers, Perijee and Me, Max and the Millions and Christmas Dinner of Souls. He has also written the picture books The Building Boy (2016) and Space Tortoise (2018), both illustrated by David Litchfield and published by Faber & Faber. His new novel, The Midnight Guardians, will be published by Walker in September 2020. He lives in Brixton with his girlfriend and many, many dead plants.

The Last Murder at the End of the World

Outside the island there is nothing: the world destroyed by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched. On the island: it is idyllic. 122 villagers and 3 scientists, living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, to obey their nightly curfew, to do what they’re told by the scientists.

Until, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. And they learn the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island, the only thing that was keeping the fog at bay.

If the murder isn’t solved within 107 hours, the fog will smother the island – and everyone on it.

But the security system has also wiped everyone’s memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer – and they don’t even know it.

Stuart is the author of a high-concept crime novel and lives in London with his amazing wife and two little girls, and drinks lots of tea. Stuart’s debut novel, The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, was published in 2018 by Bloomsbury and his second, The Devil and the Dark Water​, in October 2020, which also been under option for Film/TV. He is represented for publishing by Harry Illingworth at DHH Literary Agency. 

Evenfall

Sam is part of an ancient, secret society: an order of quiet heroes who once protected the world. For decades, the Order of the Evening has lain dormant, all but wiped out by those threatened by its existence. But now the Order must rise again. For at the heart of the Order’s lost palace lies a powerful magic; magic that, in the wrong hands, has the power to destroy the world. And an age-old enemy is closing in . . .

Bequeathed with the mysterious seal of the Golden Linnet, Sam must uncover family secrets, face deadly foes and undertake perilous journeys. He will find allies in the most unlikely of places and learn to unlock his true powers. And he will – he must! – prevail.

From Peppa Pig to Hey Duggee, Doctor Who, Pointless (with Richard Osman) and Horrible Histories, he has been creating and telling stories in a variety of capacities for the last two decades. He is represented for publishing by Claire Wilson at RCW Literary Agency.

A Reluctant Spy

Jamie Tulloch is a successful exec at a top tech company, a long way from the tough upbringing that drove him to rise so far and so quickly.

But he has a secret…since the age of 23, he’s had a helping hand from the Legend Programme, a secret intelligence effort to prepare impenetrable backstories for undercover agents. Real people, living real lives, willing to hand over their identities for a few weeks in return for a helping hand with plum jobs, influence and access.

When his tap on the shoulder finally comes, it’s swiftly followed by the thud of a body. Arriving at a French airport ready to hand over his identity, Jamie finds his primary contact dead, the agent who’s supposed to step into his life AWOL and his options for escape non-existent.

Pitched into a deadly mission on hostile territory, Jamie must contend with a rogue Russian general, arms dealers, elite hackers, CIA tac-ops and the discovery of a brewing plan for war. Dangerously out of his depth, he must convince his sceptical mission handler he can do the job of a trained field agent while using his own life story as convincing cover.

David is originally from Edinburgh and now lives in East Lothian, by the sea, with his wife and two cats. Sometimes he wanders along the shoreline early in the morning, muttering about spies and spaceships into his dictaphone. He harbours dreams of being a full time shoreline mutterer. For the moment though, he writes short stories and novels very early in the morning and works as a UX designer by day. He’s an enthusiastic member of Edinburgh SFF and the Codex Writers group. When he’s not writing, he can most often be found walking in the Highlands or trying to make a dent in his reading pile. David is represented for publishing by Harry Illingworth at DHH Literary Agency.

 

WRITING ON THE WALL: Graffiti, Rebellion and the Making of Eighteenth Century Britain

‘Fascinating … not only a history of graffiti, but also a history of the 18th century through lost voices of the people who lived through it.’ The Times

‘You’ve read the Austen and seen the Gainsboroughs, well this is the real Eighteenth Century in the words of those who walked the streets, worked the coal seams and clung to the topsail yards” Dan Snow

What if walls could talk? For historian Madeleine Pelling, they can – if you know where to look.

A brilliant new cultural history of the long eighteenth century, Writing on the Wall is told through the marks its citizens left behind, bringing into focus lost voices from the highest to the lowest in society. From the centre of London to the islands of the Caribbean, Pelling goes in search of graffiti, evidence of how ordinary people experienced the world-changing events that defined their lives – from political prisoners to sex workers, homesick sailors, Romantic poets and the artisans of the industrial revolution.

Here are lives, loves, triumphs and failures, scratched into the walls of prisons and latrines, chalked up on doors and etched into windows. The names of their creators may be lost to history, but together they tell the real story of Britain’s most rebellious and transformative century.

 

Madeleine Pelling is a cultural historian, writer and broadcaster. Her first book, Writing on the Wall: Graffiti, Rebellion and the Making of Eighteenth-Century Britain (Profile Books, 2024), tells a history of the period through the marks its inhabitants left behind. It was described as ‘fascinating’ by The Times, and ‘ingenious’ by The Spectator.

Madeleine is the ARIAs-nominated writer and co-host of History Hit’s After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds and the Paranormal, and a regular contributor for television and radio, having worked with broadcasters including Channel 4, Sky Arts, Warner Bros and Times Radio.

She holds a PhD from the University of York, and her words appear in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, BBC History Magazine and History Today, as well as in numerous scholarly journals and edited collections.

Artezans: The Forgotten Magic

For the last 400 years, magic has been fading…

Edward Crane has always feared he won’t have any magic at all. Sure, he’s part of a powerful magic Artezan family, but he’s adopted. His twin sister, Elodie, isn’t so worried, but then everything always seems to work out perfectly for her.

So when Ed discovers he does have an Artezan power after all, he’s relieved. And it’s more than he ever could have imagined – in fact, it’s a dream come true.

But the problem with dreams is that sometimes they twist themselves into nightmares. And with Ed’s new abilities growing by the day, there’s a chance that this nightmare will become all too real…

L. D. Lapinski is the best-selling author of JAMIE, Stepfather Christmas, and The Strangeworlds Travel Agency series, including Adventure in the Floating Mountains, which was a 2023 World Book Day title. L. D.’s books are published around the world in fifteen languages, and each book in the Strangeworlds trilogy has been awarded a Kirkus star – one of the most coveted designations in the book industry, marking books of exceptional merit. L. D.’s is represented by Claire Wilson at RCW Literary Agency.