NICK ARDLEY'S NEW BOOK

How does Nick Ardley manage it?  This prodigious writer has just published his new book which has a  rather long title:  THE JOTTINGS OF A THAMES ESTUARY DITCH-CRAWLER (Amberley Publishing).  This is a remarkable book about sailing, living on a Thames spritsail barge and the whole fascinating business of boat owning.

Nick is great at telling a salty tale and this time he takes us on another series of journeys in his yacht Whimbrel, through the meandering waterways and creeks that feed into the Thames and its estuary.  

This author has been a familiar, friendly  face at earlier Essex Book Festivals, particularly during the official openings at Chelmsford Library  and his talks are always popular.  He writes articles for Yachting Monthly and Anglia Afloat and his work has been published in Essex Life and Suffolk Magazines (two journals who also use my own work) - Lovely!   Nick's book is priced at £17.99, its ISBN is 978-1-4456-0100-7 by Amberley Publishing.

GATHERING OF THE CLAN IN BILLERICAY

Enjoyed entertaining some of the best of south east Essex authors the other day.  Such talent and much fun.  Everyone was either launching a new book or new business  - huge energy output. Wish we could have bottled it!  Here we see Susan Hegedus with her debut book (a fascinating read - great book for Christmas) THE HIDDEN GREEN MAN IN ESSEX - Published by Dick Richardson, at Country Books, Courtyard Cottage, Little Longstone, Bakewell, Derbyshire, DE45 1NN.  £7.99 Do check out his latest catalogue of precious old books and his brand new creations - something for everyone.  Susan will be 'appearing' on BBC Essex (with Steve Scruton) on Wednesday at 2.30pm - do listen and learn more about her first super book).

MICHAEL ROUSE'S CLACTON-ON-SEA THROUGH TIME

I know we are looking at books for Christmas, but this one, reminding us of summer by the sea, is fascinating.  The illustrations within are priceless.   For anyone living in Essex, a visit to Clacton was a must and Rouse's new book will bring back wonderful memories.  Published by Amberley of Stroud at £14.99 (details can be found at http://www.amberley-books.com/)

The following URL gives a full article on my SUITE 101 On-Line Magazine

http://sylviakent.suite101.com/an-essex-cliff-top-resort-a397728

GATHERING OF SOME OF OUR SPECIAL ESSEX WRITERS

Looking forward to welcoming some of our super women writers tomorrow.  All very well chatting in the break at some of our writing conventions, but lovely to learn what makes some of them so successful.  Will take some pictures and find out what our guests are up to.  I know we have a few books coming on to the market and a music album or two!

PIPER TERRETT'S VICTIM SUPPORT - AN INSPECTOR CREE NOVEL -

VICTIM SUPPORT
An Inspector Sam Cree novel
By Essex author Piper Terrett
November 2011
£6.99 - Paperback
Published by Norsey Press
Available from Amazon.co.uk and www.piperterrett.co.uk

NEW CRIME NOVEL BY ESSEX AUTHOR SET IN BILLERICAY
Victim Support is the debut murder mystery from Piper Terrett, an Essex writer who is also author of The Frugal Life: How to spend less and live more (Good Life Press) and Bedroom DJ: A Beginner's Guide (Omnibus Press). Originally from Romford, Piper lived in Billericay for 7 years and sets her crime novel in the fictional town of 'Norsey', based on Billericay.
Victim Support features Piper's female police detective, Inspector Sam Cree. When twin boys go missing, DI Cree and her colleagues on the Norsey Force are already overstretched. Then, a student and an elderly woman are mysteriously gunned down and evidence suggests a sniper is at work. In the background of each murder is an unsolved crime. Is revenge the motive or something deeper? Sam and her boss, Chief Inspector Bill Irons, face a race against time to find the missing boys and the killer before he strikes again.
BOOK SIGNING – SAT 10TH DECEMBER IN BILLERICAY
A book signing will be held at the Coach House, Billericay Town Council offices, High Street Billericay on Saturday 10th December from 2.30-5.30pm. Meet the author and hear her read from the book.

ABOUT PIPER TERRETT
Piper Terrett is author of The Frugal Life: How to spend less and live more (Good Life Press) and Bedroom DJ: A Beginner's Guide (Omnibus Press). A financial journalist, blogger and green activist, she wrote the popular Frugal Life blog for MSN.co.uk - about saving money during the credit crunch - appearing regularly on BBC Essex's Dave Monk Show. She now writes The Essex Life blog at www.piperterrett.wordpress.com and is the Energy Saving Trust's Green Voice of the UK and a member of the Climate Speakers Network www.climate-speakers.org.uk which gives green talks to schools and societies. Piper Terrett is available for interview. Please telephone 07815 053240 or email piperterrett@googlemail.com

BILLERICAY TOWN GUIDE NOW PUBLISHED

The seventh Billericay Town Guide was launched on Friday and it was good to meet so many people who had contributed.  We even had a film show outlining the work we've done with the Community Archive over the last year or two. 

DAVID STARLING'S GREAT NEW BOOK

Many authors are bringing out their Christmas books. David Starling is a favourite Essex author. His latest book is NICE-LOOKING (Essex) GIRLS AFLOAT. This book is unusual in that it tells a story about Essex boats that just happen to have girls’ names. He shows the important part played by women in the life of our county’s waterfront (350 miles). David highlights more than 100 boats of one kind or another – not just the bawleys, barges and smacks, but Trinity House vessels, lifeboats, dinghies (which became film stars) the King’s Britannia and other fabulous yachts.
David’s title NICE LOOKING GIRLS AFLOAT derives from the words of the old Wivenhoe shipwright in the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould’s novel of 1880, Mehalah...
“... a regular Essex marshland name. I hope I shall remember it. But I have to carry so many names of nice-looking girls in my head and of ships I have built, that they run one another down, and I cannot be sure to recall them.”

David Starling has sailed the East Coast for 60 years and the stories within his book of 40 pages and 60 illustrations tell us about him as well as the county he loves. Proceeds from his book will be donated to the Essex Women’s Advisory Group (EWAG) which supports the well-being of Essex women and girls; also in giving help where needed to young women (14-30). It supports teaching and training in commerce, the arts and sport and promotes Essex as a place to live, visit or work. The top women of Essex, drawn from the Prince’s Trust, Essex Police, Probation, Girl Guides and the Women’s Institute, are all delighted to support EWAG in this important mission.

COPENHAGEN PHIL'S AT WORK AGAIN

I know these flash u-tubes are common now, but I do love the start up of this particular Ravel piece. Take a look at the conductor right at the beginning.
The Copenhagen Philharmonic amazed commuters at the Copenhagen Central Train Station, as they created a kind of orchestral "flash mob" –http://www.classicalarchives.com/feature/dont_miss_this.html

HIDDEN HISTORY OF DENVER by ELIZABETH VICTORIA WALLACE

Have just tweeted my first little promo for my sister Elizabeth Victoria Wallace who has seen her seventh fabulous book published this weekend under the History Press' HIDDEN HISTORY OF DENVER.  It's brilliant and readers are certainly in for a surprise.

Elizabeth explores this amazing city.  Time has washed away so many unusual stories—from the dark days of nineteenth-century Law and Order League lynching, and the KKK’s later rise and fall to the heroism of suffragettes and the touching plight of the gypsies.

Elizabeth has discovered so many intriguing stories.  She introduces readers to characters like world heavyweight boxing champion Charles L. “Sonny” Liston, hit-man turned rodeo promoter Leland Varain, aka “Diamond Jack,” and the city’s daring wall dogs, whose hand-painted building advertisements are fading reminders of a bygone Denver.

Elizabeth's book can be found in Barnes and Noble and on Amazon, plus all good book stores and sources.  ISBN is  9781609493509 or you can contact the History Press directly.$19.99.

MALCOLM AND HEATHER'S NEW CITY-LIT BOOK

The City-Lit Series of travel books continues spiralling its upward success.

Heather Reyes and Malcolm Burgess at Oxygen Books  are really excited about their latest title, city-pick New York. I wish I could have bought this book when I visited the city some years ago.  We know that  NewYork is one of the most exciting and pulsating places on earth with so many fantastic writers who have lived there and used it as a background to their own books.

From F Scott Fitzgerald journeying up Fifth Avenue and Bob Dylan and Suze Rotolo arriving in Greenwich Village to Alistair Cooke looking out over Central Park and David Byrne doing the Five Boro Bike Tour …From Maxim Gorky visiting Coney Island and Edmund White finding a city of freedoms to Jan Morris recalling Manhattan 1945 and Teju Cole encountering the Statue of Liberty and over seventy other dazzling writers, this is a book that truly celebrates the richness and diversity of this amazing metropolis.

city-pick New York, edited by Heather Reyes, was published last week and costs £9.99, paperback original, 978 09567876 1 3. The book and other city-pick titles are available in bookshops, Amazon UK and of course post and packing free worldwide at www.oxygenbooks.co.uk  The book is out in South Africa in November and in Australia and New Zealand in December.

MORE PICTURES FROM THE ARCHIVE GROUP

Took far too many pictures yesterday, as usual, and now add a few more to give an idea of what a super day we enjoyed at Billericay Library when members of the public brought in some of their family albums, written stories and ephemera to add to our growing cache of archives.