“The picture’s over. Now I have to go and put it on film.” ― Alfred Hitchcock

It’s quite boring, admitting that you enjoy going to the cinema. If you’ve heard someone say it before, it’s with a note of apology, as if to say ‘I wish I had taken up sky diving’, or ‘I barely know you and definitely can’t tell you about my love of alphabetisation’.

But genuinely, I LOVE going to the cinema (even three years working in one hasn’t put me off). As with reading a great book,  film can transport to places you never expected, affecting your predispositions and transforming your opinions in ways you might never have expected. And cinemas, just like the book industry, are grappling with new technology and pushing boundaries every day to keep us entertained and excited. Much like a beautifully bound hardback or ebook, the sheer range of how you can explore the latest releases is kind of astounding – the film itself might move you on big screen or small, but it’s the cinema (much like the publisher) that decides how this story will reach you.

Whether you prefer boutique and carefully curated, quick and easy or crazily innovative, there’s something for everyone out there. Here are a pick of some of my favourite cinemas (and cinema experiences)…

Rooftop Cinema Club

Last night, I saw Amelie on a rooftop in Hoxton – a BBQ, a clear(ish) London night’s sky and director’s chairs with blankets on made watching Amelie all the more like a magical dream.

ODEON Holloway

Originally a theatre, this gem was destroyed by a V1 Rocket bomb on 8th November 1944. The beautiful surviving features give everything a wonderfully dramatic air – even Haywire, officially the worst film I’ve EVER seen at a cinema, didn’t seem so bad in these surroundings. Actually I lie, it was total dross

Prince Charles Cinema

Showing the coolest films you’ve always loved, PCC is all about the experience – go catch a comedy there, and laugh at whatever new is on the sign!

Hot Tub Cinema

Err, could there BE a better medium to watch a Will Ferrell film?!

Salisbury ODEON

This Fifteenth-century building has let the modern world develop around it – there are tapestries on the walls, and a suit of armour in the foyer!! I saw Harry Potter there and felt like I was ON that chessboard with Harry, Ron & Hermione.

Do you love or hate the cinema? Have any recommendations for me? Leave a comment!

And here’s some more words of genius for the road: “The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.”  ― Alfred Hitchcock

So true.

Litter Vigilantes

In Elon Dann’s CLOCKWISE TO TITAN, the three heroes scour the brutal Institute for rubbish in order to make the equipment they need to break out and survive the wild journey ahead of them. Just like his teenage protagonists, Elon too spends a lot of time picking up litter and sifting through it, pondering its origins and potential uses. Today’s blog is about his findings…

Most people who see me probably assume I’m ‘on a scheme’. Or serving out a court order. The oldest young offender in town…I don’t blame them.  I can’t be from the council, not working on a weekend.  And I do look a sight, with my stick, my bag, my filthy overalls and a reflective safety vest shredded to fuzz by the need to dig deep into scratchy hedges.  My vibe is a janitor / scarecrow / wino three-way splice.

But I’m not planning to escape, and I’m not a scheme. I’m on a mission. Well, an errand: volunteer litter picker. The badge says ‘warden’, but that makes me sound like I have a peaked cap and the authority to shake my fist at kids (pesky kids) and confiscate footballs.  I favour ‘litter vigilante’.  A maverick, I work by my own rules. Any route.  Any day. See this stick, discarded fag packet? This is a Helping Hand Litter Picker 940mm, the most powerful extended reach gripping tool in the world…

I began litter picking (not to be confused with pitta licking) when walking one day to Tesco with my wife and my son, still in his pushchair. Funny, the connections you make.  I saw all the cans and the crisp packets  dripping from a particularly well-adorned hedge, fumed at the unutterable ugliness of it all, and snapped back to a visit I’d made years before to the Checkpoint Charlie museum in Berlin.  One of the escape stories described there was of a group of East German pensioners who dug a tunnel to the West. Months, it took them.  Even when they’d broken through to freedom, they refused to depart until they’d enlarged the tunnel sufficiently for their wives to walk along it without stooping. They absolutely refused to permit their loved ones to emerge with bowed heads, looking as if they had anything to be ashamed of.  I love that story; gets me every time. Anyway, I saw the way my wife turned away from the litter, saying she didn’t notice it.  Orbs, she didn’t.  She saw it, she hated it, she accepted it as another of life’s belittling belches in the face, just as I did.  And I thought: no one has the right to make my wife turn away in disappointment and disgust. That’s my job.

After the shopping, I went back with my gardening gloves and picked it all up. Three visits, it took.  I joined the Duckworth Worcestershire Trust, and they issued me with my picking stick and the comforting knowledge that there were scores of other local people who felt the same way and were Doing Something About It. I could have bought a stick on ebay for a fiver.  The support of a group is good, but a stick is essential. Without a stick, you’re a nutter, scrabbling around in the dirt. Slipped discs and TENS machines await you. With a stick, you’re hobo erectus. You’re a professional. Actually you’re a volunteer, but you feel like a professional.

Common questions for the volunteer litter picker:

I bet you get loads of hassle. Loads. Every week I get gangs of up to two people swaggering up to me. ‘You’re doing a lovely job!’ they scream, their faces contorted into masks of unreasoning hatred. ‘Thank you so much!’ the heartless fiends will call out as they depart.  In truth, I get lots of thanks, and in ten years the complete catalogue of hassle is three counts of ‘Oi! Ya missed a bit!’ one ‘Get a proper job!’ and one ‘HOW BIG’S YUR WILLY?’. That last was a little scary because it was shouted out by a massive youth through the passenger window of a car that screeched into a lay-by ahead of me for no reason other than to pose that query. Unable to think how best to respond, I raised my picking stick and clacked the grippers in a manner I hoped went over as comically boastful but in no way suggestive of any desire to take the matter further. The car drove away. Weeks later, as I was picking in the steaming July heat, the same youth stopped me in the road and passed me a can of cold lager. No mention of my willy was made.

Besides, I can never really be scared. If I ever was attacked (and why should I be?), I’d need only to open my bag. It’s not the dog mess that honks the worst, it’s the beer tins. The beer attracts the slugs, the slugs die, the smell is…funky.

Trash or treasure?

I bet you find loads of money. Yes. I now manage an investment fund portfolio standing at over £800 million made up entirely of coins worth 50p or less.

The real figure is less than ten quid in eleven years. Plus my hat, one pair of jeans, a fleece I gave to charity, and a pristine copy of ‘The Smartest Giant in Town’ by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Hah. The irony.

If you tidy an area, doesn’t it encourage people to drop more litter? The opposite. People drop litter where they see litter. Once cleaned, areas pretty much stay tidy.  Oddly, I have never once seen anyone drop rubbish. Never. Apart from when they approach me and drop it into my bag, and even then, they ask very tentatively beforehand. ‘Alright if I…I mean, can I actually…cheers, mate, nice one.’ Can’t imagine why they think I’d object. What else do they think I might be doing, taking my bin bags for a stroll?

Droppers must do it in the style of Great Escape prisoners disposing of dirt down the insides of their trouser legs, or sneak out at unpopular hours of the morning specifically to festoon verges with Wotsits bags, two litre bottles of Diamond White cider and Yazoo milkshake cartons. Similarly, I’ve never seen people pin up or remove those ‘Happy 40^th Birthday Shamir / Daz / Fido’ placards and balloons you find tied to roundabout chevrons and bollards.  The dirty work must all be done by inhabitants of a crepuscular demi-monde, driving around in Ford demi-Mondeos.

No. Wrong demographic. My own trash-analysis leads me to believe most litter originates from heavy drinkers and school age kids. You draw your own Venn diagram, but neither group should be driving.

I recycle what I can, I bin what I can’t, I keep what I feel for.

The toys I always wash and house. That’s my rule – if it was loved once, it’s safe. I’m a lanky, latter-day Bagpuss more than a Womble or a Borrower. So if your kids have mislaid  a dolly with one arm, a wooden rhino, a cyberman’s gun, a car with a Lego brick stuffed inside, ask me. I might have it.

And if you’ve a can of cold beer to hand, I’ll be very grateful. Just don’t ask me about my anatomical dimensions.

CLOCKWISE TO TITAN is out now – find out more about Elon on Facebook and follow him on twitter! 

Edible Art Class

Some of you might have seen the deliciously gruesome edible prints that we sent out with THE SAVAGES book proof:

They were made by the awesome people at Animal Vegetable Mineral, who we bumped into at Eat Your Heart Out last year. After sampling their creations I was pretty curious as to how they made these treats, so jumped at the chance to take part in an Edible Art Class!

You heard me correctly. We made art, and then ATE IT.

There was lickable life drawing, with apple flavoured pens on edible paper…

Delicious, but a reminder that I really, really can’t draw.

Chocolate model making (continuing with THE SAVAGES theme i made a chocolate skull – which mysterious disappeared before i got it home. Ahem.

Lickable graffiti – the below is meant to be a key, in case you couldn’t guess (I wouldn’t blame you).

Edible paint by numbers – delicious! Each paint tasted different – red is strawberry, yellow is pineapple, blue is rhubarb and black is caramel. Delicious! I went a bit off-piste with my dog painting, but it still tasted delicious – kind of like trifle!!

 

We had a blast – thank Tasha for a brilliant night! Follow AVM on twitter to find out when their next class is – guaranteed delicious-ness.

Bringing South African Fiction to the UK

As we may have mentioned before (loudly), we are in the brilliant business of finding wonderful new authors, creating beautiful new books and recommending these books to readers. Our books come from all manner of different countries around the world, and in some cases we are responsible for bringing a story to the UK for the very first time – always exciting!

This month, it was South African author Edyth Bulbring’s A MONTH OF APRIL-MAY that made its UK debut. It’s a one-eyebrow-raised account of a teenager’s trials and tribulations as she navigates a new school, a new family situation and a whole new way of life, set in the city of Johannesburg. First published by Penguin South Africa under the title MELLY, MRS. HO & ME, it was Edyth’s voice and April-May’s attitude that excited editor Sara O’Connor when it first landed in her inbox…

“April-May says it like it is. She’s the girl I wish I could have been when I was a teen, and the girl I definitely wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of. Yes, the story is set in South Africa, but it doesn’t feel foreign. The slang words could just as easily be British slang (as an American in London there are often phrases that I need a glossary for things like “bodge job” and “wangle”). This book is just an hilarious story about a girl trying to settle into a new school, and convince the most goreous guy she’s ever seen that her name is really Bella and that he should be her Edward.”

When buying books from outside the UK, there are always small edits to be considered – maybe we should change some slang, or in the case of American books, the spelling – to ensure that it was right for a UK audience. It’s a tricky balancing act between readability and keeping the cultural essence of the book intact. South African slang is a huge feature of APRIL-MAY, so instead of Anglicising the speech, we decided instead to include a glossary…

Hands up who already knew some!!

What we love about reading is its ability to transport us, and it’s that feeling of discovery that we want to share with people. Equally, telling people about your city and culture is as exciting – it’s the same feeling when, far away from home, you meet someone from where you grew up. We are lucky enough to share that feeling with Edyth, and here some South African readers want to share it with you too:

“…every time I had a chance to read, I didn’t hesitate to take it out. It hooked me because it’s soooo real. Please, Edyth, keep writing!”

Danii Ferreira, 14 years old

 “I would definitely recommend this to any reader who wants an insight of what school life is like for some people in South Africa! (a society that is divided economically).”

Aisha Setipa , 15 years old.

 “…you get to live out startling experiences through the character without actually experiencing the consequences yourself. I think every schoolchild can relate to this book as it explores universal issues relating to authority, school and divorce.”

Emilie du Toit, 14 years old

 “a witty portrayal of the bursary student April-May February, and her feats of vengeance against her substitute teacher and arch-enemy Mrs Ho. It is sure to bring forth a chuckle from all readers. I also loved that it gives such a fascinating insight into everyday Johannesburg life.”

Juliet Markantonatos, 14 years old

I enjoy the sense of humour and I think others from other countries will enjoy this too. It really tells the reader about school life, and Jozi school life in particular.”

Siobhan Mahlaule 14 years old

Objects of Our Affection

It’s that time of year again, when the shops are stuffed to bursting with sickly-sweet cards, fluffy cupids and heart-shaped chocolates. Yep, it’s Valentine’s Day, and although we are supposed to be directing our affections toward someone rather than something, we can’t help but get distracted – there are some lust-worthy objects hitting the shops that are dragging our eyes away from those heart-shaped chocolates. Here’s a few beautiful things that are capturing our attention this week…

Coralie Bickford-Smith designs the most lust-worthy jackets around, and these delicious-looking books from Penguin’s Great Food collection are no exception. Swoon at the mouth-watering colours and intricate patterns – and possibly the delicious food described too. Maybe.

Spotted yesterday in Foyles on the Southbank were these eye-catching array of Don DeLillo covers from Picador. The pop of colour on the inside covers? J’adore!

THIS IS AMAZING. Suck UK have ensured that not only will you never lose your page again, but you will have a tiny book-house on your bedside table. Dare I say it? Cute. Possibly cuter than Clooney*.

What beautiful things are distracting you this Valentine’s week?

*After watching the BAFTAs, we can confirm that nothing is cuter than Clooney.

Halloween: Publishing Style

Although I’ve spent the last couple of weeks fighting the urge to start celebrating Christmas (the SPAM christmas tree will be going up on December the 1st), that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about Halloween. How could we, when there’s not one, but TWO spooky Hot Key books out this month!

If you’re wondering, those are edible eyeball cakes. Of course.

As publishers, we are downright obsessed with stories. You might have noticed. So quite obviously we wanted to spend our Halloween immersed in the creepiest, most TERRIFYING stories possible…

Yes, that is a raven on Gareth’s shoulder.

Which started with a trip to the Museum of London. Gareth entertained us over lunch with a ghostly event in the Victorian Walk, getting us all involved in his scary story as the audience chose the characters’ fates. And of course, the day wouldn’t have been complete without a rendition of the Constable & Toop song!

Telling a spooky story to a group always makes it seem that much more frightening (possibly due to mass hysteria). And later, when we asked twitter to help us tell a horrifying tale, things definitely got, um, hysterical…

We started each story with a line from UNDER MY HAT: TALES FROM THE CAULDRON.

And what we got back ranged from the scary to the downright hilarious.

“I looked deep into his eyeless sockets, saw a centipede crawling in his brainmeat and shuddered #undermyhat” @mattlibrarian spooked us

“Despite his rotting flesh, he looked damned sexy. Oh no, wait. Scary. Yes, he looked scary (though well-dressed) #undermyhat” @RebekahBooks had us in stitches

“I screamed and struggled but it was no use! Wit a roar he threw me to the ground.#undermyhat” Things got dark @_AnnabelleH_

“His grey face spread into an unbalanced grin. One bony claw clutched my shirt collar,wrapping my fate in his hands. #undermyhat” and darker still… @kellylou

“Next thing, he was whizzing away to a flat field of windmills with villagers eating rounds of Gouda cheese #undermyhat” and then downright hilarious! @WeSatDown

The crazy, insane and SCARY story that you helped us come up with is up on Storify  for your reading pleasure… or not…

Thanks everyone that took part, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Just Imagine…

Earlier this month, I was lucky enough to fly off to Stockholm for the Bonnier conference GRID. Now, don’t switch off – this is nothing like the cold coffee and uncomfortable chairs that you’re probably picturing; GRID was quite the opposite…

Flying into Stockholm (what a beautiful city), the five of us representing Bonnier Publishing UK didn’t really know what to expect. We’d been following the blog and twitter, studying the program, had asked colleagues – yet the only thing we could be certain of was that GRID is like no event that any of us had been to before. So here is my roundup of the best bits, the videos you have to watch and some behind-the-scenes highlights!

Monday morning we made our way to Wintervaken, the abandoned dynamite factory (seriously) where we were to be spending the next two days. Lit up and  decked out with chintzy armchairs and sofas, stools and side tables all pointing towards a stage, it seemed like things were about to start…

Next thing we know, the lights are out and on comes Jonas Bonnier!

It’s a pretty packed day of speakers from all over the world and all kinds of industries. My favourites? Sarah Kay on spoken word poetry, Bunker Roy sharing his story of Barefoot Wisdom and Chip Kidd telling us how to ‘fail better’. All the speakers had incredibly different ways of looking at the world, yet were similarly determined to achieve their goals – be it training grandmothers to be solar engineers or moving up to Harlem and starting a restaurant. But why take my word for it when you can watch all the videos here!

Wise words from Einstein in our GRID notebook – where would we be without the wonderful, varied (and sometimes fantastically mad!) imaginations of our authors?

 

Day 1 flew by as we listened to the stories of our speakers: stories of struggles, non-believers and achieving the impossible. We all left on a high, jumping on a boat to get back to central Stockholm – luckily the sun had come out!

 

A surprise appearance from the Bonnier band – who knew that Bonnier CEOs from around the world were so musical?!

In seemingly no time at all it was time for day 2, and a brand new array of speakers. Marco Tempest merged magic with technology right in front of our eyes and Andy Puddicombe (above) led us in meditation (and juggled). Louie Psihoyos gave us an insight into his terrifying documentary The Cove and we talked about social media with Margaret Stewart.

GRID was like nothing I have ever been to before. From the people I met, who are internationally struggling, innovating and creating just as we are, to the stories, to the setting, it was genuinely inspiring. I took a hundred things away from there, but most importantly? Say YES. Say yes to as many experiences as possible, listen to stories, read widely, introduce yourself to strangers, try something different. It was the common theme through all the speakers that taking a chance works – whether it pays off it the way we expected, or influences our futures for the better.

 

 

So thank you Bonnier for holding the conference, and thank you speakers for bringing your experiences and stories to us in Stockholm – next year’s GRIDsters have something special to look forward to!

 

Creating books creatively (and beyond).

You probably already know that publishing is a pretty creative industry. From Editorial, Design and Production to us over in Sales & Marketing, we spend our days working toward bringing the most exciting stories to life in the most innovative ways we can think of – be that digitally, physically, by doing some crazy dancing or even enlisting the help of tiny hedgehogs!

 

So when Becca asked us what our creative hobbies were outside of work, it was pretty natural that we all immediately thought BOOKS! We eat, sleep and breathe books, and the bits in-between we fill with family, friends, art, theatre, exercise, music, drawing… and of course reality tv and crisps at some point, too.

 

But it’s the creativity that makes our jobs so exciting, and there is nothing better than creating lovely things around our books and sharing them with the world beyond our Clerkenwell offices. We first read Sally Gardner’s MAGGOT MOON over Christmas last year, and now finally we are nearing publication day – it’s unreal to think that what started as an email attachment so long ago has evolved, and sparked so much creative work between author and publisher. Sally’s wonderful words inspired the amazingly gruesome illustrations from Julian Crouch that now pepper the pages, and began our journey toward bringing Standish from our imaginations to your bookshelves. It’s been a fantastic project to work on, and now not only do we have an amazing hardback book, but also a soon-to-launch Multi-touch iBook, a digital audio book, an eBook, a soon-to-come website and some seriously cool propaganda themed POS ready to show everyone (you especially, people who love books).

 

Here are some MAGGOT MOON-y type things to look out for in your local bookshop…(or, if you are a bookshop, or library, or school for that matter, email us on keynotes@hotkeybooks.com and we’ll pop a selection in the post for you)

 

And let’s be honest – being this creative at work is a pretty good excuse for watching the Xfactor.

Nattering

One of the best things about working in publishing is the fact we’re paid to talk to people about books. A lot. And yesterday Cait and I popped up to Altrincham to talk to a group of booksellers about our list.

We were invited up by The Lovely Steven, the Waterstones CRSM (Kids Specialist) for the area and we got to talk to some fantastic (and passionate) booksellers not only about us, but also about what’s working at the moment, what they think is missing and how we can help them.

And we got to do a bit of shopping in the branch which is always good. Look at the lovely children’s section in Waterstones Altrincham – including fish!

So what did we learn? That customers are very savvy about jackets and they’re getting bored that everything looks the same. That there are a lot of Mums asking about books for boys and that there’s a gap for teen titles for them.

If anyone ever wants a natter about books, just give us a shout. We’re available for weddings, birthdays and reading groups.

P.S. 22 days to go!

Warehouses: the ins and outs

Ever thought you knew it all about warehouses? Maybe you’re a world-class expert at not getting lost in industrial estates, and spent last Friday bragging about your forklift license? (So jealous, I can’t even reverse park).

Or maybe, like Becca, Naomi and myself, you have never been to a warehouse before yesterday, and would be a danger behind the wheel of anything bigger than a Ford Fiesta. I sympathise.

Anyway. Yesterday, us Assistants went down to the Autumn offices in Chichester to meet some of our Bonnier Publishing colleagues, and generally find out a bit more about the group as a whole. The Autumn offices are in a lovely old converted barn, and are stuffed full of (you guessed it!) BOOKS. Which sort of prompted the question – where do your books come from?

Luckily for us, Autumn are pretty unique in the publishing world in that they have their own warehouse. It means that they can get their books out to the shops (generally) quicker than most, and also means that we could have sneaky tour!

Right. First off: warehouses are MASSIVE. And quite cold. It’s the busiest time for Autumn at the moment, so the warehouse team are working 24/7 to make sure that all orders are packed up and ready to go – not that this increases the temperature much! Hence, thermals are essential. If this were a Lonely Planet, it would most certainly be a Top Tip.

High vis jackets are also a necessity, which not only make you look SUPER cool, but also ensure that boxes aren’t accidently dropped on you.

Here we are- safety first kids. (Photo credit to Will of Templar!)

Gary, Daisy and Talia led us on Warehouse: The Definitive Tour, and it was crazy to see just how many books pass through this massive building before they end up with customers.  The above is just one of the ‘chambers’… and there are three! Any last minute changes to orders have to be dealt with the warehouse team, which involves some seriously skilled forklift driving and yards and yards and yaaaards of shrink wrap. And this is a space that only Autumn and Five Mile Press share – I sort of have the idea now that GBS, where our books are housed along with many other publishers’, is the size of Luxembourg.

So next time you pick up a book in a book shop, or supermarket, or a second hand store, think about the journey it’s been on and just how many people have had a hand in bringing it to you – trust me, it is a lot more than you would think!

 

*Massive thanks to Gary, Talia and Daisy for hosting us (myself, Becca, Naomi and Will and Katie from Templar) in Chichester for the day!!*