Saturday, June 2, 2012

Booksquawk

There's an intelligent, thoughtful review for Alison Wonderland over at Booksquawk:

"Part of the novel is a love letter to London. A dualistic wonderland in and below the level of vision and comprehension. Dark forces are at work, forces that invade her personal life and lead her to go on the run in a very sedate road trip to Weymouth, fuelled by sweets and chocolates from Woolworths and roadside garages. A road trip undertaken with her best friend Taron, a sexy clubber and girl about London town, but behind which is a romantic, off-kilter spiritual woman who is also a pathological liar and fantasist [...] Ultimately this is a book about whether the characters inhabit their lives as an active, conscious decision, or live adrift within it, as events and other people pass through, unable to affect anything much in the way of interaction or relationship with them [...] There is little trite redemption within these pages. Instead the reader is left painting scenarios of minor triumphs and gnawing regrets that the characters continue to experience beyond the life of the book. And that I think is no mean triumph of the novel itself. And a little subversive too, in its own way."


Alison Wonderland is available online from Amazon in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, America and the UK and in Hong Kong from Paddyfield. It's also available from The Book Depository and in independent bookshops like The Bookseller Crow, The Big Green Bookshop, Herne Hill Books and Clapham Books

If you have an ereader you can find it in the Kindle stores in the UK and the US.

Friday, June 1, 2012

You're Gorgeous

There's a gorgeous new cover for The Miracle Inspector from British artist Ian Dodds. It's currently available as an ebook from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk. The print edition will be published in September 2012 and will be available in all good bookshops.

The Miracle Inspector is a dystopian thriller set in the near future. England has been partitioned and London is an oppressive place where poetry has been forced underground, theatres and schools are shut, and women are not allowed to work outside the home. A young couple, Lucas and Angela, try to escape from London - with disastrous consequences.

"The Miracle Inspector is one of the few novels that everyone should read, it's a powerful novel that's masterfully written and subtly complex."SciFi and Fantasy Books

"Helen Smith crafts a story like she's the British lovechild of Kurt Vonnegut and Philip K. Dick, only with a feminist slant." Journal of Always Reviews

You can buy THE MIRACLE INSPECTOR for your ereader for only $3.99 or £2.99.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Stoke Newington Literary Festival

If you're in London this weekend it would be lovely to see you at the Literary Cabaret at the Stoke Newington Literary Festival on Sunday 3rd. We're on at 8pm in the Library Gallery just behind the town hall.

The Jubilee flotilla will have long since reached its destination at Tower Bridge and a street party will be in progress along Stoke Newington Church Street so come and join us for an entertaining evening of stories from Leo Benedictus, Rebecca Chance, Nat Segnit and Craig Taylor, and songs from Kate Arneil.

There are lots of brilliant events at the festival. Check out some of these:

Gala Opening, Josie Long & Robin Ince, 9pm, Town Hall, Friday 1st, £10

Things We Like, Miriam Elia & Bruno Vincent, 10pm, Library Gallery, Friday 1st, £5

 Literary Death Match, 8pm, Library Gallery, Saturday 2nd, £5

A London Obsession with Mark Mason & Craig Taylor, 1pm, Library Gallery, Sunday 3rd, £5

The New Libertines, 3pm, Baby Bathhouse, Sunday 3rd, £4

Aftertoon Tea with Jenny Colgan, 4pm, Homa, Sunday 3rd, £5

A Genteel Tipple, Sample specially-mixed Hendrick's cocktails, 4pm, Library Gallery

The Special Relationship, 6pm, Library Gallery, Sunday 3rd, £5

If you come to the Literary Cabaret on Sunday and you read this blog, please come and say hello. It will be great to see you there.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Never satisfied

There's a delightful blurb for my mystery novella, Three Sisters, over at a site called bestebookreaderlovers:

"It really is bonfire night time in London. Emily has been invited to a social gathering in the massive house at the end of her road by the new owners, whom she has never satisfied. Emily’s canine Jessie has not too long ago died so Emily is sensation a little raw and psychological. How could she know, as she still left her residence that night, that she was creating an appointment with loss of life?

A few Sisters is a novella, equivalent to close to 70 printed webpages. It is the 1st tale in a new comic mystery series by award-profitable novelist Helen S."

Curious about what it's supposed to say? You can find it at Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

The picture on the cover of Three Sisters A few Sisters is of my canine, Jessie, who not too long ago died. In case you were wondering.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Collaboration

I like sitting at home alone, writing. I never get lonely. If I want to chat, I can always find someone on Twitter or Facebook who is willing to waste time with me. But although I find this solitary life very agreeable, it's great to collaborate with other people sometimes, too.

I'm involved in several brilliant projects and events with other writers this year:

The Literary Cabaret
I host these events which are an entertaining mix of readings from award-winning writers with songs from Kate Arneil. The next one is at the Stoke Newington Literary Festival on Sunday 3rd June and features readings from Leo Benedictus, Rebecca Chance, Nat Segnit and Craig Taylor interspersed with songs from Kate. We're the closing event - come and celebrate with us!

NWA
My book, Alison Wonderland, was published by AmazonEncore last year. I'm one of a group of authors published by Amazon Publishing's new imprints (including AmazonEncore and Thomas & Mercer) who met in New York last year and are now blogging on this site. The latest posts are from Richard Hine (How to Survive the Death of Print) Greg Smith (How did I Get Here?) and Craig Lancaster (In Praise of Architecture). Please subscribe for entertaining/informative posts and/or join our Facebook page here.

Off the Shelf at Blacks
David Nobbs (the scriptwriter and novelist who is the creator of Reggie Perrin) and I will be running a workshop on comic writing at Black's private members club in Soho on Monday 25th June. The event has been organised by the Writers Guild of Great Britain and Fiction Uncovered. The event runs from 11am-4pm for a maximum of 23 attendees who will have a chance to read some of their own work after lunch. Cost is £25,including lunch. There's a Facebook page here or details here.

26 Treasures of Childhood
I'm one of twenty-six writers who will each write a piece in response to an item in a new exhibition at the V&A Museum of Childhood that will open in October 2012. There's a blog here. You can read a post by Michael Rosen (bestselling author and former Children's Laureate) about his contribution here. I'll be posting about my piece some time in the next few weeks so I'll let you know when it's up.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

The Literary Cabaret: Stoke Newington Literary Festival

I'm hosting The Literary Cabaret at the Stoke Newington Literary Festival on Sunday 3rd June at 8pm at the Library Gallery just behind the town hall.

Here's the blurb:
A fabulously entertaining mix of words and music hosted by Helen Smith, author of bestselling cult novel, Alison Wonderland, and other books and plays. She’ll be joined by Kate Arneil, an actress and singer who has worked all over the world and in the West End; Leo Benedictus, award-winning journalist and author of debut novel The Afterparty published by Random House; Rebecca Chance, bestselling author of five racy bonkbusters including Killer Heels, due out in August, as well as two mystery series and romantic comedies under the name Lauren Henderson; Nat Segnit, writer and performer of two Radio Four series and author of debut novel Pub Walks in Underhill Country published by Penguin; and Craig Taylor, editor of Five Dials magazine and author of Londoners: The Days and Nights of London Now and two other books.

The Literary Cabaret has been tipped in the The Londonist's preview of the festival, and the festival has been named as one of the top seven festivals of the summer in The Stylist magazine.

Tickets are £5 and are selling fast. You can book online or call the box office on 08444 771 000. Our Literary Cabaret at the Bloomsbury Festival sold out quickly and we expect this one to do the same, though some tickets will be held back for anyone wanting to turn up and buy on the night. Ours is the closing event and promises to be a lot of fun. Please come and join us.

Splash Into Summer

I'm giving away a copy of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and a party pack so you can create your own peculiar child with his or her special powers.

Edit: 1st June: Congratulations to the winner, Megan W. She has been notified by email.

Thanks to I Am A Reader Not A Writer and PageTurners for hosting the giveaway which is now closed.

I'm sorry if you didn't win but I'll have another giveaway next month so please check back here or follow my Facebook page for details.