Unbelievable! I Turn My Back For Five Minutes…
And a whole new crop of books pops up!
MABLE 2022 kicks off today. The Massive Autumn Book Launch Event. Truly MASSIVE:
Six whole weeks of it. Not wall to wall, but a steady stream of content surrounding five brand new books (my pre-ordered ebooks landed in my e-reader this morning) and more than a dozen other books that deserve some light shining on them.
I’ve already spoken to the authors of the launch books and the major spotlight books and have recorded some ponderings and musings.
Now there’s a more detailed schedule out and it reveals a day dedicated to a whole new set of books. It starts out in the world of Doctor Who profiling 2 actors who have written their memoirs; Simon Fisher Becker and Colin Spaull.
The Whovians amongst you will not need telling that Simon spent many hours on the set of Doctor Who dressed in bright blue paint from head to toe, and for some memorable episodes was no more than a disembodied head in a box. He relates an alarming tale of the day the cameras stopped rolling and his head was forgotten.
Colin Spaull too is a legend amongst Whovians; one of a small band of actors who have appeared in the original series of Doctor Who, the new series, and the Big Finish productions. If you don’t know Colin Spaull, chances are you’ll know his voice or his face. He has appeared in … basically everything … on the small screen, the big screen, on the stage, on radio, and as the voice behind advertisements and documentaries. He has some incredible tales to tell — the chase that reduced his name to ClinSplat … being knocked to the ground and covered in foam by Catherine Tate, walking in the mountains with David Niven …
Moving out from under the Tardis
The MABLE 2022 spotlight zooms in on:
Alex Janaway, a Major in the British Army, and his epic End of Empire series.
Janet Blackwell’s Filey Chronicles — fantasy for young adults set on the Yorkshire coast — The Bridge and the Butterflies and The Five Feathers.
A book of delightful children’s verse written by Dale Neal, My Socks Have Gone Bonkers.
Fun fact: My Socks Have Gone Bonkers is illustrated by Mark Millicent who went on to write his memoir Fizzy Days & Plastic Monkeys — from Crewe to Malibu which is launching at MABLE.
The Day Jack Sacked His Therapist by Marie Gameson — a psychological masterpiece and maze of family relationships.
The Boy in Winter’s Grasp by John Scotcher. Young adult WW1 fantasy with a superb twist.
Till They Dropped by Sue Knight. Sue takes a pop at the runaway consumerism of the modern world in this novella.
Makeover by Barbara Hudson. A novel about the complexities of family relationships, set in Oxford.
Barbara herself is a retired Oxford Don so knows this world.
Disraeli Hall by Sue Knight. A crime thriller set in a crumbling stately home in the north of England.
Football’s Not The Only Game by Alan Combes. A young adult adventure with football at its heart.
Alan spent many years as a referee and a sports writer. He was a match correspondent for the Sunday Times. He knows his football.
The Purple Bowtie by Lisabeth Reynolds. A story of tangled relationships set in 1980s Miami.
I Used To Be by Mary Brown. Inspired by Lord of the Flies.
Mary was featured as a debut novelist in Mslexia magazine when this came out.
Waiting for Gordo by Sue Knight. An eco-thriller set in the Maldives.
And — Yay! my very own The Doll Makers — 3rd in my private investigator series.
It’s the one that won the award.
An unexpected deep dive
As an unexpected bonus, there is a deep dive session that covers two divergent topics — internet dating for the over 60s with Barbara Hudson, and spiritual emergency with Lisabeth Reynolds.
Welcome to MABLE 2022!
Here’s the “Welcome to MABLE” video giving you a chaotic glimpse of the cornucopia of delights on offer!
Enjoy!