All posts tagged: author

From Traitors To TikTok Influencers: The Age Of The ‘Quiet Author’ Is Over

From Traitors To TikTok Influencers: The Age Of The ‘Quiet Author’ Is Over

Published by Sam Flores

It’s a tough time to be an author. The era of spending an evening with a book for company is long gone, as reading competes for our attention with TV, radio, podcasts, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, X, PlayStation, Xbox, films, streaming, virtual reality, audiobooks, Substack, magazines and more… Many aren’t even picking up a book now and again. According to The Reading Agency, half of adults don’t regularly read, and research from the National Literacy Trust shows only a third of 8 to 18 year olds say they enjoy reading for pleasure – hardly reassuring for the industry. This apparent dwindling interest in reading is making it even more difficult for authors to capture public attention when competing with the stardust of a singer or the chaos of a reality TV contestant, but that’s not stopped some bucking the trend. In a classic case of ‘if you can’t beat them, join them, outshine them, and catapult yourself to national stardom’, psychological thriller writer Harriet Tyce found fame competing on The Traitors, the biggest show on TV. …

Next Heated Rivalry book pushed due to author Rachel Reid’s Parkinson’s disease

Next Heated Rivalry book pushed due to author Rachel Reid’s Parkinson’s disease

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Rachel Reid, the author behind the hockey romance novel series that inspired HBO Max’s hit show Heated Rivalry, has pushed the release date for the next book back, due to her worsening symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease. Reid gave an update on her new book Tuesday in an Instagram video. Originally, Unrivaled — part of her larger “Game Changers” series which includes Heated Rivalry — was scheduled for a September 2026 release. Now, it won’t be out until June 1, 2027. “My life has gotten very different in the last couple months, and although it’s all good, it’s also taken away my ability to have quality time to write,” the author, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2023, explained. “And there’s nothing more important to me than Unrivaled being the best book it can possibly be.” “When good things happen, sometimes the …

Writing for survival: Gaza author dares to hope against the odds

Writing for survival: Gaza author dares to hope against the odds

Published by Sam Flores

It started out small, very small, in a vacant lot next to her house in Al-Zawayda, a once sleepy, agricultural town not far from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. That’s where Palestinian author Safaa Al-Nabaheen decided to hold a workshop for children to help them build stories, dream, and let their imaginations soar above the death and destruction around them. In early 2024, just months after Israel launched its latest war following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, Gaza’s population was already on the move. The Israeli army had started issuing evacuation orders, sparking a process that would displace 1.9 million out of Gaza’s 2.2 million population by the end of the year. Towns and cities in central and southern Gaza were starting to flood with refugees from the north, the death toll was rising and as despair spiralled with every bombardment, Nabaheen came up with an idea. “As a writer and novelist, I could offer training workshops for children and adolescents on the art of short-story writing, teaching them how to channel their inner …

Madeline Cash: How the Lost Lambs author became this year’s brightest literary star

Madeline Cash: How the Lost Lambs author became this year’s brightest literary star

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter The word about town is that Madeline Cash has written the debut of the year. In the weeks since the American writer published her novel Lost Lambs at 29, she has been at the centre of rave reviews: The New Yorker praised her “vivid, breezy prose alight with casual wit” while The Times compared the book’s madcap plot, which folds marital problems and suburban girlhood in with terrorist plots and corporate malfeasance, to an episode of The Simpsons. “It’s been overwhelming,” says Cash one sunny afternoon in London. “I’m a very private person and suddenly my name is in the newspaper.” It’s a precarious position she finds herself in: being a hyped author is thrilling but perilous. It is a vulnerable place to be, the spotlight on full blast and a target on your back. It helps, though, that her book …

Gossip Girl author to bring back fan-favorite character in sequel

Gossip Girl author to bring back fan-favorite character in sequel

Published by Daniella Wilson

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Grab a headband, a bunch of peonies and a pair of kitsch stilettos, because Gossip Girl’s Blair Waldorf is about to return as the star of a new book sequel. The character’s Upper East Side exploits will continue in a new standalone novel by Gossip Girl author Cecily von Ziegesar, who famously depicted a group of privileged Upper East Side teens through the eyes of an anonymous blogger. The book series consists of 13 works in total and was turned into an acclaimed CW series starring Blake Lively and Leighton Meester, which ran between 2007 and 2012. Deadline reports that the novel, titled Blair, has been sold in a competitive bid to Grand Central Publishing in the U.S., while Orion, a division of Hachette …

Bridgerton Author Julia Quinn Says Political Advocacy Has “Felt More Important Than Writing Books”

Bridgerton Author Julia Quinn Says Political Advocacy Has “Felt More Important Than Writing Books”

Published by Sam Flores

Warning, gentle reader: spoilers ahead for Bridgerton season four, as well as plot points from the novels. Three days before Bridgerton season four debuted, author Julia Quinn was grappling with how to balance her professional projects with the state of the world. “You get to the point where you have to say something,” Quinn, whose eight interlocking books serve as the inspiration for the hit streaming series Bridgerton, tells Vanity Fair. “You can’t let this moment pass.” Faced with the prospect of promoting the show’s latest installment, plus her new subscription book box, Quinn knew she couldn’t plug her upcoming projects without declaring her opposition to “a government who’s killing people and abducting children” amid the contentious ICE presence in Minnesota. “If you get to a point where it feels like talking about anything but that is in poor taste, then that’s what you have to talk about,” Quinn says, speaking from Spotify’s New York office (her entire Bridgerton series is available as audiobooks on Spotify). A few days earlier, Quinn posted a video to …

Children’s author becomes first writer shortlisted twice for Waterstones book awards

Children’s author becomes first writer shortlisted twice for Waterstones book awards

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter A chartered accountant turned author has made history at the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, becoming the first writer ever to be shortlisted for two distinct books across two different categories. Welsh writer and illustrator Huw Aaron earned nominations for his graphic novel Unfairies in the younger readers category, alongside Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob in the illustrated books section. open image in gallery The cover of ‘Sleep Tight, Disgusting Blob’ by Huw Aaron (Waterstones/PA Wire) This unprecedented achievement marks a significant moment in the awards’ 22-year history, with Waterstones confirming it is the first time an author has received such dual recognition. The prestigious shortlist comprises 12 titles across three categories, meticulously chosen by expert Waterstones booksellers with valuable input from young readers at participating schools. From this diverse selection, a winner will be chosen from each category, with these three then …

The Good Society by Kate Pickett review – the Spirit Level author takes stock | Society books

The Good Society by Kate Pickett review – the Spirit Level author takes stock | Society books

Published by Sam Flores

If you’ve written a successful book based around one big idea, what do you make the next one about? Back in 2009, Kate Pickett’s The Spirit Level (co-authored with Richard Wilkinson) argued that inequality was the ultimate cause of almost all our social problems, from obesity and teenage pregnancy to violent crime; more equal societies, they claimed, had better outcomes across the board. While criticised – as most “big idea” books are – for overstating the case and cherrypicking evidence, they struck a chord, and some aspects of their thesis are now mainstream. However, when it comes to the UK, there is an awkward problem, both for Pickett and for economists like me who, while not entirely convinced by The Spirit Level, would still like to see a more equal society. In the first chapter of Pickett’s new book, inequality is once again the root of all (social) evils: “if you know a country’s level of inequality, you can do a pretty good job of predicting its infant mortality rate, or prevalence of mental illness, …

Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney: ‘I’ve sold 300m books. What’s next?’ | Books

Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney: ‘I’ve sold 300m books. What’s next?’ | Books

Published by Sam Flores

Watching Jeff Kinney sign books is akin to watching an elaborate piece of performance art. Backstage at a theatre in Chester, where the author is continuing his UK tour, three folding tables heave under the weight of thousands of copies. Kinney wheels round the table on a swivel chair, signing as he goes. He is a picture of total focus. Today Kinney is signing copies of Partypooper, the 20th book in his blockbuster Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Every copy bears the phrase “Over 300 million books sold”. To put that into perspective, Kinney has sold more books than Led Zeppelin have sold albums. If you’ve had – or been – a child of reading age at any point over the last couple of decades, Kinney is a rock star. And nowhere is that clearer than at his sold-out event later that evening, as he is custard-pied while a crowd of 800 children and parents scream with excitement. Kinney shows are a world away from the usual sedate author signings. This is a performance, with walk-on characters and audience participation so enthusiastic that one poor …