Robin Stevens's Blog, page 50

I have an extra-special announcement today: I’ve just heard that Mistletoe and Murder has been shortlisted for the FCBG Children’s Book Award 2017 in the older readers category!

This is incredibly special to me, for several reasons: first, and most importantly, because this award is entirely voted for by children, and so that means that lots of you have already said how much you like it! If you did vote, thank you so much – you’ve made me very happy.

It’s also wonderful, because Mistletoe and Murder was one of my favourite books to write so far. I love its story, and I am so proud of it – but, because it’s a sequel, it isn’t usually eligible for awards. This was a big surprise, and a very nice one!

Voting is open now, and it will close on the 12th of May. If you’d like to vote, go here – Mistletoe and Murder is up against two other great books, but if you do decide to vote for it I would be really pleased!

Thank you so much to the Federation of Children’s Book Groups, and to Toppsta – they’ve made my month!

Hello Detectives! It’s time for my February update video.

Find out more about what copyedits are, watch me get very excited about Hong Kong history (and tell you the story of Ah-Lum and the E-Sing Bakery poisonings) and Book 6’s Teal Reveal, and listen to me tell you about my favourite books from this month (Nightlights by Lorena Alvarez; Who Let the Gods Out by Maz Evans; Bone Gap by Laura Ruby; The Secret Lives of the Amir Sisters by Nadiya Hussain and Ayisha Malik; Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers). Finally, I talk about Hidden Figures and why history is way more than white. Enjoy!

Hello detectives! I’m sorry I haven’t posted anything for a while – I’ve been too busy writing! The good news is that The Guggenheim Mystery is almost finished, and so I’ve been able to start planning Murder Most Unladylike Book 6 (and planning its title, too … but that’s for later).

What I can tell you RIGHT NOW, though, is that we have chosen a colour for the book’s cover. We’ve been asking you to guess what it will be, and I can tell you now that everyone who guessed purple was wrong.

Because the real colour is …

TEAL!

I absolutely love it, and I hope you will too. I think it’ll look gorgeous on shelves, and next to the rest of the books (remember, by the time it’s out in the autumn, Cream Buns and Crime will already be on your shelves, and so you’ll have a beautiful rainbow!)

And finally, if you want updates from me on how the writing is going, follow my Instagram account and my YouTube channel today!

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It’s 2017! Happy new year, Detectives – and if you’re wondering what’s coming up for me this year, then this is the video for you!

Hello detectives! I hope you’ve all had lovely holidays, and you’re looking forward to 2017. There are a lot of exciting things on the way from me: The Guggenheim Mystery in August, Daisy and Hazel’s sixth adventure in October . . . and, of course, Cream Buns and Crime in April.

Cream Buns and Crime isn’t a full Murder Most Unladylike novel – it’s the companion to the series, full of tips, tricks, recipes, short stories (old and new) and detective facts. It’s absolutely brilliant, and you are going to adore it.

And today I have the very exciting task of revealing its gorgeous cover for the first time!

Are you ready?

Here goes!

Isn’t it beautiful? So purple, so distinguished, so delicious. I am delighted, and I hope you are too! It’s by Nina Tara, who creates all of my covers. She’s amazing!

You can pre-order Cream Buns and Crime NOW from Amazon, Waterstones, Blackwell’s, Eason’s and many other excellent bookshops!

The countdown to April 6th begins now . . .

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It’s been an exciting week for me! Cream Buns and Crime has been sent to copyedit (which means that it’s almost done), and we’ve also finalised an absolutely gorgeous cover for it.

Cream Buns and Crime is a companion to my Murder Most Unladylike series. It will have the two short stories currently only available as ebooks, as well as two NEW stories and loads of brilliant extra content, including tips on how to be a detective, recipes for delicious bunbreaks and stories about famous historical mysteries. More on the cover, and Cream Buns, later – it’s out on April 6th, but you can pre-order it now!

Over the past two weeks I held my last events of 2016, in Blackwell’s Oxford and Village Books, Dulwich. These are two of my very favourite and most supportive bookstores, so of course I had a wonderful time at both. I loved meeting all of the people who came – and was especially impressed by the fans who travelled from Watford and Somerset to my Oxford event, and from Nottingham to my Dulwich event. That’s incredible dedication – thank you!

A very excited author outside Blackwell’s!

With brilliant fan Ruby, who drew me her favourite characters from Mistletoe and Murder!

Rosie and Madeline at Village Books, Dulwich, with their amazing Christmas mystery titles!

Mistletoe and Murder at Dulwich Books!

I have had an amazing time touring Mistletoe and Murder – you are honestly the best, cleverest and most fun fans I could wish for, and I am so grateful for the love you’ve shown me and my books.

I’m sad it’s all over – but also excited, because this means that I can now go on my Christmas holidays! I’m baking mince pies and wrapping presents (badly. I’m terrible at wrapping presents) and putting up way too much tinsel. I’ll be back after the holidays with lots more exciting news – and of course I’ll be starting events again in the spring, so please don’t worry if you haven’t had a chance to meet me yet – but for now, goodbye and have a lovely Christmas!

Mistletoe and Murder has been included in the Sunday Express‘s round-up of the best children’s books of 2016!

Sarah Kingsford says ‘Young detective fiction fans will love Daisy Wells and Hazel Wong’s latest Murder Most Unladylike case … Classic Christmas Crime.’

It’s a wonderful review and I’m so delighted. Thank you, Sunday Express!

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I have two important pieces of news today.

It’s another lovely mention that calls the book an ‘Enjoyable golden age mystery with a modern twist.’

Hooray for the Detective Society – Daisy and Hazel seem to be ending the year on a high!

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Merry Christmas, Detective Society! Do you want to know what I’m up to and what I’ve been reading? Then watch my very first Detective Society video to find out …

Last night the Late Late Toy Show 2016 aired. If you are Irish, this will make perfect sense to you. If you are not, you may need an explanation.

The Late Late Toy Show is … well, sort of inexplicable, and also totally wonderful. It’s two joyful hours of children going wild on stage talking about the presents they most want this Christmas, plus singing, dancing and TOYS EVERYWHERE.

A lot of books were mentioned in this year’s show (including Peter Pan, The Jungle Book and Harry Potter – I’m still not over that little boy getting a first edition of Philosopher’s Stone!), but there was also a specific book section, and one of the reviewers, Kate, chose Mistletoe and Murder as her top book to review!

Kate being fantastic on the Late Late with Mistletoe and Murder! (and a wig – don’t ask)

She did an absolutely brilliant job, too – she even refused to give away any of the book’s secrets when Ryan asked her!

This is such an enormous honour that I am STILL not over it this morning, and probably will never be. It’s a huge part of Christmas in Ireland, and I am so proud to have been part of this year’s edition. I’m also really pleased that I could help make Kate’s Christmas a bit more exciting. I wrote her a letter as part of the segment, and we’re going for a bunbreak next time I’m in Dublin!

If you’d like to watch this year’s show, the link is here – I think you should watch it all, because it’s brilliant, but the books section starts at 1 hour 14 minutes.

And if you’re looking for more book recommendations this Christmas, check out the #BookElves16 tag on Twitter. It’s full of great mentions of lots of perfect stocking fillers!