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Actor Rob Lowe is set to write his memoirs! The 46-year old actor is planning to put memories to paper in a book called “Stories I Only Tell My Friends“, which will be published by Henry Holt and Co. They say it will be released in May 2011.

Lowe has been acting for four decades, breaking into the world of celebrity in 1983 by starring in The Outsiders. More recently he has been in hit-shows such as The West Wing and Brothers and Sisters. He has had a turbulent personal life – being involved in all sorts of scandals. All in all, this could make a good read – especially as I love The West Wing!

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100628/ap_en_ot/us_people_rob_lowe?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
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Well done Neil Gaiman! He has made history by being the first author to win both the UK and the US awards for children’s books. A while back Gaiman discovered he had won the Newbery Medal for his book The Graveyard Book but yesterday he won the Cilip Carnegie Award also. He told BBC Breakfast this morning that he had been wanting to win this since he was 7! Well good for him, especially as he is the only author to win both prestigious awards.

Here is the tailor for the book:

Graveyard Book

Again, well done Neil! I can’t wait to read this.

Source: http://www.booktrade.info/index.php/showarticle/27949
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I have bad news for all you Twilight fans (yes, for me too): Stephenie Meyer is “burnt out on vampires” which means she has stopped writing Midnight Sun – the novel which was to be set from Edward’s viewpoint. Gutted? I am too. She is quoted as saying:

“I want to wait until I’m excited about the material again, and I’m excited about Edward, and that it’s something that’s motivating,” she told MTV News.

“Right now, it feels like homework. And when things feel like homework they go very, very slowly for me. So it’s still not a ‘It’s not gonna happen!’ I want to do it when I can do it right.”

I hope she gets her vampire mojo back quickly! I want more Edward!

Source: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/showbiz/news/a232341/twilight-writer-burnt-out-on-vampires.html
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Amazon.com and Penguin Group came together to provide authors with the chance to win the Breakthrough Novel award. There are two winners – one for general fiction and one for young adult fiction.

And the 2010 winners have been announced:

General Fiction

Patricia McArdle: Farishta

Synopsis: Patricia McArdle, a resident of Arlington, Va., is a retired American diplomat whose postings have taken her around the world, including northern Afghanistan. Her novel, Farishta, centers around a female American diplomat who, transferred to a volatile, remote outpost in northern Afghanistan, provides aid to refugee women fleeing the violence. She becomes their farishta, or “angel,” in the local Dari language. Julie Barer of Barer Literary, LLC, one of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award’s expert panelists, described McArdle’s Farishta as “a moving and fascinating story of one woman’s work in a place that few Americans have experienced beyond newspaper headlines and CNN stories. Both the originality of the setting and the quality of the writing make this debut stand out in the crowd.”

Young Adult

Amy Ackley: Sign Language

Synopsis: Young adult fiction winner Amy Ackley of Brighton, Mich. is a mother of three whose career has included a variety of jobs, from public administration to labor relations for top automakers. Ackley left home at the tender age of 16 and has supported herself ever since. Inspired by the loss of her father and two close friends to cancer, Sign Language tells the story of twelve-year-old Abby North. Her first hint that something is wrong with her dad is the scar that appears on his stomach after he goes in for kidney surgery. Soon, the thing she calls “It” has a real name: cancer. Before, her biggest concerns were her annoying brother, the crush unaware of her existence, and her changing feelings for her best friend, Spence. Now, her mother cries in the shower, her father is exhausted, and nothing is normal anymore. Nancy Werlin said the novel “tells its story beautifully and movingly, and it earns its hopeful ending. Ackley is without question a talented writer.”

Well done Patricia and Amy!

Sources: Amazon.com and http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/

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OK, you can admit it: are you a Glee fan? If so, you will be pleased to know that Little, Brown Books for Younger Readers have a publishing contract to release books that are Glee-related. The first book to be released will be called Glee, the Beginning, which will be a prequel to the show. It is set to hit the shops in August. Are you excited? Will you be buying it?

Source: http://shelf-life.ew.com/2010/06/09/exclusive-little-brown-to-publish-glee-books/

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Are you a Twilight fan? Do you already own The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer? If so, you are one of the many who have helped this book hit the bestsellers list, after just one day of sales! On the first day of release, Bree Tanner sold 90,000 copies, sending it straight to the number one spot. And this is even though the book is free online at http://www.breetanner.com/ until 5th July 2010. Impressive? I think so!

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Have you ever received a reading list? Maybe even a summer reading list? I did, and I loved them! But the UN and American high school students don’t it seems.

Louise Arbour has been quoted as saying: “Children should be free to play while the sun is shining. If they want to take a book to the beach, fine, but don’t keep them cooped up in a musty old library all day reading ‘My Friend Flicka’.”

I think that is outrageous. Do the kids actually read all the books on them lists anyway? U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan is with me on this. It is ridiculous to say that these lists are a violation of human rights. And if the children don’t want to read them, fine, it is them that are missing out. I think this is a step too far by the UN.

Source: http://writing.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978284033

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Well it seems that Neil Gaimon’s novel The Graveyard Book is to made into a film after all. The director will be Neil Jordan, who will also write the screenplay material. This is not the first Gaimon book to be made into a film. His works Stardust and Coraline have also become movies.

The Graveyard Book synopsis:

Winner of the Newbery Medal When a baby escapes a murderer intent on killing the entire family, who would have thought it would find safety and security in the local graveyard? Brought up by the resident ghosts, ghouls and spectres, Bod has an eccentric childhood learning about life from the dead. But for Bod there is also the danger of the murderer still looking for him – after all, he is the last remaining member of the family. A stunningly original novel deftly constructed over eight chapters, featuring every second year of Bod’s life, from babyhood to adolescence. Will Bod survive to be a man?

More on this can be found here!

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It has come to my attention that Jeffrey Deaver – author of books such as The Bone Collector will be writing the next James Bond novel. It is believed it will be ready for May 2011 and set in the present day. Deaver is quoted here saying:

“For one reason or another I have learned over the years that I have a capacity … to be a bit of chameleon,”

“I’ve written about young African-American characters in America, I have written about elderly characters, I’ve written from the points of view of women … of serial killers … and enjoy stepping into their shoes.

“I think it’s going to be relatively easy for me to step into the role of Bond and the other characters in the book,” added the 60-year-old.

“I am not writing this book as if I were (Bond creator) Ian Fleming. No one can really do that. I am taking the type of story that I generally tell — a very fast-paced thriller, lots of twists and turns and surprises.”

I’ll be interested to see how this turns out as he is an American writer penning an English story. This has the potential to be great.

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Random House Children’s Books have announced that they will be releasing Ellie Irving’s début novel, which is titled For The Record. The story follows Luke who is a 10 year old about to start senior school a year earlier. He is extremely nervous but when his home town is threatened he steps up to prove himself.

I think this sounds great! I love children’s books and will be looking out for it.

More information can be found here.

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