Skip to main content

New Author for the Choc Lit Selection Box!



Do they mean me? They surely do because now there’s a press release from the lovely Lyn at Choc Lit to prove it! Honestly, I still can’t believe it’s happening; it’s a very strange feeling to think that something that began with an image in my head now has a life of its own.

I’m very excited to be joining Choc Lit (isn’t that a fab name?) because I had a Mystic Meg moment when I read about them. You see, it was winning a tin of chocolate at primary school in a national essay competition for my story My Life as a Cocoa Bean (a tragedy – I can still remember that ‘Oh, damn!’ thought when I realised there was only one ending to that particular tale) that started it all for me! It wasn’t just the name of the publishers that attracted me ‘though; I like to have fun when I write and I also really enjoy writing from my hero’s point of view so I felt that my novel would be a good fit for them, too.

Luckily Lyn, Choc Lit’s Marketing Director and the team at Choc Lit agreed and I’m thrilled to say that Turning the Tide will be out for the summer next year. Oooh, don’t wake me up anyone!


Comments

WooHoo, it all sounds so exciting. I can't wait to read your book *squeals with excitement*.x
her at home said…
oh I do love the way they describe you and what joy at last to be recognised as a talented writer!!! VERY VERY VERY well done.. they don't pay you in chocoalte money do they?!!
Chris Stovell said…
Debs, thank you. Here's to reading even more from the Novel Racers.

HAH. I berludy hope not, much as I love chocolate!
Maggie Christie said…
I love that press release! What a thrill that must be. Is it being sent to the local press (she asks with her local journalist's hat on...)? Choc lit sounds irresistible.
Withy Brook said…
I am sooo excited for you - and feel very proud to be one of the members of the Purple Coo group to have met you!
That's a super press release and what a wonderful story line. The cover will be the next exciting thing amongst so many.

Very well done you!
Fennie said…
Wonderful wishes, Chris.
Many congratulations Chris!! You couldn't wish for a better publisher than one with the name of Choc Lit - I'm positively drooling at the name. Can't wait to see Turning the Tide in the shops.

Jeanne x
Lane Mathias said…
WAKE UP! It's still real - it really is. And it's brill.

Well done m'dear. I'm so pleased for you.

Roll on next summer:-)

x
Chris Stovell said…
Mags, it's a great idea, isn't it. And to your official hat, yes, thank you, I believe it is.

Withy, believe me, I'm very proud to have met you!

Fia, thank you - it'll be great to see the cover (and lots more NR covers besides).

Aw, thanks Captain. Going to put your toes back in the water?

Fennie, you too - keep writing.

Jeanne, I know! It's a fab name... still worrying about what HAH said about chocolate money though!

Lane, it's still taking some getting used to! Will have pinch marks on my arm soon!
Jenny Beattie said…
Oh it's so brilliant Chris. They sound lovely... Well done.
Liane Spicer said…
I have to tell you that I lurrvve the idea of Choc Lit! :)

Well done, Chris! Really happy for you!
Chris Stovell said…
JJ, we're all getting there. Hopefully next year will see more NR success.

Liane, thanks a lot! it's great isn't it? Makes me smile every time I see the logo!
Christina Jones said…
Oh WOW!!! This is sooooo brilliant!!! Congratulations - a million times over. I'm really, really happy for you - what a great pres release and a brill title - can't wait to read it now.
love C xxxx
mountainear said…
Fantastic - love the press release. So, so pleased for you.
Kate Harrison said…
Chris, so many congratulations! I am so thrilled for you that you've had such a terrific breakthrough and I can't wait to read it! The press release is lovely.

HOORAY!!!

Kate xxx
PS: Novel Racers strike again xx
Chris Stovell said…
Christina, thanks for visiting and for your congratulations... now I know what that feeling is you were describing yesterday!

Mountainear, thank you, hope we can meet up again in the Spring.

Kate, Yay for the Novel Racers! Thanks ever so much for visiting, I bet you feel proud of what you started when you set the NR off!
Karen said…
That's such brilliant news, I'm really thrilled for you :o)
Pondside said…
What a thrill it must have been to read that release for the first time. I'll be looking for your book come summer - number one on my list!
Chris Stovell said…
Karen,thank you so much!

Pondside... it was surreal! Thank you m'dear.

Colette, welcome and thank you.
Flowerpot said…
That is such good news Chris - delighted to hear it. Particlarly as we share the chocolate box experience from our Yoof!
Well done again, Chris. Can't wait to get my sticky hands on a copy - not least to check out the horizontal jogging scene you mentioned a few weeks ago. Does that mean a chocolate-themed launch party? Yum! Here's to your continuing success. xx
Tamsyn Murray said…
I cannot wait to buy this! Very well done, Chris :-)
sheepish said…
Have only just caught up with your news. What an amazing firm to get involved with, fabulous name. Well done and what an inspiration to us all.
Sally Townsend said…
Chris this is absolutely fantastic news but we all knew you would get there !! So very pleased for you; xx
Helen Ginger said…
Yay, [dancing around the room, so forgive any typos], that is so fabulous! And what a cute name for a publisher - Choc Lit.

Congratulations!!

Helen
Straight From Hel
Chris Stovell said…
Fp, that means we will share other things too - a publishing deal is surely on its way to you.

LBD, well, it squeezed past Ma without comment. Then again it probably wasn't shocking enough for her :{ A chocolate-themed party is a very good idea!

Tam, thank you! But will you have time to read it with all the books you're currently writing and promoting?!

Sheepish, good news for NRs; here's to more next year! And thank you.

Sally, thanks for dropping by, but shouldn't you be unpacking?! Good luck with moving in and thank you!

Helen, thank you! It is cute, isn't it! (Will join you for a dance, I think!).
Maria said…
Congratulations!
Caroline said…
Can't WAIT to read it! x
Chris Stovell said…
Gaelikaa, thank you.
Caroline - welcome... I probably shouldn't say this but I can't wait to read it in book form either!

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Endings, New Beginnings

Blended families come with conflicting loyalties and at Christmas time nearly everyone has somewhere else they feel they ought to be. Throw partners into the equation and it gets even more complicated. Since Tom and I aren’t especially hung up about Christmas we’re happy to let our children go with the strongest flow, but I have to say it was a great delight to have the girls and their partners staying with us this year. When such moments are few and far between they become very precious. My stepsons weren’t far from our thoughts either, not least because we had the very happy news on Christmas Day that my elder stepson and his girlfriend had become engaged. Congratulations Dan and Gill, here’s wishing you every happiness together. Tom and I end a year that has seen the fruition of many years work, both of us crossing important thresholds within weeks of each other. I’m really looking forwards to seeing Turning the Tide published next year and it’s been so satisfying, after al

Reconnecting

I hadn't realised it until now , but it’s probably no coincidence that my last post was about our trip to Norwich, a city I’ve loved since studying at UEA. I wrote, then, that coming home was a hard landing, a feeling that took me completely by surprise as it’s been such a privilege to live in this beautiful, remote spot on the very edge of the west Wales coast. A trip to Skye at the end of October - Tom’s choice - with Ma, was a truly lovely holiday. The weather was kind, the colours of those breathtaking seascapes will stay with me, as will all the happy memories we made that week. And, because our small cottage had been so beautifully modernised and worked so well for the three of us, it was easy to imagine what it might be like to live somewhere different. If travel doesn’t broaden the mind, it certainly brings a new perspective. By the end of the year, Tom and I had decided that it was time for a change, time to move closer to a town (we are neither of us, as they say, getting

Fly Free, Dottie Do

‘How many days to my birthday?’ Ma asks. I do a quick calculation. ‘Eighteen,’ I reply. ‘Eighteen days until your ninetieth birthday.’ Ma pulls a face and shakes her head. Every sentence is hard work for her now, when each breath is a struggle. ‘You’ll have to write a book about this, you know,’ she says, with one of her quick, mischievous smiles. ‘“Carry On Dying”. Make ‘em laugh, make ‘em cry.’ The smile fades. ‘Who knew,’ she adds wearily, ‘that dying would be such a palaver?’  It’s only eleven days since Ma was diagnosed with a high-grade, aggressive lymphoma, four days since she was overwhelmed with pain and breathing difficulties and was admitted as an emergency to hospital. Until a few weeks ago, she lived completely independently; shopping, cooking, cleaning and tending her much-loved garden. The deterioration in her health is shockingly rapid. The eight days preceding her death are a living hell, a constant battle with the ward staff to get Ma the pain relief she’s been presc