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News 1 October 2004
Mainstream is delighted to have acquired World Rights to SAUDI BABYLON, the memoir of Sandy Mitchell who was arrested for his alleged involvement in two bombings in Saudi Arabia in December 2000. He thought it was a case of mistaken identity and that he would soon be released. Instead he spent the next two-and-a-half years in jail where he was repeatedly tortured. After continuous beatings, Mitchell was forced to sign a confession and admit his guilt on Saudi TV. In fact, Mitchell was an innocent man. He could prove that he was at home and his car was being repaired at the time of the bombings. It was almost impossible for him to be guilty. Even the Saudi authorities could not provide evidence of his complicity and privately they knew the attacks were actually committed by Al Qaeda militants. And yet they kept Mitchell in jail, part of the time in solitary confinement, and refused him access to a lawyer for a year. In July 2002, Mitchell was given the death penalty. In 2003 Mitchell was granted clemency and now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. His story is a shocking miscarriage of justice. The book forms a revelatory account of how a Western government acts when one of its own ordinary citizens is illegally imprisoned and tortured by a regime with which it does business. Co-author Mark Hollingsworth is an investigative journalist and author. He has written several books, notably THATCHER'S GOLD and DEFENDING THE REALM: MI5 AND THE WAR ON INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM. World rights are available. For further information contact fiona.brownlee@mainstreampublishing.com
Serialisation
of COLOURS: FROM BOMBS TO BOOM in The Times has
been temporarily delayed but GANGSTERS AND GOODFELLAS by
Henry Hill is running earlier than anticipated on 3rd October in
the Mail on Sunday.
We have just heard that RENT BOY by Pete May has been selected for the Ottakar's London Christmas catalogue. Pete has also been commissioned to write a feature for the London Evening Standard.
The
PR campaign for THE REAL NUREYEV is going global
with the sale of extract rights this week to Good Weekend Magazine,
the colour supplement for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne
Age. They picked it up from the Sunday Telegraph extract over here
and other Australian media are also proving they are on their toes,
with the Canberra Times picking up the interview with Catherine
Hill, author of DANCING IN THE SEA, which ran
in the Independent on 30th September.
Tod
Volpe, author of FRAMED, returns to London this
week to continue negotiations for the film based on his autobiography.
The publicity machine grinds on in the US with HOLLYWOOD TRUE STORIES
due to do big special on JACK NICHOLSON for which Tod has made
a contribution and the screening of his Montel Williams interview
which has apparently resulted in their becoming the best of friends.
Look out for Montel and Tod having a tète a tète
in The Groucho this week!
And Finally...
Fiona Brownlee and Bill Campbell will be in Frankfurt from 5th-10th October. In their absence please contact Karen.brodie@mainstreampublishing.com regarding rights and Elaine.scott@mainstreampublishing.com with any queries for Bill.