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News 19 November 2004
Mainstream
is delighted to have acquired the rights to WEEKEND WARRIOR by
Kevin Mervin. He was one of 2,351 Territorial Army soldiers called
up in February 2003 to fight Saddam Hussein's regime alongside
the British regulars and US troops. Like the other TA soldiers,
this was the first time Mervin was to experience real fighting
rather than the weekend training he would normally undertake. WEEKEND
WARRIOR reflects the traumas, trials and tribulations that Mervin
and colleagues endured. It is a personal story of the conflict
in Iraq from a 'part-time' soldier's point of view. As the battle
continued, all Mervin wanted was his life back, including the opportunity
to return to his civilian job. Unfortunately, both were to prove
out of the question: his outlook on life in general was immensely
affected by his experiences, while his manager sacked him for being
absent due to his call-up. WEEKEND WARRIOR paints a startlingly
vivid picture of fear and confusion on the frontline and the long-term
mental scars inflicted upon the author as a result. World rights,
excluding USA and Canada, are available. For further information
contact fiona.brownlee@mainstreampublishing.com
Our
most recent military book, AMONGST THE MARINES,
is one of our bestsellers this season with publicity continuing
to pour in, including an extract in Front this month
One
of our most successful sports books is THE REAL MACKAY by
Dave Mackay. His publicity continues with an interview in THE DAILY
MAIL on 19th or 22nd November and a feature in THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
on 14th November.
SHIRT OF LEGENDS - The Story of Newcastle United's No.9 Heroes by Paul Joannou is an official NUFC publication. Alan Shearer OBE has provided a foreword and was recently photographed with the author at the club.
Still
in Newcastle, we have just heard that Steve Black signs copies
of BLACKIE at every Newcastle Falcons home game,
which should please fans who have been waiting to hear details
of bookshop signing sessions.
Mervyn
Davies will be signing copies of his autobiography IN STRENGTH
AND SHADOW at W H Smith, The Quadrant, Swansea on Wednesday
8th December at 5.30pm.
We have been inundated with quirky stories about Mainstream titles this week, so the...
And Finally...
section this week starts here!
If
you go to www.britishpathe.com and
type 'Jonah the whale' into the search box (or click the link)
you can view stills of the original whale which was the inspiration
behind the book THE BARNSLEY WHALE.
News
reaches our ears that an ex-pat Glaswegian living in South Wales
has built a customised Vespa scooter dedicated to the book DEADLY
DIVISIONS by Paul Ferris and Reg McKay. To date he has
spent over £4500 on chrome, engravings and murals depicting
events in the book.
Charles Nevin, author of LANCASHIRE: WHERE WOMEN DIE OF LOVE, is looking forward to celebrating Lancashire Day on 27th November. For a while we thought the notoriously witty author was winding us up but a search on the Internet proved that the first elected representatives from Lancashire were called to Westminster by King Edward I on 27th November 1295 which has subsequently been celebrated as Lancashire Day. On 27th November the original Lancashire Day proclamation is read out by town criers throughout the county.
And
the final And Finally...
In their Scottish bestseller list last month, Ottakars placed McCRAE'S BATTALION by Les McKeown at No. 6. Les is in fact the former lead singer of the Bay City Rollers and is certainly not the author of McCRAE'S BATTALION, a detailed historical study about a Scottish football team who signed up en masse in the First World War. The question is which book was at No. 6?!
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