http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/ en webmaster@sandstonepress.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-02T15:05:58+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2012/the_presses_are_rolling_the_festivals_coming_to_call/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2012/the_presses_are_rolling_the_festivals_coming_to_call/ With barely time to write these days, we nonetheless know we have to stay in touch with our regular visitors. Let’s see . . . The Sea Detective paperback is increasing its pre-orders more or less by the day and is now far and away, comfortably, our record holder in this respect. Our Norwegian crime writer, Jorn Lier Horst, and Dregs is also going really well although mostly in internet sales. Come on, all you retailers! This one will fly off your shelves. ‘The Sister’ by Lynne Alexander (cover design by Rebecca Pickard at Zebedee) and Chris McIvor’s second volume of African memoirs, ‘In the Old Chief’s Country’ (cover by Latte Goldstein of River Design), are printing now and we look forward to great reviews and increasing interest. Take a look at the latest cover designs. On my day of writing, we received Guilherme Condeixa’s artwork for ‘The Jaguar’ by T Jefferson Parker. This provides this already distinguished and successful author with a brand new look. You can find it on his book page now. Latte Goldstein has also produced fabulous covers for Rosy Thornton’s Ninepins and Alison Fell’s ‘the element -inth in Greek’. We have the first proofs from Latte for ‘Hartsend’ by Janice Brown. Best known as a childrens’ author Janice has produced a skelping good book for adults. Its cover will match this quality. Keep visiting, it won’t be long before it is on view. Gravemaker + Scott in Paris are working on Hamish Brown’s ‘Climbing the Corbetts’ and this will be a match for his earlier books with us (and Martin Moran’s) except for the forthcoming ‘The Oldest Post Office in the World’ which has been designed by Heather MacPherson at Raspberryhmac. In addition to all this we will have at least two authors at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, Jane Rogers and Zoe Strachan, and also have a strong presence at the Inverness and Nairn Book Festivals. More to follow on all this. Meantime, signing off breathlessly. 2012-02-02T15:05:58+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2012/a_great_rolling_up_of_the_sleeves/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2012/a_great_rolling_up_of_the_sleeves/ Work has well and truly started for 2012 here at Sandstone Press. Soon we will be going to print not only with the highly subscribed paperback of Mark Douglas-Home’s The Sea Detective but also with Chris McIvor’s In the Old Chief’s Country and Lynne Alexander’s The Sister. For the present though, our designers, typesetters and editors are all hard at work. Print estimators are sharpening their pencils. Please do keep visiting this web site for news of further developments. 2012-01-12T12:37:40+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2012/happy_new_year_to_all_our_visitors/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2012/happy_new_year_to_all_our_visitors/ Sandstone Press wishes all of our web site visitors across the world, authors, designers, print colleagues, colleagues at Creative Scotland and Publishing Scotland, our new colleagues at Faber and Faber, publishing partners at the Gaelic Books Council and The Drouth, our distributors at BookSource and, most of all, our readers, all the very best for the New Year. 2011 took the publishing company to a new level with competition successes for Jane Rogers, James McGonigal and Zoe Strachan. With Faber Factory Plus taking our books into shops and head offices across Great Britain, Repforce doing the same in Ireland, and Faber Factory Powered by Constellation handling our ebook accounts, in 2012 we anticipate a wider outreach than ever before. There will be a more formal announcement soon from Faber and Faber about our new representation, followed by another from ourselves. Big changes have been in preparation for some months but our aim remains what it always was: to take the best of contemporary, quality reading to the widest possible readership from our base in Highland Scotland. Please continue the journey with us. 2012-01-02T12:29:17+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2011/a_christmas/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2011/a_christmas/ Since our Marketing and Publicity Executive, Eilidh Smith, went on maternity leave we have received many friendly inquiries after her from colleagues in publishing, the Trade, and the press; not to mention our authors and designers. With Eilidh’s express permission, we are delighted to inform you that Molly Smith entered the world on Tuesday 20th December at an impressive 4.16kg (9lbs 2.5ozs). Eilidh, Molly and Dad Kenny are well and successfully adjusting. All of us at Sandstone Press send our congratulations and best wishes. 2011-12-21T13:38:42+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2011/beyond_the_last_dragon_wins_the_saltire_research_book_of_the_year_2011/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2011/beyond_the_last_dragon_wins_the_saltire_research_book_of_the_year_2011/ Sandstone Press is delighted to announce that James McGonigal’s magnificent biography of Edwin Morgan, Beyond the Last Dragon, has been made Saltire Society Research Book of the Year for 2011. In addition to reiterating his high regard for author and title Sandstone Press Managing Director, Robert Davidson, said:- ‘It is a particular pleasure to me that, after many long and short listings in many competitions, Sandstone’s first winning title was James McGonigal’s magnificent biography of Edwin Morgan, and that it came from the Saltire Society Awards. The Saltire Society began its prize-giving in the early eighties, a time of great cultural questioning in Scotland. That the questions have all been answered so positively, so confidently, and with such a positive projection into the future has much to do with them, and Edwin Morgan, and the rejuvenation they led.’ 2011-12-02T18:16:35+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/books_of_the_year_from_the_herald/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/books_of_the_year_from_the_herald/ We were delighted to read these endorsements of Sandstone Press books in The Herald of 28th November. Beyond the Last Dragon has also been short-listed for the Saltire Society Scottish Research Book of the Year, which will be announced on Thursday 1st December. We are honoured to receive these recognitions. SITE WORKS I was also spellbound by Site Works by Robert Davidson, the most impressive Scottish novel about working life since James Kelman’s The Busconductor Hines. Alan Bissett, novelist BEYOND THE LAST DRAGON Definitely my book of the year – my favourite story – was James McGonigal’s Beyond The Last Dragon, his honest, lucid, measured and deeply moving biography of Edwin Morgan: one poet’s (long) life in a changing world and city. Liz Lochhead, Scotland’s Makar With its judicious balance of tact and affection, James McGonigal’s Beyond The Last Dragon – the first biography of the late Edwin Morgan, our greatest poet since Burns – is a labour of love, and a compelling account of the creative and intellectual life of a writer who achieved a whole literature single-handed. Gavin Wallace, Portfolio Manager, Literature, Publishing and Language, Creative Scotland 2011-11-28T15:47:39+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/beyond_the_last_dragon_short-listed_for_the_saltire_research_book_of_the_ye/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/beyond_the_last_dragon_short-listed_for_the_saltire_research_book_of_the_ye/ We are delighted to announce that James McGonigal’s ‘Beyond The Last Dragon: A life of Edwin Morgan’ has been short-listed for the Saltire Society Scottish Research Book of the Year 2011. James McGonigal’s magnificent biography of Scotland’s first National Makar has been gaining praise and winning plaudits wherever it has been reviewed. Private praise has been, if anything, even more fulsome. At Sandstone Press we are extremely proud of this book and of another short-listing for the famous Saltires. Congratulations to Jim. Both he and his editor, Moira Forsyth, will be at the Awards Ceremony on December 1st. We wish them, and all other short-listed authors and publishers, every good fortune. Below is a list of appreciations we have gathered together. Impressive? I think so! ‘My book of the year – my favourite story – was James McGonigal’s Beyond the Last Dragon, his honest, lucid, measured and deeply moving biography of Edwin Morgan.’ Liz Lochhead, The Herald ‘Enjoyably unlumpy.’ Tom Leonard ‘As a poet in his own right, McGonigal has an eye for luminous detail, and as a critic is able to relate biography to the poetry in ways that never fail to enlighten.’ David Kinloch, Scottish Literary Review ‘Thorough, readable and knowledgeable on the publishing history of Edwin Morgan’s work … the biography is also psychologically convincing, and is the result of a deep and long personal engagement with the man and his poetry. McGonigal negotiates Morgan’s relationships with sensitivity, particularly with regards to his semi-hidden and then blossoming but illegal sexuality. He is intimate but not prurient.’ Michael Gardiner, Scottish Review of Books ‘Thanks to James McGonigal’s excellent biography, we are now able to put all Morgan’s diverse public creativity into the context of a reasonably comprehensible private life. … this thoughtful, generous and illuminating biography.’ D.M. Black, The Dark Horse ‘McGonigal’s love for his subject is on display throughout the biography, sometimes touchingly.’ Patrick Crotty, Times Literary Supplement ‘The dragon of this book’s title is death. The author begins his outstanding account with an analysis of several dreams that troubled the poet as he neared that deferred demise. This is no mere device. It gets the book off to a beguilingly symbolic start and is expertly followed up.’ Donny O’Rourke, Scottish Left Review   2011-11-21T19:34:35+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/zoe_strachan_nominated_for_the_london_book_awards/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/zoe_strachan_nominated_for_the_london_book_awards/ We are delighted to announce that Zoe Strachan with Ever Fallen in Love has been nominated for the London Book Awards. Recognition for this fine author and her amazing novel continues to grow. An interview conducted by the London Festival Fringe can be read in the Sandstone blogspot. Our Facebook Page is an increasingly important part of our outreach. We have received this letter from Lorraine Caputo in Latin America (sorry not to be more precise, but read on). Thanks, Lorraine, and safe journeys. 18 Bookshops is on the way! Esteemed Sandstone Press: What a surprise to be your 3,000th “like”—& even more so, to be offered a free book! There are quite a few interesting titles in your collection—ones that pique my curiosity. (& it is so incredible that you also publish in Gaelic!) But—I am on a long-term journey in Latin America, writing travel pieces & poetry of the peoples & places I get to know. I have no fixed base. You sending me a book, then, would be quite difficult—& me receiving one likewise. I request, then, that the book be gifted to a public library there in the Isles. Thank you again. Safe Journeys, Lorraine Caputo (... of the MacDonaldson clan—a few generations back ...)   2011-11-17T08:20:39+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/zoe_strachan_and_ever_fallen_in_love_short_listed_for_the_green_carnation_p/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2011/zoe_strachan_and_ever_fallen_in_love_short_listed_for_the_green_carnation_p/ It’s turning out quite a year for prize listings for Highlands based publisher, Sandstone Press.  This afternoon, Zoë Strachan’s “Ever Fallen in Love” has been announced as one of the six short listed titles for The Green Carnation Prize. Earlier this year, another of their titles “The Testament of Jessie Lamb” by Jane Rogers was long listed for The Man Booker Prize. Robert Davidson, Managing Director, Sandstone Press commented:- “We were pleased enough to see Zoë’s book in the long list for the Green Carnation and it is wonderful news that she has made the short list. “Ever Fallen in Love” is a superb novel of great skill and fine story-telling, but even knowing how great a book it is ourselves we can’t help but be surprised, delighted and over the moon at the news it has made this next step – especially when you see the strength and quality of work submitted for this prize.” Zoë Strachan, just back in Glasgow, Scotland following her stint as writer in residence at the University of Iowa and involvement in the International Festival of Authors in Toronto was delighted at the news, amazed to have made the short list and beside herself with excitement. Chair of the judges for 2011,  Simon Savidge commented “Firstly I want to say what an incredible longlist of books we had this year, it certainly made for some interesting and passionate discussion over the last twenty-four hours. I think we as a panel have chosen six incredible reads and a shortlist where each one of these titles could easily win… which of course makes the job of picking one final winner all the more difficult.” For further details contact Eilidh Smith on 07901 914 596 Notes to Editors Sandstone Press is a publisher of non-fiction and fiction books. Based in Highland Scotland, the company is characterized by high editorial and design standards, internationalism and a strong engagement with the contemporary world using modern methods. For more information visit http://www.sandstonepress.com The Green Carnation Prize is Britain’s most prestigious literary prize for modern gay writing. The prize aims to promote the work of all LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) writers, thereby engaging the wider LGBT community, as well as all readers outside of it, in their constant search for great modern writing. Short Listed novels (announced Nov , 2011) The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge – Patricia Duncker (Bloomsbury) The Proof of Love – Catherine Hall (Portobello) Red Dust Road – Jackie Kay (Picador) Remembrance of Things I Forgot – Bob Smith (Terrace Books) Ever Fallen in Love – Zoe Strachan (Sandstone Press) The Empty Family – Colm Toibin (Penguin Books) Long Listed novels (announced Sept 28, 2011) By Nightfall – Michael Cunningham (Fourth Estate) The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge – Patricia Duncker (Bloomsbury) The Proof of Love – Catherine Hall (Portobello) Red Dust Road – Jackie Kay (Picador) The Retribution – Val McDermid (Little Brown) Purge – Sofi Oksanen (Atlantic Books) There But for The… – Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton) Remembrance of Things I Forgot – Bob Smith (Terrace Books) Ever Fallen in Love – Zoe Strachan (Sandstone Press) The Empty Family – Colm Toibin (Penguin Books) Role Models – John Waters (Beautiful Books) Before I Go To Sleep – S.J Watson (Doubleday) Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal? – Jeanette Winterson (Jonathan Cape) 2011-11-03T12:45:47+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2011/the_publishing_year/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2011/the_publishing_year/ Very shortly Sandstone Press will be publishing Frederick Lightfoot’s remarkable novel, My Name is E. Beautifully written, sensitive to its keynote subject, deafness, the pages turn easily indeed relentlessly as the fate of the three girls (becoming first young and then middle aged women) unfolds. This is another fine book and an equally fine author we are proud to bring into our readers’ worlds. It has been a remarkable year and while the rest of the publishing world is revelling at the Frankfurt Book Fair the Sandstone Board has remained in Highland Scotland to reflect. Jane Rogers’s Man Booker long-listing with The Testament of Jessie Lamb is not only a highlight of the year but also a milestone for the company, enabling us to strengthen our list for next year and re-examine our methods. We have also, only yesterday (Wednesday 12th October) learned that Creative Scotland will again support the company financially in the year of 2012, and this year more generously than ever. We celebrate this act of faith and renew our commitment to literature and culture generally, to our location of Highland Scotland from which we reach out to the world and, most of all, to our growing band of readers. Please believe that you are at the centre of our thoughts at all times. 2011 is a year of transition for Sandstone Press with a strengthening of our list, particularly in fiction, an increased investment in marketing and publicity especially through Eilidh Smith, and more books published than in any previous year. In 2012 we anticipate another transition, discrete from this year’s, a further strengthening of the catalogue and a still more determined outreach to the Trade. Look forward to a number of announcements in the near future, and please do keep visiting this web site. 2011-10-13T17:42:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2011/18_bookshops_launch_and_competition/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2011/18_bookshops_launch_and_competition/ This Wednesday we’ll be launching Anne Scott’s beautiful ‘18 Bookshops’ in Glasgow (October 5, 5.30 pm at Waterstone’s Sauchiehall Street branch if you can come along). Anne’s book is a beautifully written and presented journey of her life with books, the wondrous bookshops where she has come into contact with these miniature works of art (with their big ideas) and the lasting memories and life experiences her relationship with books has brought her. Given the digital age is upon us and more and more of us do our purchasing on-line, never mind the great leap many writers are taking to publish in a solely digital format, it has got us all at Sandstone Towers thinking about what makes bookshops so special. With sadness we’ve seen Ottakers and Borders go, Waterstone’s remains and, in the main, those special independent shops survive. Do they symbolise great beacons of creativity or provide a 21st century hunt - the forest in which you must find your quarry . . .  or even a much preferable way to pass an afternoon than following your other half around town in search of exactly the right type of shoes? Or are they gradually becoming museum items, monuments of last century? To celebrate the launch of her book, we’re running a competition. We want to hear from you about what bookshops mean to you – maximum word count 500 but a sentence will do if brevity is your thing. Competition will close on Monday, October 10, 5 pm and the winner (who will receive a lovely signed copy of “18 Bookshops”) will be announced on Monday, October 17.  2011-10-03T05:56:20+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2011/zoe_strachan_and_ever_fallen_in_love_longlisted_for_the_green_carnation_pri/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2011/zoe_strachan_and_ever_fallen_in_love_longlisted_for_the_green_carnation_pri/ We are delighted to announce that Zoe Strachan and her brilliant novel, ‘Ever Fallen in Love’, have been longlisted for the second Green Carnation Prize, celebrating LGBT writing. Sandstone Press is intensely proud of Zoe Strachan’s achievement coming, as it does, on the heels of Jane Rogers’ longlisting for the Man Booker Prize 2011. Below we reproduce the organisers’ press release dated today, 28th September 2011. As the reader will see, she is in exceptionally good company. THE GREEN CARNATION PRIZE LONGLIST 2011 After an intense nine months of reading, the judges spent almost two days debating and discussing all the submissions for the Green Carnation Prize’s second year. This year’s longlist includes a diverse mix of genres, household names, debut authors and tales of love to tales of psychopaths and all sorts in between. Without further ado we can reveal that the Green Carnation Longlist 2011 is made up of…  By Nightfall – Michael Cunningham (Fourth Estate)  The Strange Case of the Composer and his Judge – Patricia Duncker (Bloomsbury)  The Proof of Love – Catherine Hall (Portobello)  Red Dust Road – Jackie Kay (Picador)  The Retribution – Val McDermid (Little Brown)  Purge – Sofi Oksanen (Atlantic Books)  There But for The… - Ali Smith (Hamish Hamilton)  Remembrance of Things I Forgot – Bob Smith (Terrace Books)  Ever Fallen in Love – Zoe Strachan (Sandstone Press)  The Empty Family – Colm Toibin (Penguin Books)  Role Models – John Waters (Beautiful Books)  Before I Go To Sleep – S.J Watson (Doubleday)  Why Be Happy When You Can Be Normal? – Jeanette Winterson (Jonathan Cape) Chair of the judges, blogger, journalist and literary salon host Simon Savidge said “with so many submissions and so many wonderful books we didn’t feel we could have a shortlist of just ten. In fact, to get it down to a baker’s dozen took hours of discussion, thankfully there were no tears or bloodshed. I think the long list this year is very exciting and very diverse. We have three memoirs; a collection of short stories… there’s crime, literary and science fiction. We also have books by well-known names along with some stunning debuts and some authors that people might not have heard of before - in fact that also applies to some of the publishers. What all of these books have in common is that they are wonderful, wonderful reads and a selection of books that anyone could pick up and get lost in. While I am looking forward to returning to all of them, cutting them down to a shortlist of five is going to be quite a mission for us all.” The award keeps a judge, or two, from previous years as a form of continuity and this year’s chair’s thoughts were echoed by fellow judges of both years. Blogger Nick Campbell suggested “anyone who likes to be led astray and told marvellous secrets by their reading matter will find themselves well satisfied with these.” While Paul Magrs, who chaired the award in its inaugural year and came back for 2011, said it was “fascinating again to see who’s come out on top.” 2011-09-28T11:48:55+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2011/reviews_keep_coming_in/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2011/reviews_keep_coming_in/ The internet brings new dimensions to the practicalities of book reviews. For one thing it challenges the dominance of printed media. For another it defies the wave of immediacy which sweeps past books and leaves them bobbing behind. Book bloggers quite frequently turn to books that take their attention and which they feel are worth bringing to ours. Don’t you also love the names they give themselves? This week Rooftrouser, in his space ‘Whinging for Carthage’, has enjoyed Bobbie Darbyshire’s Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones so much he has given the pot another stir. Crime Fiction Lover, who gave such a warm review to Jorn Lier Horst’s Dregs has also discovered Yin Yang Tattoo by Ron McMillan, the first Asia Noir thriller from this exciting writer. Sandstone books are receiving increasing attention in the big broadsheets. The Sunday Times is the latest, where Lucy Scholes has given a very positive account of Zoe Strachan’s Ever Fallen In Love. You can find all three on the Sandstone Blogspot. The grass is not growing under our feet here at Sandstone Towers and soon The Red Cockatoo, Mitch Miller and Johnny Rodger’s study of James Kelman will be leaving the ware house, as will Anne Scott’s 18 Bookshops which, we predict, will be this year’s Christmas gift ‘must have’. 2011-09-12T06:50:17+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2011/the_man_booker_prize_2011/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2011/the_man_booker_prize_2011/ Sandstone Press sends congratulations to the short listed six in Man Booker 2011 and their publishers, and thanks to the Man Booker Foundation, their agency Colman Getty and the sponsors who do so much for English-language literature. We send especially fraternal greetings to the two first time novelists who have gone through and, of course, to our friends at Canongate in Edinburgh. Especially warm regards go to our author Jane Rogers, with whom we have travelled so far and will continue to travel. For a fuller reaction to the short list please go to our press announcement in the Blogspot of this web site 2011-09-06T10:18:40+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2011/more_great_books_on_the_way/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2011/more_great_books_on_the_way/ Life at Sandstone Towers has been a blur since Jane Rogers and The Testament of Jessie Lamb were longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2011. Our remaining stock disappeared from the warehouse in two days. In what seemed like no time we redesigned the cover, produced the ebook and cracked out another print run. Unbelievably, it is almost gone and we have another run printing now. Our territories have been increased for the title to UK, Ireland (no change there), Europe and the British Commonwealth apart from Canada where Harper Collins have taken the rights. We have entered into cordial relations with HC, whom I welcome to this web site should they visit at sight of their name, and wish them well. The ebook is now available throughout these territories and hard copy will follow. We send a very big thank you indeed to all who have been in touch and so supportive. Let me say to all readers what I have said to them: It’s a milestone, not a terminus. It hasn’t stopped, y’know. We are pricing for another reprint of Bobbie Darbyshire’s hilarious Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones, and the next reprint of our biggest seller, Cairngorm John, will not be far behind. At the Edinburgh International Book Festival Fringe we launched Jorn Lier Horst’s gripping Dregs at Waterstones Princes Street, the first of the William Wisting titles to be published in English, following Wencke Muhleisen’s I Should Have Lifted You Carefully Over - our first translations from the Norwegian. Both Jorn and his translator, Anne Bruce, were present, as were our co-hosts from the Norwegian Consulate, Mona Rohne and David Windmill. There will be more. Keep visiting and we will keep you posted. Leaving the warehouse tomorrow (Thursday 25th August) in great numbers will be Martin Moran’s The Munros in Winter, a complete recreation (and improvement) on the original production using 21st century methods. Following soon with be The Red Cockatoo: James Kelman and the art of comittment by Mitch Miller and Johnny Rodger, which we are publishing with The Drouth Magazine. Also in the warehouse is My Name is E by Frederick Lightfoot, not just a memorable name for an author but also an unforgettable book, as you will find out when it appears in October. Our Gaelic series continues to be, and will always be, important to us, and Alison Lang’s San Duthaich Uir will also be published in October. Exciting times. At proof stage we are looking at the most beautiful book you will ever see, 18 Bookshops by Anne Scott, and I predict that you will want to both give and receive it this Christmas. Given all this activity we are delaying our announcement on ebooks, but it’s on the way. Among all of this activity we have been approached by publishers and agents from all over the world with exciting new authors and titles. Keep visiting this web site, please. Soon we will be announcing our publishing programme for the first half of 2012 and it will be more exciting, more compulsive, more imperative, than ever before. 2011-08-24T11:38:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2011/the_man_booker_prize_2011_and_on/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2011/the_man_booker_prize_2011_and_on/ Jane Rogers’ appearance in the longlist for this year’s Man Booker Prize has sprung a whirlwind of activity since it was announced last Tuesday afternoon. Our remaining stock evaporated from the warehouse and we have, since, redesigned the cover front, to include a quote from Man Booker short-listee Michele Roberts, and the back to include quotes from Katy Guest’s appreciative review in the Independent on Sunday and Lucy Dallas’s in the Times Literary Supplement. We have made other production adjustments to turn the new supply round as quickly as possible. The book is now also available as a kindle and convetional ebook. In addition, as well as the attention which Jane Rogers and her brilliant creation, Jessie Lamb, have been correctly receiving, Sandstone Press has received a sudden and welcome increase in interest and attention. The Independent chose to lead its longlist story with us. Most other papers noticed us warmly. Thank you all for this, and thanks to the many, many people who have sent their good wishes. The Testament of Jessie Lamb is a great book, please do read it. As well as being a genuine page-turner it is a great provoker-of-thought, and we have other great books, not only novels but also non-fiction. Take a look! Explore this web site. There is plenty to enjoy.   2011-08-01T13:15:17+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2011/jane_rogers_makes_the_man_booker_long_list/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2011/jane_rogers_makes_the_man_booker_long_list/ We are delighted to announce that Jane Rogers novel ‘The Testament of Jessie Lamb’ has been long listed for the Man Booker Prize 2011. Sandstone Press congratulates Jane Rogers on this achievement and looks on this recognition as an important milestone in the development of Sandstone Press. 2011-07-26T14:08:18+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2011/the_tragedies_in_oslo_and_on_utoeya_island_norway/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2011/the_tragedies_in_oslo_and_on_utoeya_island_norway/ The dreadful loss of life in Oslo and on Utoeya Island has commanded the attention of the world and come at a time when this publishing company, Sandstone Press, is publishing its first quality translations by Norwegian authors. At this time of writing it seems that these atrocities have been carried out by one person and are politically motivated. Words seem inadequate but we offer our sympathies to all of the injured and bereaved, and to the emergency services who will now be working intensely to mitigate the effects of this disaster. Speaking for the Norwegian people, Prime Minister Jens Stentenberg is reported to have said: ‘We will retaliate with more democracy, transparency and openness.’ Sandstone Press admires PM Stentenberg for this statement. We stand beside our authors Wencke Muhleisen and Jorn Lier Horst, and their translator Anne Bruce, at this time of loss and grief. At a time when peace and tolerance are under attack, it seems, from religious and ideological extremists everywhere we reiterate our solidarity with our colleagues at NORLA and the Norwegian Consulate in Edinburgh, and in particular with our partner publishers, Gyldendal, in Oslo. 2011-07-23T13:55:35+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2011/for_the_trade_mostly/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2011/for_the_trade_mostly/ Sandstone Press has contracted with Scottish Review of Books for a half page full colour advert in each of the next four copies; that is, over the next year. These adverts will be designed by Heather MacPherson of Raspberryhmac who designed our current catalogue (downloadable from the Home Page). The adverts will have a uniform look but variable content with the first (August) likely to feature Sandstone fiction. Stuart Campbell’s Boswell’s Bus Pass is now streaming out of the warehouse and coming to be regarded as probably the funniest book published this year. Illustrated with Colin Milne’s drawings it will be snatched from bookshop shelves. Preliminary copies of Zoe Strachan’s ‘Ever Fallen In Love’ have arrived. Guilherme Condeixa’s cover design looks even better on the cover than it does onscreen. There will be a review in the August Scottish Review of Books and other reviews will follow. Zoe will be reading from and discussing the book at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Sunday 14th August. The book will be launched at Waterstones Sauchiehall Street on the 14th July in an open event. Appreciation for Robert Davidson’s Site Works continues to flow in and we expect reviews in the comong Northwords Now, Scotsman and Scottish Review of Books. Typically, Charles Gorer in the Northern Times: ‘This is a real life engineering project and these are the men and their machines who made it happen and Davidson is their brilliant chronicler.’ Similarly, we expect Scotsman and SRB reviews for Mark Douglas-Home’s The Sea Detective and more appreciation. Chris Dolan had this to say in The Herald: ‘The Sea Detective is extremely moreish, as much for its calm, open prose – a hard trick to pull off – as for its solid storytelling.’ Leslie Symons To Ride the Mountain Winds is also making its mark. Described as ‘a terrific book’ by Helicopter Life we await further reviews. Hamish’s Groats End Walk has been reviewed warmly in TGO and we will post that review when we have it. Also from the outdoors, but working on a more local, Hebridean map, Jonny Muir’s Isles at the Edge of the Sea has gone out in high numbers. In time, not too long, both of these books are going to be recognised as classics. Katy Guest, in the Independent on Sunday said of The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers: ‘You’ll be blown away.’ It was also positively reviewed in the Times Educational Supplement. The first of our quality translations, Norwegian Wenke Muhleisen’s I Should Have Lifted You Carefully Over is now in the warehouse and, again, we await a first review. all readings are uniformly positive and the cover is most attractive. Jotn Lier Horst’s Dregs will be published in August and we will report on that later. We have delayed publication of Martin Moran’s The Munros in Winter until September as a title more suited for the autumn and winter months. Please keep visiting http://www.sandstonepress.com for more news and reviews and, remember, you can download the AI Sheets from the foot of every book page. Much more is on the way and - bookshop managers! - they all sell. 2011-07-05T11:25:03+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2011/summer_lightning/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2011/summer_lightning/ Here in Highland Scotland we have been having some particularly spectacular thunderstorms. In between though, the weather has been superb, offering wonderful views of one of the wold’s most beautiful land and seascapes. No matter about the weather, outdoor types driven temporarily indoors can take refuge in any one of the many fine bookshops now scattered around our area. Let me point first at the Loch Croispol Bookshop near Durness in West Sutherland (stamping ground of The Kerracher Man, Eric Macleod). Kevin Crowe, owner and manager of this fine shop, has now dedicated an area entirely to Sandstone Press books and all reports so far indicate a roaring success. In the same county, but a bit to the south, Achin’s Bookshop in Lochinver is an equally welcoming environment. To give added interest, Achin’s was used as a communications centre for the firefighters during the recent drought induced (yes, that’s how mixed the weather has been!) forest fires. In Lerwick the Shetland Times Bookshop is ever welcoming and the most natural home for Ron McMillan’s Between Weathers, as Nairn Bookshop is for The Long Bridge. In Stromness, Liz ashworth’s Orkney spirit goes like a fair, as it does in The Orcadian bookshop in Kirkwall. It goes on and on, but don’t forget, if you can’t reach our area this year there is always the main High Street trader, Waterstones, your own local bookshop, and the internet. Wencke Muhleisen’s ‘I should have lifted you carefully over’ is now available, and a tender and beautiful book it is. Jonny Muir’s Isles at the Edge of the Sea is also available and, in fact, has sold a third of its print run in only two weeks. We have asked the printer to be ready for a speedy reprint. The Sea Detective by Mark Douglas-Home is selling steadily (signed copies are now available in Waterstones Princes Street) and Robert Davidson’s Site Works looks to be picking up some more appreciative reviews in the near future. We look forward to the launch of Boswell’s Bus Pass, a beautiful, illustrated hardback by Stuart Campbell and artist Colin Milne, in The Music Box, Stevenson College, Edinburgh on Thursday 23rd June at 6.00pm. Please come along if you can. The first two copies arrived on the morning of Robert Davidson’s Site Works reading in Grantown-on-Spey. He took them along to show to Marjory Miller, the vivaceous proprietor of The Bookmark, only to have them wrestled from his grasp and bought at gunpoint by an over-enthusiastic reader. 2011-06-17T09:18:55+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2011/deliveries_and_events/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2011/deliveries_and_events/ We understand that difficulties in delivering to Waterstones continue as they have for most of the year so far. Calls this morning suggest that these difficulties have much to do with the change in ownership which is presently being effected and that the blockage is likely to clear in July. For the sake of our readers we hope so. We value our relationship with the country’s main High Street bookseller, as we do with the many independents we supply, WH Smith and the wholesalers. Customers should not feel thwarted. Sandstone Press books can be purchased from many locations, on the ground and online. Robert Davidson will be signing copies of Site Works at Waterstones Inverness tomorrow (Tuesday, 7th June) and at a more formal launch/reading event in Grantown-on-Spey on Thursday 16th. We have just learned that Mark Douglas-Home will be appearing at Mainstreet Trading, the go-ahead and successful bookshop in the Borders town of St Boswells on Thursday 21st July. We will keep you posted as best we can. Bobbie Darbyshire is still appearing on a weekly basis in the London area and beyond so, if you are in that wide area, please keep an eye open for her. 2011-06-06T11:00:54+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2011/two_fabulous_new_books_have_arrived_._._/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2011/two_fabulous_new_books_have_arrived_._._/ Two fabulous new books have arrived as preliminaries and will be entering the warehouse on Tuesday. Isles at the Edge of the Sea, Jonny Muir’s brilliant (and beautifully written) account of his very challenging journey to St Kilda will knock the heads off all Hebrides lovers. It is destined to be a favourite for many years to come. It has also topped our previous record for pre-publication orders. Don’t miss it! Wencke Muhleisen’s I Should Have Lifted You Over is our first translation from the Norwegian. High quality translation is an area Sandstone Press has been bound for from the outset and this is a great book to start with. Wencke, having herself lived the life of a feisty and independent feminist pioneer, had to come to terms with the impending death of her mother, who had lived in a more conventional style. Her account is poetic, deeply felt, and will stir all women (and men) who have had strong differences of approach and attitude to the generation that has gone before. We have purchased the cover design from its original creator, Blaest Design in Oslo, and had it converted by Rebecca Pickard at Zebedee in Edinburgh. It is a truly beautiful book, beautifully presented. Before you leave http://www.sandstonepress.com don’t miss downloading our current catalogue from the Home Page. You will find it in the Welcome section, but soon we will have it in its own box so you can’t miss it. Happy reading! 2011-05-26T11:30:22+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2011/all_at_sea/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2011/all_at_sea/ The first copies of Mark Douglas-Home’s new thriller The Sea Detective have been leaving the warehouse in high numbers over these two days. You should find them without difficulty in a shop near you. Meantime, to give you a flavour, there will be a review in this coming Saturday’s Herald, that’s the 21st May. Slightly late from the printer we anticipate taking receipt of Jonny Muir’s Isles at the Edge of the Sea next Monday. That’s the the 23rd May. Jonny’s book has already racked up a record number of pre-publication orders so we have high hopes for it. Our new catalogue has been going out to shops all across the UK and we have been following up with calls. So far the response is really good, and we thank all the shop managers who have been giving Eilidh and James such a warm reception. We can’t wait to get to Kevin Crowe’s Loch Croispol Bookshop and Restaurant ( http://bit.ly/m8biEL ) at Balnakiel, near Durness in West Sutherland, to see the special Sandstone Press corner he has made. You can download the catalogue PDF from the Home Page! 2011-05-17T15:01:59+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2011/long_nights_gone_a_welcome_to_spring/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2011/long_nights_gone_a_welcome_to_spring/ Our two April titles, To Ride the Mountain Winds: a history of aerial mountaineering and rescue, by Leslie Symons, and Robert Davidson’s novel, Site Works, have been released with excellent launch events dotted around the country. In addition, our newly redesigned Advance Information Sheets have been sent to retailers and wholesalers across Britain. Our new catalogue, which has been available for download from this site since the 16th April, is now available as hard copy and is also going out. A whole raft of public holidays have perhaps held things up more than we would wish but the Trade is coming out of its semi-hibernation between the Festive Season and spring and things are moving again. Soon our home area will be welcoming its first few thousands of international visitors and we have every intention of making Sandstone Press books easily available for them. Just as we are pressing into shops and warehouses across the wider UK. In this month of May we will be publishing two more wonderful titles. The first of them The Sea Detective by Mark Douglas-Home, will be launched at Waterstones Princes Street, Edinburgh, on the 18th and we do hope you will come along. Details can be found on the shop’s web site and in posters throughout the store. Introductions and questions will be marshalled by the (highly) distinguished journalist and author Magnus Linklater whom we welcome within the Sandstone orbit. Later in the month we will be releasing Isles at the Edge of the Sea, a second travelogue from the talented Jonny Muir; this book even more adventurous than his first - and even more sensitive to environment and population. It also contains sixteen pages of wonderful colour images from the author. Reviews for both of these titles are pending so do, please, keep your eyes open. We understand that transitional difficulties at Waterstones, whose position in the High Street becomes ever more crucial to readers and publishers alike after the demise of several other major retailers, has made the stocking of new titles more sporadic than we would all wish. We need a strong High Street, and that means a strong Waterstones, but we also need the many small, independent book shops which so enliven our communities and give focus to our lives of thought and feeling. Let’s all use these stores, meet there, talk there, exchange ideas and book recommendations. If you are in the Highlands you might meet someone from Sandstone Press in one (or chewing the fat with the excellent staff at Waterstones Inverness), and we certainly look forward to meeting you. 2011-05-04T05:58:14+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2011/new_developments._especially_for_the_benefit_of_the_trade/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2011/new_developments._especially_for_the_benefit_of_the_trade/ Our new catalogue has been prepared and you can download it now from the Home Page. Please do so, and we hope you enjoy your browse. We anticipate delivery of the hard copy catalogues sometime during the week beginning Monday 25th April, in time for Robert Davidson’s Site Works launch at Blackwell’s Bookshop in Edinburgh. The cover is designed by Latte Goldstein at River Design, Edinburgh (Cairngorm John, Boswell’s Bus Pass, and more) and the internal layout by Heather MacPherson at Raspberryhmac (The Fan Tan Players, Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones). If you are in the Trade and would like a hard copy please drop us an email at info@sandstonepress.com Chances are it will be in the post soon anyway. We take endless trouble to create the most attention grabbing covers possible. To complement this we asked Heather to redesign our Advance Information Sheets. Not content with improved functionality she turned them into things of beauty. We have used the new template for each of the fifteen new titles we will be publishing this year (only one still to appear on the web site, and one other cover image), and you can download them from the foot of every book page. Yes, the number is increasing every year. All of this is to give added value and ease of use to the Trade in particular. If you are visiting for the first time after our email round and Trade Bulletin we do hope you not only enjoy your stay but also find it useful. Sandstone Press exists to serve you so please don’t hesitate to email or call. Our reps will be delighted to visit when they are in your area. We think our location in Highland Scotland makes us pretty special, but Sandstone Press travels the mainstream so you can expect the best of contemporary fiction and non-fiction when you take our books into stock. Books that take the eye. Books that sell. 2011-04-16T09:09:14+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2011/sandstone_press_and_the_environment/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2011/sandstone_press_and_the_environment/ Two new books are entering the warehouse now. Leslie Symons’ wonderful To Ride the Mountain Winds already has high pre-orders. Those who are waiting will not be disappointed with this jacketed hardback and its eight pages of black and white historical plates and sixteen of tremendous colour, contemporary plates. Leslie’s account of aircraft in the mountains will not disappoint either. Story after exciting story amounts to a jaw dropping narrative of human endeavour. The book also takes a wise overview not only of environmental impact by aircraft but also environmental contribution. Robert Davidson’s novel, Site Works, takes cognisance of the environment in quite a different way. Nourished by over thirty years of experience in or around construction sites, Site Works is a unique book in its scope and narrative power. As one reader put it (an agent and former publisher, a legend in publishing actually) ‘. . . so visceral and affecting, so original, tackling things that really, one doesn’t often see in print’. What can a bunch of guys assembled to build a sewage works on the coast have to say? Maybe everything. Like responsible people everywhere, Sandstone Press is increasingly concerned about the environment. From Site Works on, all of our books will carry the following statement on the biblio page, or one like it:- ‘Sandstone Press is committed to a sustainable future in publishing, marrying the needs of the company and our readers with those of the wider environment. This book is made from paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council’. PS: We have three new cover images in Forthcoming. These are for Boswell’s Bus Pass, The Munros in Winter, and Ever Fallen in Love. Designs are by Latte Goldstein of River Design in Edinburgh (bus passes drawn by Colin Milne), Thomas Gravemaker of Gravemaker + Scott in Paris, and new designer Guilherme Condeixa in Lisbon, respectively. 2011-04-05T08:07:53+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/developments_beyond_this_space_but_coming_our_way/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/developments_beyond_this_space_but_coming_our_way/ Anne Bruce, translater of ‘I should have lifted you carefully over’ by Wencke Muhleisen, and ‘Dregs’ by Jorn Lier Horst, the first two Sandstone Press translations (both already highly successful in Scandinavia) has been in touch with the news that ‘Dregs’ has been short-listed for the Norwegian Riverton Prize (Golden Gun). This is a fine upturn, and much deserved by an author who not only has produced eight successful novels featuring his hero, William Wisting. but who also continues as a practicing policeman himself - in the self-same location and role as Wisting. Take a look here: http://rivertonklubben.wordpress.com/ Also on the European stage, Waterstones bookshop chain looks like changing hands. It appears that founder Tim Waterstone may be on the brink of a takeover with exceedingly rich businessman Alexander Mamut. Take a look here: http://bit.ly/hoBkH5 As ever, Sandstone Press wishes everyone involved in the book trade well in times of great instability. We never forget though, that the most important link in the chain is the reader. 2011-03-28T06:57:34+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/hamishs_groats_end_walk_in_on_the_move/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/hamishs_groats_end_walk_in_on_the_move/ We are delighted to announce that our latest title, Hamish’s Groats End Walk, has left the warehouse in substantial numbers. You can find it in your local bookshop, or have it ordered by them, at Waterstones across the UK (with a promotional offer in Scotland), and on the internet. Hamish Brown has substantially rewritten his original text and added a new introduction and rather startling (and revealing) afterword. In addition to being a continuing inspiration, Hamish’s Groats End Walk provides a window on a recently departed era and contains two wonderful sections of colour photographs. 2011-03-21T08:51:16+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/the_earthquake_and_tsunami_in_japan/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/the_earthquake_and_tsunami_in_japan/ As with everyone else, our eyes over the weekend have been on the dreadful tragedy which has struck Japan. The images which have been broadcast have, for the first time, brought the true nature of such an event home to those of us who live far from the edges of those constantly shifting tectonic plates. As I write, the full scale of the disaster is not yet understood, nor indeed is it likely to be measurable. Over the past year Sandstone Press has been in touch with colleagues at the Hong Kong International Book Festival, not so very far away, and our author, Julian Lees, was due to appear there in July. Julian lives in Kuala Lumpur and so is distant from the disaster. Another author, Ron McMillan, lives in Bangkok. We have colleagues with Dymock’s Books in Hong Kong and are in touch with printers there. Everyone in the region is likely to have friends or acquaintances in Japan. Our thoughts and sympathies are with the country in a situation which is already tragic beyond measure and may well worsen. 2011-03-14T08:42:34+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/spring_has_sprung_._._/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2011/spring_has_sprung_._._/ . . . the sun is shining right across the Highlands, the buds are budding and the sap is on the rise. Please excuse this sub-Wordsworthian excursion but things are happening. Jane Rogers’s The Testamant of Jessie Lamb was selected as The Herald’s Paperback of the Week with an appreciative review by Alastair Mabbott, and equally highly praised in the Sunday Independent by Katy Guest. The Great Outdoors has reviewed Craig Weldon’s The Weekend Fix so strongly I am thinking about reading it again myself. We expect reviews to start soon on Hamish Brown’s substantially rewritten (and totally re-illustrated and redisigned) Hamish’s Groats End Walk. Jane, Moira Forsyth and Eric MacLeod have been reading to an appreciative public right across the UK, while Bobbie Darbyshire reads from her phenomenally successful Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones every weekend in bookshops across the south east of England. At the same time John Allen has been speaking to full houses across Scotland, promoting mountain safety, enjoyment of the hills, mountain rescue teams generally and the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team in particular. By the way, it was a particular pleasure to meet that superb athlete, Manny Gorman, first to run the Corbetts in a single trip, at John’s Inverness event the other night. The proofs of Leslie Symons To Ride the Mountain Winds have been accepted and we await delivery of the first print run (brace yourselves, reviewers) and I could hardly tell you what a pleasure it has been to work on this title with Leslie and his support team. It really is going to be such a beauty, this book, not only totally original in its outlook but opening up an entirely new field. Robert Davidson’s Site Works is also with the printer and we await the proofs. This title is a novel but, we are again convinced, totally original in form and content and unlike anything you have ever read. Those naughty journalists at the Scottish Review of Books have let slip that Zoe Strachan is now a Sandstone author and that her book, due in July, will be titled Ever Been In Love. They don’t know what we are doing with the cover though, or who is designing it. We’ll keep you in suspense on that for the present. Whew! That’s enough for now. Let’s go out and see if the first lambs are born yet. 2011-03-06T13:00:41+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2011/production_design_and_dont_forget_the_warehouse/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2011/production_design_and_dont_forget_the_warehouse/ In a period of unprecedented activity for Sandstone Press, we can announce that we have just gone to print with Leslie Symons beautiful book, To Ride the Mountain Winds, and are about to go to print with Robert Davidson’s Site Works. In their very different ways these two titles meet the practical world of machines and activity with humour, artistic sensibilities, deep feeling and vision. Do look out for them. In design we have Alison Lang’s new Gaelic title Air san Duthaich and, in anticipation of an announcement we are not quite in a position to make, a new title from one of Britain’s most exciting novelists. Latte Goldstein at River Design in Edinburgh is now focussing on Alison’s book and, a new designer to Scotland and the UK, Guilherme Condeixa in Lisbon (but bound for Edinburgh) will be designing for Zo . . . Oops, almost gave it away! The BookSource warehouse in Cambuslang is also busy. As I write, Jane Rogers’ amazing The Testament of Jessie Lamb is leaving in numbers for bookshops across the UK and for Amazon. You can read Alastair Mabbott’s Herald review as a Sandstone blog. Hamish’s Brown’s Groats End Walk is chalking up substantial pre-orders and will be released in March. It is perhaps interest in this title that has prompted the recent flurry of activity over Craig Weldon’s The Weekend Fix. Hamish speaks highly of Craig’s book in his new introduction, and indeed frequently elsewhere. You can read Carey Davies’s new TGO review, and Mike Dixon’s from the SMC Yearbook, both as Sandstone Blogs. Translation work on our two Norwegian titles also advances and we anticipate releasing Wencke Muhleisen’s moving I Should Have Lifted You Carefully Over in June, and Jorn Lier Horst’s William Wisting mystery, Dregs, in August. Jorm Lier’s policeman hero is already a great favourite in Scandinavia and is destined to be a great hit here. Respectively, Rebecca Pickard at Zebedee and Latte Goldstein have adapted the original covers for an English-language readership. Unmentioned so far are Mark Douglas-Home’s first novel, The Sea Detective and Stuart Campbell’s Boswell’s Bus Pass, which we have now decided to publish as a hardback, and which will be delightfully illustrated by Colin Milne. Colin brings both his talents as a master of spontaneous sketching and finely detailed drawings influenced by his career in architecture to the page. Mark, you will know, is not only a distinguished former editor of The Herald but also part of the same literary family which has produced the playright William Douglas-Home and the journalist, James. Literature in the blood! Readers of outdoor and mountain literature will note from our Forthcoming page that we have signed Martin Moran and will be bringing out his The Munros in Winter in July. Next year we will follow with his famous Alps 4000. These books will have the same look as Hamish Brown’s classics with design by Gravemaker + Scott. This coming half year (and beyond) marks a significant upload of activity for the Publisher in the Highlands, rapidly increasing our list size, but also our international and UK scope. Please do keep visiting this web site, and keep an eye out for Sandstone Press for the best in contemporary, quality reading. 2011-02-21T11:59:10+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2011/the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_in_the_herald/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2011/the_testament_of_jessie_lamb_in_the_herald/ An important review of Jane Rogers’ The Testament of Jessie Lamb will appear in The Herald tomorrow, Saturday 12th February 2011 and we are very happy to draw it too our visitors’ attention. Copies of the book will be leaving the warehouse soon to appear in the shops on the 25th. More good news is on the way. Please do keep visiting us at http://www.sandstonepress.com 2011-02-11T12:52:52+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2011/the_university_of_the_highlands_and_islands_-_sounds_good/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2011/the_university_of_the_highlands_and_islands_-_sounds_good/ UHI Millennium Institute has become the new University of the Highlands and Islands. The culmination of much recently focussed work, a long period prior to that of reconstruction and bedding in, before that the frequent recurrence of what must have seemed like an impossible, visionary dream, the University of the Highlands and Islands has now been confirmed by a simple, but seismic, approval from the Privy Council. Our region’s new university has passed its most significant milestone but will have, by no means, stopped growing. Already described as a ‘powerhouse for the economic, social and cultural development of the region’ by its Chair, Professor Matthew MacIvor, it will be all of that. In addition it is massively confirmatory and a committment to the future. Highland Scotland’s identity, and that of its university is, and will continue to be, not only different from the rest of Scotland and Britain but also unique in the world. It has hardly been noticed that a considerable mass and momentum has been gathering in the north for perhaps half a century, or that the curve has recently turned sharply upwards. Greener, cleaner, and by now thoroughly cosmopolitan, a great city is in the making in one of the world’s most beautiful landscapes. As one powerhouse for change to another we bid our new university welcome from the bottom of our bookish heart. 2011-02-02T07:30:46+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/jane_rogers_exciting_new_title_will_appear_this_month/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/jane_rogers_exciting_new_title_will_appear_this_month/ Sandstone Press is delighted to announce the publication in this coming month of Jane Rogers’ new title, The Testament of Jessie Lamb. We are over the moon to welcome Jane to our increasingly impressive list of authors. She enhances it strongly, but she would enhance the lists of much bigger companies. Her earlier work, Mr Wroe’s Virgins, was turned into a successful television series. More recently, her novel, Island, has been filmed and will be shown at the coming Glasgow Film Festival. Jane is both nationally and internationally known, not only as a novelist but also as a radio scriptwriter and womens’ activist. She was recently active in Uganda, as you can read in her recent guest Sandstone blog. In The Testament of Jessie Lamb Jane Rogers’s enters new and difficult territory that will provoke fiery discussion among feminists, environmentalists and Christians alike. Told from the perspective of a young adult woman, still at school, she explores dangerous adult territory, much as William Golding did with The Lord of the Flies and J D Salinger with The Catcher in the Rye, in a book that is as engrossing as it is disturbing. This one is not to be missed. By the way, we will be announcing the signing of another distinguished woman novelist in the near future. This one was accounted one of the top twenty young novelists in Britain by the Independent on Sunday, and will be listed among the top ten young Scottish novelists in the next Scottish Review of Books. Watch this space! 2011-01-31T19:11:39+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/j_f_print_yeovil_somerset/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/j_f_print_yeovil_somerset/ Today we learned with great sadness that J F Print of Yeovil in Somerset has gone into liquidation. This excellent, long established print company produced five titles for us in 2010, not least our flagship biography ‘Beyond the Last Dragon’ by James McGonigal. My understanding is that the management team were able to produce figures to show that, with support, the company could return to profit in a few months but that, nonetheless, the banks would not support them. This seems to be typical of our time. The obvious truth that to have faith and invest in our industry is to have faith and invest in our people seems to be forgotten. Anything less is to abandon the future to tumbleweed and dust. It has been a pleasure to work with J F Print, as it is with our other printers, both here and in Poland, but they are not the first to go down of late. Towards the end of 2009 Atheneum Press, printers of the hardback edition of Cairngorm John, went into administration. More recently the first company I had the pleasure of working with, while Managing Editor of Northwords Magazine, Cromwell Press also failed. Cromwell Press printed the beautiful ‘Fickle Man’ for us. I have found both employees and management of all these companies to be decent, hard working people and do not believe that they deserve this fate. We send our best wishes to them all and wish them a speedy return to employment. All industries go through periods of reshaping, often for good reasons, and they are always painful. There is something wasteful and stupid though, about this degree of short sightedness. At Sandstone Press our purpose is unchanged: to bring the best possible reading we can find, efficiently edited and delightfully presented, to an intelligent and discriminating reading public. With our remaining colleagues, not only printers but also authors, designers, typesetters and everyone in the Trade, we will strive in this direction and work to rebuild the economy, or at least our small part. The best response is to live well. Let’s continue to do that. Robert Davidson Managing Director Sandstone Press Ltd 2011-01-27T20:09:40+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/the_new_scots_makar_poet_laureate_will_be_liz_lochead/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/the_new_scots_makar_poet_laureate_will_be_liz_lochead/ All of us at Sandstone Press are delighted to learn that Liz Lochhead has been chosen to follow Edwin Morgan as Scotland’s Poet Laureate, known as the Scots Makar. A close friend of Edwin Morgan she is also part of that approximate grouping of west central Scotland writers which includes him, Alasdair Gray and James Kelman. Over the year’s Liz Lochead’s work has ranged widely across poetry with such titles as Bagpipe Muzak and Dreaming Frankenstein, and plays such as Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off and Perfect Days. In these parts we still recall Maureen Beattie’s Eden Court performance of Medea with chilled blood. 2011-01-19T16:01:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/new_books_on_the_way/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/new_books_on_the_way/ We are delighted to report that preliminary copies of The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers have arrived here at Sandstone Towers. With a cover based on the fabulous work of Kirstie Cohen (see our Links page) giving a genuine feel for the endangered and troubling world between the covers, this book is going to further enhance Jane Rogers’ already shining reputation. Trade can pre-order now and readers can do the same on the internet, or by marching into their local independent book shop and demanding that copies be available on day of release. Hamish’s Groats End Walk is now at the printer and this new version of Hamish Brown’s classic book, about his long walk through Britain and Ireland, is going to be its most splendid production yet. Fit to match last year’s revolutionary edition of Hamish’s Mountain Walk, now working its way through its first reprint. Soon we will have the cover of Dregs by Jorn Lier Horst in Forthcoming, the latest in his series of William Wisting mysteries. Already fantastically successful in his native Norway, William Wisting is the principal character in the latest great crime series from Scandinavia. Following in the well trodden footsteps of Henning Mankell’s Wallander and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, it is going to have you clinging to the edge of your seat. A rather special novel to look out for will be Site Works by Robert Davidson. Most recently this writer has worked with John Allen on Cairngorm John and Remzije Sherifi on Shadow Behind the Sun, books which, between them, were short listed for three national and international awards. Take a look at Forthcoming for the cover. More will follow in due course but one thing is certain. You have never read a book quite like this. Now please do take time to explore the rest of our ever changing web site, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter. 2011-01-09T11:19:50+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/happy_new_year1/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2011/happy_new_year1/ All of us at Sandstone Press in Highland Scotland, the Board and our associates, authors, designers and typesetter wish our web site visitors, colleagues of every stamp and, most of all, our readers all the best for 2011. 2011-01-04T18:14:32+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2010/for_the_trade_cairngorm_john_stock/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2010/for_the_trade_cairngorm_john_stock/ We are pleased to let you know that the reprint of Cairngorm John (paperback version) will be with BookSource on Wednesday 8th. We ran out on Friday having been expecting more copies by last midweek. Difficulties is paper procurement caused delay, as has the inclement weather. These problems have thankfully been overcome and the book is now reprinted and awaiting dispatch. Between this, recent reprints of Between Weathers, The Kerracher Man, and Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones we have endeavoured to maintain supplies in advance of the Festive Season and just about managed it - by the skin of our teeth! As an aside I should say that we are also awaiting delivery of what will be our first publication of 2011, The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers. Keep your eye out for pre-publication publicity. 2010-12-06T10:45:55+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2010/wild_geese_overhead/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2010/wild_geese_overhead/ The title above is actually the title of one of Neil Gunn’s less well known novels. It has been prompted by the high, I dare say huge, numbers of geese flying over Sandstone Towers these days. A delight as much to the ears as to the eyes they carry their message of annual renewal to these parts and have done since time immemorial, and you can find reference to that fact in John Allen’s geat title Cairngorm John, which is forging its way through the festive waters already. Yes, the great festivals of Christmas and New Year are on their way. It is a time of gifts as everyone anticipates, some with joy and others with resignation, and can their be any better gift than a book? They carry knowledge knowledge, entertainment, mental excercise, escape and are decorations about the house as well as signs of what we are. This year in the shops we have added four novels to our list, our first but very much not our last. Liz Ashworth’s Orkney Spirit is both of use and great beauty and we believe that anyone, although especially those with Northern Isles connections, would want it on their bookshelves (and in their kitchens). Speaking of the Northern Isles, Ron McMillan’s Between Weathers is still THE book to read on Shetland and we take this opportunity to congratulate both Ron and Jim Brown of B4 Films on their initiative for Between Weathers, the film of the same name.  Judging by the content of their web site the project is set fair for 2011. Simon Varwell has also published an extremely witty travel book with us, the first on his now legendary Mullet hunt around the world, Up the Creek without a Mullet. James McGonigal’s biography of Edwin Morgan, Beyond the Last Dragon, has probably made the biggest splash in other media and we note with satisfaction that its reception is amplifying as it travels. Best wishes to you all this Festive Season. Please do take a look at our books. We are sure you will find great reading there for your family and friends, and don’t neglect yourself. We are busying ourselves with next year’s list, so keep watching this space. 2010-11-22T09:19:54+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2010/from_northern_latitudes/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2010/from_northern_latitudes/ Having enjoyed two fabulous launch events for The Long Bridge in Edinburgh and Nairn we look forward to the title’s continuing advance into the popular consciousness. Urszula Muskus, the author, was a Polish woman who ended her days in England having left her gripping manuscript in bundles on the floor. It is a great story, and one that deserves to live. The legacy of those times will never leave us and we have no better means of dealing with it than the spirit Urszula carried across the tundra and that lives in us all - if only we can summon it up. Beyond the Last Dragon, James McGonigal’s brilliant biography of Edwin Morgan, has already received outstanding coverage in the Scottish media. There is more to come, and it looks like this good and positive attention is about to extend into some high level publications south of the border. We are also pleased to report (more than pleased actually, the skies over Highland have been darkened once again by soaring Glengarry bonnets) that Remzije Sherifi’s Shadow Behind the Sun has just appeared in translation in Ukraine, the first of our titles to take such a step. We have copies left, don’t miss this great story. The Long Bridge is our last publication of 2010 and we look now to the Festive Season (rushing inexorably towards us) with great optimism. The books we have published this year (including/especially the four novels - see the Fiction page), together with those we carry forward from previous years, will enhance any bookshelf and we commend them all as great reading and as gifts. We are also close to the major announcement I have been promising for some time. Still teasing, I’m afraid; but it involves the north in a crucial way, and the literature of another land that we feel nonetheless very close to. Again, more to follow. 2011 will be a year of further advance for Sandstone Press. Please do take a look at the books on our Forthcoming page. Already we are working on the covers (and some of the texts) of these titles. Several more are in the pipline and will be on view soon. Together they will make a formidable list that should make not only the most important people in our lives - the readers - sit up but also the Trade and the Press. Please do keep visiting. More news will follow very soon. Our next title will be The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers. Jane’s latest novel (following Mr Wroe’s Virgins and, more recently, Island and The Voyage Home is utterly compelling and will give food for thought, discussion and, no doubt, argument to environmentalists, feminists and those many people who are thinking and rethinking on religion at the moment. It is also a grippping read. Let me leave you with a word about our new Marketing and Publicity person, Eilidh Smith. Eilidh has joined us as a bundle of ideas and energy and has already revitalised our communications with the media as well as improved our organisation of launches and direct sales. Keep a weather eye open for all Sandstone Press publicity, which there will be much more of. Now please do take the time to explore the Sandstone Press web site. Please do extend your visit. 2010-11-06T10:39:48+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/crossing_the_long_bridge/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/crossing_the_long_bridge/ On Wednesday 3rd November Sandstone Press will be launching The Long Bridge by Urszula Muskus at Nairn Community Centre. The author’s grandson, Peter Muskus, who is also her literary guardian, will be in conversation with editor Robert Davidson and there will be wine and other refreshments. Readings will be by Peter’s daughter, Josephine Muskus, Urszula’s grandaughter. This event follows an excellent launch at Blackwell’s Bookshop in Edinburgh where Peter was in conversation with John Watson, Director of Amnesty International Scotland. This delightful evening was organised by the super efficient Ann Landmann, of Blackwells, and Siobhan Reardon of Amnesty. Readings were by that very talented actrress, Gowan Calder, in an evening that no one who was there is likely to forget. 2010-10-31T09:41:41+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/on_on_onwards_to_the_long_bridge/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/on_on_onwards_to_the_long_bridge/ The Last Dragon event at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow on Monday evening went like a dream. Introduced by editor Moira Forsyth, author James McGonigal read from the work and spoke directly to a large and lively audience before going into a question and answer session with Jim Carruth of Glitterball, Robyn Marsack, Director of the Scottish Poetry Library, and Prof Alan Riach of Glasgow University. The audience participated enthusiastically. We were extremely delighted to meet Sharon Raulson, who features so strongly in Remzije Sherifi’s Shadow Behind the Sun, and her toddler Marco, and to learn that Nuna and Charlotte are now not only British citizens and working happily. They have also been reunited with the children they were so cruelly separated from and we rejoice with them. Bravo! We can also let you know that Managing Director Robert Davidson was in discussion about an exciting new title which we expect to appear in the second half of 2011. We will leave that there, a bit of a tease, but - what would you expect. Arrived today are the office copies of The Long Bridge by Urszula Muskus and - good news! - the first reprint of Bobbie Darbyshire’s Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones which has been plagued with delays beyond our control. Both books are super productions from JF Print in Somerset and The Long Bridge sports the first cover prepared for us by Rebecca Pickard at Zebedee Design. It won’t be the last. We will be launching The Long Bridge next week at Blackwells South Bridge, Edinburgh, and afterwards in Nairn. More to follow on those soon. All our copies are already gone to review and we expect a major feature in the Daily Record on Saturday, including pictures of Urszula in pre-War Poland and later at Krasnoyarsk, which translates as Long Bridge. The last word though, belongs to James McGonigal and Beyond the Last Dragon. Jim has produced a work of real significance which, in addition to being a great read, is going to last for many years as the principal reference work on Edwin Morgan. It is also a tremendous academic achievement. 2010-10-19T15:12:00+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/the_last_dragon_flies_over_the_mitch/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/the_last_dragon_flies_over_the_mitch/ James McGonigal will be presenting his great biography of EdwinMorgan tonight (Monday 18th October, 6.00pm for 6.30), and participating in a panel Q&A with Robyn Marsack of the Scottish Poetry Library, Jim carruth of St Mungo’s Mirrorball, Prof Alan Riach of Glasgow University. Please do come along if you can. 2010-10-18T08:02:20+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/shading_into_autumn/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/shading_into_autumn/ As the leaves start to fall (isn’t that a song?) the book trade’s thoughts turn inevitably towards the Festive Season. Sandstone Press already has a considerable presence on the bookshops’ groaning boards. Beyond the Last Dragon, James McGonigal’s brilliant biography of Edwin Morgan, just about kissed goodbye to the first half of its first print run two weeks after first appearing. Those Edwin Morgan enthusiasts who would (very sensibly) wish to own a first flush copy had better get their skates on. The paperback version of Cairngorm John has sold a similar amount in exactly the same time and, to our delight, has stimulated interest in our few remaining hardback copies. In a couple of weeks we will be launching The Long Bridge at Blackwells in Edinburgh, following with a Highland launch at the Nairn Community Centre. This book is a tremedous, unputdownable read which will be enjoyed by both sexes. Put the word out about this one if you can. Its sheer quality remains just too much of a secret. Orkney Spirit, Up the Creek Without a Mullet, and the wonderful Hamish’s Mountain Walk all present colourful cases to be included in someone’s stocking so get them while you can. Our four novels to date are also doing more than well. Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones, tell me Where You Are, Yin Yang Tattoo, and The Fan Tan Players are all superb reads. When you are out shopping you might just pop one in the basket for yourself. 2010-10-14T14:15:40+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/frankfurt_book_fair/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2010/frankfurt_book_fair/ Frankfurt Book fair is now in full swing and we have some colleagues across there. So, if you are looking in, best wishes to James Benson, Edwin Hawkes, Marion Sinclair and the team from Publishing Scotland. An especially big hello to Eva Lie-Nielsen of Gyldendal Publishing of Oslo. 2010-10-06T06:59:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/new_appointment_signals_ambition_for_growth_from_sandstone_press/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/new_appointment_signals_ambition_for_growth_from_sandstone_press/ Sandstone Press is delighted to announce the appointment of Eilidh Smith who will be undertaking marketing and publicity for the Highland based company. Eilidh will be first point of contact for press, broadcast and internet journalists, as well as festival and other event organisers. She will be working with authors to assist them in the promotion of their books and will be involved in the planning and delivery of marketing programmes. Eilidh has previously held an editorial position with DC Thomson, and marketing and publicity posts with both Glasgow Caledonian University and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Originally from Gairloch in Wester Ross Eilidh now lives in Strathpeffer. Managing Director Robert Davidson said: “We are very pleased to welcome this highly competent and enthusiastic woman into the company. I am confident that Eilidh will bring innovation to our marketing and publicity systems in addition to a high level of professionalism. This appointment signifies the continued growth of Sandstone Press and, in addition to the better promotion of our books, should further establish our reputation as one of the most progressive and ambitious publishing houses in Britain.” IMAGES AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD http://www.sendspace.com/file/9odkqe http://www.sendspace.com/file/lxcpdz 2010-09-29T10:18:16+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/between_weathers_the_movie/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/between_weathers_the_movie/ The latest exciting news from Lerwick (via Bangkok) is that Ron McMillan’s idea for a drama titled Between Weathers and located in Shetland is really on the move. B4 Films has met several times with the Shetland authorities who have smiled generously on the project and lots of practical moves have already been made. The principal location will be Fetlar and auditions have been carried out with locals. A musical director has been appointed in the highly talented, experienced and accomplished Kennedy Aitchison. The new Between Weathers web site is up at http://www.betweenweathers.com and we understand that Ron’s picture and biography will be up soon as part of ‘The Team’. You can also view a first video blog by B4’s Jim Brown here http://bit.ly/bZcVvH Please do visit for lots of information and good things such as pictures of the auditions and many delightful portraits of Shetland, Fetlar in particular. We will report again in due course but these are exciting developments for Shetland and Ron. Move over Local Hero!  2010-09-28T06:28:42+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/on_stream_again/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/on_stream_again/ We are relieved to report that BookSource, having worked day and night since their systems went down, now have everything up and running again. This terminology is beginning to look old fashioned, isn’t it? I should be writing ‘online’, not ‘on stream’, and ‘downloading’, not ‘up and running’. Beyond the Last Dragon and Cairngorm John (paperback) are streaming out (downloading) into the shops and online warehouses. A few Last Dragons have reached their shelves early and I hear that normally mild mannered civil servant types are fighting to the death over them. Patience, chaps - more are on the way. Cairngorm John is being ordered by the box load. Don’t delay, get your copies before we run out. Bobbie Darbyshire’s Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones has gone to reprint after some supply difficulties that were out of not only our control but also BookSource’s. The Long Bridge, Urszula Muskus’s account of her years in the gulags is also being printed now and we have been promised that both books will be with BookSource on the 11th October. If this means you are having to wait for your copy of Bobbie’s classic we sincerely apologise, and sincerely promise that it will be worth the wait. Incidentally, do not underestimate the importance of Urszula’s book. Her gripping narrative will keep you turning pages until you get to the end, but your view of recent European history, possibly rather abstract before you start, will be decently humanised by the time you are done. Writing this I quietly turn a thought towards the murdered Anna Politkovskaya, Remzije Sherifi and the strength of European women living under tyranny. Our great thanks go to our friends and colleagues at BookSource who have worked so hard to get the books moving again. 2010-09-22T15:20:29+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/distribution_delays/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/distribution_delays/ We apologise to all of our followers both in the Trade and, most especially, general readership for the delays in distribution over the past few days. A catastrophic systemic breakdown was suffered by our distributor on Thursday and work was continued day and night to bring the book stream back into operation. Normal service has now been resumed in terms of books going out and, we understand, information systems will soon follow. Sandstone Press has not been the only publisher to be affected but, of course, it is to our own clients and followers that our thoughts turn. Beyond the Last Dragon and the paperback of Cairngorm John arrived at the depot of Thursday and will be leaving for the shops just as quickly as possible. We hope readers in Scotland enjoyed The Herald’s article on Friday and the seven fabulous pages of extracts and photographs they ran between Saturday and Sunday. Author James McGonigal also had a brilliant article on the book published in Saturday’s Scotsman. Now, we are looking towards The Long Bridge and next year’s rapidly growing programme. 2010-09-20T06:23:54+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/dragons_breath/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/dragons_breath/ Keep your eyes open for The Herald on Saturday and Sunday and don’t worry if you are living furth of Scotland ( as the hillwalkers say). You will find them on the internet at http://www.heraldscotland.com There will be significant extracts from James McGonigal’s Beyond the Last Dragon: a life of Edwin Morgan, and it looks mighty like Rosemary Goring and her team will using Last Dragon images on the front of their two arts pull outs. They will also be running special offers for the book at a whopping 20% off. Yes, the Company Secretary cried out in protest - but we just ignored him. All you have to do is call our distributor, BookSource (number provided), whisper the code words ‘Dragon’s Breath’ and, with the passage of your card details (or a cheque for the determinedly old fashioned) a copy shall be yours. Stuart Kelly, the Scotsman’s acting Books Editor (while David Robinson is off) tells me he will be running a really great piece by James McGonigal himself which is not to be missed. If you can’t get your hands on a copy please visit http://www.scotsman.com The books are printed now, as is the paperback version of Cairngorm John, and both will be in the warehouse ere the week’s end. Nic Webb of Broomfield Books, our reps in the south east of England, tells me that significant interest is being shown in his area for The Long Bridge. It went to print today. 2010-09-15T13:58:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/the_last_dragon_rises/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2010/the_last_dragon_rises/ The proofs for Beyond the Last Dragon: a life of Edwin Morgan by James McGonigal have now been checked and the last phase of production has begun. We began this project four and a half years ago after a brainstorming session here in Sandstone Towers. How good it was that our investigations to us to James McGonigal, surely the best possible biographer for the great poet. Since then we have watched the pieces fit together, enjoyed new friendships, commissioned and received Suzanne Gyseman’s wonderful cover image, put the photo section together. We have suffered setbacks from time to time, never more so than in the final run in, with the death of Edwin Morgan being especially poignant. That said, it is going to be a great book. Keep your eyes open for it from about the 24th. Impressive applications for our Marketing Post have come in from Dorset to Orkney, and we are humbled by the quality of the applications. This being so it is going to take us a little while to choose a short leet and move to the next phase. If you are one of the applicants I thank you for the care you have put in and for your enthusiasm for Sandstone Press. We will be in touch as soon as possible. Right now, Moira Forsyth is going through the letters and CVs with care and, when she reports, we will be in touch again. Meantime we all have to be parient. Thank you again. 2010-09-01T16:41:50+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2010/hot_from_the_printers/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2010/hot_from_the_printers/ The second reprint of Ron McMillan’s hugely popular ‘Between Weathers: travels in 21st century Shetland’ has just arrived from the printer. The first copies are going out today and we apologise for the slight pause in supplies when stock, briefly, ran out. Between Weathers has a natural home in the Shetland Times Bookshop in Lerwick but can also be found on the ferries, on the internet, and in good bookshops everywhere. The increasingly important ‘Beyond the Last Dragon: a life of Edwin Morgan’ is at proof stage and we expect copies to arrive in the warehouse on the week commencing the 13th September. The new paperback version of ‘Cairngorm John:: a life in mountain rescue’ is also at proof stage but is just ahead in the print queue. We are looking forward tremendously to both publications. After that we are looking forward to ‘The Long Bridge’ by Urszula Muskus launching in Edinburgh with Amnesty International - and please do checkout the cover of ‘The Testament of Jessie Lamb’ by Jane Rogers which is now on our Forthcoming page. Don’t forget to visit the Blogspot while you are here! 2010-08-25T06:48:39+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2010/edwin_morgan_dies_in_glasgow/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2010/edwin_morgan_dies_in_glasgow/ It is with great sadness that Sandstone Press echoes the news of Edwin Morgan’s death at his Care Home in Glasgow, the city which he loved and celebrated throughout his long and creative life. We understand from the poet’s close friend and biographer, James McGonigal, that Edwin Morgan’s health had recently taken a downturn. Our thoughts are with James and his own family, and with Edwin Morgan’s many colleagues and close friends in the Arts. More will follow through the national and international news systems and readers’ attention is directed to those media now. Sandstone Press Managing Director Robert Davidson states: ‘The whole world will grieve for Scotland’s leading makar today but for the City of Glasgow, on the day it bids farewell to another of its great sons, Jimmy Reid, it will be a day of especial sorrow. Edwin Morgan and Jimmy Reid took the best of this great city’s intellect, feeling and fighting spirit into the world and made their marks for us all.’ *** ** The above statement was posted on Thursday 19th August 2010, the day of Edwin Morgan’s death, and has since been widely quoted in other reportage. In these articles Sandstone Press has frequently been referred to as ‘his publisher’, apparently Edwin Morgan’s. Sandstone Press would like to make it clear that this company is not a publisher of Edwin Morgan’s work except in so far as it will be quoted in the forthcoming Beyond the Last Dragon by James McGonigal. For decades the poet’s work has been published by Mariscat in Scotland and by Carcanet. Respectively Hamish Whyte and Michael Schmidt of these companies have served the poet and his work brilliantly well. *** ** 2010-08-19T10:40:05+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2010/sandstone_press_goes_digital/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2010/sandstone_press_goes_digital/ Sandstone Press is delighted to present their new range of ebooks available now at http://www.sandstonepress.com . The ebooks are in epub and retail from the web site at a 30% reduction from the paperback RRP. The ebooks have been developed for Sandstone by McMillan Publishing Solutions and payment is made through PayPal, directly accessible through the web site. The system takes both credit and debit cards and will be easily used by most buyers. Sandstone Press Managing Director Robert Davidson says, ‘This is a significant new product to put before the book buying public. We are beginning with twelve titles taken from across the range of Sandstone books, both fiction and non-fiction and are particularly proud to be publishing what we believe are the first fiction ebooks in Gaelic. These means will make them instantly available to readers of Gaelic throughout the world and this should be of especial interest to advanced learners as well as accomplished or native readers. Difficult the times may be economically, but they are also exciting and we are proud to put this product beside our new range of general fiction and our already established range of narrative non-fiction. The intention is that they will develop together. I am happy to record my thanks to Samiksha Bhattacharya and Audrey Alexander of MPS for helping us to bring this part of the Sandstone Project to fruition, and the authors for their patience and cooperation.’ The first twelve Sandstone Press ebooks are:- LOVE, REVENGE & BUTTERED SCONES Bobbie Darbyshire UP THE CREEK WITHOUT A MULLET Simon Varwell THE WEEKEND FIX Craig Weldon CLEASAN A BHAILE MHOIR (CITY TRICKS) Catriona Lexy Campbell COGADH RUARAIDH (RORY’S WAR) Iain MacLean SHADOW BEHIND THE SUN Remzije Sherifi THE KERRACHER MAN Eric MacLeod BETWEEN WEATHERS Ron McMillan THE CHERRY SUNDAE COMPANY Isla Dewar BLOOD RED ROSES Lin Anderson THE HIGHWAY MEN Ken MacLeod LOSING IT Lesley Glaister Sandstone Press acknowledges support from Hi-Arts in Inverness in the marketing of two of the titles, Blood Red Roses by Lin Anderson and The Kerracher Man by Eric MacLeod. 2010-08-10T13:52:24+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2010/employment_opportunity_with_sandstone_press_ltd/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2010/employment_opportunity_with_sandstone_press_ltd/ Marketing and publicity Sandstone Press Ltd, a publisher of fiction and non-fiction based in Dingwall, Highland, would like to recruit someone with marketing experience part time on a freelance basis. Tasks include liaison with authors, organisation of launches, internet promotion and contact with literary festivals. Proposals to be submitted by 31st August, 2010. Email info@sandstonepress.com for full details. 2010-08-05T11:24:07+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2010/a_brief_hiatus/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2010/a_brief_hiatus/ With The Fan Tan Players now on the shelves, and on the internet, Sandstone Press will be taking a breath or two. We have been reconstructing our means of outreach behind the scenes, which is Managing Director Robert Davidson’s preferred word for ‘marketing’, a process that never ends but which is taking up much time and energy in this period. Take a look at our ‘Contact’ page for the two repping companies who now cover the UK top to bottom. In addition, we have printed our catalogue and will be sending it across Scotland (in the first instance) following with calls. All this is to bring some of the most interesting and entertaining books now being published in Britain to the wider attention of the book trade and, most importantly, readers everywhere. It will also add to our already impressive internet marketing. Incidentally, Ron McMillan has begun a Facebook page for his brillian travellogue ‘Between Weathers: travels in 21st century Shetland’. ‘Not enough people know about this book’, we are frequently told, and that remains true. It is now, and at last, stocked on NorthLink’s ferries to the isles but you can also purchase through your local bookshop and online. Both Ron’s ‘Yin Yang Tattoo’ and Julian Lees’s ‘The Fan Tan Players’ will soon be available in their countries of location. Dymocks, our colleagues in Hong Kong, will be supplying across much of the Pacific Rim so it is a very big hello to them for the first time. Soon we hope to have some news on developments in the US, but we will keep that to ourselves for the present. Wait and see. We have three books to publish in the remainder of 2010 and 24th September will be a real red letter day. ‘Beyond The Last Dragon’, James McGonigal’s definitive and splendid biography of Edwin Morgan will be launched, we hope in Glasgow. This will be our most prestigious literary book to date and looks set to garner prizes. We are at the late stages of design and it will be going to the printer soon. On the same day we will release the paperback edition of ‘Cairngorm John: a life in mountain rescue’ by John Allen. John has taken the opportunity to tidy up some of the remaining typos that, inevitably, slipped through first time around. Both of these titles will be on special offer from Waterstones Scotland on the run up to Christmas. Behind all of this, though, another very special book is in the making, a book that has been described as ‘unforgettable’ by everyone who has read it so far. Within the next few days we should have the cover of ‘The Long Bridge’ by Urszula Muskus on this web site. It will be another stunning vision from Sandstone Press, pointing to a story that no one can put down and that cannot be ignored. This will be our first cover from the very talented Bek Pickard at Zebedee Design in Edinburgh. Also in preparation is our publishing programme for the first half of 2011, with quite a few great books already scheduled to follow later in the year. More will follow on all that in due course. Now please do take this opportunity to explore this web site where there is much of interest and to enjoy. Did I say ‘hiatus’? Whew! 2010-07-18T08:29:48+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2010/wateraid_3000rs_photographic_competition_winners/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2010/wateraid_3000rs_photographic_competition_winners/ The WaterAid 3000rs Challenge competition judges have brought their decisions from Avizandum and each of the four winners will receive a spanking new copy of the spanking new edition of Hamish’s Mountain Walk by Hamish Brown courtesy of Sandstone Press. Here are their names with their team numbers following in brackets. Please do drop into the Challenge web site to see their pictures here http://bit.ly/dkh51T , get a feel for the great day and, while you are at it, visit the charity’s main site here http://bit.ly/HxvGy to see some of the great work that WaterAid is doing across the world. The winners are:- Susan Barker (261) of Darlington Hilary Turner (298) of Kelso Lorna Mathews (331) of Greenlaw Iain Campbell (488) of Stirling Sandstone Press is proud to have sponsored the event and to be associated with this great charity. We hope to bring you more news of the six figure sum raised and forewarning of the next event, scheduled for 2011. Otherwise, lips are sealed for the present. Congratulations and best wishes to all. Ron McMillan’s new Asia noir Yin Yang Tattoo has its own Facebook. Please do take a look and accept this invitation to join as a friend http://bit.ly/bHida4 2010-07-09T13:10:56+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2010/news_on_beyond_the_last_dragon/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2010/news_on_beyond_the_last_dragon/ Sandstone Press looks forward immensely to the publication of Beyond the Last Dragon: a life of Edwin Morgan by James McGonigal. In its original conception the book was intended as a B Format paperback. However, in the course of writing, and other preparations such as photographic sections, it became apparent that this important book on arguably Britain’s most significant living poet simply HAD to be a high quality, jacketed hardback. We are now on course to publish on 24th September what will be probably the year’s most important book to come out of Scotland for several years. If the change from paperback to hardback has caused any problems or difficulties to those retailers who have already ordered we sincerely apologise. However, the book will be a major publication and eagerly purchased by Edwin Morgan’s many followers and admirers. James McGonigal is a close friend of the poet’s and was, in fact, tutored by him in his own PhD. Since then the two have remained in close contact and Edwin Morgan has cooperated in the writing and preparation of the book, always through the author. He has allowed access to his voluminous records and the planning, research and writing of Beyond the Last Dragon. 2010-07-02T11:27:22+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2010/news_on_recent_publications/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/07/2010/news_on_recent_publications/ Published in mid February of this year Bobbie Darbyshire’s comedy Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones has today (3rd July) gone to reprint, now with a page of appreciative comments. This book has been placed on Waterstones core stock list and has been selling tremendously well wherever it appears. The author is highly engaged, makes a positive impact in her many shop appearances, and is very happy to attend signing sessions. Moira Forsyth’s third novel, Tell Me Where You Are, located in Highland Scotland and Northumberland, has also been placed on Waterstones core stock list. The book’s intriguing cover features artwork by Russian artist Eugenia Vronskaya and was designed by Thomas Gravemaker of Gravemaker + Scott. Hamish’s Mountain Walk by Hamish Brown and Orkney Spirit by Liz Ashworth are soon to be featured in Scottish Field. Orkney Spirit is in the July issue of The Scots Magazine and Liz is engaged in a long series of appearances that include the Royal Highland Show and Nairn Book and Arts Festival. Barbara Demick winning The Samuel Johnson Prize with Nothing to Envy, her book on North Korea will serve to draw attention to this difficult region and to Ron McMillan’s Asia Noir thriller Yin Yang Tattoo (published in June). It is a fair bet that Ron McMillan has trespassed in North Korea at least as often as Ms Demick. The Yin Yang Tattoo cover was designed for us by Latte Goldstein of River Design in Edinburgh. This book has also been placed on Waterstones core stock list. 2010-07-02T11:25:56+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2010/welcome_stranger/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2010/welcome_stranger/ A special welcome to all those now arriving at http://www.sandstonepress.com after receiving our new eBulletin. The eBulletin is just the latest development in our engagement with 21st century means and we will be using it, most especially, to inform the growing number of readers who want to know about Sandstone Press books, their authors and signing events, festival appearances, additions to our publishing programme, and to visit one of the Net’s most entertaining blogspots. We update the News on a weekly basis, sometimes more often, and of course there is the Twitter feed. Essential to Sandstone Press is our attitude of internationalism and the new eBulletin also marks a deliberate increase in our outreach to the US and Canada, and to Asia, particularly Korea, Malaya, Hong Kong, China and Japan. If you are among our recipients there, or have friends there, we do urge you to pass the eBulletin along. Our new titles YIN YANG TATTOO by Ron McMillan (just released, reviews coming in the Korea Herald, ROKDrop.com and Groove Korea Magazine) and THE FAN TAN PLAYERS by Julian Lees (released 15th July, reviews on the way) make this outreach particularly timely. Many of our other books are also available on Amazon.com as the eBulletin makes clear, and we look forward to strenthening our relationships with wholesalers and retailers throughout these territories. Thank you again for visiting. Please do explore http://www.sandstonepress.com before you leave. Visit the Facebook. Join us on Twitter. Enjoy the printed word. 2010-06-24T07:10:45+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2010/yin_yang_tattoo_heads_for_the_shops/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2010/yin_yang_tattoo_heads_for_the_shops/ Ron McMillan’s fantastic new crime thriller, YIN YANG TATTOO, has at last left the warehouse and is heading for the shops and to internet outlets. YIN YANG TATTOO is the first Alex Brodie novel and is set in a South Korea that Ron brings alive from his long experience of photography and reporting on the Pacific Rim. An engrossing, unputdownable read it is speedy, sexy, and violent with an undercurrent of feeling. I have a feeling that Alex Brodie (and his creator) are going to make it big and that we will hear a lot more not only of Brodie, but also of Jung-hwa, his strong minded, beautiful former lover who has reappeared in his life at just the wrong time. Bobbie Darbyshire continues her triumphant tour of South East England and now has signing dates right up to the 27th November. For her many fans based in London I can report that she will be at Finchley Road Waterstones on Sunday 25th July. You can find the full list on our Facebook page. Why not sign up as a Friend? Sandstone Press is delighted to see the success WaterAid’s 3000rs Challenge. We understand that not all the summits were successfully covered so the feat remains to be completed in the future. That said, many people had a great day out on the hill and a large sum has been raised for this great international development charity. Soon we hope to have a report from the team who covered The Angel’s Peak in the Cairngorms, the hill sponsored by Sandstone Press. Watch out for the guest blog. Meantime, entries are coming in for the photographic competition (prize: four copies of Hamish’s Mountain Walk provided by this company). You can take a look at the earlieshere http://bit.ly/dkh51T More to follow. Soon we will have our new Newsletter ready to keep you still better informed of Sandstone Press books and authors. Please watch out for it appearing in your mailbox and take the opportunity to pass it along to your book loving friends. 2010-06-17T06:44:04+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2010/the_british_and_irish_3000rs/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2010/the_british_and_irish_3000rs/ On Saturday 12th June 2010 the international development charity WaterAid will attempt to put a team of climbers on every mountain and hill summit over the Munro elevation of 3000 feet in Britain and Ireland. Sir Hugh, of course, restricted his list to hills in Scotland. In addition to the vast accumulation of people and experience required to even attempt such a feat an amazing amount of preparation and organisation is involved. In 1995 Sandstone’s Managing Director Robert Davidson was Glen Manager for Knoydart in the first successful coverage of the Munros. He says, ‘I remember having to hike over the Mam Barrisdale in the late evening to phone in our success to head office from the Inverie Inn. I was last GM to do so and thus confirmed the event’s overall success. We were blessed with good weather that time’. On this occasion Sandstone Press is sponsoring The Angel’s Peak in Cairngorm National Park. Yes, that’s a change from our original Devil’s Point, and the reasons for that change should become clear over the next week or two. Meantime, we wish all the participants a great, successful and SAFE day out. If not, well, we can recommend a good mountain rescue team for the Cairngorms. As an aside I should say we will have some more exciting news on CAIRNGORM JOHN: a life in mountain rescue soon. WaterAid is one of the most important development charities in the world. It is about clean water in and dirty water out, and it is about education. It has no religious or ideological side. To read more about the Challenge, and support it with a donation, please visit this web site http://bit.ly/8w4Paf To learn more about the charity please visit here http://bit.ly/HxvGy Normal service in this News spot will be resumed after the event. Best wishes to all. 2010-06-11T05:53:15+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2010/four_tales_from_two_worlds/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/06/2010/four_tales_from_two_worlds/ The title of this ‘briefer than usual’ News is the translation of Michael Newton’s title. It sold out under our radar. As well it wasn’t a missile, you might say. Anyway, the radar operator has self-chastised but otherwise been left unpunished. We have reordered and copies should be in the warehouse in the remarkably brief time of less than two weeks. Our apologies go to those who have to wait and the erudite author who, I am glad to say, is above indignation. If you have an iota of Gaelic you should read this book. Actually, the English-language sections alone make it worth the price. We are heading towards some more reprints in addition to June and July’s new titles. Both of these novels are based on the Pacific Rim and both are stirring up some early interest. Julian Lees’s THE FAN TAN PLAYERS has been entered for the Man Asia Prize. The Man Asia, should you not know, is increasingly prestigious and the 2008 winner has just been released in the UK by Picador. Ron McMillan’s YIN YANG TATTOO is to be reviewed by a number of (also) prestigious publications in Thailand and we will bring you news of those as they appear. Book blogger Cornflower has already noted Julian’s book and will be reviewing in due course. Do take a look http://bit.ly/bve297 Both of these titles can be pre-ordered on Amazon. Meanwhile Bobbie Darbyshire’s tour of south-east England continues and is ever more triumphant. We may have to reprint LOVE, REVENGE & BUTTERED SCONES sooner than we expected. We have received quite a few early appreciations of TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE by Moira Forsyth, the first reviews of the re-imagined HAMISH’S MOUNTAIN WALK are appearing (all good, his GROAT’S END WALK is on the way). There is more to talk about on ORKNEY SPIRIT and UP THE CREEK WITHOUT A MULLET and the continuing sales of our earlier books but there I leave off. That’s four paragraphs; close enough. Please do take time to explore the web site before you go, 2010-06-03T08:49:50+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2010/book_journeys_with_the_sandstone_authors/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2010/book_journeys_with_the_sandstone_authors/ Des Dillon’s BLUE HEN continues its triumphant way across Scotland in a brilliant touring performance by the NLP Theatre Company. The Eden Court, Inverness, performance was a near sell out and the book of the play, published by Sandstone Press and on sale at the door, we noted was being enjoyed at the interval. In the coming week you can catch up in Stirling (Wed), Hamilton (Thur), Greenock (Fri), Falkirk (Sat), Livingston (Tues) and Dunfermline (Wed). Bobbie Darbyshire has been visiting many stores in South-East England with LOVE, REVENGE & BUTTERED SCONES and is popular wherever she appears. Keep am eye on our Facebook page where Dyan Berry is logging her coming appearances. You might buy the book anyway, from any good bookshop or through the internet. It is a speedy, hilarious read and a story you are likely to return to. Moira Forsyth’s TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE has just begun its journey and today (Tuesday 25th) she visited Waterstones Inverness to sign their newly arrived copies. Vavourable reactions are already coming in from delighted readers and we look forward to the reviews. HAMISH’S MOUNTAIN WALK has enjoyed the first review of its new (Sandstone) incarnation. You can find it on Chris Townsend’s blog as we twittered out throughthe week. Another review will be in the July issue of the Great Outdoors Magazine and more will follow. Liz Ashworth will be appearing with ORKNEY SPIRIT at the Nairn Book and Arts Festival. There is a new video of Liz hard at work (teaching viewers how to make scones, more people should learn this). Orkney Spirit is selling well on Orkney and elsewhere and will be a feature of this year’s tourist season in the Highlands and Islands. STOP PRESS: Copies of Ron McMillan’s YIN YANG TATTOO and Julian Lee’s THE FAN TAN PLAYERS have arrived in the warehouse. Preliminaries are with us here at Sandstone Towers and review copies have been going out. Wait until you see these! 2010-05-25T16:49:01+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2010/visits_and_visitors/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2010/visits_and_visitors/ Bobbie Darbyshire has continued her triumphant tour of south east England with another sell-out visit to Waterstones Dorchester. It looks like there will be more visits right into July so please do keep an eye on our Facebook where Dyan Berry will keep you up to date. On the morning of the Scottish Cup Final and Ross County’s runners up performance to Dundee United, the country’s sweetest moving and strongest Premier league side as the season comes to an end, Moira Forsyth and Simon Varwell signed copies of their two books at Waterstones Sauchiehall Street. It was opening day for Moira and Simon’s book was just about to run out. Bobbie, Moira and Simon will all be appearing at stores and/or readers groups around the country. Please do keep an eye out for them. As an aside I would like to say a big thank you to all at Ross County Football Club for the great season they have put in and for the prestige and increased credibility they have given to our area. Ross County’s success is no more a flash in the pan than is Sandstone’s. Highland is on the up. Our MD Robert Davidson found himself briefly in the company of central defender Alex Keddie and creative midfielder Paul Lawson on the evening after the game. Both had a strong measure of disappointment about them but, as Bob says, they’re young and strong and will live to achieve again. That aside, he found them to be intelligent, thoughtful, well dressed guys who were entirely professional in theit attitudes to their Club and supporters. If we are going to be represented by people we don’t actually elect let them be like Alex and Paul. 2010-05-16T13:35:07+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2010/looking_further_forward/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2010/looking_further_forward/ The Sandstone Press publishing programme for July 2010 to June 2011 is now in preparation. At the moment it has nine new books and the likely reprint of several of our exisiting books. In addition we hope to publish several other with some in consideration now. I look forward to presenting all of these sometimes new authors, sometimes familiar. We are also in discussions with others who are already well established on the literary scene. Keep visiting the web site, please. we will keep you informed of future developments as soon as we can, and at the same time direct you towards our authors’ activities and our increasing list of brilliant books. Ross County will be playing Dundee United in the Scottish Cup Final on Saturday. Getting there is already a great achievement for such a young club in this location. People should not see it as a chance happening though. The Ross County Board, management, playing staff and supporters have been working towards this, and looking beyond, for many years. Win or lose it is a straw in the wind and tells a story about the development of Highland Scotland and our altering place in the world. It’s a great area, clean, lovely and increasingly dynamic. Do visit and see for yourself. It needs at least one great football club. It also needs a great publishing house, and we are working towards that. Dingwall High Street is breaking out in County colours today, but don’t forget that Ross County is more than a small town club. Wherever you are on Saturday at 3.00pm, try to get yourself in front of a television for the occasion. There is no guarantee of winning, far from it, United will have a strong say in the matter, but you will be watching history as it is made. Simon Varwell and Moira Forsyth will be signing their books at Waterstone’s Sauchiehall Street branch at about 11.00am on the day of the Final. If you care to drop by you can meet the authors, but leave them time enough to get across the City to Hampden. C’mon the Staggies!. 2010-05-12T12:55:52+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2010/tell_me_where_you_are_at_the_bishops_palace/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2010/tell_me_where_you_are_at_the_bishops_palace/ Moira Forsyth will be launching her keenly awaited third novel Tell Me Where You Are at The Bishop’s Palace, Eden Court Theatre, tonight (Tuesday), 5.30 for 6.00pm. Moira will be discussing the book, reading, and taking questions before signing copies. There will be a bar. Admission is free and all are welcome. Ross County will be playing Dundee United in the Scottish Cup Final on Saturday. Getting there is already a great achievement for such a young club in this location. People should not see it as a chance happening though. The Ross County Board, management, playing staff and supporters have been working towards this, and looking beyond, for many years. Win or lose it is a straw in the wind and tells a story about the development of Highland Scotland and our altering place in the world. It’s a great area, clean, lovely and increasingly dynamic. Do visit and see for yourself. It needs at least one great football club. It also needs a great publishing house, and we are working towards that. Dingwall High Street is breaking out in County colours today, but don’t forget that Ross County is more than a small town club. Wherever you are on Saturday at 3.00pm, try to get yourself in front of a television for the occasion. There is no guarantee of winning, far from it, United will have a strong say in the matter, but you will be watching history as it is made. Simon Varwell and Moira Forsyth will be signing their books at Waterstone’s Sauchiehall Street branch at about 11.00am on the day of the Final. If you care to drop by you can meet the authors, but leave them time enough to get across the City to Hampden. C’mon the Staggies!. 2010-05-11T09:25:18+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2010/more_new_books_from_sandstone_press/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/05/2010/more_new_books_from_sandstone_press/ NLP Theatre Company have now begun their thirty date tour of Scotland with Des Dillon’s new play, BLUE HEN. At the same time Sandstone Press has published Des’s hilarious and moving script in novel form, featuring Coronation Street star Charles Lawson in desperate character on the cover. The book has already been favourably reviewed in The Guardian so, please, do visit the NLP web site at http://www.nlptheatre.co.uk to check when they are appearing near you. Des is directing and the book will be available. He and the rest of the cast will be available to sign your copy. You can’t fail to enjoy yourself. On Tuesday 11th May we will be launching Moira Forsyth’s third novel TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE. A tale of family breakdown countered by a strong woman pulling things together it has a dark centre that will surprise the author’s many followers. This is Moira Forsyth on her best form since WAITING FOR LINDSAY. Please do come along to The Bishop’s Palace, Eden Court Theatre, 5.30 for 6.00pm where Moira will be reading from her book, taking questions and signing. There will be a bar. In the next few days we should, at last, be making the announcement about our new range of products that this space has been hinting at for months. It has been a long, hard struggle, a trauchle as we say here in Scotland, but the product will be to Rolls Royce standard. In the 21st century I should perhaps write ‘Apple standard’, and so it will be. On Saturday 15th May Ross County will face Dundee United in the Scottish Cup Final. The measure of this achievement will barely be comprehensible to those not interested in sport. Nor to those who are unaware of Highland Scotland’s traditional relationship with the rest of the country. Sandstone Press is with the team all the way and we will have a contingent of actual, practical supporters at Hampden on the day. Being there is achievement enough, and an indicator of changing times, the changing shape of Scotland and the economic and cultural growth of our area. Winning would be off the scale but anything is possible. Before the game, at about 11.00am, Sandstone Press authors Simon Varwell and Moira Forsyth will be signing stock in Waterstones’ Sauchiehall Street branch. It would be good to see you there. Now please do take time to explore this web site lingering especially on the Blogspot and the new place on the menu, Ebooks. More to follow soon. 2010-05-08T10:34:21+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2010/raising_the_bar/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2010/raising_the_bar/ Michael Tumelty, in his Herald column, has written appreciatively and with feeling of the rapid uphill drive that the Scottish Ensemble has achieved. You can read his article here http://bit.ly/caJX70 This is good to know. It seems like yesterday that the Ensemble’s long term sponsors, BT, ended their agreement. No stopping these guys though, and no stopping their endless round of appearances and recording. Soon they will take the rightful place, recognised as one of the world’s great string orchestras beside Kremerata Baltica (how I wish that Gidon could have held his ego in check long enough to coin a better name) and the rest. Here at Sandstone Press we like to think we are also raising the bar - and rather more than somewhat. Appreciation of our authors and their books is rapidly growing. Orkney Spirit, as those who have a copy know, is like no other book. The islands have taken it to their hearts and it is beginning to be heard of elsewhere. Hamish’s Mountain Walk has similarly reached standards of production that this wonderful book has not previously known. Soon we will have Des Dillon’s Blue Hen touring with the play and appearing on Amazon (and in a few enlightened shops). Moira Forsyth’s Tell me Where You Are has already achieved almost as many pre-orders as any of our other books and we have high hopes for it. We will be launching at The Bishop’s Palace, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness on Tuesday 11th and intend to be in Aberdeen on the 22nd. we will announce the venue and time just as soon as we have them. Please do attend one of these events if you can. Like everyone in these parts we are on the edges of our seats at Ross County’s appearance in the Scottish Cup Final. We will have a small, but extremely loud party at Hampden on the 15th. On the same day Simon Varwell will be doing a stock signing at Waterstones Sauchiehall Street. He should be there about 11.00am and would be glad to meet you if you make yourself known. Mullet wearers are particularly welcome, but expect to be photographed and to appear on Simon’s web site. Now please do take time to explore this web site especially lingering in the Blogspot. See you at Hampden! 2010-04-28T12:51:16+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2010/the_whistling_wind/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2010/the_whistling_wind/ Spring has decided to delay its arrival in the Highlands after all. The wind is whistling around Sandstone Towers and the temperature has plummeted. Whether we put it down to the volcanic ash that has seen at least one of our colleagues stranded in the US, or the sort of inverted effect that global warming is likely to have on Scotland, is anyone’s guess. Meanwhile, we patiently await delivery of Des Dillon’s Blue Hen. The NLP Theatre Company will be taking the book with them on their thirty gig tour beginning at Glasgow’s Citizen’s Theatre on May 6th. This play follows in the down at heel boot prints of Des’s earlier play, Singin’ I’m No A Billy He’s A Tim, and promises to be even more popular. Starring Charles Lawson, from Coronation Street, and directed by Des himself it is not to be missed. You can learn more from the company’s web site at http://www.nlptheatre.co.uk Please visit the Sandstone Press facebook site where Dyan Berry is keeping the news of dates and locations flowing. Hamish Brown is still recovering from his hip operation but is more mobile by the day. His lecture circuit will be starting in the not too distant future and we will try to keep you appraised of that. Meanwhile, have you seen our beautiful new publication of his Hamish’s Mountain Walk? Many of you will already have your copy since it has enjoyed a remarkably good start in its new life. Reviews should be appearing soon. Liz Ashworth with be appearing at Johnstons’s of Elgin on Saturday 26th April, right through the day. Her beautiful book Orkney Spirit is travelling out from its centre in the islands so don’t miss it. Bobbie Darbyshire is appearing frequently and successfully at book shops all around the London area (and sometimes beyond). Simon Varwell will be appearing in Glasgow around the Scottish Cup Final, no doubt (and wisely) supporting Ross County. Moira Forsyth’s Tell Me Where You Are has already piled up a great number of pre-orders and is obviously eagerly awaited by the many readers who enjoyed Waiting For Lindsay and David’s Sisters. We will be launching this book at The Bishop’s Palace, Eden Court Theatre, on Tuesday 12th May (5.30 for 6.00pm) and on the 22nd in Aberdeen. More to follow on that. Please do take time to explore this web site before you leave. If you are a frequent visitor you will note an addition to the menu. Our ebook arrangements will be finalised soon and - fear not - we will let you know. 2010-04-23T10:20:35+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2010/two_more_titles_going_to_print/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2010/two_more_titles_going_to_print/ Slightly ahead of schedule, Moira Forsyth’s third novel, Tell Me Where You Are, has gone to print today, Friday 16th April. This is actually two books down the line so what, you might ask, has happened to Des Dillon’s Blue Hen? What has happened is that local turbulance (trooble at mill) has seen Des take on the role of Director as well as that of writer. Needless to say he has changed everything. This amounts to a complete resetting of the book which we undertake gladly. In Des’s words ‘I (we) want the readers to get it as close to the performance as is possible’. That will be allowing for the unexpected happening on the night, the sort of thing that makes theatre going, and publishing, such an adventure. Perfectionism? Well, we try. Des’s cover (by Latte Goldstein at River Design) features Coronation Street actor Charles Lawson who plays the lead role in Blue Hen. Charles rigged up in a Santa outfit, with a bottle of Buckfast in one hand and a rather threatening cleaver in the other, is a formidable sight as you can see for yourself on our Forthcoming page. Moira’s cover (by Thomas Gravemaker at Gravemaker + Scott) features a detail from a Eugenia Vronskaya oil painting simply titled ‘Interior’. Eugenia’s work, already fully developed by her education at the Moscow Conservatoire and considerable experience in both Russia and the English Home Counties, has taken on new dimensions and still greater depths since she arrived in the Highlands. Don’t take just my word for it. Google in her name and find her at both her own and the Kilmorack Gallery web sites. Liz Ashworth’s Orkney Spirit has already been taken deep into the hearts of the Orkney people and will be appearing more widely in book shops soon. Liz will be appearing at Johnson’s of Elgin for an all day event on Saturday 26th April, at the Nairn Book and Arts Festival in June, and at the Spirit of Speyside Festival. The Scots Magazine will be offering six copies in their next issue and The Northern Scot two. Highland Life did a superb colour article on pages 6 to 8 of their March issue http://bit.ly/9zdjAu Hamish Brown’s re-imagined Hamish’s Mountain Walk has been leaving the warehouse over the past few days. We look forward to coverage in The Scots Magazine and elsewhere. The new online newspaper Caledonian Mercury did a smashing article on Hamish, his book, and his new hip, which you can read here http://bit.ly/9Bzkuw That’s it for now. Don’t forget to visit the Blogspot before you leave. Whoever heard of love songs for mice? 2010-04-16T11:31:36+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2010/hamishs_mountain_walk_arrives/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/04/2010/hamishs_mountain_walk_arrives/ Hard on the heels of Liz Ashworth’s ORKNEY SPIRIT, which is heading out to the shops now, HAMISH’S MOUNTAIN WALK by Hamish Brown has arrived. It won’t be released for another week or so but we can tell you that it looks really good. With two section of colour plates from Hamish’s forty years (and more) of photography in the mountains, a new introduction and appendix it is going to take a trick with hillwalkers, lovers of the outdoors, and lovers of books generally. Incidentally, Hamish took the opportunity to reproof his original text and made some changes to spellings and one or two factual points, so this really is the definitive version. With this book, ORKNEY SPIRIT, LOVE, REVENGE & BUTTERED SCONES, and UP THE CREEK WITHOUT A MULLET Sandstone Press has set up all the summer reading you are likely to require in a wide variety of styles and purposes that are always entertaining and informative and beautiful to hold in the hand. Can ebooks match this kind of thing? Wait and see! Sandstone Press will be extending our range of fiction with three important titles on the way in May, June and July, and with Des Dillon’s new comedy BLUE HEN also in May. There’s more to come so please continue visiting us here at http://www.sandstonepress.com, and don’t forget to visit the Blogspot before you go. 2010-04-08T10:09:18+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2010/spring_is_almost_upon_us/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2010/spring_is_almost_upon_us/ The first shoots of spring and the first of the new lambs, which we spotted in Orkney, have had a cold snap and heavy snow to contend with here in Highland Scotland. Sandstone’s work proceeds apace anyway.  The launch of Liz Ashworth’s Orkney Spirit is now complete and I am delighted to report that the island population has taken the book to its great, collective heart. Really, you won’t see another book quite like this anywhere and all I can advise is that you get one in your hands as soon as possible. All the Mainland book shops (that’s Orkney Mainland) have it in stock and it will be leaving the warehouse soon for wider circulation. We are going to put a collection of launch pictures on Flickr so keep an eye on our Home Page Twitter feed for a direct link. Illustrator Selena Kuzman never rests. Now a member of RSA she is participating in a joint show at the RSA building in Edinburgh for three weeks starting Friday 2nd April. The sensible Curator has actually chosen Selena’s artwork for their publicity material. Since we haven’t been able to find a web site link you might care to take a look at Selena’s Facebook here http://bit.ly/bF7TYv In April we will be bringing another project to fruition, one that is very close to Sandstone MD Robert Davidson’s heart. Hamish’s Mountain Walk will be republished in a completely re-imagined form. Casting all financial caution to the wind we have had the whole book reset in a modern font. In addition, the book will contain two sections of colour photographs supplied by the legendary and inspirational Hamish Brown, together with a new introduction and appendix. Wait until you see it! Simon Varwell and Bobbie Darbyshire have been exremely active about the country, promoting their books Up The Creek Without A Mullet and Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones. Both are making big hits wherever they appear and the books are being enjoyed wherever they are read. No need to miss them and no need to wait. As with all of our books there are direct links to the most popular internet buying sites from their book pages on this web site. Simon has been blogging on his experiences and Bobbie has been answering, so please do take a look at those and other blogspots before you go. 2010-03-31T13:32:06+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2010/springtime_in_orkney/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2010/springtime_in_orkney/ As March 2010 speeds towards its close the Highland airs are warming, spring flowers appearing and the birds and bees seem to be getting ideas. We have been productive at Sandstone Press as well. On Friday 26th Liz Ashworth and Selena Kuzman will be launching ‘ORKNEY SPIRIT: Food journeys with Liz Ashworth’ at the St Magnus Centre in Kirkwall. Everyone is welcome although invitations have gone out, so please come along if you can. The book is stunningly beautiful and the whole assembly is the first of its kind. Stories of the islands sit with food recipes among Selena’s amazing artwork. I am pleased to say that Selena will be present, making time between her arrival from Slovenia where she has done much of the work, and preparations for her RSA show in Edinburgh. Do come! Bobbie Darbyshire’s Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones is gaining in reputation and popularity wherever it is read. Bobbie herself is doing many readings and signings in and around London and we are delighted to publish this wonderful London based author. Simon Varwell’s UP THE CREEK WITHOUT A MULLET is also doing extremely well. Simon completed his launch tour just a few days ago in Glasgow. He is a natural reader of his own work and all his appearances have been successful and entertaining. Please do no take time to explore http://www.sandstonepress.com taking time especially to linger at the always interesting Blogspot. 2010-03-21T16:01:52+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2010/the_proof_of_the_pudding/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2010/the_proof_of_the_pudding/ The proof of the pudding is in the eating, or so they say. Books have a different kind of proof and two sets have arrived here at Sandstone Towers over the last few days. It is always a mouth watering moment for the editor after working for so long on a project. It is also a bit of a come-on though, since the proofs do not come in the final form of the book, not even on the same paper. It is another step in the life and an inch closer to actually holding that precious object that can never be altered (and so had better be as good as it can be), and never trumped, that culmination of hopes and dreams, the final tactile, aroma rich stimulant to the imagination, the hard copy book. Robert Davidson, Sandstone’s Managing Director, spoke at Glasgow’s Aye Write! Festival on Monday last. The subject was our advancing fiction list of Gaelic language novellas. Our author Floraidh MacDonald and the Gaelic Book Council’s able Director, Ian MacDonald, also spoke.The discussion quite naturally advanced to ebooks and Sandstone’s plans in that area. As regular visitors to this web site might have guessed, it has been a long slow process. The efforts, not only ours but also our designers and new colleagues at MPS, will prove worthwhile; that’s for sure. As you will see in the not too distant future, the Sandstone Press range of ebooks will be rather in advance of those curently being supplied to readers by much larger publishers. In the meantime you can take a flick through a few of the pages on our web site right now. Please do refer to the top of the Home Page for the particular books. We will also have another technical innovation on one of the book pages (which I won’t name yet), again in the not too distant future. RLD spoke with Hamish Brown on the phone today (Thursday 11th March) and we are very happy to report that he is recovering from his recent hip replacement operation. He is, as he puts it, ‘anxious to get on with life’. We especially wish him a speedy recovery because his coming travels will be in pursuit of a brand new title we will be publishing next year. A special HELLO to Elisabeth Hill who has commented so positively on Stuart Campbell’s most recent blog, ‘The Letter’. Before you leave the Sandstone Press web site please do take the time to explore, not forgetting to visit our ever changing Blogspot. 2010-03-11T16:25:46+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2010/sandstone_press_gaelic_at_glasgows_aye_write_festival/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2010/sandstone_press_gaelic_at_glasgows_aye_write_festival/ The first Sandstone Press Gaelic-language author Floraidh MacDonald will be appearing at Glasgow’s Aye Write! Festival on Monday 8th March, 7.30pm with The Gaelic Book Council Director, Ian MacDonald, and Sandstone’s Robert Davidson to discuss her book Letter from America. There will also be a reading from Catriona Lexy Campbell’s new book, City Tricks, and RLD will discuss not only Sandstone’s committment to Gaelic but also to ebooks. Floraidh was one of the first authors to appear in our first venture into ebooks, at that time with beaurtifully designed PDFs. We were ahead of the game then, a bit too far ahead as it proved, but more is happening in this field now as you can see on our Home Page. A big announcement will follow soon. We are very pleased to note that Bobbie Darbyshire’s book, Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones, is appearing in more and more book shops in London. Bobbie will be appearing in quite a few to either read or sign or both. Simon Varwell is also appearing across the country with Up The Creek Without A Mullet so please keep your eyes open for both authors appearing in your area. Now coming close to delivery and to the launch in the St Magnus Centre, Kirkwall, Orkney Spirit by Liz Ashworth, illustrated by Selena Kuzman, will take your breath away. Now please do take time to explore this web site including the ever changing blogspot. 2010-03-06T10:32:38+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2010/orkney_spirit_available_for_pre-order/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/03/2010/orkney_spirit_available_for_pre-order/ We are delighted to announce that Orkney Spirit by Liz Ashworth, illustrated by Selena Kuzman, has now passed proof stage at the printer and very soon will be on its way not only to our warehouse in Glasgow but also to Orkney. The launch event will be held in the St Magnus Centre in Kirkwall on Friday 26th march at 6.00pm and all are welcome. Please do come along if you can as there will be quite a few surprises as well as the chance to meet Liz and Selena. Orkney Spirit will be a delight and promises to be a must-buy for all lovers of Orkney, good food and beautiful books. Once again we have pulled out all the stops in terms of editing and production; again publishing a great original. See you in Kirkwall. This launch follows on the heels of Simon Varwell’s Up The Creek Without A Mullet at the Bishop’s Palace, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, and Bobbie Darbyshire’s Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones at Clapham Library. Both books have got off to a flying start with the authors making many appearances in book shops. watch ou for them appearing in your area. Don’t forget we have internet connections to buying sites on every book page on this web site. Indulge that whim! Now please do take time to explore this web site not forgetting to pause at the Blogspot for some of the most interesting reading on the web. 2010-03-01T14:05:51+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2010/the_shadow_still_falls/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2010/the_shadow_still_falls/ In June 2007 this publishing house was honoured to put Remzije Sherifi’s SHADOW BEHIND THE SUN before the book reading public. Mrs Sherifi’s account of the persecutions in Kosova, intercut with her experiences working for the Maryhill Integration Network, was not only featured widely in the press, praised in the Scottish Parliament, and short-listed for two national literary prizes, but also touched the hearts and minds of thousands. For a while it seemed as if change in State attitudes was possible, that a new approach could in some way match the more humane elements of our society, which is to say the majority, particularly with regard to the treatment of children. Alas, what is not constantly before our eyes is too easily forgotten. Today this office received an email from Vista author Margaret Elphinstone requesting the company’s support in the case of Rima Andmariam, now 17, and her adoptive parents Robert Swinson and Alison Phipps. Rima is from Eritrea. Her birth mother sent her to Italy after her father had been ‘disappeared’ and Rima herself had been taken for questioning. When she was released it became evident that her safety was in grave doubt. After a difficult and dangerous journey Rima eventually reached what should have been a place of sanctuary. Again, not so. After giving her name, date of birth and fingerprint, Rima was effectively ignored. Surviving in dire conditions she lost a finger with the stump becoming badly infected. Charity workers ‘clubbed together’ to send her to a place where she would at least have hope. Allow me to quote from Margaret’s attachment:- ‘She came to stay with Robert Swinfen and Alison Phipps in Glasgow in March 2009, and they have become a close-knit family unit. Rima has a strong case for asylum from Eritrea, but under the Dublin Regulation is liable to be returned to Italy. She has come to love Robert and Alison as her Dad and Mum, and they have very strong parental feelings for her too. For the past year they, with some help from friends, have provided her entire support as if she were indeed their foster daughter. Rima is extremely vulnerable and in need of a secure family to recover from the trauma and chaos of the past three years of her life. She is doing very well, but is far from ready to live on her own and both wants and needs to continue living with her British Mum and Dad.’ It is the intention of the British Government to return her to Italy, and the derelict squat and soup kitchens her flight to the UK should have saved her from. Letters of protest and appeal are invited to the Home Secretary, MPs of the State Government, and the three national Governments at Holyrood, Cardiff and Stormont (HO Reference: A1374575/2). It is an astonishing and sickening thing that such evacuations can still be possible. Hopefully the letters of support for Rima, Robert and Alison, together with the humane outlook that we would take to be natural within any liberal democracy will win the day. I actually suspect they will. What though, of the many others who will still be subjected to this outrage on our watch? Let the public not look away. 2010-02-23T13:35:48+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2010/love_revenge_plenty_of_books/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2010/love_revenge_plenty_of_books/ What would we do without books; carriers of knowledge, containers of wisdom, messengers of mindfulness, retainers of relaxation, never failing springs of inspiration.  Bobbie Darbyshire’s Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones has left the warehouse and is heading for shops and libraries near you. A finely honed tale of misunderstanding, jealousy, remembered war, dark Oedipal urges, reconciliation, love, revenge and, yes, everyone’s favourite buttered scones, Elena, Henry and Peter’s adventures will have you slapping your knees with laughter. In Calum Urquhart Bobbie has created a truly great comic character. Up The Creek Without A Mullet by Simon Varwell was launched at the Bishop’s Palace, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, at the beginning of the month. Simon read to a full and appreciative house and had them rolling in the aisles. You can learn more about that event, and see the pictures, as well as check on forthcoming events at Simons web site http://www.simonvarwell.co.uk. First review was by David Hebblethwaite on the internet, and was very positive. Orkney Spirit by Liz Ashworh, illustrated by Selena Kuzman, is now at the printers. We have been showing some of the PDFs to people in the Trade and the one word that is common to all of their reactions is ‘stunning’. Other books are in progress and we are looking at still more new titles always, though, with an eye to the best of contemporary, quality reading we can bring before you - the reading public. Now please do take time to explore this web site, especially visiting our always interesting blog spot. Don’t miss Chris McIvor’s notes on current events in Haiti, the background to the tragedy and possible futures. Exciting web site developments are coming at http://www.sandstonepress.com and we have an important announcement on the way. 2010-02-12T09:09:07+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2010/up_and_running/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/02/2010/up_and_running/ Simon Varwell’s Up The Creek Without A Mullet was released on Monday 1st February with a very succesful launch at the Bishop’s Palace, Eden Court Theatre. We thank everyone who came to enjoy Simon’s lively and very funny reading and are happy to say that by today, Friday 5th, almost a third of available stock has left the warehouse. This looks like it is going to be a very successful book and promises well for Simon’s future career. That is no surprise to us at Sandstone Towers, of course. There was also some very fine coverage in the Daily Record and Inverness Courier This week’s Inverness Courier has also given some appreciative coverage to Sandstone Press which you can view here http://bit.ly/cyqctN Very significantly, as you can read in the Courier, our next book will be Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones by Bobbie Darbyshire, to be launched at Clapham Library on the 20th February. LR&BS (as we affectionately call it) is a hilarious comedy with an imaginary Reading Group based at Inverness Library close to its heart. It will sit very comfortably on your shelves beside Whisky Galore, Monarch Of The Glen and, in a warm, oblique kind of way, The Kerracher Man. We just know you are going to love it. Please visit http://www.simonvarwell.co.uk to check up on Simon’s many coming appearances, Inverness’s Literary Salon is next on the list, Aberdeen, Stirling, Edinburgh and Glasgow will follow. London is in preparation. John Allen will be dropping into both Blackwell’s and Waterstone’s in Edinburgh on Tuesday 9th to sign their stocks of Cairngorm John, and Stuart Campbell will be doing a full reading from RLS In Love at Blackwell’s Edinburgh on Valentine’s Day. Now please take time to roam http://www.sandstonepress.com pausing, please, at the Blogspot and especially, at this time, reading what Chris McIvor has to say about the earthquake tragedy and its aftermath in Haiti. Chris will be blogging on the subject again soon. 2010-02-05T14:17:54+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2010/new_books_and_new_developments/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2010/new_books_and_new_developments/ The first month of the year has been characterised by a long freeze that is only now relenting. Borders Books has gone to the great regret of book browsers in Inverness, Glasgow, Dundee and in many English cities and towns. Fortunately Blackwells, Waterstones, the many independent book shops that are the backbone of the trade as well as its human face, and the internet continue. Adding to that new methods of delivering and appreciating books are on the way and Sandstone Press intends to be in the forefront. Sandstone Press will publish eight superb books over the next five months and, soon, the last of their covers will appear in our Forthcoming section. Gravemaker + Scott’s superb evocation of tiny humanity’s place in the enormous landscape for Hamish’s Mountain Walk will be next. We are already looking beyond those first six months and an introduction to Julian Lees, whose beautiful book The Fan Tan Players will appear in July, can be found in Forthcoming together with a portrait of the Malaya based author by the photographer M. Hsu. More new titles will appear in Forthcoming as they are agreed. Meanwhile we look forward to the launches of Up The Creek Without A Mullet by Simon Varwell at the Bishop’s Palace, Inverness, on Monday 1st February, Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones by Bobbie Darbyshire at Clapham Library on Saturday 20th February, and Orkney Spirit by Liz Ashworth (beautifully illustrated by Selena Kuzman) on Friday 26th March at the St Magnus Centre, Kirkwall, Orkney. Now please do take time to explore this web site, not forgetting our always engaging Blogspot. 2010-01-25T08:43:49+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2010/the_devils_point/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2010/the_devils_point/ Sandstone Press has thrown itself behind WaterAid’s attempt to raise £300k by sponsoring The Devil’s Point in the charity’s coming Munro + 3000s Challenge. We also intend to enter at least one team and perhaps help in some other ways. Since it looks like we are the first company to do this we were preparing to toot our little trumpet when news broke of the earthquake in Haiti and its staggering consequencies. The world has gathered round; no one more quickly than our author Chris McIvor’s employer Save the Children. Chris has, at an earlier stage in his career, spent time in the area and his thoughts will be very much there now. WaterAid busies itself to great and good effect in the assistance of nations that are mostly at peace, that are climbing out of steady state poverty but that have notable water problems. Save the Children has wide interests including disaster relief. This is how it is in our world; there is the continuous building work that must go on no matter what, and there are disasters, such as this most recent to Haiti, where the world must react quickly and usually does. Then again there is the stupidity of war. The disasters demand their immediate injections of resource, sudden increases in requirements that continue into extended aftermaths, while improvements to infrastructure in the world’s poorest nations, particularly improvements in water, must continue steadily. Both require all we have to give but are funded from the same sources, governments and charities. That would be The Devil’s Point if there was not already a mountain in the Cairngorms with the same name. Our logo on the WaterAid Munro Challenge web site http://bit.ly/4xTEbQ The WaterAid web site is at http://www.wateraid.org WaterAid statement on Haiti http://bit.ly/5HYU9c 2010-01-14T08:40:16+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2010/book_launches_on_the_way/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/01/2010/book_launches_on_the_way/ We are all well and truly into the New Year now, although low temperatures and deep snow are holding back the real start of the working year for most. Not so here at Sandstone Towers. Look forward to two important launches now taking shape behind the scenes. Firstly, Simon Varwell and Up The Creek without A Mullet will be pushed out onto the Sea of Books on 1st February at the Bishop’s Palace, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, at 6.00pm. Simon has a first time author’s natural knee trrrrremble (suitable for the season), as he describes in his most recent blog, which you can click into directly from the Home Page. I see that two of our other authors have given their support in Comments. Secondly, quite distant from here in terms of geography, but no distance at all in our thoughts, second time novelist Bobbie Darbyshire will be launching Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones at Clapham Library on the 20th February. Bobbie’s book is destined to become a comic classic that will sit very comfortably beside Compton Mackenzie’s Whisky Galore. A tentative third is that it looks like we will be launching Liz Asworth’s Orkney Spirit, which features the incredibly beautiful artwork of Selena Kuzman, at the St Magnus Centre, Kirkwall on Friday 26th March. More to follow in due course. Incidentally, of the two books we have committed to in the period beyond June 2010 (which we haven’t come out on yet, but watch this space) one is set in an even colder landscape than Britain’s at the moment. So also is another which is under consideration and with which we are v-e-e-e-ry impressed, but all that is ahead. Soon we will be making the important announcement this News spot has been hinting at for a few months. Please do keep visiting. 2010-01-10T10:35:37+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2009/merry_christmas_and_happy_new_year/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2009/merry_christmas_and_happy_new_year/ It has been quite a year for Sandstone Press and as it draws to an end it seems appropriate for the House to thank all our authors and associates, typesetter, designers, printers, distributor, Dyan Berry our Marketing Associate, and everyone else who has contributed to the year’s achievements. Most of all we would like to recognise and thank the many people who have bought our books and given us their support. The core of this support is among this web site’s many visitors and we thank you in particular. We have improvements planned for the site in the early weeks of next year, so please do continue to visit. Among much else we will be extending our list of entertaining bloggers. Between January and June we will publish eight books, possibly ten if our plans in Gaelic come off, more than we have published in any one year to date. You can read about them all now in Forthcoming, with covers for Hamish’s Mountain Walk and Yin Yang Tattoo now at design stage. We put a lot of effort into our covers and hope you like them. Feedback is welcome. In addition, with Liz Ashworth’s Orkney Spirit we will be introducing you to a new concept that will also be our first full colour, large format book, one of the most beautiful books you are ever likely to see. More on all this will follow in the New Year. The first two books of the following half year have been accepted and we are planning still further ahead. The present generation of web site only began a few months ago and, as you know, incorporated our Twitter feed. We experienced an immediate upsurge in visits and have found that the level of visits has continued. We will be using Twitter as part of our information system to an even greater extent next year, incorporating schmaps to guide you to our launch locations. The first two books of 2010 will be Simon Varwell’s Up The Creek Without A Mullet, and Bobbie Darbyshire’s hilarious comedy of errors, Love, Revenge & Buttered Scones. These two books will take us in our new direction which will continue the narrative non-fiction, journey books, which we have become famous for, combining it with the most entertaining fiction in publishing. Bobbie’s book will be a great start. Simon’s launch will be at the Bishop’s Palace, Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, on Monday 1st February. Bobbie’s launch will be at Clapham Library, London, on the 20th. Please do look in the press for reviews and notices on these two books, as well as with the book bloggers we will be pointing you towards. Thank you again for your support in 2009. As the Old Year gives way to the New we will be raising a glass to the future and to the most important people of all, our readers. 2009-12-24T10:38:51+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2009/amazon_christmas_cutoffs/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2009/amazon_christmas_cutoffs/ Amazon advise us that the Christmas rush is on (actually we knew that) and that they have decided their cut off dates for Christmas delivery. For the interest and use of Sandstone’s UK visitors here are the facts, but don’t forget your local bookshop either. They can get you anything you want if you give them time, and usually with a smile. FRI 18th: Free Super Saver delivery. Sun 20th: First Class delivery Tues 22nd: Express delivery (last full day to order) Tues 22nd: Free one-day delivery with Amazon Prime (last full day to order) Wed 23rd: Express delivery (order as late as 2.00pm) Wed 23rd: Free one day delivery with Amazon Prime (order as late as 2.00pm) Thur 24th: Evening delivery (for deliveries within London and Birmingham areas - order up to 8.30am) We hope this is of use. Good luck! 2009-12-17T10:20:35+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2009/moving_forward_not_so_slowly/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/12/2009/moving_forward_not_so_slowly/ In the past few days we have ordered the fourth print run of Cairngorm John, pretty good for a hardback that only came out in March. We weren’t conservative with print runs either, but John Allen has produced a classic. We will also be calling up a first reprint of our two Gaelic books which were launched only in October at the Oban Mod (see Oban Bay in the Sandstone Blogspot). In the first half of 2010 we will publish more books than we have published in any one full year to date. In addition we look forward to the mystery announcement which we are working hard on and hope to declare in January. Work proceeds on the two remaining covers for the first half of next year and we think you will agree that, like the covers presently on show in Forthcoming, they are going to be belters. The Festive Season is almost on us but there is still time to buy through the internet or in the book stores - and please don’t forget to visit your small local independent such as World’s End in Edinburgh, or the Ceilidh Place in Ullapool, or the fabulous Shetland Times Bookshop in Lerwick. Incidentally, the equally fabulous Edna Burke, who made the Lerwick shop what it is, is retiring at the turn of the year and tells me she is applying to be Ron McMillan’s gofur on his new film project. Good luck to her but we think she should be the star. Now please do take time to explore this web site. You can click through to any one of four internet buying sites from the book pages and don’t forget to visit the blogspot. 2009-12-09T18:23:15+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2009/the_years_end_approaches/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2009/the_years_end_approaches/ The year’s end approaches and here in Highland Scotland the dark is on us early and slow to leave in the morning. So far, and there isn’t all that long to go, we have had a good year. We have put some splendid books into the world including our beautiful Robert Burns book for the Homecoming in partnership with our friends on The Drouth Magazine, Fickle Man. Another literary book, RLS in Love by Stuart Campbell, came out in this half of the year and has made quite an impression. Both are stunningly beautiful books. Aside from them we have been adding to our list of Outdoor and Travel books with At the Edge and The Weekend Fix and, of course, we were knocked out that Cairngorm John reached the short list of the Boardman Tasker Awards. By the way, for a flavour of the event you should check out the Sandstone Blog on the subject. To celebrate this kind of book we have produced a special PDF catalogue, The Eight Outdoor and Travel Books, which you can download from our Home Page. Designed by Thomas Gravemaker of Gravemaker and Scott it’s a beauty which you should enjoy just for itself, even if you choose not to click directly through to any book’s Amazon page. Adding to this we have further developed our series of Gaelic books with the help of editor Donald John MacLeod and authors Catriona Lexy Campbell and Iain MacLean. Less than two months after publication they have almost sold out. There will be more in 2010. Many thanks and best wishes to our friends at the Gaelic Books Council. Thank you for your support - and please buy Sandstone Press books for Christmas.  Our plans for a speedy expansion in the New Year, and to bring still more great books to you, are well under way. Keep an eye on the startling and beautiful new covers as they appear in Forthcoming. We are already projecting further into the future and we think we are going to surprise you. Now please do explore this web site, and don’t forget to check out exciting blogspot before you go. 2009-11-25T17:26:24+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2009/up_the_creek_without_a_bridegroom/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2009/up_the_creek_without_a_bridegroom/ It doesn’t happen often so it is worth reporting.  Our Forthcoming author Simon Varwell gets married to Nicole on Saturday 22nd November.  After he made her dedicatee of Up The Creek Without A Mullet how could she say no?  Please join us in wishing the happy couple every good fortune through the coming years. Operating on a one in one out principle Ron McMillan has returned to Bangkok.  His Asia Noir thriller Yin Yang Tattoo is well along now and we hope to have the cover on site before the end of the year.  Next cover up is likely to be Des Dillon’s The Blue Hen. Watch this space. Our Outdoor & Travel eCatalogue is being circulated by Marketing Associate Dyan Berry and receiving a warm welcome wherever it downloads.  Truth to tell, it is one of the more beautiful objects you can take to your screen for free.  You can download it from the Welcome section of our Home Page, complete with links that will take you directly to the Amazon page for your Book of Choice. Before you leave please do visit our Blogspot and all the various book pages. We look on this web site as an art form in itself.  Come back soon! 2009-11-18T19:15:48+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2009/remembering_kosova_and_looking_forward/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2009/remembering_kosova_and_looking_forward/ The Sandstone Blogspot has two new entries of interest.  Managing Director Robert Davidson spoke at the first Reading and Writing in Ross-shire Festival on the subject Sandstone Press: Publishing from Highland Scotland, which should be of interest not only to Sandstone’s increasing band of followers but also everyone interested in the shape of world publishing. The Forthcoming author of Up the Creek Without a Mullet contributes a guest blog titled Remembering Kosova, which discusses Remzije Sherifi’s Shadow Behind the Sun and Simon’s own reminiscences of Albania and Kosova.  Simon’s book went to print today (Tuesday 10th November) for publication on February 1st. He will be joining us as a regular blogger before that and his space promises to be amusing, interesting and relevant.  Watch this space for launch details. This week we will be issuing a mini e-catalogue Sandstone Press’s Outdoor and Travel Books. A thing of beauty in itself you can download it from the Home Page but may find it being forwarded from a friend or on Twitter. Hamish Brown, author of next year’s classic re-imagining, Hamish’s Mountain Walk, has kindly allowed us to use some of his beautiful photographs. Between those and the covers it’s a knockout. Next year’s publishing programme is developing rapidly and we should have Latte Goldstein’s cover for The Blue Hen by Des Dillon in Forthcoming soon. Now please take time to explore the web site, lingering on Simon Varwell’s guest blog. Thanks for visiting! 2009-11-10T20:43:20+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2009/reading_and_writing_in_ross-shire_homecoming_2009/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/11/2009/reading_and_writing_in_ross-shire_homecoming_2009/ In a bold new initiative here in Highland Scotland a local Readers Group has begun a Book Festival to be centred on Dingwall Library. The first running, which will be a one day event, will take place on Saturday 7th November between 9.45am and 4.10pm. Reading will be local writers Jacqueline Liuba, winner of this year’s Neil Gunn Writing Competition, and Christina MacDonald. Later in the morning journalist and author John MacLeod will discuss his most recent book ‘When I Heard The Bell’, which is about the Iolaire Disaster. In the afternoon Andrew Grieg will read from his Orkney and Fife poems and excerpts from his coming book ‘At The Loch Of The Green Corrie’. The day’s events will be anchored by this company’s founder and Managing Director Robert Davidson who will speak on ‘Sandstone Press, publishing from Highland Scotland’. 2009-11-05T17:53:12+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2009/highland_artists_and_sandstones_brilliant_covers/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2009/highland_artists_and_sandstones_brilliant_covers/ In accordance with the internationalism and commitment to Highland Scotland which are built in to the Sandstone Press ethos we are delighted to reveal the two brilliant new covers that have been completed for us in the past week. Eugenia Vronskaya, the Russian born painter who has made her home in Inverness-shire, has contributed a stark but beautiful domestic image for Moira Forsyth’s coming novel, Tell Me Where You Are (April 2010). Its theme, ideal for the subject matter, is one of suggestion, of someone absent but whose presence has been felt and is, indeed, still at work. Based on this image the overall cover design has been developed by Thomas Gravemaker of Gravemaker + Scott. Thomas is a native of the Netherlands who lived for many years in Paris. Selena Kuzman now has strong associations with both Orkney and Moray but was born and raised in Slovenia, and it is from Slovenia that she sends the finally developed cover of Orkney Spirit. Conceived by the distinguished food writer, Liz Ashworth, Orkney Spirit will be partly the story of Orkney’s everyday life but is also partly its food. Not only dishes and preparation, although it is that, but the clean healthy wholesome environment that is the fount of its qualities and the people who live and work there. Orkney Spirit will be like no book you have seen before. Selena Kuzman’s beautiful imagery will feature throughout this full colour production. You will want not only to read it but also to have it in your home, that’s a promise. Congratulations to Selena on gaining her Masters Degree here in Scotland and best wishes for her coming show at the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. Both of these covers are now to be found on our increasingly impressive Forthcoming page and more will follow soon. For more details of any book please just click on the cover image to be taken to its individual book page. The Trade in particular can find each book’s Information Sheet available as a download at the bottom of the page. Thank you for visiting http://www.sandstonepress.com.  Please do take time to explore the site and please do revisit when you are able. Our authors’ blogspots are picking up a lot of interest these days. 2009-10-30T10:47:48+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2009/return_of_the_kerracher_man/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2009/return_of_the_kerracher_man/ After more production difficulties than we can remember Sandstone Press is very happy indeed to announce that the fifth print run of Eric MacLeod’s The Kerracher Man is at last in the warehouse. Ten per cent of the new stock is already committed and more orders are coming in daily. Eric’s warm account of family life on a lonely West Highland croft in the 1970s is rapidly becoming a classic. We always reckoned it could sit beside Gavin Maxwell’s Ring of Bright Water and John Lister-Kaye’s Song of the Rolling Earth. Now, where is the movie maker with vision? We have also topped up supplies of Cairngorm John: A life in mountain rescue to be sure this great book is in plentiful supply for the Festive Season. Our two new Gaelic books also seem to have taken a trick, both with learners and with native readers. Both authors have bright futures ahead of them with these two books as significant milestones not only in their careers but also in Gaelic literacy. We promise to maintain our committment to the language and to learning. The covers for Simon Varwell’s Up The Creek Without A Mullet and (most recently) Bobbie Darbyshire’s Love, Revenge and Buttered Scones are both in our Forthcoming Section now.  The cover for Moira Forsyth’s Tell Me Where You Are will follow soon. Sandstone Press is delighted to announce that Chris McIvor, author of A Bend In The Nile, present Country Director for Save The Children in Mozambique, now working on the next book in his series on his thirty year experience of Development in Africa, this time about Zimbabwe, will be joining the Sandstone Blogging Team soon. His space is ready and waiting and we will announce his first contribution in an e-Bulletin. The Sandstone Blogspot is now one of the internet’s most attractive locations for exciting, relevant comment by some of our finest authors. Why not visit now and linger awhile? 2009-10-22T07:30:32+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2009/catriona_lexy_campbell_at_the_royal_national_mod/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2009/catriona_lexy_campbell_at_the_royal_national_mod/ The annual celebration of Gaelic music and poetry has returned to its first home in Oban this week. There is no more appropriate location for Sandstone Press to launch our two new Gaelic books aimed at advanced learners, Cleasan a Bhaile Mhoir (City Tricks) by Catriona Lexy Campbell and Cogadh Ruaridh (Roddy’s War) by Iain MacLean.  The event will take place in the Caledonian Hotel, Oban, on Thursday 15th at 6.00pm and we are delighted to announce that Catriona Lexy will be there to read from her book.  Ian MacDonald of the Gaelic Book Council will be Fear an Tigh and our own Iain Gordon, himself an advanced learner, will be reading from Iain MacLean’s book. An especial welcome to the many visitors who clicked in after our press release and bulletin a few days ago.  Sandstone’s move into general fiction seems to have excited quite a bit of interest. That is great, please keep visiting, but our non-fiction will continue to be as readable and relevant as ever.  Simon Varwell’s very witty travel book, Up The Creek Without A Mullet will be first non-fiction out of the traps and you can read all about it and admire Heather (Raspberryhmac) MacPerson’s cover on its book page. First fiction will be Bobbie Darbyshire’s hugely engaging romantic comedy, Love, Revenge and Buttered Scones.  Heather is working on this cover as well and we will post it just as soon as it is complete. Now please do explore this web site, making sure you stop for a while in the Blogspot. 2009-10-09T14:18:35+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2009/inverness_book_festival_and_more/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/10/2009/inverness_book_festival_and_more/ This week sees the largest and most ambitious Inverness Book Festival yet, located entirely at the marvellous new Eden Court Theatre on the banks of the River Ness.  Festival Director Brid McKibbon describes it as being ‘as popular as it is diverse . . . everything from biography to sport, and from eating and drinking to history, plus everything in between.’ Ann Cleeves will be present, as will Barbara Dickson, Ian Hamilton and Elaine C. Smith.  Sandstone Press will have John Allen, author of CAIRNGORM JOHN in conversation with Craig Weldon, author of THE WEEKEND FIX, chaired by Highland based outdoor journalist and author John Davidson.  This event will be on Thursday at 8.00pm.  We will also be sponsoring this year’s NEIL GUNN LECTURE, organised by our friends the NEIL GUNN TRUST.  This year’s speaker will be Owen Dudley Edwards and his subject will be BURNS, GUNN AND THE SCOTTISH WIDER WORLD.  This event begins at 7.00pm on Wednesday. Our publishing programme for January to June 2010 has now been posted in the FORTHCOMING section of this web site.  Cover images will be added as they become available.  Meanwhile there is plenty to read and look at and we hope you will be as excited as we are at our coming titles and the company’s entry into general fiction. We offer a particular welcome to those new visitors responding to our press release and Newsgroup Bulletin on Sandstone Press’s new directions.  Now please do take time to explore this web site; Forthcoming, yes please do go there, but also look at our present books (all wonderful gifts as well as great reads) and the ever changing, always fascinating Blogspot. 2009-10-05T06:24:00+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2009/launching_our_two_new_gaelic_books/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2009/launching_our_two_new_gaelic_books/ Cleasan a’ Bhaile Mhoire by Catriona Lexy Campbell and Cogadh Ruaridh by Iain MacLean will be launched at the Mod on Thursday 15th October at 6.00pm at the Caledonian Hotel Oban.  These two new books promise to be quite a hit among Gaelic readers, particularly advanced learners.  This is an open invitation for everyone with an interest in Gaelic, indeed everyone with an interest in books and literacy to come along. The latest print run of The Kerracher Man has been held up at the printer for reasons beyond our control.  We will have more copies soon and get them out as quickly as is possible. A second reprint of Cairngorm John has been ordered and we hope to have them in store before our present supply runs out. Cairngorm John Allen has a busy schedule in October, appearing at the Inverness Book Festival at Eden Court Theatre, Inverness, on Thursday 8th at 20.30 with Craig Weldon to discuss their books Cairngorm John and The Weekend Fix within the context of ‘risk on the hills’.  The event will be chaired by outdoor journalist John Davidson.  John Allen will also be appearing at the Showcase of Highland Publishing at Eden Court Theatre on the 22nd. John’s fingers and ours are tightly crossed about news that might, we hope, be coming this way from Canada. Sandstone Press will once again sponsor the annual Neil Gunn Lecture at the Inverness Book Festival.  This year’s guest Lecturer will be Owen Dudley Edwards and his subject will be Burns, Gunn and the Scottish Wider World. The event will again be at Eden Court Theatre, this time on Wenesday 7th October at 7.00pm. The Inverness Book Festival has an excellent new web site at http://www.sandstonepress.com Getting to the information is particularly easy. Don’t forget to visit the Blogspot before you go.  Stuart Campbell’s hilarious account of his Edinburgh International Book Festival appearance has already entertained many readers. 2009-09-26T14:37:51+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2009/our_two_new_books_for_gaelic_learners/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2009/our_two_new_books_for_gaelic_learners/ Our two new Gaelic language books, by Catriona Lexy Campbell and Iain MacLean, are in their final stages of preparation. Covers are designed and can be viewed in our Forthcoming section. The text is typeset (to use quite an old fashioned term) with just the final tweaks being made, and we hope to go to print on Monday. Editor Donald John MacLeod has advanced the concept of books for Gaelic learners considerably and these most recent have English-language assists but not parallel translations. We reckon they are ideal for advanced learners and, I am glad to say, the Gaelic Books Council agrees The Royal National Mod is almost upon us, once again in Oban, and we intend to launch there probably on Thursday October 15th. Please keep an eye on this spot for more details. In the Sandstone Blog guest blogger Craig Weldon tells us how his popular book The Weekend Fix got its name. There are recent blogs in the same spot from Stuart Campbell and Jamie Whittle, as well as Ron McMillan’s frequent acerbic, witty contributions. We will be announcing our publishing programme for the first half of 2010 very soon so please do keep visiting the site. For reasons beyond the control of Sandstone Press the latest consignment of The Kerracher Man has been held up at the printer and will not be with us before October 1st. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. 2009-09-18T06:28:25+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2009/the_boardman_tasker_prize_the_weekend_fix_and_more/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2009/the_boardman_tasker_prize_the_weekend_fix_and_more/ We are delighted to announce that CAIRNGORM JOHN: A Life in Mountain Rescue by John Allen has reached the short list of the prestigious Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature. Our thanks go to the organisers and judging panel of the Boardman Tasker Charitable Trust and our respects to the five other short listed authors and their publishers. We look forward to meeting you all at the Kendal Mountain Festival in November. A special welcome to those who are visiting this site for the first time after the Glasgow launch of Craig Weldon’s The Weekend Fix. Pictures of this event and John Allen’s earlier Borders Inverness session have already been Twittered out on Flickr. If early reactions and sales are any indicator we may have another major success on our hands. The Sandstone Blog gathers ever more visitors and is renewed every Sunday night for Monday morning. The other blogs are more occasional but always worth reading. You can comment on any of them (moderated!) and we hope you will take the time to do so. We now look forward to publishing our two Gaelic books in October, Cleasan a Bhaile Mhoire by Catriona Lexy Campbell and Cogadh Ruaridh by Iain MacLean.  Shortly after that we will be announcing our publishing programme for the first half of next year so please keep visiting.  You can click on from any of the book pages to any one of four buying sites.  Thank you, as always, for your continued support. 2009-09-09T06:51:58+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2009/the_wee/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/09/2009/the_wee/ On Thursday 3rd September we launched The Weekend Fix at the Queen Margaret Union. First time author Craig Weldon read brilliantly and led the audience in a rousing bothy song at the end. Two other Sandstone authors were present in Hamish Brown (who penned a warm introduction to TWF) and Ron McMillan (Between Weathers). A special welcome to those who are visitng this site for the first time after Craig’s launch. We hope to have pictures of this event and John Allen’s Borders Inverness session of last week up on Flickr in the next few days. The Sandstone Blog gathers ever more visitors and is renewed every Sunday night for Monday morning. The other blogs are more occasional but always worth reading. You can comment on any of them (moderated!) and we hope you will take the time to do so. We now look forward to publishing our two Gaelic books in October, Cleasan a Bhaile Mhoire by Catriona Lexy Campbell and Cogadh Ruaridh by Iain MacLean.  Shortly after that we will be announcing our publishing programme for the first half of next year so please keep visiting.  You can click on from any of the book pages to any one of four buying sites.  Thanks for all your support. 2009-09-04T20:59:29+00:00 http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2009/inverness_edinburgh_and_glasgow/ http://www.sandstonepress.com/news/08/2009/inverness_edinburgh_and_glasgow/ John Allen will be appearing at Borders, Inverness on Saturday 29th August along with present members of the Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team and a display of equipment. They will be available for questions, conversations and to sign copies of Cairngorm John. The event is free. In Sandstone’s first Edinburgh International Book Festival event Stuart Campbell will be reading from and speaking about his new, very beautiful book RLS in Love at 4.00pm, Monday 31st August in Pepper’s Theatre. There may still be some tickets available. Craig Weldon’s delightful new book The Weekend Fix will be launched at a different venue from that previously advertised. Renovations at The Research Club will not be complete in time.  Instead he will be at the Queen Margaret Union (Jim’s Bar), 22 University Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8QN, 6.00 - 8.00pm, Thursday 3rd September. Hamish Brown, who supplied such a warm introduction to the book, will also be there. Please do come along and meet the author. Once again this event is free. 2009-08-27T14:52:17+00:00