A BBC Cymru/Wales production directed by Nigel Lewis, “A Book at Bedtime” features Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, abridged by Nigel Lewis and read by Sam Dastor.

Listen to Episode 1 Here.

I am very much looking forward to appearing at literary festivals at Chester (Waverton Good Read Awards Dinner), Beverly, Ilkley and Guildford. Please check my Facebook Page, or Events page on this website, for full details. Always so exciting to come ‘home’ to England. Pass me a crumpet!

Major Pettigrew has been selected by the residents of the village of Waverton to receive the 2010/11 Waverton Good Read Award; awarded to the best debut novel by a British author. It is a very special honor to have my novel endorsed in this way by a real English village. My name is to be engraved on a silver trophy cup, kept in the village. The Major himself would be very proud!

I’m happy to announce that Major Pettirew’s Last Stand has won the Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance.

I’m happy to announce the selection of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand for the Richard and Judy book club 2011. Here is a video of my interview with them.

Come and see me at the Friendship Heights Community Center on June 2nd at 7pm. Read more. Books available at the event from Politics and Prose.

Dear me, I never thought of myself as a ‘Miss Manners’ but as I have now enjoyed many lovely visits with book clubs, by Skype video or phone call, I thought it might be useful to share a few tips on how to most comfortably set up a contact with a writer who might be willing to talk to your group: Check the writer’s website to see if they offer contact. Make a polite email (not phone) request. Give at least three weeks notice (but no more than two months) and preferably offer more than one day/time. Be prepared to reconfirm by email the day prior with Skype contact and emergency phone number, but please don’t ask the writer to do test runs. Understand if the writer already has too many requests and can not accommodate. Please don’t demand a multi-hour, in-person visit just because the writer lives in your state. Book Club visits are mostly to answer your questions in an informal way, so don’t look for a reading or presentation. I’ve had only lovely group visits, but other writers have laughingly told me of being ambushed by hostile questions. Please remind your group that “I hated all your characters” is not a polite way to treat a guest in your home! I find that book club visits typically last thirty minutes and that it is useful to begin at least 15 minutes after your guests arrive. Finally, do take note of time zones. I’d love to visit your group but not at midnight my time! Thanks and here’s to meeting many more fun book groups.

I am delighted to have been shortlisted for the amazing Waverton Award. This award is so fabulous because an entire village gets together to read and review the books. It seems like a Masterpiece Theater Mystery plot, doesn’t it? I hope the winner gets a free pint in the pub! I’m so thrilled to have Edgecombe St. Mary critiqued by a real English village. Read more.

Major Pettigrew is one of six books shortlisted by the judges. This award honors the memory of UK writer, Melissa Nathan, whose life was cut short by cancer at age 37. Her foundation helps children in need. A great honor to be included in this shortlist in my home country.

I was delighted to be recognized as one of five books chosen this year by the judges. I receive a writing residency at the wonderful Ucross Writers’ Retreat in Wyoming. Thank you to the judges, the Foundation and Ucross.

Flipping through the December O Magazine at the supermarket checkout, I nearly shrieked aloud to see that my book was number three out of five books that Oprah’s magazine team picked as the Best Fiction of 2010. I quickly added several copies to my groceries; causing the checkout lady to stare at me as if I were crazy. Or perhaps it was my crazy hair and sweatpants? I had a horrendous cold and had only staggered in to buy chicken soup and assorted other comfort food before retiring to bed for two days. The O Magazine news certainly made me feel more chipper as I toasted them with cold medicine!

I am thrilled (and slightly dazed) to report that Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand is #5 in Fiction and #13 overall in Amazon’s Best Books of 2010. It is also #8 in Audio Books. Fabulous news as the paperback gets ready to launch on November 30th. I hope plenty of stockings will be stuffed with a copy of the Major this year, and that its bright blue cover will prove a tasteful token for Hanukkah as well.

On New York’s NBC Channel 4, Bill Goldstein recommended Major Pettigrew as just the right book for spring. I shared air time with Cathleen Schine’s wonderful The Three Weissmans of Westport. View here.

Listen here to my recommendation of three novels of manners that were not written by Jane Austen. While Jane is the true master, the novel of manners, in the hands of other authors, continues to show up the world for what it is. Small domestic squabbles mirror the largest of world issues and we don’t seem to get any better at being kind, do we? I was very grateful to be invited onto NPR’s famous All Things Considered, to read this piece.

I recently returned to New York to be interviewed on the Leonard Lopate show, on local NPR affiliate, WNYC.  Leonard knows how to grill a writer and get straight to the heart of a book.  Great fun and a dream fulfilled for an NPR fan from Brooklyn.   Listen here.

Major Pettigrew has obviously been on a campaign to win hearts and minds and has achieved his mission in an unexpected record time. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand has just made it onto the NY Times Bestseller list at #14 (tied with #13). In addition, Indiebound, which represents the nation’s independent bookstores, has him at #3 on their bestseller list.  The Washington Post debuted him at #9 and he is popping up on other lists as we speak. I am overwhelmed at the response to what was supposed to be a small literary debut.  Thank you to all who have written to me to say how much you’ve enjoyed the book.

Read an interview with me at Bookbrowse where this week, Major Pettigrew is an Editor’s Choice.

Hello, Just starting to read your new novel that I picked for my book club to read in May. Will you be putting together a question guide for book clubs in the very near future? If so how would I find it online? Thank you very much and looking forward to reading your book. I read only wonderful reviews on it. Best of luck to you,  P.

Thanks for emailing me with your question.  I have to confess I’m not a huge fan of reading guides, which remind me too much of school and homework.  However, I’ve had to lead book club discussions myself and I know it’s a big responsibility to put together good notes.  I always found first person interviews with the author were useful (there are a couple posted here).  Also, just for you, I tried to think about what themes interested me enough to include them.  I came up with inheritance (an endless source of both comedy and tragedy), parents and their adult children (King Lear having the ultimate in bad offspring), defining community by exclusion of  the ‘other,’ and of course, that comment your neighbor made last week that  you didn’t realize, until half an hour later, was a complete  insult.  These themes and some good salty snacks should keep the conversation going.  If all else fails, discuss whether love is ageless.  Thank you so much for picking Major Pettigrew for your book club.

Diane Rehm invited me onto her very popular NPR show to discuss my debut novel. Any nervousness on my part was quickly dispelled. Diane is such a professional and so used to putting guests at their ease. I had a fabulous time and the hour flew by as if it were no more than a few minutes. Listen to a free iTunes podcast.

As a stay-at-home mother, and part-time writing student, in Brooklyn, I would make time whenever possible to listen to WNYC’s Leonard Lopate interview writers as they came through New York City to promote their newest books. It is a dream come true for me that this this Tuesday, at 1pm, I will be sitting in Leonard’s studio discussing Major Pettigrew. Look at me – I’m already calling him Leonard! Please listen and maybe even call in.