Chorleywood Launch!

Triskele Books at Chorleywood

Thanks to the tireless enthusiasm and endless curiosity of Sheryl and Morag (the people who run Chorleywood's award-winning independent bookshop),Triskele Books became part of the Chorleywood Literary Festival. Festival guests this year include Ranulph Fiennes, David Suchet, Kate Adie, Terry Wogan, Hadley Freeman, Bill Bryson and ... Triskele Books! And what a wonderful day it was. When we arrived to set up, the venue was full of happy children, who'd just enjoyed the LitFest Storytime. Which explains why Morag was dressed as a unicorn.

Three events made up the indie fringe:

The Human Library

The Human Library

The Triskelites offered ourselves as reference books on all aspects of independent publishing. Attendees could borrow any one of us for a one-to-one chat on whatever subject they wanted to discuss. Chorleywood festival-goers kept us busy. Catriona's first client was an 80-year-old children's author, whereas Jill's was an 11-year-old fantasy adventure writer, who'd done all her own illustrations. We met a sports psychologist, a photographer, two sci-fi imagineers and a host of people who would not consider themselves writers, but were bursting with ideas. So busy engaging with our 'borrowers', we were almost late for the next event.

The Rise of the Author Collective

Perry and the Triskelites

Moderated by Perry Iles, our proof-reader and writerly colleague, we answered questions on the practicalities of operating as a collective. Jane explained how we remain independent while working as a team. Gilly shone some light on how five authors communicate across three countries and two time zones. Liza gave an honest insight into how much work really goes on behind the scenes. The audience had so many intelligent and perceptive questions, we ended up running far over our allotted time.

The Launch

Three new releases and unusually for Triskele, all in the same genre: historical fiction. But the time periods in question could not be more dissimilar.
Liza Perrat's Wolfsangel takes place in a rural French village under the shadow of WWII Nazi occupation.
JD Smith's Overlord is set in 3rd century Syria and follows the rise of warrior queen Zenobia.
Catriona Troth's Ghost Town explores race, racism and identity against the backdrop of 1980s Coventry.

The passion for the story radiated from each author, and the brief readings seemed to enthuse and excite the audience, so that our books table was overrun.



Celebrations in the pub and an extraordinarily lively Chinese meal rounded off a marvellous weekend in the company of writers, readers and booklovers. Thank you, Chorleywood!

Triskele at Chorleywood LitFest

“The greatest little litfest you’d never heard of – until now”

Chorleywood LitFest  

6 - 21 November

Featuring Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Bill Bryson, Terry Wogan, David Suchet, Douglas Hurd, Kate Adie, Hadley Freeman and ...

Triskele Books! 

Saturday November 16 sees three firsts: 

 

The Human Library

Participants can borrow one of the Triskele authors to discuss any aspect of indie publishing

The Rise of the Author Collective

The panel discuss lessons learned on the self-publishing journey and the benefits of working together

The Launch

And the launch of the next three new releases from the Triskele Books collective:

· Wolfsangel - Liza Perrat

· Overlord - JD Smith

· Ghost Town - Catriona Troth

All events are free but to book your place: here's more information
And for maps, directions and the right Tube line: Where's Chorleywood?

Triskele's Launch Party

In the immortal words of Russ Abbott, I love a party with an atmosphere. And this one had it in abundance.


Foyles Bookshop, London, Saturday 1 June


Triskele Books and Words with JAM collaborated to throw an enormous great launch party!

Jane Dixon-Smith

Words with JAM editor Jane Dixon-Smith launched An Earthless Melting Pot, the anthology of winning stories from the Bigger Short Story Competition. Judges included Jane Fallon, Ben Myers and Zoe Fairbairns.

The cover was a talking point in itself. 

Ruby Cowling

Ruby Cowling, winner of the 2,500 section, read her touchingly beautiful Abhra, The Cloud.

Ken Elkes

 Ken Elkes read his bittersweet 250 word story Busy Lizzy, and Zoe Fairbairns (who judged the Flash Fiction section of the competition) couldn't wait to shake Ken by the hand!

The Triskele Authors

 Triskele launch authors chose to talk about their books in a series of brief interviews with Liza Perrat, whose book Spirit of Lost Angels was published in the first wave of Triskele releases.

Gillian Hamer explained her fascination for Anglesey and why her third book, Complicit, is set on the wild North Wales coast. Jane Dixon-Smith confessed her love for all things historical as the driver behind her retelling of the Tristan and Iseult legend. Jill Marsh talked about Tread Softly, her crime novel set in the Basque Country, and her research into Spanish wines. Catriona Troth discussed her novella Gift of the Raven, and how she identified with the main character's quest for his heritage.

Annemarie Neary and Polly Courtney with JJ Marsh

All four authors reiterated their satisfaction at going the independent publication route, a fact which delighted one of the guests in particular. Polly Courtney famously dropped her publishers, Harper Collins, after their marketing her as chicklit, and became a self-publisher. She is a huge champion of independence and creative control. Indie authors were well represented by members of The Alliance of Independent Authors, such as Helena Halme and Lorna Fergusson.

But as we're fond of saying, there is no Them and Us. Traditionally published authors also turned up to support us and join in the fun, such as Guy Saville and Annemarie Neary.

Both Triskele Books and Words with JAM grew from writers who had met online. Thus Saturday was one of those occasions when people who'd 'known' each other for years, actually met for the first time.

 

The corks popped, the nibbles were nibbled and the chat flowed.It was over all too quickly and as we sat in stunned silence among the debris, we looked at each other, blinked, smiled and said, 'We did it!'.