Today's the day not that the teddy bears have their picnic but that a fabulous new anthology of stories from best-selling authors goes on sale, to help raise money for UNICEF to support the children of Haiti. The date is very significant because it was exactly 100 days ago that the earthquake caused such destruction. I fleetingly wondered why they put the focus on just the children of Haiti but was shocked to learn that Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and nearly 40 percent of its population is under the age of 14. An estimated 3 million people were affected when the earthquake hit Haiti on 12 January and close to 1.5 million children were directly affected.
The anthology entitled No Man and Other Stories to Help Haiti has been edited by Dorothy Koomson, who provides her own story, and includes entries from Alexander McCall Smith, Nina Bell, William Peter Blatty, Nick Brownlee, Louise Candlish, Stella Duffy, Kate Furnivall, Alex Gray, Clare Jay, Shari Low, Martina Reilly and Bernadette Strachan. That's a pretty impressive line-up, especially as they all donated their stories and stand to make no money at all from this. In fact, everyone involved, including Waterstone's and the typesetter Jouve/TexTech, has donated 100% of their profits and given their time for free to support this worthwhile cause.
These are joyful, uplifting stories, written to raise funds to help Haitian children affected by the earthquake, but just as importantly, to raise the spirits – they are stories of hope.
The anthology will be available to purchase exclusively from Waterstones.com, priced at £5.00. All proceeds will be going directly to Unicef’s relief efforts in Haiti.
Click through to buy it now and walk around all day with a smile knowing you've done your bit to help !
The contributors:
Dorothy Koomson is the author of six best-selling novels: The Cupid Effect, The Chocolate Run, My Best Friend’s Girl (selected for Richard & Judy’s 2006 ‘Summer Reads’ Book Club), Marshmallows for Breakfast, Goodnight, Beautiful and The Ice Cream Girls (which I reviewed here). Her books have been translated into 28 languages across the world. Dorothy is also a trained journalist and has written for numerous publications, including The Guardian, Red, New Woman and Cosmopolitan.
Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world’s most prolific and most popular authors. His various series of books, including The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, the Scotland Street novels, first published as a serial novel in The Scotsman, the Isabel Dalhousie novels and the Von Igelfeld series, have become bestsellers throughout the world. Alexander has received numerous awards for his writing and holds honorary doctorates from nine universities.
Nina Bell has worked on She, Harpers & Queen and Good Housekeeping, and has written for The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Ideal Home, Woman & Home, Country Living, The FT Magazine How To Spend It, and a wide range of other national magazines and newspapers. She is also the author of six radio plays, broadcast by Radio 4, and The Inheritance and Sisters in Law, novels published by Sphere. Her new book Lovers and Liars will be published in the autumn.
William Peter Blatty has thrilled generations of readers with his iconic international bestselling novel and screenplay The Exorcist. The Redemption, his first novel in over 25 years, will be published by Piatkus in 2011 and is a riveting story of murder, revenge and suspense. Blatty lives with his wife and a son in Maryland.
Nick Brownlee is a former Fleet Street journalist who now runs his own freelance news agency. He is also the author of several non-fiction books and two novels, Bait and Burn, published by Piatkus. Machete, the third book in his Kenyan Crime series is published in July. Nick lives in Cumbria with his wife and daughter.
Louise Candlish worked as an editor and a copywriter before she handed her notice in, booked a flight to Sicily, and started writing her first novel. She is the author of six previous novels. Before We Say Goodbye, Since I Don’t Have You, The Second Husband and The Double Life of Anna Day are published by Sphere. Her new novel, Other People’s Secrets is publishing this July.
Stella Duffy is the author of seven novels and the Saz Martin crime series. She has published over thirty short stories, many feature articles, and also writes for radio and theatre. She was born in the UK, grew up in New Zealand and now lives in London. In addition to her writing work she is an actor and improviser. Her new novel, Theodora, is publishing this June.
Kate Furnivall was born in Wales and now lives in Devon. Her debut novel, The Russian Concubine, became an international bestseller in 2007 and was inspired by the childhood experiences of her mother and grandmother, who fled from Russia to China following the communist revolution in 1917. She is also the author of Under a Blood Red Sky and The Concubine’s Secret and The Jewel of St Petersburg the much anticipated prequel to The Russian Concubine.
Alex Gray has been awarded the Scottish Association of Writers' Constable and Pitlochry trophies for her crime writing and has a rapidly growing fan-base of readers. Her previous novels, Pitch Black, The Riverman, Glasgow Kiss and the forthcoming Five Ways to Kill a Man are all published by Sphere.
Clare Jay’s short stories and poetry have won prizes and appeared in anthologies. She has a PhD in Creative Writing and tutors the subject at university level. Her debut novel, Breathing in Colour, garnered wonderful reviews and her new novel, Dreamrunner, will be published in the autumn. She grew up in Devon and now lives in Portugal.
Shari Low has worked as a nightclub manager, a sales rep, run health clubs and lived in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Shanghai, London and Los Angeles. She now lives with her husband and two children near Glasgow and writes a weekly opinion column for the Daily Record. She is the author of seven books including My Best Friend’s Life, A Brand New Me and the forthcoming Temptation Street.
Martina Reilly, formerly writing as Tina Reilly, is the author of a number of bestselling novels, including the Impac-long-listed Something Borrowed. Martina has worked as a columnist for the Irish Evening Herald, but gave it up to write full time. Her novels Wish Upon a Star, Wedded Blitz, Something Borrowed, Summer of Secrets, Second Chances, The Wish List and the forthcoming A Moment Like Forever are all published by Sphere.
Dorothy Koomson is the author of six best-selling novels: The Cupid Effect, The Chocolate Run, My Best Friend’s Girl (selected for Richard & Judy’s 2006 ‘Summer Reads’ Book Club), Marshmallows for Breakfast, Goodnight, Beautiful and The Ice Cream Girls (which I reviewed here). Her books have been translated into 28 languages across the world. Dorothy is also a trained journalist and has written for numerous publications, including The Guardian, Red, New Woman and Cosmopolitan.
Alexander McCall Smith is one of the world’s most prolific and most popular authors. His various series of books, including The No 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, the Scotland Street novels, first published as a serial novel in The Scotsman, the Isabel Dalhousie novels and the Von Igelfeld series, have become bestsellers throughout the world. Alexander has received numerous awards for his writing and holds honorary doctorates from nine universities.
Nina Bell has worked on She, Harpers & Queen and Good Housekeeping, and has written for The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Ideal Home, Woman & Home, Country Living, The FT Magazine How To Spend It, and a wide range of other national magazines and newspapers. She is also the author of six radio plays, broadcast by Radio 4, and The Inheritance and Sisters in Law, novels published by Sphere. Her new book Lovers and Liars will be published in the autumn.
William Peter Blatty has thrilled generations of readers with his iconic international bestselling novel and screenplay The Exorcist. The Redemption, his first novel in over 25 years, will be published by Piatkus in 2011 and is a riveting story of murder, revenge and suspense. Blatty lives with his wife and a son in Maryland.
Nick Brownlee is a former Fleet Street journalist who now runs his own freelance news agency. He is also the author of several non-fiction books and two novels, Bait and Burn, published by Piatkus. Machete, the third book in his Kenyan Crime series is published in July. Nick lives in Cumbria with his wife and daughter.
Louise Candlish worked as an editor and a copywriter before she handed her notice in, booked a flight to Sicily, and started writing her first novel. She is the author of six previous novels. Before We Say Goodbye, Since I Don’t Have You, The Second Husband and The Double Life of Anna Day are published by Sphere. Her new novel, Other People’s Secrets is publishing this July.
Stella Duffy is the author of seven novels and the Saz Martin crime series. She has published over thirty short stories, many feature articles, and also writes for radio and theatre. She was born in the UK, grew up in New Zealand and now lives in London. In addition to her writing work she is an actor and improviser. Her new novel, Theodora, is publishing this June.
Kate Furnivall was born in Wales and now lives in Devon. Her debut novel, The Russian Concubine, became an international bestseller in 2007 and was inspired by the childhood experiences of her mother and grandmother, who fled from Russia to China following the communist revolution in 1917. She is also the author of Under a Blood Red Sky and The Concubine’s Secret and The Jewel of St Petersburg the much anticipated prequel to The Russian Concubine.
Alex Gray has been awarded the Scottish Association of Writers' Constable and Pitlochry trophies for her crime writing and has a rapidly growing fan-base of readers. Her previous novels, Pitch Black, The Riverman, Glasgow Kiss and the forthcoming Five Ways to Kill a Man are all published by Sphere.
Clare Jay’s short stories and poetry have won prizes and appeared in anthologies. She has a PhD in Creative Writing and tutors the subject at university level. Her debut novel, Breathing in Colour, garnered wonderful reviews and her new novel, Dreamrunner, will be published in the autumn. She grew up in Devon and now lives in Portugal.
Shari Low has worked as a nightclub manager, a sales rep, run health clubs and lived in Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Shanghai, London and Los Angeles. She now lives with her husband and two children near Glasgow and writes a weekly opinion column for the Daily Record. She is the author of seven books including My Best Friend’s Life, A Brand New Me and the forthcoming Temptation Street.
Martina Reilly, formerly writing as Tina Reilly, is the author of a number of bestselling novels, including the Impac-long-listed Something Borrowed. Martina has worked as a columnist for the Irish Evening Herald, but gave it up to write full time. Her novels Wish Upon a Star, Wedded Blitz, Something Borrowed, Summer of Secrets, Second Chances, The Wish List and the forthcoming A Moment Like Forever are all published by Sphere.
Bernadette Strachan worked as a radio commercial producer and a voice-over agent before becoming an author. She has written six novels including The Reluctant Landlady, Handbags and Halos, Diamonds and Daisies, Little White Lies, How to Lose a Husband and Gain a Life. Her new novel Why Do We Have To Live With Men? will be published this autumn and she is currently working on a second stage musical with her husband.
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