Plum Tree Books News-Flash

Dear friends, we have some new and very brilliant people joining us on Plum Tree Books. I am delighted to announce that Dr. Aprilia Zank, poet, editor, lecturer and translator will be writing a regular post for us. We also hope to be publishing something by her later on in the new year.

Daniel H. Vimont will join Dianna Gielstra as a proofreader but will also contribute a regular blog post on all things to do with audio books. I will be posting his corner here, as the focus of this blog will be everything to do with publishing. Daniel makes audio books, and his knowledge of the industry will be incredibly useful to us in our role of being a new and developing publishing house.

Also joining us on our Facebook page is Alan Morrison. Alan is a wonderful poet, writer and fabulous musician. I am sure he will have lots to bring to our page and inspire us with his musings.

And I will be writing a regular corner (about time I gave myself a corner), on the publisher/writer ~ wearing both hats ~ with some ins and outs of establishing a new publishing company in today’s social media climate.

We have an exciting year ahead as Plum Tree grows its publishing branches with its roots in great writing, discovering and fostering undiscovered talent, based on the idea of a collaborative synthesis of new ideas. And we have some wonderful publications lined up. I will be publishing a soulful book of poems by Imen Benyoub. Marta Pelrine Bacon’s book The Blue Jar will be released in print. Marta is also busy illustrating a new Pa Dug book. Jenean Gilstrap will also be releasing a wonderful collection of poems tenderly spanning three generations of poets – her grandmother, her mother and herself. Fycsene Sheilds is working on the wonderful illustrations for a new children’s book with me. I will also be publishing a collection by the fabulous and inspirational Jamie Dedes. And we look forward to a collection later next year from the stunning Irish poet, Niall O’ Connor. Not to mention that my own book: Exaltation Of A Rose, which is the follow-up to Orange Petals In A Storm will also be released. Many thanks to Shawn MacKenzie for her editing help and advice on that.

So 2014 is to be a very full and busy year indeed!

And above is a taster of things to come: the cover for Imen’s book: Beneath My Skin.

About Dr Niamh

When I was a little girl (a very, very long time ago), I used to love learning new, really big words like ‘discombobulate’. As I grew, my love of words grew too, until I loved them so much, I could not stop writing them down. One day, as I was scribbling a particular word, a very peculiar thing happened. The word shouted at me, “Stop! Don’t put me there!” As you can imagine, I was shocked and nearly fell off my chair. When I recovered somewhat, I said to the word, “Could you stop shouting, please? I am not used to it.” Can you guess what happened next? No! I thought not. The word said, “I might be small, but I will misbehave if you do not use me properly. I will not tell the story you would like me to tell. I will say something entirely different!” I dropped my pen. I hoped that by dropping my pen, the word would stop talking. Alas! It did not. It carried on chitterchobbling, even after the ink had dried. I was in a pickle. I could not allow my words to run away with my story, now could I? I don’t know about you, but when this sort of thing happens, there is only one thing left to do if you prefer not to spend your time arguing. “Very well,” said I. “I will do as you ask if you will just be quiet and allow me to concentrate.” Since that day, I have been paying special attention to every word I invite into my stories. After all, a story should say exactly what it means to say and not be led astray. With love from Dr. Niamh, Ph.D in Learning Through The Imagination and Founder of Dr Niamh Children's Books. www.drniamhchildrensbooks.com

View all posts by Dr Niamh →