Quick links

And first up is the continuing popularity of Boris Akunin around the world — so much so that his latest novel in English, TURKISH GAMBIT, is now a movie and is expected to “save the Russian film industry.”

Take a couple of Uglytown authors, mix in a major publisher, add a dash of video golf, and what do you get? This new Q&A of Victor Gischler by Sean Doolittle, both of whom have new releases out at the moment (SUICIDE SQUEEZE for Gischler, the paperback edition of BURN for Doolittle.)

Joolz Denby’s getting just a little tired of being asked if she killed anyone, but since the attention thrust upon her is because of her Orange Prize longlisting, she’ll take the silly questions with better ones, as offered up by the Scotsman today.

Patricia Ferguson was also longlisted for the prize, which was a shock because her former publishers dropped her and she had to go the small press route, as she tells the Independent.

Anthony Horowitz had no clue what to expect when he wrote his first Alex Rider novel — but since the for-kids series is a huge hit, he’ll just keep writing more of them, along with adult novels like THE KILLING JOKE.

First Live Aid, then his crazy marriage to Paula Yates, then all those ridiculous baby names — well, shouldn’t it be expected that Bob Geldof would go and ink a lucrative book deal next?

Rana Dasgupta speaks to the Guardian about his debut novel, TOKYO CANCELLED, and how leaving Britain for India has changed the way he writes.

Uh oh: Ottakar’s doesn’t seem to be doing well this quarter. Does it mean anything in the long run? Time will tell, of course….

Mary Matalin’s first buy as head of a new conservative imprint with S&S is Mary Cheney’s memoir. The funny thing is that the deal report at PM indicated Mary was Dick Cheney’s “lifelong daughter” — what, you mean some daughters aren’t? Very puzzling…

And finally, I totally forgot to link to this yesterday, but figured it was probably worth sharing the amusement.*

*(Yes, I elected for the snark-free approach after all. The coffee kicked in and so did my brain.)