Meet debut novelist LISA CARTER as she introduces her heartfelt novel SIX POPPIES, an achingly poignant portrait of love, regret, and healing.
Afghanistan, 2007. Carl meets Sarah, a nurse, at Camp Bastion and they feel an instant connection. But she’s the girlfriend of his fellow soldier, Danny, so he pledges to keep his distance.
Finally back in England, Carl vows to never forget those who didn’t make it home, honouring each of them with a tattoo of a poppy. While, many miles away, Sarah tries to forget the man she swore to leave behind. But when Carl and Sarah are thrown back together, it’s clear that both of them are broken.
But do the scars of what they went through run too deep, or is there a chance they can find happiness again, together…? A heartbreaking and authentic military romance, perfect for fans of Nicholas Sparks, Kristin Hannah and Jojo Moyes. ABOUT LISA CARTER
Lisa Carter is a journalist who has worked at The Sun, The Mirror and the Daily Mail, where she edited the Femail pages for over ten years. She lives in London with her husband and three sons. Lisa has a Steyning connection, her brother lives here, so we expect a friendly welcome for her! ABOUT THE EVENT We are trying out a new, comfortable (one might even say, SUMPTUOUS!) venue, the upstairs showroom at Awen Furniture in Steyning, which will be transformed for the evening into a literary salon! Your £5 ticket includes a complimentary drink upon entry, and ticket-holders can purchase their signed copies of SIX POPPIES on the night for £6.99 (£3 off RRP) Big thanks to Justin and Sarah at Awen for their friendly offer!
DOORS OPEN 7pm EVENT BEGINS 7.30pm BOOK ONLINE VIA LINK BELOW OR IN PERSON AT THE SHOP (avoids online booking fee)
Sadly, not OUR event, but we are excited to be involved as the official booksellers, so we encourage you to buy a TICKET + BOOK option for the ONLY South East event that Hardest Geezer is doing to celebrate his new book ‘Mind Over Miles’.
The Hardest Geezer aka Russ Cook is a regular guy from WORTHING who set out to be the first person to run the length of Africa. He went VIRAL on socials and millions of people (including me!) tuned in to view the moving scenes of him finishing his epic run with hundreds of supporters running alongside.
10,000 miles. 16 countries. 352 days. From his starting point in Cape Agulhas, South Africa, up to the finishing line in Tunisia on the 7th of April 2024, Russ experienced everything the great continent had to offer. From sandstorms in the Sahara Desert to rainforests in the Republic of Congo, Russ ran the equivalent of 386 consecutive marathons, covering 10,000 miles. His epic journey took 354 days, traveling through 16 countries and saw him raise over £1 million for charity!
Russ will be sharing his remarkable story LIVE at JOY CONCERT’S EVENT at Worthing Assembly Hall on Friday 1st November at 7.30pm.
We are handling the book sales so we’d LOVE to see some of you there!
Head over to JOYCONCERTS.COM for tix or follow the link below:
On Wednesday 9th August at 11am join children’s author / illustrator Vicky Woodgate on a tree-tastic journey through the world of forests as she celebrates her new book The Magic of Forests. This will be a fun, informative event for kids aged 5-10 years. Vicky will share lots of amazing forest facts, lead children in a fun draw-along, help them create some leaf art AND make a super duper twig flag! Ticket holders can get £3 off a copy of The Magic of Forests or one of Vicky’s other books in DK’s beautifully-designed MAGIC OF .. series. (RRP £9.99) If the weather is warm this event will take place under shelter in the beautiful bookshop back garden. Accompanying adults do not need to purchase a ticket.
Tickets can be booked online here or in person at the bookshop / by phone on 01903 812062. We prefer if you book in advance as Vicky needs to know numbers for the craft activities.
Come and meet Julia Donaldson at our fun book-signing event, as she celebrates her new book JULIA DONALDSON’S BOOK OF NAMES. For many years, at every book-signing, Julia Donaldson has scribbled down any unusual names she encounters – she has been squirrelling them away for years, working on including them all in a book – and finally, here it is! Set in a magical transforming bookshop, The Book of Names is a love-letter to bookshops and young bookworms, with cute, charming illustrations by Nila Aye, an award-winning new illustrator. Julia has seamlessly woven the names together thematically, from months of the year, colours and flowers to food, history, and gemstones… “I’ve signed for boys called Romeo, and girls called Juliet . I’ve signed for Roman, Saxon, Dane – though not for Norman yet…” Young readers will enjoy trying to find their own name, and even if your name isn’t included, there is a special dedicated space to add it, or even better, for Julia to sign! How it Works It is essential to buy a ticket for the book-signing. Each ‘ticket’ entitles entry for the purchaser AND THEIR FAMILY GROUP (up to 5 persons, please specify how many adults / children) and includes 1 copy of Julia Donaldson’s Book of Names, in hardback, which you’ll be able to get signed & named by Julia. The book-signing will be split into 40-minute time-slots to reduce queue times, with 20 family groups in each time slot, starting from 2pm. As each time slot fills up, we will open the next time-slot. If you want to purchase multiple book copies – don’t buy multiple tickets please! You’ll have plenty of chance to buy more books on the day of the signing, and Julia will sign AND name-dedicate ALL books either pre-ordered or purchased at The Steyning Bookshop that day! The book-signing will hopefully take place under cover in the beautiful back garden of the Steyning Bookshop, weather permitting! We will provide fun games and craft activities and free biscuits / juice for children while you wait to meet Julia.
You can book your space via Ticketsource by following the link below. Do give us a ring if you have any questions or if the time-slot is full – we can open up the next one!
We are very excited about our first fiction author event of 2023 with novelist Sophie Haydock. Sophie’s debut novel The Flames, about the four muses who posed for the artist Egon Schiele in Vienna in the early 1900’s, won the Impress Prize for New Writers and has received widespread critical acclaim. This will be an ‘open book group’ style event – the ticket price includes a paperback copy of ‘The Flames’ and we encourage members of the public to pop into the shop to claim their free book PRIOR to the event, and come primed with questions / observations for the author! There will be lots to talk about as Sophie opens up about her research into the elusive, provocative figure of Schiele, his real-life muses, how they relate to her fictionalised creations, not to mention all the bohemian glamour of Secessionist Vienna!
About The Flames Vienna, 1912. Behind every painting, there is a story… Vienna is at its zenith, an opulent, extravagant city teeming with art, music and radical ideas. It is a place where anything seems possible… Edith and Adele are sisters, the daughters of a wealthy bourgeois family. They are expected to follow the rules, to marry well, and produce children. Gertrude is in thrall to her flamboyant older brother. Marked by a traumatic childhood, she envies the freedom he so readily commands. Vally was born into poverty but is making her way in the world as a model for the eminent artist Gustav Klimt. Fierce, passionate and determined, none of these women is quite what they seem. But their lives are set on a collision course when they become entangled with the controversial young artist Egon Schiele whose work – and private life – are sending shockwaves through Viennese society. All it will take is a single act of betrayal to set their world on fire…
Event Details
Doors Open at 7:00PM Starts at 7:30PM
Steyning Bookshop Book Group Members £10 (Must be purchased via the shop) (includes your copy of The Flames)
Public tickets £13 includes a copy of The Flames in paperback, please let the bookshop know whether you’d like to collect the book to read before the event or will be picking it up it on the night. Call 01903 812062 or email info:steyningbookshop.co.uk . Ticket price includes a glass of something upon arrival.
