Bookable Space: A Space to Launch (and re-launch) Books

In this episode of Bookable Space, we're joined by Wendy Pratt. Wendy reads from The Ghost Lake and talks about what she learned about herself and the world around us while writing this moving memoir about grief, place, and the natural world.About the author:Wendy Pratt is a poet, author, editor and workshop facilitator living and working on the North Yorkshire coast, where she grew up. She is the author of five collections of poetry. Her latest collection When I Think of My Body as a Horse (Smith|Doorstop Books) won the Poetry Business Book and Pamphlet award in 2021. She is the founder and editor in chief of Spelt Magazine, and runs courses and workshops at York Centre for Lifelong Learning.About the book:A memoir of grief, nature and ancestry in rural Yorkshire.I am setting out on a pilgrimage through an ancient landscape.I will begin at my daughter’s grave. Paleolake Flixton is an extinct lake in North Yorkshire. Human occupation of the site dates back thousands of years to prehistoric times. Over the millennia, the vast lake disappeared, turning to wetland and peaty fields. Today all that is left of it is a watermark.Wendy Pratt brings the reader on a pilgrimage around the ghost lake, to locations that have acted as journey markers in her own life. While traversing forests and fenland, she reflects on the process of finding belonging in nature as a woman who exists in a series of liminal spaces – as a working-class writer, an infertile woman in a fertile world and a bereaved mother in a society focused on children.An early draft of The Ghost Lake was longlisted for the 2021 Nan Shepherd Prize.

In this engaging episode of Bookable Space, host Yvonne Battle-Felton is joined by Marcia Hutchinson reading The Mercy Step.About the Author After attending Oxford University and working as a lawyer in the City Marcia Hutchinson relocated back to Yorkshire where she founded and ran educational publishing company Primary Colours from 1997 - 2014. She was awarded an MBE for services to Cultural Diversity in 2010 and is now a full time writer.About the bookThe Mercy Step follows precocious child Mercy from birth to her relationships with her family in 1960's Bradford. If she had her way it would just be Mercy and her mother but her siblings and her fear-inducing father keep getting in the way. She responds by living in her imagination with her faithfull Dolly.About the hostYvonne Battle-Felton is an award-winning author, academic, editor, podcaster, host, creative producer, and writer. Her debut, Remembered (Dialogue Books, Blackstone Publishing) was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction (2019) and shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize (2020). Yvonne has six titles in Penguin Random House’s The Ladybird series. Yvonne is former Senior Commissioning Editor at Hachette’s John Murray Press and is the Academic Director of Creative Writing at Cambridge University. Winner of The Shirley Jackson Award (novel), Curdle Creek (2024 Dialogue Books, Henry Holt), a gothic horror inspired by Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, is her second novel. Yvonne is a podcaster, author, literary event organizer, event host, and lover of stories. 

In this episode of Bookable Space, host Yvonne Battle-Felton is joined by A.C. Adams reading from Chasing Shadows. It's a heartfelt discussion about family, fictions, writing, and more.About the BookWhen renowned professor Dr. Aidan Ryan vanishes without explanation, he leaves behind a haunting message revealing he has a new life and can never return. His devastated daughter Sofia embarks on a global search to uncover the truth behind her father’s disappearance. What she finds is more shocking than she could have imagined—a web of family secrets and lies that challenges everything she thought she knew.BIOA.C. Adams is the nom de plume of co-authors Anthony Leigh Adams and Christina Adams. They have written and produced film and television projects for studios including Disney, ABC, CBS, NBC, and OWN. For more information about Chasing Shadows and A.C. Adams’s other projects, visit adamsentertainment.com.Links to Buy the Chasing Shadows Book and AudiobookAmazonBarnes & NobleApple BooksChasing Shadows Book TrailerAuthor’s Websitehttp://adams-entertainment.comAbout the hostYvonne Battle-Felton is an author, academic, editor, podcaster, host, creative producer, and writer. Her debut, Remembered (Dialogue Books, Blackstone Publishing) was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction (2019) and the Not the Booker, and shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize (2020). Yvonne has six titles in Penguin Random House’s The Ladybird series. Curdle Creek (2024 Dialogue Books, Henry Holt), a gothic horror inspired by Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, is her second novel and has been nominated for the Shirley Jackson Awards. Follow Yvonne on Substack on Why I Write: Yvonne Battle-Felton

In this engaging episode, we’re joined by Kelechi Okafor. Kelechi reads to us from her debut novel, Awakened. We talk about adventures, writing future present, and more.About the AuthorKelechi Okafor is a Nigerian-born, London-based writer of fiction, journalism, stage and screen. Her work explores global issues through an anti-colonial, anti-white supremacy, and anti-heteropatriarchy lens. In 2024, she launched her subscription platform, Keleidoscope, and opened ‘Child of Light’, a children’s home and resource centre in Nigeria. Known online as @Kelechnekoff and affectionately as ‘just a Baby Girl,’ Kelechi draws creative strength from writers like Toni Morrison, Octavia Butler, bell hooks and Audre Lorde, and deities including Oshun and Yemoja. Her voice echoes a legacy of radical storytelling.About the bookIn a near-future London where technology affects everything from our bodies to our politics, journalist Pels Badmus wants to make a difference. She’s desperate to solve a spate of disappearances of young Black children but her boss doesn’t want to hear it. Instead, he assigns her to cover protests linked to sacred Spirit Vine rituals in Benin. Pels finds herself in West Africa, agreeing to the assignment in the hope she can leverage it later. She’s also trying to ignore the strange, ethereal dreams she’s been having... and when Pels takes the Spirit Vine herself, she experiences something divine; something that points to an unfulfilled destiny that could change the course of her life.About the hostYvonne Battle-Felton is an author, academic, editor, podcaster, host, creative producer, and writer. Her debut, Remembered (Dialogue Books, Blackstone Publishing) was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction (2019) and the Not the Booker, and shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize (2020). Yvonne has six titles in Penguin Random House’s The Ladybird series. Curdle Creek (2024 Dialogue Books, Henry Holt), a gothic horror inspired by Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, is her second novel and has been nominated for the Shirley Jackson Awards. Follow Yvonne on Substack on Why I Write: Yvonne Battle-Felton

In this episode of Bookable Space with Yvonne Battle-Felton, we're joined by Sara Sartagne reading from The Year of Yes and No. About the AuthorHaving wanted to be a journalist when she was a teenager, Sara actually ended up in PR. From there, it was a short skip to writing for pleasure, and from there to drafting her first book, a romance series where gardens feature in a BIG way. This allows her to indulge her passion for gardening, inherited from her grandmother. Sara’s English Garden Romance series started as a trilogy and morphed into slightly more than a quartet. It has four novels, three novellas and a short story. The novels are The Garden Plot, Love in a Mist, The Glasshouse Effect and A Wilder Heart. All the novellas are available to subscribers from her website. Her dual timeline novels, the Duality Series, are stand-alone books which features two stories, somehow connected. These are The Visitor, which won a Prestige Chill With A Book Award; The Fern Keepers, which also received a Premier Chill With A Book Award; and her latest book, The Year of Yes and No. She’s currently working on a stand-alone contemporary story set in Corfu. She loves hearing from readers who have thoughts about her books and characters - and even about gardening! - so please visit my website (good for news and freebies!)About the BookA picture paints a thousand words, but sometimes you just need one.1802 Colchester Hall, Northumberland. Harriet has been invisible all her life, a dutiful daughter, a dutiful wife and, with her husband's recent passing, a dutiful widow.But when she inherits her husband's fortune, she discovers a freedom she has only dreamt of. Now wealthy, Harriet can say yes whenever she chooses – but only if she remains unmarried.Battling her ingrained sense of duty and her conniving mother-in-law, Harriet must fight for her new-found independence. But every day, her feelings for long-time confidante Alexander grow, leaving her with an agonising choice – freedom, or love. Which will she say ‘yes’ to?2023 London. Gabriella Sullivan has a lot to juggle. Taking on more responsibility at a London art gallery pays the bills, but being her family's default administrator, cook and babysitter is what drains most of her energy.When Gabriella stumbles upon Regency miniatures of Harriet Colchester, she's fascinated by the differences before and after Harriet’s marriage – one portrait deferential, the other devil-may-care.Inspired to research Harriet's story, it doesn't hurt that the investigation includes Hugo, the chocolate-voiced owner of the miniatures.Can Harriet's journey help Gabriella find her own voice, and say 'no' to her family's unreasonable demands?About the host Yvonne Battle-Felton is an author, academic, editor, podcaster, host, creative producer, and writer. Her debut, Remembered (Dialogue Books, Blackstone Publishing) was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction (2019) and the Not the Booker and shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize (2020). Curdle Creek (2024 Dialogue Books, Henry Holt), a gothic horror inspired by Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, is her second novel and has been nominated for the Shirley Jackson Awards. 

In this delightful episode of Bookable Space we're joined by Bram Stoker Award-winning editor, author Del Howison. Del reads from The Survival of Margaret Thomas and What Fresh Hell is This. Del has recently been awarded the Bram Stoker Lifetime Achievement Award.About the author:Del Howison is an author, journalist, and SAG actor. He is a Bram Stoker Award-winning editor of the anthology series Dark Delicacies: Original Tales of Terror and the Macabre by the World’s Greatest Horror Writers. He has written articles for Fear.net, Gauntlet Magazine, and Writers Digest among others. Del’s short story Cul-de-Sac appeared in Weird Tales Magazine #369. His western short story The Lost Herd was turned into the premiere (and highest rated) episode, The Sacrifice, for the series Fear Itself. His dark western novel The Survival of Margaret Thomas was shortlisted for the Peacemaker Award given out by The Western Fictioneers. He has been shortlisted for over half a dozen awards including the Shirley Jackson Award and the Black Quill. The Survival of Margaret Thomas is a dark female driven western novel and What Fresh Hell Is This? is a retrospective collection of published Horror up through 2023 including some new stories.About the host:Yvonne Battle-Felton is an author, academic, editor, podcaster, host, creative producer, and writer. Her debut, Remembered (Dialogue Books, Blackstone Publishing) was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction (2019) and shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize (2020). Yvonne has six titles in Penguin Random House’s The Ladybird series. Yvonne is former Senior Commissioning Editor at Hachette’s John Murray Press and is the Academic Director of Creative Writing at Cambridge University Institute of Continuing Education. Curdle Creek (2024 Dialogue Books, Henry Holt), a gothic horror inspired by Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery, is her second novel and has been nominated for the Shirley Jackson Awards.

In this uplifting episode of Bookable Space with Yvonne Battle-Felton, we’re joined by Deborah Rudell. Deborah reads to us from Grace and Grit: The Transformation of a Ship and a Soul and talks to us about writing, the difference a supportive writing group can make, and getting to know herself through writing. About the author: A college professor in San Diego, California, Deborah Rudell participates in her city’s vibrant writing community. She is a graduate of Hay House Writer’s Workshop and the Certificate in Memoir Writing program at San Diego Writers, Ink. Her work has been published in the International Memoir Writers Association’s anthology, Shaking the Tree: I Didn't See That One Coming. Deborah lives with her black cat in a tiny house built in 1906 by a retired sea captain, who carved a sailing ship into the front door. This is her first book.About the book: Deborah Rudell’s world unravels when the leaders of her spiritual commune are exposed, arrested, and imprisoned for bioterrorism and attempted murder. Crushed and adrift, she moves her family off the commune to create a sense of normalcy. But when her husband seeks an opportunity to dismantle and rebuild a derelict fifty-foot schooner, Deborah uproots their children once again and joins him in Kauai.For the next five years, she dedicates her life to restoring a boat. Pouring herself into the work at hand can only distract her so much as disillusionment about the cult’s lies and manipulation slowly rises to the surface. While she grapples with emotional turmoil and contemplates a new life path, Deborah sets out to accomplish something she never thought possible: sailing across the Pacific to the Olympic Peninsula.Will the dangers that come with navigating the ocean be too much to bear, or will she find resolution and fortitude in the turbulent adventure? Grit & Grace: The Transformation of a Ship & a Soul is one woman’s account of conquering overwhelming challenges with tenacity and ingenuity and ultimately discovering her inner strength

In this episode of Bookable Space with Yvonne Battle-Felton, we’re joined by Moira Darrell.   Moira reads to us from Selena and Her Mysteries and Messed Up Choices, and talks to us about questions, secrets, writing, and more. 

In this episode of Bookable Space host Yvonne Battle-Felton is joined by Valerie Nieman. Valerie reads from Upon the Corner of the Moon: A Tale of the MacBeths. She talks to us about writing, researching, and imagining.About the author:Valerie Nieman is the author of Upon the Corner of the Moon, In the Lonely Backwater (Sir Walter Raleigh Award), five other novels, a short fiction collection, and three poetry books. A graduate of West Virginia University and Queens University of Charlotte, she has held NEA and regional writing grants.About the book:Deeply researched and thoughtfully constructed around themes of women's lives and spirituality, the power of storytelling, and the complex politics of northern Europe between the invasions of the Vikings and the Normans, Upon the Corner of the Moon is the first of two books telling the story of real people who’ve been rewritten into emblems of evil. “Steeped in the myth, mystery, politics, and culture of Celtic Scotland, Upon the Corner of the Moon presents the world of the young Lady Macbeth and Macbeth with authenticity, a deft hand, and a poet’s voice,” says Susan Fraser King, author of Lady Macbeth: A Novel.  At the dawn of the second millennium, two royal Scottish children are swept away from their families—Macbeth to the perilous royal court of his grandfather, Gruach to the remnants of the goddess-worshiping Picts. Macbeth learns that blood bonds are easily severed while Gruach finds her path only to lose it when she’s summoned back to the patriarchal world. They struggle with gaining and losing power, guided and misguided by prophecy and politics as their paths converge in a fiery bid for royal succession. Upon the Corner of the Moon separates literary legend from the reality of rulers who changed the face of Scotland. "Upon the Corner of the Moon is a haunting and bloody tale of Scottish history. It’s also a finger tracing along a set of scars, ones we already know are too deep to ever really heal,” said the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.