New review of A PRIDE OF POPPIES

We don't usually flag up informal reader reviews on 'Goodreads' or other similar sites, simply because there are so many of them and it would be impossible to keep track, but we've just been made aware of one which is really too wonderful not to share - so hopefully we can be forgiven just this once!

'Ije the Devourer of Books' seems to have consumed the entire anthology in a single sitting - what about sleep? we ask - and to have been delighted with it:

I thought the stories were brilliant in the way they depicted the lives touched by the war, the strength of love and the challenge of hidden love at a time of war. I enjoyed reading these and it is another volume of top quality gay literature from Manifold Press.

We can't help being thrilled to received such a lovely review. Sometimes the independent publishing world can be a lonely place, but knowing that our books are out there making friends is all the consolation we need; thank you, Ije!

New review of A PRIDE OF POPPIES

Actually, this one isn't exactly new, it's one that slipped through the net and was discovered accidentally by our good friend - thank you, mate!

A review by Ace Katzenbooks appeared in the September 2015 issue of The Book Breeze and was subsequently posted online on 23 October:

A good collection of stories, and an excellent reminder that even when things are tough, we can remember that for LGBT people a hundred years ago, they were much more dangerous.

Thank you, Ace, we're very glad to know that you enjoyed the book!

We're doing it again: Queer Company 2

Reading, writing and publishing are fulfilling occupations in themselves, but we at Manifold Press also feel very lucky to be working in this particular genre – not least because of the wonderful sense of community. To celebrate our excellent friendships – and in the hope of making even more – Manifold Press is delighted to be hosting this UK-based event.

Queer Company 2 will be a small, friendly gathering designed to engage and inspire. This one-day event is planned for Saturday 5 November 2016 at The Jam Factory in Oxford.

Please be assured that everyone is welcome! Readers, authors, bloggers, publishers, reviewers … The only requirement is that you love this genre we share.

Our first event at the same venue in May 2015 was very well received. We hope these gatherings will continue, with annual events complementing the wonderful work done by UK Gay Romance and UK Meet.

We will be taking the opportunity to formally launch our new anthology A Certain Persuasion, featuring modern GLBTQIA fiction set in the Austenverse. In honour of that, we are aiming for an Austen / Regency / Romantic theme for the event.

If you’d like to join us, there is more detailed information available on the Manifold Events website.
Registrations are now open, with an early bird rate available.

Please note that, due to the nature of the event, we can accommodate no more than 50 people attending. (We will maintain a waiting list if necessary.)

Thank you for your interest. We’re looking forward to enjoying your company!

New reviews of SMOOTHIE, IN DEEP

It seems to be either 'famine' or 'feast' when it comes to reviews, and this week it's been 'feast'! In addition to the Honourable Mentions in the Rainbow Awards which have appeared recently, we are now in a position to bring you two new reviews of our books - both from our friends at LoveBytes Reviews!

On November 7 (and we're sorry to say we've only just become aware of it) a review by Roberta appeared for Jane Elliot's SMOOTHIE, which gave it four stars and commented as follows:

I have to say that for a story over 200 pages, this story flew by and it didn’t feel as it took any time at all. I just sat down and didn’t stop until the book was done. I couldn’t believe it, this book just flew by and I didn’t even notice, I was that caught up in the story.

Thank you, Roberta, we're delighted that you loved the book so much!

A few days later, on November 12, there was a review by Amber of Adam Fitzroy's newest title IN DEEP, which gave it three stars:

As far as mysteries go this one was expertly told. The plot is solid, the landscape was beautiful in its description, and the characters were well developed. The whole place was so intriguing, the way the town worked and how they all were related somehow...

We're very glad you enjoyed the mystery, Amber, and thank you for your comments!

And once more, from the Rainbow Awards ...

It's difficult to know what to say about this - in fact it's almost impossible to take it in - but yet again we have exciting news from this year's Rainbow Awards, with this time an Honourable Mention for A PRIDE OF POPPIES, our WW1 anthology!

One of the judges called it:

An excellent anthology of World War 1 stories all told with a remarkable eye for authenticity and a great deal of love and compassion.

This means that seven out of the eight books we entered have now been distinguished in this way, a success rate which has quite frankly blown the very few brain cells we had left! We're beyond thrilled with this, as you can probably imagine, and we suspect we're going to be absolutely unbearable on the subject for a while! [We'd do the happy dance, but you really don't want to see that!]

Our congratulations and thanks go to everyone involved in making A PRIDE OF POPPIES the success it has been - to the authors and the editing team in the first instance, and also of course to the readers. We can all quite justifiably share in the enjoyment of this:

RAINBOW AWARDS 2015
HONOURABLE MENTION

Still *more* from the Rainbow Awards ...

The current Rainbow Awards truly have been the gift that goes on giving! We learned today that Julie Bozza has been distinguished for a second time this year, this time for THE THOUSAND SMILES OF NICHOLAS GORING - the third book in the ever-popular BUTTERFLY HUNTER sequence. Once again the judge's comments were brief, so we'll quote them in full:

"A really engaging story that was easy to follow despite being the 3rd book in a series I had not read."

Congratulations again, Julie!

RAINBOW AWARDS 2015
HONOURABLE MENTION

We genuinely can't wrap our brains round this; out of eight books published in the qualifying period we have received no less than six Honourable Mentions! Does it get any better than this?????

More news from the Rainbow Awards!

This year's Rainbow Awards have turned out to be an absolute delight for all of us at MANIFOLD PRESS; in addition to the four Honourable mentions so far, we can now also bring you news of one for Julie Bozza's recent title MITCH REBECKI GETS A LIFE!

In this case the judge's remarks were only brief, so here they are in full:

Enjoyable story with interesting characters. Loved the different perspective on Australia and Australians, and the ending was realistic, rather than cliché.

Since these last four words in particular are very important to us, we're especially pleased to be able to report them!

RAINBOW AWARDS 2015
HONOURABLE MENTION

Congratulations, Julie; thoroughly deserved!

Two new books released today!

Happy Sunday, everyone - and here we are with details of the two new titles which have been released this morning!

R.A. Padmos returns with a new tale about life in Kinbridge – the setting for her highly successful novel RAVAGES.  This time she delves into the city’s past – and into a society only just beginning to tolerate homosexual relationships between consenting couples in private – with the tale of Dylan and Max who, meeting by chance, must make adjustments before they can contemplate a life together; IN THE PRIVACY OF THEIR HOME is a fascinating study of a world which has long since – thank goodness! – ceased to be.

Another long-time absentee is Adam Fitzroy, returning with the tale of retired police officer Ted – determined to clear up the mystery surrounding an unexpected death on an isolated Scottish island – who meets and becomes attracted to the enigmatic Athol, thought by some to have guilty knowledge of the tragedy. Disentangling fact from rumour brings them closer together, and they find themselves sharing both perils and pleasures as the mystery unravels in IN DEEP.

The books are available from all our usual outlets - Smashwords, AllRomance, and of course from your regional Amazon - and we're looking forward to hearing what you think of them!

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Our authors will be dropping in and out of the Goodreads Manifold Press group all day, so if you have any questions please hop on over and join the discuission.  There will also be a Twitter chat today at 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6pm GMT #ManifoldPress - we'd love to see you there!