A new novel and other exciting news

Six months ago, I started a new job working for a Swiss book distribution company. It was getting more and more difficult to make a living as a freelancer so I decided to come in from the cold. That’s why you haven’t heard so much from me recently.

On my first day, I was shown around the warehouse, a stopping point for three million books that might or might not be picked one day. A few copies of my own books were in among the multitudes. Surrounded by all that human endeavour, I felt a mixture of admiration and discouragement.

Since then, I’ve had good news on the publishing front. Fairlight Books, the UK publisher of Voting Day has decided to publish my second novel next autumn. I’ll tell you all about it with plenty of fanfare when the news is official.

At the moment I’m working on edits to the book, adding new scenes and finishing touches. It’s such a relief to have the backing of an editor again! I can’t wait to see what readers think of this story, which touches on existential questions.

Now that I have a regular day job, I’m not publishing journalism anymore, for the first time in almost 30 years. Before signing off, I published a collection of my recent articles (2022 – 2024) in the ebook All About Switzerland. All purchases and reviews greatly appreciated!

Thankfully I still have my writing life. One of the things I enjoy most about being an author is the comradeship of other writers. Three of my Swiss-connected allies have books coming out in the first months of 2025 and I encourage you to discover their work.

Padraig Rooney is back with Rebel Angel a biography of the Swiss icon Annemarie Schwarzenbach, “one of the twentieth century’s most remarkable women, possibly the greatest sexual and political radical of the 1930s”. To be published by Polity Books in February.

Padraig is also the non-fiction judge for the relaunched Geneva Writers’ Group Literary Prize. The GWG Literary Prize 2025 invites writers to explore the power of hope and the resilience of the human spirit. The categories are fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry and the submission deadline is January 31st. Entering a writing competition could be a great New Year’s Resolution … why not?

Also in February, Lausanne-based Caroline Bishop is publishing her third novel, The Day I Left You, set against the backdrop of the Cold War. I just know I’m going to love this one: “An epic love story about Greta and Henry, who by chance meet in 1982 East Berlin and find a love that’s meant to last a lifetime—until Greta vanishes.” Published by Simon & Schuster.

And in April, also with Simon & Schuster (Seventh Street Books), Kim Hays will publish the fourth crime novel in her Polizei Bern series, Splintered Justice. After a tragic death at the Münster Cathedral in Bern, homicide detective Giuliana Linder and her investigating partner Renzo Donatelli have to contend with powerful lies and the passage of time to get to the truth.

For anyone near Geneva, you should keep an eye on English programme of the Société de Lecture. This year, their guests included Deborah Levy and Rachel Cusk, both of whom I had the honour of interviewing. Next year I’ll be in the hotseat myself, speaking about The Naked Swiss on January 22nd. I’m also very excited that I will get to interview David Nicholls in May!

The Irish Festival Fribourg/Freiburg will also be back in a small way in March, hosting a literary event as part of Ireland Week. We’ve booked a fantastic Irish writer but that news merits a dedicated blogpost announcement so I’ll save it until January.

I’m planning to keep up more regular contact through this blog in 2025. In the meantime, I wish you happy reading and writing, a relaxing Christmas break and a bright New Year.