A revealing and intimate portrait of the world of one of the UK’s most iconic stars

Transworld Publishers reveal a first glimpse of the keenly anticipated Through My Eyes,

the first official book from Cheryl Cole.

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In the book, which will be published on 30 September 2010, Cheryl allows us an intimate glimpse behind the scenes of her busy and fascinating life. Packed full of previously unseen photographs from Cheryl’s own personal collection of favourites, together with dozens of stunning and exclusive new images, this lavishly illustrated account of her remarkable year will be a must-have for her millions of devoted fans.

In the past year, Cheryl Cole has had a number one single, number one album and was a UK Ambassador for L’Oreal and a judge on the UK’s most successful television programme, as well as continuing to be an integral member of the most successful girl band the UK has ever seen. She is releasing her second solo album this year.

She is one of the most photographed women in the world.

Cheryl Cole says:

‘Sometimes I find things happen so quickly, it’s possible to forget all those personal moments that make up the amazing experiences I’ve had over the last year. This book is filled with pictures that capture those moments, my memories and the people I’m closest to. I’m thrilled to see it all together for the first time.’

From the recording studio in Los Angeles to backstage in Dublin on the opening night of her tour with the Black Eyed Peas, Cheryl shares with us some of her stand-out moments as a solo artist. We also accompany her behind the scenes at The X Factor, into the mysterious world of the fashion shoot, on to the red carpets of the music industry’s top awards ceremonies, and into the windswept desert in California for a spectacular shoot, where we see her relaxing during rare moments of anonymity.

Through the pictures that mean the most to her and the personal stories which accompany them, told in her own words, Through My Eyes provides a revealing and intimate portrait of the world of our favourite superstar.

THROUGH MY EYES BY CHERYL COLE - AVAILABLE IN HARDBACK ON 30/09/2010

Bookstores and libraries are the usual venues for author events, but Tess Gerritsen isn’t your usual author. Not content with staging an event in a hospital on this UK tour to promote her latest bestseller The Killing Place, last evening she appeared in a double bill with acclaimed Dublin crime journalist and debut novelist Niamh O’Connor at the Movie House Cinema in Belfast.

In an inspired event arranged by Belfast bookseller No Alibis, Tess and Niamh shared with a packed screening room their separate experiences of novel writing, and talked about some of the grisly real life cases which informed their plotlines.

Her medical background equips Tess with an emotional detachment to her writing which enables her to tackle often scary and dark scenarios, she says. Niamh’s own experience of covering some of the most notorious crime stories for the Sunday World made her want to write fiction to offset her growing emotional attachment to these real cases, so both writers felt their original career has a huge impact on their books.

In a neat role reversal on stage, Tess posed several probing questions to Niamh, who is most accustomed to asking the questions herself.

Discussing wide-ranging issues such as criminal justice, women’s roles in the police, women in jeopardy, serial killers and TV adaptations, Tess and Niamh kept the audience so gripped they abandoned their popcorn.

Tess and Niamh signing books at the Movie House Cinema after their event, 18th August

Check out Tess and Niamh’s latest books:
The Killing Place - Tess Gerritsen available here
If I Never See You Again - Niamh O’Connor available here

Against the sounds of the methodical tramp of a Roman legion, the roar of berserking Viking raiders, the clash of steel on steel as medieval knights get stuck into a melee, the crackle and pop of musket fire and echoing boom of cannon, Transworld historical novelists Giles Kristian (author of the Raven Viking novels) and M. C. Scott (author of Rome: The Emperor’s Spy) risked life and limb – well, lost voices and writer’s cramp – as they talked about and signed their books at English Heritage’s massive two-day re-enactment event – the ‘Festival of History’ – at Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire last weekend.

 At Transworld, we are immensely privileged to have very dedicated authors who meticulous research the content of their books to give the reader a compelling, absorbing and factual account of events past.  Sean Black is an author who goes just that one step further to produce his enthralling Ryan Lock thrillers. 

In order to get into the head of his main character – Ryan Lock - Sean enrolled on a 24 day close protection course along with several others including an ex-German Special Forces sniper and a member of the Mafia.  To add further to the ordeal, Sean was subjected to gruelling training, police drills and ‘simulated’ attacks; at one point he was pushed to the ground at gunpoint and soon learnt why the base used plastic bed sheets…

Ostensibly every man’s dream, Sean was taken to a disused air field, handed the keys to half a dozen cars and taught offensive and defensive manoeuvres before being flown to Prague for fire-arms training.  Sean maintains that these were the most enjoyable weeks of his life… to this day we fail to understand why!  If all of this wasn’t enough, Sean also did time at Pelican Bay Supermax in California, home to America’s most violent prison gangs where 75% of inmates are serving life without possibility of parole.

So there are writers that research and then there are writers that research and we are glad Sean is the latter as the brilliant paperback of Lockdown hits the shelves today with Deadlock in hardback on the 22^nd of next month. 

To read more about Sean, visit his website: http://seanblackbooks.com/