images: The Price of Dormice in good company on the crime table in Daunt Books; on the recent accessions shelf in Carterton Library; and Steve shaking hands with Alice Corning of Ulverscroft, on an audio-book rights deal for The Price of Dormice.
Upcoming Events
Monday 31st March 2025, 7pm for 7.30, Writers in Oxford at the King’s Arms, 40 Holywell St, OX1 3SP. A return of W-i-O's successful ‘Not the Oxford Lit Fest’ event in Oxford Lit Fest week. Steve is one of a number of WiO authors with newly published books looking forward to presenting them to fellow WiO members and others. Authors get 5 mins max, and there's a free bar for members 7-7.30pm.
Tuesday 1st April 2025: The Price of Dormice audio-book is published by Oakhill, part of Ulverscroft, and is available from audible xigxag spotify bookbeat or from your local library
Friday 25th April 2025, 6-7pm: Steve will be talking about The Price of Dormice at Berinsfield Library
Saturday 10th May 2025, 10.30am to 3.30pm: HeadLitFest. A local literary festival and book fair organised by Oxford Independent Authors in collaboration with Headington Library, Oxford Indie Book Fair, Claret Press, Oxford e-books and other. Books of all types for children and adults of all ages. Headington Quarry Village Hall.
Sunday 13th July 2025, 11 am to 4.30pm: Steve and other members of Oxford Independent Authors will be at the Oxford Indie Book Fair at the Magdalen College School Oxford (hosted by The Oxford Festival of the Arts).
Saturday 18th October 2025, 10.30am to 3.30pm: WolvLitFest. A local literary festival and book fair organised by Oxford Independent Authors in collaboration with Oxford Indie Book Fair, Claret Press, Oxford e-books and other. Books of all types for children and adults of all ages. Wolvercote Village Hall.
Sunday 23rd November 2025, 11 am to 4.30pm: Steve and other members of Oxford Independent Authors will be at the Oxford Indie Book Fair at the Exam Schools, High Street, Oxford.
Sunday 30th November 2025: Steve will have a stand at Oxford Green Fair: details t.b.c.
Friday 16th January 2026, evening: Steve will be talking about The Price of Dormice at Watlington Library
News
Friday 28th - Saturday 29th March 2025: Steve had a great time, met some veryf fine people and sold quite a few copies of The Price of Dormice at The Mammal Society’s 70th Annual Conference, Bangor, Wales. Fantastic to be among such a nice bunch of sympathetic. empathetic, like-minded animal-lovers. A huge thank you to the organisers, to the lovely friendly stall-holders in the exhibition, and to the conference delegates. Everyone really seemed to get what I’m trying to do!
Tuesday 4th March 2025, 2-3pm: Steve talked to some lovely people about The Price of Dormice, the OxCam Growth Arc and all that good stuff, at Thame Library. A good session! The first time I’ve had to offer a money-back guarantee that the end of the book would be up-lifting rather than deeply miserable. Which I did with complete confidence.
Thursday 27th February 2025, 6.30 and 8pm: Steve interviewed Imogen Rigden about her art practice and her exhibition Impermanence, at The North Wall, Summertown. It seemed to go down well, and was great fun!
Monday 24th February 2025, 6-7pm: Steve talked with a lovely group of people about his writing journey, short stories, and debut novel The Price of Dormice, at Wantage Library. Unfortunately the curse of time-limited parking near the library struck with Cinders-like precision in the midst of an engaging Q&A, but at 7pm rather than midnight, when almost everyone realised they had to get to their car doiuble quick. My apologies for not managing the time better, and my thanks for a lively and interesting evening.
Tuesday 28th January 2025, 6-7pm: Steve talked about The Price of Dormice and We’re Not Getting Divorced and other stories, and had a rant or two about poor grammar and desperate growth arcs, at Carterton Library. He hopes everyone there enjoyed it as much as he did!
Friday 10th January 2025: Steve signs a five-year rights deal for The Price of Dormice with Oakhill of the Ulverscroft group, leading publishers of audio books, and is delighted to learn that Olivier-award-winning actor Will Close will be providing the voice.
Wednesday 8th January 2025: Steve is interviewed by Tom O’Hare of Radio Cherwell, Oxfordshire’s hospital radio station, in his ‘That’s What I Call Music’ show, 7-8pm. Must have been the most embarrassed and inarticulate interviewee he’d ever had. But never mind…
Monday 16th December 2024: The Mammal Society publishes Steve’s blog entry Nightingale Dreams and The Price of Dormice.
Sunday 8th December 2024: Steve and his wife Imogen Rigden had a lovely morning selling their books (Steve) and feather drawings (Imogen) from a stall at the Wolvercote Community Market at The White Hart. £75 raised for JR Children’s Hospital.
Thursday 5th December 2024: The Price of Dormice is recommended in the Friends of Kennington Library Christmas Book Review.
Sunday 1st December 2024, Steve and others from the Oxford Independent Authors collective had a fine day at the Oxford Indie Book Fair, at the Exam Schools on the High, Oxford, meeting lots of lovely people and selling the odd book to some of them.
Saturday 23rd November 2024, 10am-3pm, Steve and friends from the Oxford Independent Authors collective were at the Faringdon Book Fair, despite apocalyptic weather forecasts. Apocalypse was postponed, fortunately, and we spent a lovely day chatting to lovely people, meeting old friends and making new ones. One of the former, Adam Twine, has been an angel in my life, and fulfilled his destiny today by delivering delicious organic chocolate for the team. One of the latter was a young man of whom I’ve never seen the like - Joe Rajapashka - sciencewithjoe . Look out for Joe. He’s already doing great things, aged 11. He’s got a good 70+ years to do more, god willing, and I believe he will.
19th November 2024:
Amazon has started recommending The Price of Dormice in it’s Top Picks for You bit, after you’ve placed an order.
I found The Price of Dormice in a table display in Gaunt Books, Summertown, this morning - in good company (Mick Herron, Harlan Coben…)! And they asked me to sign them.
I received a very cold shoulder when I enquired about the book in Waterstones. Slightly burst my bubble.
Thursday 14th November 2024, 6-7pm: Author talk by Colin Wade and Steve, at Abingdon Library - a lovely evening yesterday! The hosts were very welcoming, and some very nice people came to hear us, and asked some interesting questions: the question that turned on the tap for Steve was, “What was your work, before you started writing?” He couldn't shut up.
Wednesday 6th to Tuesday 12th November 2024: The Price of Dormice is on Zooloo’s Book Tours, visiting kaz loves books9 (IG), prdgreads, bookread2day, book a holic_17 (IG), nessas bookreviews, fatguyreading (IG), stratospherekawaiigirl (IG), emmas_wellbeing_page (IG), the ebookreviewer (IG), fiction vixen18 (IG), robins reads04 (IG), Titleswtyler (IG), geesreadingcorner (IG), Bookchatter@cookiebiscuit, whatyoutolkienabout, books with gina (IG)
Saturday 9th November 2024: Steve and friends from the Oxford Independent Authors collective had a fine time at the FOKL (Friends of Kennington Library) Authors and Artists Fair. Some very interesting conversations, excellent refreshments, handy stocking fillers picked up from other stands, and one or two good books sold to eager readers - a great way to spend a day.
Thursday November 7th 2024: Steve’s article about his writing and his volunteering with BBOWT appears in The Oxford Times, p48
Saturday 2nd November 2024. A grand day. I met some lovely people in the 1896 Gallery in Boat of Garten in the morning, and spent a brilliant afternoon in the lovely Marjory Marshall’s shop, The Bookmark, in Grantown on Spey. We had some ´star’ visitors: Sean Lusk, and extraorinary novelist, and Ken Hamm, a blues-man who would I’m sure become a soul brother in no time at all. Also lots of good friends old and new, and a great meal in perfect company at Anderson’s in Boat of Garten in the evening. A big thank you to everyone for a great Scottish launch of The Price of Dormice and of We’re Not Getting Divorced!
Wednesday 30th October 2024: official publication date of a separate short fiction project, We’re Not Getting Divorced and other stories.
Monday 28th October 2024: official publication date for The Price of Dormice. I spent the day visiting bookshops (The Mad Hatter’s, in Burford; Wallingford Bookshop; Root One, a garden centre in Brightwell cum Sotwell that sells selected brilliant books in its Gift Shop) and the H Café, a bikers’ cafe near the Dorchester turn, on the Oxford-Reading road, which is definitely not the bikers’ café that features in The Price of Dormice. A great day, meeting lovely people everywhere I went.
Sunday 20th October 2024: Steve and friends from the Oxford Independent Authors collective spent a strangely enjoyable day at the Abbey-Con show, White Horse Leisure Centre, Abingdon.
,Friday 18th October 2024, 7.30 - 9.00pm: Local Crime Writers Evening in Wolvercote. Steve Lunn and Colin Wade talked with a fine crowd of forty-odd new friends, old friends and very kind people. See posts on FB for thoughts about the possibility of makingthis or something like it an annual event. Refreshments kindly served by Clare and John Winterbottom.
Tuesday 15th October 2024, 5-6pm: Headington Library. Colin Wade and Steve Lunn, talked about their new books Murder at the Manor and The Price of Dormice, to a lovely audience who asked a lot of very thoughtful questions.
Thursday 12th September 2024: Steve signs international distribution deal for The Price of Dormice
Wednesday 28th August 2024: trade marketing campaign for The Price of Dormice agreed with publisher
Friday 16th August 2024: media marketing campaign for The Price of Dormice agreed with publisher
Saturday 6th July 2024, 11am - 4pm: Steve and Colin Wade and others from Oxford Independent Authors made lots of friends at the Oxford Indie Book Fair at the Magdalen College School Oxford (hosted by The Oxford Festival of the Arts).
2nd July 2024: front cover design for The Price of Dormice agreed with the publisher
Tuesday 18th June 2024, 5-6pm: Author talk by Colin Wade and Steve Lunn at Headington Library was well attended, as these things go, and went down well, to SL’s great relief, this being his first.
24th May 2024: Oxford Independent Authors group have a web presence, on a friend’s web site
13th May 2024: Sixth endorsement for The Price of Dormice: A fantastic book. Stephen Lunn (no relation), bestselling author of The Backyard Chronicles trilogy
11th May 2024: Oxford Independent Authors group taking off!
25th April 2024: Fifth endorsement for The Price of Dormice: Pacy, entertaining, clever, very funny - with a steely message. Charles Pither, STARC
25th April 2024: Fourth endorsement for The Price of Dormice: A powerful new voice in the world of crime fiction. Linda Proud, award-winning novelist
23rd April 2024: Third endorsement for The Price of Dormice: Seriously researched and seriously funny ... a joyous thriller. Cathy Galvin, founder of the Word Factor
16th April 2024: Marjory Marshall, proprietor of The Bookmark, Grantown-on-Spey's magnificent bookshop, includes Steve and The Price of Dormice in plans for the 2024 Wee Crime festival, 25-27 October. [unfortunately postponed to Spring 2025: Steve spent a lovely afternoon with Marjory in The Bookmark instead, on Saturday 2nd November]
6th April 2024: First face-to-face meeting of Oxford Independent Authors group (in Headington Library)
29th March 2024: Second endorsement for The Price of Dormice: An amusing and fast-paced Oxford thriller - I loved it! Prof. Riki Therivel, strategic environmental assessment
28th March 2024: First endorsement for The Price of Dormice: A page-turner with a very serious message. Colin Tudge, author of The Great Re-Think, the Secret Life of Trees, and many more excellent books
2nd March 2024: Inaugural meeting of Oxford Independent Authors group (on-line)
20th February 2024: The Price of Dormice publication date is October 28th 2024