Legend Press

Amazon Ebooks on promotion

It is great to see four of our Ebooks currently on price promotion with Amazon:

1) If I Never by Gary Murning available for £1.14 by clicking here 

2)All to Play For by Heather Peace available for £1.71 by clicking here

3) Who Goes There by Nick Griffiths available for £1.14 by clicking here

 4) Looking for Mrs Dextrose by Nick Griffiths available for £1.71 by clicking here

The promotion is a great chance to try an author or genre perhaps you haven't tried before and is a must for any Kindle owners!

Lucy

 

Author Blog - Nick Griffiths

People often ask me, they say: “Nick, who are your writing influences?”

Actually, I may have worded that misleadingly. I’ve made it sound as though I can’t escape from people asking me, “Nick, who are your writing influences?” As though I couldn’t walk down the street failing to be pursued by a series of bookish grannies, dragged headlong by the eagerness of their walking sticks. As if I’m asked it so often that it’s become boring, a cliché, and that I might find it as annoying as poor Michael Crawford must do when people still shout at him, “Hmm, Betty!” in the streets. And one day I’ll flip and turn on the hapless quizzer, snatch a handful of their collar and smack them up against a wall, snarling, “Why? What the fuck is it to you?”

Then, when the moment of rage passes, I’ll see the fear in this little old lady’s eyes, and her poodle’s pissed itself, or maybe it was due a piss anyway. Whatever, I feel a terrible weight of shame as I return her to her feet and smooth down her QVC blouse, absent-mindedly, since I cannot stop thinking about what I have done, such over-reaction to a perfectly reasonable query. And I walk away, glazed over, not noticing that behind me grandma has collapsed – heart attack – and Queenie the poodle, her precious friend, licks at the powder on her face as the sparkle fades from her eyes. Within minutes, a crowd of honest people will have gathered around her, wondering who she was and whether she’s dead, as the one who barged to the front going, “I’m a doctor!” feels vainly for a pulse. Was it worth it? Was it really worth it?

So, no, I am not exactly pestered with people demanding to know, “Nick, who are your writing influences?” I doubt I’ve been asked it a dozen times. In fact, I know I haven’t been asked it a dozen times. It’s nearer twice. Three times at a push.

Nick

Nick is the author of Looking for Mrs Dextrose, In the Footsteps of Harrison Dextrose, Who Goes There and many more!

Nick Griffiths Weighs in to Great British Railway Debate*

There is something very and strangely satisfying as a publisher seeing books you've published being mentioned in expected places, usually from the automatically-generated reports we receive.

And so it is the case here that the fantastic WHO GOES THERE by Nick Griffiths was given a mention in a BBC Points-of-View debate on Great British Railway Journeys. Comment cut out above, but to see in the debate, click here and scroll down to comment 377.

And to buy the brilliant book yourself, just click here.

Tom

* Technically, Nick didn't weighed in at all, he was referred to, but who are we to stop a stronger headline...

Where I Write: Nick Griffiths

Great to see Nick Griffiths, author of IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HARRISON DEXTROSE, LOOKING FOR MRS DEXTROSE and WHO GOES THERE, featured in Writers' Forum magazine.

Nick reveals where he writes, from home to chop shops and Cornwall. To download the feature, just click here.

And you can order Nick's fantastic books direct from the Legend Press shop - just click here.

Tom

E-books/Who Goes There: Separate Reviews on the Kindle

The world of the e-book, or digital books for those who don't spend far too many waking hours in the midst of this industry we call publishing, seems to have been hotting up recently. Well, relatively - lots of facts and figures and new device chat being bandied about.

But, it's good to be at the forefront of new developments and the e-book is clearly going to have a big, if as yet undefined, role to play in the book world. So, in the middle of making sure all of our titles will be at that forefront, I looked at one - the digital version of the fantastic WHO GOES THERE by Nick Griffiths – at the Kindle store and noticed it has separate reviews from the print version.

Well, that interested me.

Anyway, it's a top review for a top book, and if you want to try out a e-book/digital/one of those you read on the, you know... versions, you need look no further - buy here and leave your own reviews (as well as letting us know how you found the whole experience...)

Tom

Who Goes There featured by the Coventry Telegraph

Nick Griffiths, author of Doctor Who travelog Who Goes There was featured on The Geek Files, a sci-fi blog for the Coventry Telegraph. Below is a extract:

WRITER Nick Griffiths has urged viewers to give the new Doctor Who series starring Matt Smith a fair chance.

Nick has visited the set of the show several times over the years, interviewed David Tennant and Catherine Tate, and written two Who books: Dalek I Loved You (2007) and Who Goes There (2008).

The latter is a travel guide following Nick's trips across England and Wales to locations used in the classic and new series of the sci-fi show.

And the self-described Doctor Who super-fan says he has every faith in Matt Smith's own travels under the guiding hand of new showrunner Steven Moffat. Nick, who works as a freelance journalist for music and computer games magazines, told the Coventry Telegraph: "I was lucky enough to see Matt Smith in action filming this new series before it started airing on TV and I really believe he'll be a huge success.

"He's spindly and eccentric - a return to the odder Doctors of yesteryear, like Patrick Troughton - in his ill-fitting trousers with braces. Plus he's a great actor with serious charisma and presence.

"It always takes a while to adjust to a new Doctor - I bet a few people wrote off David Tennant before he'd even started - so we shouldn't necessarily expect miracles from the start. But once he's off and running...'

To read the interview in full click here

Lucy

Fantastic review for Who Goes There

Who Goes There, the brilliant Doctor Who book by Nick Griffiths has received an excellent review on Amazon:

Quite simply, one of the best Doctor Who books available. The author wanders the English landscape, looking for Doctor Who film locations, with mixed results; sometimes funny, other times tragic and frustrating. The 'in-between' text, about the authors long suffering family is a delight, as all serious Who fans know how annoying we can be, especially when we sense the 'others' just don't get what makes the show so special. The 'everyman' prose is a great alternative to the nauseating waffle of the RTD books ("marvellous, brilliant, splendid, hurrah!"). There are no such pretensions here. Buy it, read it, love it...and then get on the road and have the adventure yourself! P.s. Nick, can we have a sequel? Pleeeaaaseeee.

The book has done brilliantly since it's release and is a must-read! The new Doctor is arriving at Easter, so we are looking forward to hearing Nick's opinion of him on the blog!

Lucy

8th December - Advent book of the day!

Each day of advent we are going to profile a different Legend Press book for sale! We want everyone to have a Legendary book in their stocking, so if you see something you like please order. The best selling book will be at the top of our Christmas tree on the blog on 25th December.

Everyone who orders a book from our site in December is automatically entered into a prize draw to win a hoard of Legend Press books!

Today's book of the day is Who Goes There by Nick Griffiths. The book is the perfect Christmas gift for any Doctor Who fan, especially those of David Tennant who will be leaving the show at Christmas!

Who Goes There is the sequel to Nick’s hugely popular Doctor Who memoir, Dalek I Loved You (Gollancz, 2007 & 2008). It’s a travel book with Doctor Who at its core. Nick travels England and Wales, seeking locations used in the show, both Classic (pre-relaunch) and New. Being an odd kind of show, its locations too are odd. This is no glamorous trip. Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, anyone? A flooded china clay pit in Cornwall? As he travels, so Nick discovers another side to our well-trodden country, which is no less evocative. Then he goes to the pub. As in Dalek I Loved You, the travel writing is backed up by Nick’s childhood reminiscences and contemporary musings.

Order your copy of Who Goes There now - £7.99 

Lucy

'strongly recommended' - Who Goes There

A excellent review for Who Goes There from last year, which has only just surfaced: From the Heart of Europe reviewed Who Goes There by Nick Griffiths, below is a taster:

'This is a brilliant book, and I think could be enjoyed even by non-Who fans provided they have at least a mild interest in southern England (and Wales). Griffiths sets off on a quest to find Doctor Who locations - not to do a comprehensive listing, because that has alreay been done, but to check out the places that linger most vividly in the memory, from the years between Spearhead from Space and Destiny of the Daleks, and from the four years of the new series

Part of the charm of his writing is that he factors in further anecdotes about the journeys he makes, and also fits in the story of his own family: his mother's death, his wife's pregnancy, his teenage son's reactions to his own obsessions. It is a touching an memorable little memoir. Strongly recommended.'

To read the blog in full click here!

Lucy

Launch of first e-Book!

We are very excited to announce the launch our first ever  e-Book this week: Who Goes There by Nick Griffiths.

The e-Book is published in partnership with DNL, offering an exciting opportunity for us, as one of the first small independent publishers to launch an e-book initiative.

The e-book for Who Goes There features an exclusive author video with Nick Griffiths, theme tune and links to author research websites.

Launching the e-Book will be a fantastic way to reach new audiences with our titles, which will particularly appeal to the online community who know and love Who Goes There as well as those who are new to the book!

The e-Book is available to buy exclusively for just £5.99 for this week only by clicking here!

Lucy

Who Goes There

Interest in 'Who Goes There'  by Nick Griffiths is still very high, with the book being a popular favourite with Dr Who Fans, but also fans of great comedy books. 

We noticed on our google alert this week that the book is currently being read by author John Connolly and has been mentioned on his blog

The brilliant book is available to buy from the online shop

Order your copy now - £7.99 

Lucy

'Highly evocative' - Who Goes There

Who Goes There by Nick Griffiths has been featured in the big Doctor Who Magazine this week. Nick Griffiths was described as a 'highly evocative author'

"Humorous asides ensnare the reader in his odyssey of ill-researched meanderings, enhanced because they are ill-researched... he relates fascinating historical nuggets"

To read the review in full View this photo

Order your copy now - £7.99 

Overseas copies can be ordered from the online shop.

Lucy

Two interviews with Nick Griffiths!

Two interviews with Nick Griffiths author of the fantastic Who Goes There have been posted online this week, one on the popular Pod Cast site The Who Cast and one on the UK's top Sci-Fi mag website SFX.

Below is a taster!

SFX: How did you come up with the idea to do this book? 
Nick Griffiths: "There have been many times, as I rewatched an old Doctor Who story that I’ve gazed at a location and thought how great it would be to go there, to stand where the Doctor stood. The two that first really captured my imagination were the railway bridge from beneath which the Daleks and Ogrons emerged in Day of the Daleks, and the perfectly English village of The Android Invasion. It usually takes a good decade for me to act upon an idea, and so it proved. But once I’d started visiting these odd corners of Great Britain, always somehow evocative – even that old railway bridge in Southall – I was gripped by a compulsion to travel further and further, see what else was out there."

SFX: It sounds like an awful lot of research - you must have racked up a ton of miles on the road? 
Nick Griffiths: "It was and I did! Usually I can’t bear driving for ages, however these Who Goes There travels took me off the usual motorways and down leafy-boughed country lanes, so even between locations there were sights to see. Southern England – where so much of the classic series was filmed – really is gorgeous. Duck ponds, roses and thatch, among the fumes of ale. South Wales, too – where most all of the new series is filmed – has its stunning vistas."

Lucy

Nick Griffiths Interview

An interview with Nick Griffiths has been published on the Sci Fi Channel website. Below is a taster:

SF (interviewer) I read the book and I think the standard question to ask is: So what is it, Nick, is a travel book or is it a tribute book? I thought it's a brilliant rites of passage book, because it's identifying something that you've grown up with. And I don't know whether I've read it right, but I felt that by the end of the book you were ready to move on, not from Dr Who, but from what you have been doing with it.

NG I don't know. I really wanted to write a travel book but also I love Dr Who, and the two seemed to go together perfectly when I stopped and thought about it. The idea of going round the country finding all these old places and recognising them from this amazing television show was quite compelling. But would it work as a book? So I started off by popping down to Marks and Spencer, Ealing, hoping the experience might be quite enjoyable for myself, wondering, would I just send readers to sleep while they thought what a twonk I am? But there was a real sense of recognition in Ealing, of being able to visualise back in time to when Doctor Who filmed there with the Autons, and as time went on I travelled further and further out into the country. It wasn't just the sights and sounds, but the process of getting there, going through all these amazing old English country villages. So much thatch and village greens and duck ponds. I think it was a rite of passage in terms of just me learning what a gorgeous country we have and that I should really get off my butt and see some of it.

Click here to read the interview in full

Order your copy now - £7.99 

Lucy
 

Who Goes There - on the road and the radio!

Nick is busy in the next couple of days promoting his fantastic book 'Who Goes There'. Today he is recording a live interview with BBC Radio Derby and will be speaking at a Dr Who event at Ealing Library on Saturday. The talk is at 2pm and for more details please contact the library on 020 8567 3670. Nick will also be joined by a real life Dalek at the event!

As part of the day Nick will be interviewed by 2 children from local radio station Westside. We hope to see some of you there!

Order your copy now - £7.99 

Lucy

Fantastic and fascinating - Who Goes There

On Saturday Nick Griffiths was on Excess Baggage on BBC Radio 4 being interviewed about his new book 'Who Goes There'. Nick was joined by Dr Who expert and comedy writer Nev Fountain to talk about the book, who described 'Who Goes There' as 'fantastic and fascinating'. It is great to see this brilliant book getting lots of exciting publicity.

To listen to the show click here!

Order your copy now - £7.99 

Lucy

Nick on Radio 4

 Nick Griffiths, author of the Doctor inspired travel book Who Goes There will be appearing on Radio 4's Excess Baggage tomorrow at 10am. It will also be available on iplayer after the show for a week. It is really exciting to get on one of Radio 4's most listened to shows and should get the book some great publicity in the coming weeks!

Lucy

Interview with Nick Griffiths

An interview from Nick has just been posted on The Doctor Who Review, below is a taster!

Of all the locations you visited, which was your favourite?

There were very few disappointments, which, considering the relative mundanity of some, and the years that have passed since Doctor Who visited many of the locations, was a pleasant surprise. The English villages – East Hagbourne and Aldbourne – were both perfect, and I adored the ancient history of Four Barrows. Bulls Bridge railway bridge and Stargroves both proved deeply exciting, for different, strange reasons. But the one that really took my breath away was Binnegar Quarry. It was late, we were tired and hungry, we couldn’t find the sodding thing – a half-mile long sandpit, gone missing! – until we came upon those signs: ‘Danger Deep Excavation’, ‘Danger Deep Excavation’... And when I climbed that bank and saw that sheer, crazy, beautiful expanse of sand... Skaro! I was so elated – at finding a sandpit.

Read the full interview by clicking here!

Order your copy now - £7.99 

Lucy

Nick Griffiths - The new Doctor?

After David Tennant's announcement that he will no longer be playing Doctor Who next year, it was no surprise to us yesterday at Nick's book signing in Borders Charing Cross when a little boy declared

"Dad is that man the next Doctor?"

Maybe Nick will be the next time lord who knows!

The book has got an excellent review from the Doctor Who Review 

"the best bits of Who Goes There are not the descriptions of the locations themselves, but the people and places he encounters on his way. It makes you realise just how amazingly diverse this country still is: how much of our history still remains unchanged, but also how much has changed in a relatively short time. The most wonderful moments Nick describes are the less-trodden paths (and nettles) and the unexpected discoveries, and he gives us plenty of background history along the way. There are also some very funny moments that will doubtless strike a chord with many readers, such as the queue-jumping biddies!"

The book has also got a mention on Adventures Through Time and Space

Order your copy now - £7.99 

Lucy

Who Goes There - at Borders, Charing Cross Rd tonight!

Nick Griffiths will be speaking this evening at Borders on Charing Cross Rd at 7pm. Who Goes There has been getting some excellent publicity this week including a mention in the London Paper on Tuesday. Nick will also be doing a signing this Saturday at Waterstone's Redhill, near two of the locations Nick visited while writing the book.

Buckland Sand & Silica (Hanson Sand), Surrey (Trip 9)

Appeared in: The Seeds of Doom, 1976, used as Antarctica

Doctor: Tom Baker

Monsters: Krynoid

Nick’s trip: Eventually finds side-road to quarry, where spots a bloke playing golf with self. Disappointed by amount of sand on display, compared with vastness of Binnegar.

 

Betchworth Quarry, Surrey (Trip 10)

Appeared in: Genesis of the Daleks, 1975; The Deadly Assassin, 1976

Used as: Skaro (Genesis); Matrix dreamscape (Assassin)

Doctor: Tom Baker (both)

Monsters: Daleks & Davros (Genesis); the Master (Assassin)

Nick’s trip: Aware that Betchworth Quarry has been landfilled and levelled off, still expects to find the site, it being large enough. Fails.

Order your copy now - £7.99 

Lucy

Who Goes There getting everywhere!

   

News about Who Goes There has been spreading all over the web this week, with the help of the BBC article posted on Sunday and news feeds on various Sci-fi sites. Below is a selection:

http://www.kasterborous.com/news.asp?ac=11&id=1866
http://www.newstin.co.uk/rel/uk/en-010-006249273
http://content.usatoday.com/topics/article/Culture/Television/Programming/Doctor+Who/0c2O7ek4ri0DS/1
http://article.wn.com/view/2008/10/26/Book_explores_Doctor_Whos_haunts/?section=StoryResults&template=cheetah-source-search%2Findex.txt
http://popculturesafari.blogspot.com/2008/10/pop-links-plastic-man-dvd-doctor-who-on.html

Nick also appeared on BBC Kent and BBC Oxford radio shows yesterday which should still be available by clicking on the links.

The fetching reading shots above were taken at the launch of the book last Thursday, to view the rest of the pics click here!

That's just about enough links for now... except:

Order your copy now - £7.99 

Lucy

Nick Griffiths on the BBC!

I was just contemplating Leicester dropping two points to Northampton Town when I took an exciting call from Nick Griffiths at Saturday teatime - he had just been interviewed by the BBC; yes, the great Auntie herself.

As a refreshing break from news involving the words 'crunch', 'recession' and 'credit', the BBC had seen Nick's fantastic companion website to his just-released book, WHO GOES THERE, and wanted to cover it, plus even with a picture gallery illustrating his travels through Britain in search of classic and new Docter Who locations.

See the article here and the picture gallery here.

Great news that the book is receiving so much (deserved) interest and we expect it go on to be this year's Christmas present of choice. Exciting times for WHO GOES THERE and you can't say any better than the BBC itself!

Tom

Launch of Who Goes There

Who Goes There launches this evening at the Phoenix Artists Club in London! The book has been getting lots of publicity this week and Nick is busy doing interviews with local press from the different areas the book is set in. Surrey Today interviewed Nick about the different local locations he visited:

"As part of the trip, Nick travelled to Buckland Sand and Silica quarry, better known to Doctor Who fans as where the classic episode the Seeds of Doom was filmed in 1976.

The site was transformed to resemble Antarctica and featured Tom Baker and a nasty Krynoid monster.

But when Nick accessed the site all he found was a man playing golf.

Nick said: "It was a disappointment because in the show it looked like a huge mound of sand and industrial machinery but [when I got there] it bore no resemblance at all to the Doctor Who site," he said."

Pre-order your copy now - £7.99 

Lucy

Nick at the Doctor Who Shop tomorrow!

Nick will be signing copies of Who Goes There (pre-release date) at an exclusive signing at the Who Shop in East Ham tomorrow from 12 noon. For those of your who aren't familiar with the shop, visit the website by clicking here to get the full address.

The book is launching in Central London next week!

Pre-order your copy now - £7.99 

Lucy

Tonight at Stoke Newington

  

Mark Piggott and Nick Griffiths will be talking this evening at Stoke Newington Bookshop (159 Stoke Newington High Street) at 8pm tonight. Mark will be signing copies of his fantastic novel Fire Horses and Nick will be signing copies of the equally brilliant 'In The Footsteps of Harrison Dextrose'.

Hope to see some of you there!

Order your copy Harrison Dextrose now - £7.99 

Order your copy of Fire Horses now - £7.99 

Lucy

Nick Griffiths = style icon

  

Nick was featured in the Times Magazine this week speaking about style. Nick Griffiths, 43, writer: (jacket £20, Brighton Indoor Market, combats Bloomingdale’s, Storm watch £130, ring made by a jeweller friend, Kerry September ) declares himself a hater of socks.

The release of Nick's Doctor Who inspired travel book Who Goes There (on 25th October) was also featured in the Bookseller this week.

Pre-order your copy now - £5.99 

Switched on!

Nick's book Who Goes There, which is out on 25th October has got another mention in the press on Switched On! It is great to see the book getting lots of attention in the media. We have been busy arranging events for Nick to promote the book. Here's what he is up to in the next few weeks:

9th Oct - Signing at Stoke Newington Bookshop
18th Oct - Signing at the Doctor Who shop in East Ham
23rd Oct - Launch party
30th Oct - Talk and signing at Borders Charing Cross Road 7pm
1st Nov - Signing at Waterstone's Redhill from 11am
12th Nov - Signing at Waterstone's Leadenhall from 12:30pm
22nd Nov - Doctor Who Day at Ealing library

Pre-order your copy now - £5.99 

Lucy

Looking forward to Who Goes There!

The Scholar's blog have been singing praises about Nick Griffiths first Doctor Who Book Dalek I Loved You and like us are really looking forward to the sequel WHO GOES THERE!

"I found this book laugh out loud funny, in places, which will doubtless please Nick Griffiths, who likes the idea of making people laugh. I found it warm, witty and wry. Sometimes it was even genuinely moving: he talks of interviewing Jon Pertwee for the Radio Times 16-page Doctor Who supplement in honour of the TV Movie only a short while before Pertwee's death at the age of 76 had me choking back tears (the Third Doctor was Griffiths' first Doctor), even though it's described in a very understated (ie typically British) way...Clearly the book's proved popular, because there's a sequel coming out in late October: Who Goes There"

Lucy

Who Goes There takes on Wales

Nick Griffiths' Dr Who inspired adventure Who Goes There was featured in the Wales on Sunday last week. Click here to read! The book is out on 25th October and is already attracting alot of attention from the press.

Nick talks about the locations he visited in Wales whilst writing and researchinf his book - "in Wales you can throw a rock and hit four Doctor Who filming locations".

Nick is a life-long Doctor Who fan - "My favourite memories of Doctor Who always take me back to my childhood, sitting on the sofa with my mum and dad.” The book also covers locations from the new series including the beach where Billie Piper parted from Dr Who in the last series.

Pre-order your copy now - £5.99 

Lucy

Who Goes There creating a Who storm

It's great to see the fantastic WHO GOES THERE by Nick Griffiths (sequel to Dalek I Loved You) going down a storm all over the shop (pun intended, if poor). We've had offers of distribution from various sites around the world, advance orders have been flying in from the bookshops and it's also brilliant to see support from the Dr Who fan sites and groups.

Of these there are innumerable for the hugely-popular series, but it was great to see a feature from www.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk

We're hugely-excited about launching this book, which is also our first non-fiction title. And you can pre-order at a special discount right here:

Order your copy now - £5.99 

Who Goes There in the Bookseller!

The website for Who Goes There www.whogoesthere.org.uk has made headlines in The Bookseller today, as a new approach to publishing. The companion website developed by Nick provides a companion to his Doctor Who inspired travel book - allowing you to follow in his footsteps (see what I did there?!)

The article also names me as the official Spokesperson of Legend Press, much to Tom's chagrin!

Pre-order your copy of Who Goes There now - £5.99 

Lucy

Who Goes There cover

Here is the eye-catching cover for Nick Griffiths's fantastic new book 'Who Goes There' which is out on 25th October!

'Who Goes There' is a travel book of Doctor Who at it's core. Follow in Nick's footsteps as he takes a journey around England and Wales visiting Doctor Who filming locations new and old, to hilarious ends!

The book can be pre-ordered now...

Pre-order your copy now - £5.99 

Lucy