Introducing our new Fiction PR & Digital Promotions Assistant: Lydia Gittins
23rd May 2014
Lydia’s journey into the world of publishing followed the time-honoured tradition of: go to university and get first literature degree; panic about impending real-world interactions and refuse to leave university; get second literature degree; finally, alone in the real world, with two pieces of paper declaring how good at reading you are, apply for job in publishing.
Once in this lofty world of book-lishing she spent the next few years working through production, events and marketing roles in that there London; until one day she was found on the doorstep of Rebellion Publishing with a note that simply read ‘Please look after this bear – I mean – Fiction PR and Digital Promotions Assistant.’
Here are some of her favourite books:
Gun Machine by Warren EllisBoth my Dad and I have a completely and unashamed love of crime fiction, so when I saw the
announcements last year that the man responsible for releasing Spider Jerusalem into the world had written a detective novel I knew it was going to be great, and it is.
Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones
I think everyone has the book from their childhood that marks the starting point of a lifelong love affair with reading. Charmed Life was this book for me and Diana Wynn Jones was one of those authors whose writing is so artlessly perfect you can only really think that her stories must be ‘true’.
Donald Barthelme’s Forty Stories
Perhaps a bit of cheat to include this one as it’s a collected work of his articles, but just as Charmed Life is synonymous with childhood to me, this collected edition of Barthelme’s short stories was the standout text of my undergraduate degree (fun fact: Barthelme scholars tend to emulate his writing style – this does not help when untangling some of his more cryptic pieces).
The Garden
of Darkness by Gillian Murray Kendall
A bit cheeky this one, but one of the perks of the job is getting to read titles ahead of everyone else! I’ve been told that Jon Oliver (our lovely Editor-in-Chief) described this book as “apocalyptic pastoral” and I think that is a perfect summary of the beautiful landscape of the book. It’s a gripping and haunting story, and I think it’s fair to say Gillian is throwing the gauntlet down to other YA writers.
Lydia will be working on general PR and Digital goodness across Rebellion’s three fiction imprints.
You can say hi to her here @Lydia_FTS