I am delighted to introduce our new VMBooks website, under the brilliant management of my designer Paul Downes, Creative Director of GD Associates in Witney, Oxfordshire. Paul and I have worked together for more than twelve years. I could not have created VMBooks six years ago without his imagination, technical knowledge and experience.
Also crucial to my small team are my magnificent Editor, Debi Alper, whose report on Larkswood transmuted it from good to excellent, thus encouraging the great publisher Orion to buy it; and Andrew Chapman, owner of his company Prepare to Publish in Charlbury, Oxfordshire. Andrew is a fountain of wisdom and guidance in the murky, often dangerous waters of self-publishing.
We are proof that small is beautiful. We hope you will agree.
Photo by Chris Challis Photography
featured work
As the Second World War begins to take its toll, Louisa’s work as a Red Cross nurse is threatened with extinction. Will the same happen to her love affair with Thomas?
Louisa Hamilton arrives at Larkswood to meet her grandfather for the first time. What is Edward hiding from her – and will she find the courage to discover the truth?
As the summer holidays begin, Dan becomes aware of a stranger who haunts his every move. How dangerous is he – and will Dan be brave enough to stop him in his criminal tracks?
Family, friends and lovers dominate this second collection of Valerie’s poems as she explores, remembers and describes special episodes and life-changing events.
latest poetry
For Steve Cole
Steve Cole has sold more than three million copies of his books for children. He writes science fiction, adventure stories, comedy and graphic novels, is a devoted schools’ visitor and has inspired thousands of young readers with his energy and enthusiasm.
His latest novel, The Wild Ones, published by Scholastic, is already a palpable hit with Waterstones.
Here is my own story about his early days as an Editor.
In Time of War
I wrote this poem just after the Third World War under Donald J Trump had begun. Sickened and appalled by watching the nightly terrors of news bulletins on TV, I resolved to go out of my way to find beauty in the ordinary things of life, to make the ordinary extraordinary, which every good novelist must either do or die trying.
Hymn to Wytham Woods
I was given a permit to walk in Wytham Woods in 1976, when I was invited to rejoin Oxford University Press to work as an Editor in the centre of Oxford. The Woods immediately became my refuge and extraordinary retreat from the world of unforgiving words, fascist viewpoints and the harsh processes of publishing.
Here is my tribute to them and theirs, fifty years on.