FIONA & MIRANDA NAMED JOINT WINNERS OF DEBUT NOVEL COMP!

It's taken a little while longer than anticipated, but we're delighted to announce that we have joint winners of our Debut Novel Competition.

And the winning manuscripts have a truly international flavour to them - one hailing from New Zealand, the other from South Africa. So take a bow Auckland's Fiona Sussman and Johannesburg's Miranda Sherry, whose manuscripts were chosen out of the 137 entries we received from around the globe.

Both novels share a theme - the aftermath of a shocking and violent crime - but are very different in style, and while the crimes cast a huge shadow over the characters in each story, they're more human dramas than 'crime' novels. The manuscripts also share a word in their titles - Miranda's Black Dog Summer and Fiona's Black Prism - and both will be published in the first half of 2013.

Check back soon - there will be more info on the winners and their manuscripts in the coming weeks. But for now, congratulations to both Fiona and Miranda from us all at Nemesis.

A final word of thanks to everyone who entered the competition - we were somewhat humbled to have received so many entries for what was a new competition.

Pocket Rocket launched at Cycle Show

The autobiography of former British cycling champion Steve Joughin is now available from bookstores.

Pocket Rocket tells the story of Steve's rise from childhood tearaway to the upper echelons of British cycling during the 1980s, and his subsequent downward spiral into the grip of alcoholism as he struggled to cope with life after his cycling career.

With a foreword by Phil Liggett MBE, the voice of the Tour de France to TV viewers for the last 30 years and former organiser of the Milk Race, and contributions from many of Steve's peers, including Mike Doyle, Allan Peiper and Sid Barras, Pocket Rocket is an open and honest account that pulls no punches.

Steve, who now runs a successful cycling clothing business in Stoke-on-Trent,  launched the book at the annual Cycle Show at Earl's Court in London, which ran from October 7th-10th.

You can find out more about Pocket Rocket here.

FIRST NOVEL COMPETITION LINED UP FOR 2011

Next year we launch our first competition aimed at discovering new writing talent - keep checking back here, as we'll be revealing information about the competition over the coming months.

Better still, why not subscribe to our newsletter using the panel on the right - you'll have no excuse then for forgetting. And what's more, it's free to enter. Yes, that's right - there will be no entry fee.

We're really quite excited about this competition. Honest.