Martyn Bedford - Writer

With publication day still more than two months away, early reviews of my new YA novel, Twenty Questions for Gloria, are starting to appear on the book blogs . . . and, phew!, they’ve all been positive.

How do the reviewers get hold of the book if it isn’t on sale yet? Well, publishers produce bound proofs of a novel – advanced reader copies (ARCs) as they’re know in North America – which are sent to selected bloggers, reviews websites etc., in the hope of garnering good write-ups and generating a buzz ahead of publication.

So far, so good for Gloria. Here is one recent online review, in full, and extracts from two others which have come my way:

“Gloria is already bored of her repetitive life when she meets Uman, so when they start spending more time together she is prepared to fall under his spell . . . Twenty Questions for Gloria is a thriller that tells the tale of a first love and teenage rebellion. Uman is a temptation to Gloria, something different, fun and crazy; completely the opposite of everyone else she’s ever met. This is so easy to relate to as we all get frustrated at our seemingly mundane lives at some point or another in our lives, longing for some miraculous change. Gloria and Uman take this change into their own hands, which makes the story as unpredictable as Uman! I loved that it touched upon mental health, racism and grief, topics that need to be discussed more often. Martyn Bedford cleverly combined mystery, thriller and coming of age elements in to this novel, making me want to change my life in some way or another and to never think inside the box again.”
– flipped novel, on Tumblr

“An unusual and rather wonderful story. Another book about living life and not allowing it to go by. Not that I suggest we all follow in Gloria’s and Uman’s footsteps . . . but perhaps the essence of the story could be mixed into our own. Question 21 – What would you have done? Keep an eye out for this book. Enjoy.”
– Sue & Pakka’s blog
Click here to read the full review (dated Nov 8).

“Sad and touching . . . I really enjoyed this story, it was original, tender and thought-provoking. I highly recommend this book!”
– Edel’s blogspot
Click here to read the full review (dated Nov 19).

Twenty Questions for Gloria is due out in February with Walker Books in the UK and in April with Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Penguin-Random House, in the U.S. It is also being published in Canada and, in translation, in Italy, Germany, Spain, France and the Netherlands during 2016. The cover image, above, shows the UK edition but, if you follow the blog links, you’ll notice that Sue & Pakka use the American cover and Edel has a picture of the UK bound-proof cover. It’s a confusing business!