busy busy busy

There’s plenty going on at Ignite Villas at the moment.

For the next few weeks our author Dave Barbarossa is out drumming with Adam & The Ants on the Dirk Wears White Sox reprise tour. Any of you going to the gigs will find flyers about his wonderful novel Mud Sharks on the tour merch stall, and we’re happy to say that’s already been bringing in new book orders from people who previously knew him only as a drummer.

This Thursday, April 10th, Ignite author Ross Lomas will be at All Ages Records in Camden (6.00pm sharp, folks) to do a book signing for his acclaimed autobiography City Baby. (psst! tell your friends!) We’re also very pleased to announce that this book is now available in all formats: in print, as a Kindle, and as an eBook (UK buyers can find it at hive.co.uk)

Finally – and in many ways most importantly of all – this week we’ve been able to repay a debt. Very few people know that when Ignite was set up, it was purely the generosity of Joolz Denby which made it possible. She provided the initial start-up cash. It’s a rare and precious thing when someone offers that kind of financial support simply because they believe in what you’re doing. But she did. In doing so, she opened the door to a lot of hard work, and to a lot of fun too. We’ve had the immense satisfaction of turning out well-produced books which have sold well and been critically acclaimed, and we’ve plans to carry on doing that for as long as we’ve the enthusiasm to do so and can find writing we want to publish. But right from those first days we’ve always been aware that – however generous someone has been – a loan is a loan is a loan. And it needs to be repaid.

Finally, this week, we’ve been able to send Joolz a cheque and pay her back. On the one hand, this changes nothing at all. On the other, knowing that Ignite has not only survived but thrived, and been able to justify the faith placed in it, feels like a very definite coming-of-age. It’s a proud moment. So this evening we’ll be enjoying it, reflecting on everything we’ve achieved, and opening a beer or two.

We’ll be back to the grindstone soon enough.