passion

There’s one thing driving force which underpins everything we do here at Ignite: our love of stories. We’re absolutely passionate about work which has something to say about the world, about how we find our place in it, and – above all – about the extraordinariness of our everyday lives.

Conventional wisdom would look at the time and effort we put into creating our books, the hours, days, and weeks we spend working with our authors so that the end product is something remarkable they’ll always look on with pride, and ask ‘is it worth it?’ Our answer is a simple and resounding Yes! Sure, the bottom line is important – and we should point out here that every single one of our books has turned a profit of some sort or another – and of course we’d love to see the hourly rate for our work come somewhere closer to reflecting the effort we put in, but putting our heart into each and every one of our publications is absolutely central to who we are and what we do.

Human beings have always told stories, and listened to stories. They’ve shared their experiences over a beer, or across a garden fence, or round a campfire. It’s one of the better things our species does. We take huge satisfaction from Ignite’s involvement in continuing that tradition, and in giving a platform to voices which might otherwise remain unheard.

Just over a year ago, Ian Elmslie came to us with his manuscript for A Marvellous Party. We read through it, and knew this was very definitely a story worth the telling. Since then, he and Ignite have worked together to hone his tales into 320 wonderful pages, and in the next few days we’ll be sending the book files off to the printers. Shortly after that, a pallet packed with cartons filled with copies of this brand-new book will arrive at Ignite Villas and we’ll start posting them out.

Those of you have ordered copies already – which shows you’re just as excited about this book as we are – can expect A Marvellous Party to drop through your letterbox soon after July 15th. It will be marvellous. It’s a party, it’s a celebration, and it’s a reflection on what it was like to grow up as a young gay man in 20th century Britain. It’s a beautifully written, candid tale of love and loss and carrying on. It has much to say about fame, and stars, and our shared human condition, and it’s much, much more besides.

Be ready to clear your diary, to sit down and read this book. Trust us, you’re going to love it.