Cover Stories: Be My Writer, Hermit found, Gossip Girl

Fay Weldon caused handwringing when she wrote a novel sponsored by jewellers Bulgari. Now BMW have commissioned crime writer Val McDermid to write a crime novella to mark the launch of their Mission Mini. The story is set in Barcelona, with PI Sam S Cooper on the trail of art thieves. But the case proves difficult, so budding investigators are invited to take up the challenge by reading Mission Mini and entering a competition. The contest will be global and, in the UK, McDermid's story will be affixed to the September issue of Choice magazine. Winners will fly to Barcelona in November to help close the case.

¿ A while ago, this column ran an invitation from the Hosking Houses Trust, offering six months of hassle-free writing time in a cottage near Stratford-upon-Avon to a woman author over 40. The lucky recipient of the keys, computer, corkscrew (and weekly cleaner) is Jessica Berens, who will use the time and space to finish her third novel.

¿ What with Vermilion about to publish an explicit teenage sex guide by Lynne Franks's daughter, and Bloomsbury's new Sex in the City-style tales for teens, Disgusteds of Tunbridge Wells will have a busy time. Bloomsbury will not roll with Gossip Girl – a series of novels by Cecily von Ziegesar about moneyed schoolgirls with a keen interest in drugs and swearing – until next year. The firm will be stickering them with "Warning: Adult Content", which should give a nice boost to sales.