Cover Stories: Val McDermid; royal wedding

Publishers used to be delighted to publish whatever their star authors came up with next, as Tom Maschler's recent memoirs inform us.

Publishers used to be delighted to publish whatever their star authors came up with next, as Tom Maschler's recent memoirs inform us. But when Val McDermid proposed a collection of short stories, HarperCollins felt it didn't fit with its plans for the award-winning crime writer. That was lucky for Flambard Press, the Arts Council-backed indie to whom she then offered Stranded. Margaret and Peter Lewis, the husband-and-wife team who founded the Northumberland firm 15 years ago, had got to know McDermid through the Crime Writers Association and were delighted to accept. Flambard will publish it in May.

* Next week's not-so-royal wedding is set to contribute to global deforestation. Gyles Brandreth, whose Portrait of a Marriage, on Liz and Phil, sadly sold well last year, is at work on Charles and Camilla: portrait of a love affair, due from Century in October. Meanwhile, Penny Junor, a Charles apologist, has raced to complete The Firm: the troubled life of the House of Windsor, which HarperCollins (owner: avowed republican Rupert Murdoch) is rushing out this month.