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More about buying online from Diiarts

The islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans provide the setting for two very different novels to be published in April by Dragon International Independent Arts (Diiarts).

 Tulagi Hotel is the debut novel of Finnish author Heikki Hietala—and is the first book written in English by a Finn to be published outside Finland.  It is the tale of ace US Marine pilot Jack McGuire, who returns to his former combat zone in the Pacific after World War II, and founds a hotel in the island paradise he once defended from the Japanese.

“We are very excited to host the launch of Tulagi Hotel and look forward to seeing more literary projects like this in the future,” enthused Raija Koli, Director of the Finnish Institute in London.

Pirjo Pellinen, Cultural Affairs Officer at the Embassy of Finland in London, also congratulated Hietala on the book’s publication.  “Sometimes when Finnish literature is translated into English,” she said, “things get lost in translation. They might not be relevant to the plot as such, but conveying the mood or the feel of the story is not always the same, for the lack of exactly the right vocabulary. It is unusual for a native Finnish speaker to write a book in another language and Tulagi Hotel is the first that I’ve come across. It will be very interesting to see how Heikki Hietala’s book is received and whether other Finnish writers will follow his suit.”

SJ Heckscher-Marquis, Co-Founder of Diiarts, added:  “We at Diiarts are delighted to be part of this important milestone in Finnish culture.  Jack McGuire’s dogfights over the Pacific will surely strike a chord for anyone with family who fought and flew in the Second World War.”

A very different face of the ocean is seen in Die a Dry Death, by Greta van der Rol, which tells the harrowing story of the Batavia.  A flagship of the Dutch East India Company’s fleet, the treasure-laden Batavia was wrecked off the Australian coast on her maiden voyage in 1629.  The survivors—sailors, soldiers, merchants, women and children—were stranded on a group of uninhabited, hostile islands, with little food or fresh water.  Seeking help, the ship’s officers set out in an open boat on a two-thousand-mile journey.  But while they were gone,  from the struggle for survival on the islands emerged a tyrant whose brutal, crazed lust for power was even deadlier than the reef which destroyed the Batavia.

Author Greta van der Rol has been fascinated by the story of the Batavia for years.  “I was born in Amsterdam,” she said, “and migrated with my family to Perth in Western Australia when I was just four years old.  On a visit to the Western Australia Maritime Museum with overseas friends I had something of an epiphany.  I looked at the Batavia’s keel, rebuilt in the museum, and the portico intended for the fort at Batavia, whose stones had been the ship’s ballast. I looked at the recovered artefacts—jugs, plates, scrimshaw, pipes, buttons—all sorts of things that ordinary people would have used.  It was as though I was looking down a four-hundred-year time tunnel.  I could have had a relative on that ship.  Very easily.

“I developed something of an obsession, looking up and reading what I could.  Every single one of the Dutch wrecks off the Australian coast has a mystery about it, or a story of enterprise and courage.  And I promised myself that one day, I’d write a book about one of those wrecks.”

Ms. Heckscher-Marquis said:  “Diiarts is extremely proud to be publishing Die a Dry Death, which is a worthy companion to our other historical novels, May 1812 by M.M. Bennetts and Harbour by Paul House.  All three combine extensive historical research with the kind of literary craftsmanship that we believe is fast disappearing from the lists of many major publishers.”

April will also see all Diiarts’ titles released as e-books for the Kindle Reader.  Ms. Heckscher-Marquis commented:  “We’ve been getting requests for e-books ever since we launched our first four titles last November.  Kindle has created an exciting opportunity for authors and readers alike, and we’re thrilled to be able to meet this demand.”

Download this press release as a PDF

Bookseller Crow on the Hill, 50 Westow Street, Crystal Palace, London SE19 3AF

Volumes, 9 Latimer Walk, Romsey SO51 8LA

The Last Tuesday Society, 11 Mare Street, London E8

The Hayling Island Bookshop, 34 Mengham Road, Hayling Island PO11 9BL

Annie's, Kimbridge, Romsey SO51 0LE

The Bailey Hill Bookshop, Fore Street, Castle Cary, Somerset BA7 

We're working with a number of independent booksellers to put together a promotional pack, which anyone can take into their local bookshop and encourage them to stock our titles.  The packs will be available very soon in hard copy or as a PDF download.

In the meantime, here are a few things you can do to help.

Some useful links:

• The Diiarts homepage - http://www.diiarts.com
• Download publicity resources at http://publicity.diiarts.fastmail.fm/
• Press release about our launch (PDF) - http://bit.ly/1KP29w

If you need any more marketing resources, such as high-resolution images, please e-mail us at sales at diiarts dot com.

It's happened!  Our first four books are now published and available to order:

• Harbour by Paul House
• May 1812 by M.M. Bennetts
• Pistols for Two – Breakfast for One by Matthew J. Dick
• Whom Must I Kill to Get Published? by Jason Horger

You can order copies of our books from any of the book pages. Go on, you know you want to…

We can now take payment in US dollars for orders to be shipped to the US or Canada.  
Place your order here.