Happy Birthday To ‘The Most Shoplifted Author in Britain’

By Jason Boog 

Terry Pratchett fans celebrated the fantasy novelist’s birthday yesterday. According to Tor.com, the beloved author of Discworld is also “the most shoplifted author in Britain.”

If you want to celebrate, check out the finalists for the first ever Terry Pratchett Anywhere But Here, Anywhen But Now First Novel Award. The winning novelists gets a £20,000 prize as an advance on a publishing contract. Here’s more about the contest:

These six books will be discussed by the judging panel which includes Sir Terry Pratchett, Rob Wilkins, Editorial Director Simon Taylor, Publicist Lynsey Dalladay and Alex Veasey from The Forbidden Planet. A winner will be announced on the 31st May. Thank you to everyone who took part and sent in your novels, the standard was remarkably high and we had over 500 entries. Apologies for keeping you on tenterhooks, the sixth spot was hotly contested as the standard was so high.

In surname order the lucky six are:

The Unspoken Death of the Amazing Flying Boy by Jean Burdett
Bloodline by Sophie Constable
The Hive by Alexander Maskill
The Way Through the Woods by Robin Pearson
A Kill in the Morning by Graeme Shimmin
The Shadows of Annwn by Catherine Whittle