Hashtag Press Acquires Global Rights To YA Fiction ‘I Am Winter' by Denise Brown

PRESS RELEASE - London, United Kingdom, 29^thApril 2020: Independent publisher Hashtag Press (www.hashtagpress.co.uk) has acquired the rights to publish YA Fiction I Am Winter by Denise Brown in Spring 2021. Long-listed in the Bath Novel Award 2019, I Am Winter offers a fresh take on survivor guilt, a dysfunctional family, and an exploration of contemporary issues including social media bullying and teen suicide. It is a dark story with a glimmer of hope for a teenager who believes no one is rooting for her, in a world where many have already written her off.

Carnegie-nominated author and Co-Director of Hashtag Press, Abiola Bello, said: "I Am Winter is a powerful story that we cannot wait to share with fans of YA fiction. We are excited to read the reviews and we hope that readers get behind this book as much as we are. It really is something special."

Fifteen-year-old Summer craves attention, even more so when her best friend Cee dies after swallowing pills and alcohol. But Cee's family, believing Summer was a bad influence, begin terrorising her and the more alienated she becomes, the closer she gets to discovering the truth about what happened that dreadful night.

Hashtag Press Co-Director, Helen Lewis, adds: "After reading the first three chapters I was totally and utterly hooked. I Am Winter has found a great home with Hashtag Press as we love gritty, real, authentic stories. Denise Brown is an exceptionally talented writer. At our first meeting, Denise told us that Summer is a character that never leaves her, and once you've read the book, you'll understand exactly what she means."

Denise Brown is now based in Scotland, having grown up in London, and is a single parent of five children (four of them daughters). In 2014 her YA novella Devil on Your Back was published by Salt as part of their Modern Dreams series set in inner-city Britain. Denise has had short stories published in various online magazines and anthologies and was also longlisted for the 2019 Mslexia Children's Novel Competition.

Notes to editors

Abiola Bello, Helen Lewis and Denise Brown are available for media interviews.

Media enquiries toinfo@literallypr.com.

Trade enquiries toinfo@hashtagpress.co.uk.

Online links for Hashtag Press:

www.hashtagpress.co.uk

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Online links for Denise Brown:

Twitter: @DeniseBrownUK

Instagram: denisebrownUK

Facebook: DeniseBrownAuthor