Based in London' s West End for over 30 years, MBA is a leading literary agency representing writers in all media: books, and scripts for film, television, radio and theatre and directors. For submissions please see MBA Personnel. February highlights: We are delighted that Jean Fullerton's new novel, A GLIMPSE AT HAPPINESS, has been shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists' Association Novel of the Year 2010. Rebecca Promitzer's THE PICKLE KING has just been published in the US by Chicken House. This terrific, highly original, deadpan funny read stars a gang of unlikely friends thrown together one summer in the small town of Elbow, which is famous for two things: chilli pickle and rain. Already bored, they hope something will turn up, but what none of them expect is a real-life dead body with a missing eyeball! Soon the mystery becomes a crazy adventure in this fabulous, zany debut.
	DANA FOWLEY Congratulations to Dana Fowley who is celebrating four weeks at number one with her memoir HOW COULD SHE? Published by Arrow, this shocking account of her childhood abuse at the hands of her mother and an extended group of paedophiles has generated a huge amount of press attention, and rightly led to praise for Dana's amazing bravery in bringing her mother to justice.
SIMON SCARROW Simon Scarrow has hit the top 10 again with THE GLADIATOR. In this, Roman soldiers Macro and Cato are shipwrecked on Crete. The chaos has encouraged the slaves there to rebel. Macro and Cato take on the job of trying to restore order, but since their slave leader is someone who has a grudge against them, this time it's personal.
	LAUREN OLIVER Lauren Oliver's stand out debut novel BEFORE I FALL (The Lovely Bones meets Groundhog Day) is published this week by Hodder in the UK and HarperTeen in the US. This accessible high-concept novel is voiced by sixteen year old Sam, who dies in a car crash on the night she was supposed to lose her virginity. We witness her reliving the day of her death seven times... each time trying to figure out how to live life differently. A trailer for the book is available to watch on youtube.
CHRISTINE AND CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL Christopher and Christine Russell's mad caper about five sheep and one mobile phone is published by Egmont this week. When a silvery object falls on her head, Sal kows the great Sheep God is in danger. "Only we can save him" she cries! And so THE QUEST OF THE WARRIOR SHEEP begins. But who are the men in the yellow car and why are they following? The Warriors will need to hold on to their fleece.... It's absolutely baaarmy!