I've been sitting in a darkened room, rocking quietly back and forth, since Broadhurst, doyenne of The Bookseller's Paperback Previews, described our company in her column as "the ludicrously named Head of Zeus". It's probably not a good idea to bandy words with Sarah B, whose occasional acidity is more than matched by her acuity. But I shall make a full and frank confession of how our name came to be.

If you have problems trying to get to sleep, close your eyes and try counting all the imprints, UK and US, which will form part of the Penguin Random House merger.

It's a scary experience. The answer is somewhere north of 100. But don't panic, even if you are, as we are, an independent with just one imprint to your name. The merged company will be a behemoth, but it might just turn out to be one that benefits the publishing industry as a whole.

Starting a new publishing company is a definitely a bi-polar experience. Highs of optimism and elation, followed by lows of doubt and apprehension.

Laura Palmer, Fiction Editorial Director at Head of Zeus, has just acquired World Rights in THE CARNIVIA TRILOGY by Jonathan Holt in a substantial six-figure pre-empt with Caradoc King from AP Watt.

The trilogy is comprised of THE ABOMINATION, THE ABDUCTION, and THE ATROCITY, three dazzling, multi-layered thrillers set in modern-day Venice.

For the month of October, Mark Oldfield's THE SENTINEL will be Book of the Month at Goldsboro Books -- the UK's leading specialist in signed first editions. The Comandante will be disppointed if you don't visit. And you wouldn't want to disappoint the Comandante...

1. THUNDERHEAD by Mary O’Hara.  The second in her brilliant trilogy written ostensibly for children, which begins with MY FRIEND FLICKA and ends with THE GREEN GRASS OF WYOMING.  Thunderhead is the extremely ugly white foal born to boy hero Ken’s mare, Flicka.