Adele Adkins' retro-soul debut '19' was striking less for her songs than for that voice: a voluptuous slightly parched alto that swooped and fluttered like a Dusty Springfield student trying to upstage her teacher or at least update the rules.

I broke my nose in gym when a ball hit me. I took a girl to her debutante ball the next week wearing a tux and a big honking bandage. Not the romantic night she had in mind.

It was one of the most exciting perfect evenings of my life my solo debut at Carnegie Hall. And knowing we were all there to raise money for Gay Men's Health Crisis made the evening an extraordinary experience.

June 2005 is the five year anniversary of the debut of Battle Pope.

As an editor I read Charlotte Rogan's amazing debut novel 'The Lifeboat ' when it was still in manuscript. I read it in one night and I really wanted my company to publish it but we lost it to another house. It's such a wonderful combination of beautiful writing and suspenseful storytelling.