Canbury Press signs Russell's Redface memoir

Canbury Press has signed an “uplifting” mental health memoir from debut non-fiction author Russell Norris.

The publisher bought world rights for Redface: How I Learnt to Live With Social Anxiety direct from the author, for publication on 18th February 2021 in paperback.

After battling Social Anxiety Disorder for years, Norris became an executive at a leading advertising agency in London and now runs his own copywriting business. He lives in south London with his family. This is his first non-fiction book.

Its synopsis explains: “As a teenager, Russell’s face would burn bright red for the smallest of reasons. When he entered his twenties he started blushing for no reason at all. He had a rare form of extreme blushing called idiopathic craniofacial erythema. It sent out all the wrong signals — to his friends, family and to the opposite sex. And the blushing triggered something worse: Social Anxiety Disorder. Up to one in 10 people suffer from this irrational fear of other people. From university to his first days at work, the phobia took over Russell’s life. He desperately tried to keep it hidden from everyone. Until he realised, one day, that enough was enough. From alcohol to prescription drugs, he tried every remedy available.

“By turns innocent and wry, dark but optimistic, this heartwarming story tells how a mental health condition gripped one man’s life. And how he found his own way forwards in a world made for others. It’s ideal for anyone struggling with social anxiety, for their friends and family to understand the condition better, and for anyone curious about what it’s like to travel from the edge of human experience back to the centre.”