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Hot Key buys two more books from 'immensely talented' Tia Fisher
Bonnier Books UK has bought two more books by award-winning author Tia Fisher: a narrative verse YA novel, Not Going to Plan, with Hot Key Books, and her debut middle-grade novel Operation Doodlebug, publishing with Piccadilly Press.
Emma Matthewson, executive publisher at Hot Key Books, acquired world rights for Not Going to Plan, and Ruth Bennett, editorial director at Piccadilly Press, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights for Operation Doodlebug, both from Eve White at Eve White Literary Agency.
“Following the groundbreaking Crossing the Line, which deals with county lines, Fisher now tackles an equally timely and important subject,” Hot Key said. “Not Going to Plan is a taboo-busting YA verse novel about gender identity, consent and shame which unflinchingly explores the heart-rending decisions a teenager must make as a result of a sexual encounter she didn’t fully consent to.
“When Marnie’s rebellious streak gets her excluded from her exclusive school, she’s forced to take her GCSEs elsewhere, and sit next to Zed, a control-freak physics nerd with zero tolerance for mistakes – which is awkward, because Marnie’s about to make the biggest blunder of her life.”
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Fisher’s first middle-grade prose novel, Operation Doodlebug, is described by the publisher as “a moving account of a 12-year-old boy’s attempt to find out what has happened to his father, missing in action during the Second World War”.
Hot Key added: “It’s spring 1944 and Stan’s father bravely enlists for D-Day, swearing he’ll return safely. When he’s reported ‘missing, presumed dead’, Stan refuses to believe it. As the doodlebugs start to fall on Croydon, could a letter hidden in a bomb hold the proof his father is still alive? Evacuation gives Stan and his friends the chance to deliver the letter and reveal the truth, discovering in the process what bravery really means.”
Fisher says: “I’m so pleased that Hot Key wants to champion Not Going to Plan: it’s a book about the messiness of finding out who you are and what you want, and very few books for young people reflect the murky issues of consent in real-life sexual encounters. Abortion in particular is still a taboo in fiction, but it really shouldn’t be; young people need to know they are not alone.
“I’m also thrilled to be working with Piccadilly Press on Operation Doodlebug, based on a little-known fact about the flying bombs that ravaged British cities after D-Day. In researching it, I learned so much about the courage and resilience of all people in wartime, and it’s been fun flexing my prose muscles for a younger age group.”
Matthewson comments on Not Going to Plan: "Tia writes with sensitivity, humour and nuance on finding your identity as a young person with the support of friendship and family, while shining a light on the heart-rending choice a young woman has to face after sexual assault leads to unplanned pregnancy."
Bennett on Operation Doodlebug says: "Tia is a writer of immense talent and versatility, and we are pleased to be supporting her writing in different genres and for different audiences. In this first prose novel for middle-grade readers from Tia, she brings empathy and depth of feeling to a moving story of bravery in the most challenging of times."
Not Going to Plan will be published in paperback in September 2025 and Operation Doodlebug is due in 2026.
Crossing the Line (Hot Key Books), Fisher’s debut, is a verse novel for teens. It won the Shadowers’ Choice Yoto Carnegie Medal 2024, the UK Literacy Association Book Awards 2024 and numerous other awards. Fisher has a master’s in writing for young people from Bath Spa University and works in a busy public library in East Anglia alongside her writing.
