The publisher of ‘One Year One Night’ by SL Roman – Keith Garton – has talked to the authors about his career in publishing including North America.

And Keith who is publisher and president of Red Chair Press revealed his most favourite book out of 320 titles. It was Ruby Bridges: A Brave Child Who Made History which is the story of the first African-American child to go to a whites-only school in the U.S.

He is also proud of Mrs Paddington and the Silver Mousetraps, about hairstyles in 18^th century London.

One more Garton choice for reading fans – Second-Dad Summer which explores a young boy’s growth, accepting his father’s sexuality and new partner.

He is also a quite a fan of the Helper Hounds series which spotlights how emotional support dogs can make a big difference in the lives of people in need of support.

Keith’s interest in children’s reading is certainly driven by people,

“I’m hoping to discover interesting characters engaged in memorable and entertaining exploits.”

The publisher knows his way round the page with more than 30 years experience. He‘s worked for a number of high-flying publishing businesses including MacMillan McGraw-Hill, Time for Kids and Pearson, which is London-based and the 4^th largest in the world.

His rise to the top started at Oklahoma State University where he did a degree in Mass Communications and that thread of the expanding media can be seen throughout his work where books are now sold online, digitally as e-books and as audio books.

His job at Red Chair Press is to set the direction for the all important list each season and to look for authors who can bring the list to life. SL Roman otherwise known as Laura Meloni Bywaters and Sarah Onions who wrote One Year One Night like to think they brought a bit of light to Keith’s list – though the action in the historical young adult novel set in WW2 – often takes place in the blackout.

The list is also seen at One Elm Books which is an imprint of RCP.

So – finding great characters, letting light in on sensitive subjects while helping kids to enjoy reading.

But how does this busy man relax? Keith enjoys walking, American football games and daily exercise to try and delay aging.

And a vibrant career providing books for youngsters can surely only help to keep this publisher young at heart.

Note to editor. SL Roman is the pen-name of Sarah Onions and Laura Meloni Bywaters who both live in the borough of Kingston in SW London. Sarah was born in Brighton in southern England and Laura was born in Rome.

The pix here of the titles from Red Chair Press are courtesy of the publisher.

Now on sale everywhere: at Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com in North America and – in the UK, at Amazon.co.uk and in Surbiton, SW London at The Regency bookshop.