- Tobsha Learner
A literary thriller set in the art world of New York
Picture This is the latest offering from the best selling author Tobsha Learner (also known as T.S Learner). A literary thriller set in the art world of New York in the mid 2000s.
When English instillation artist Susie Thomas is offered her first breakout solo show she finds herself investigating the so-called suicide of her female lover Maxine – a young sculptress – while embarking on an affair with the notorious machiavellian gallery owner Felix Baum.
Set when art became the hottest commodity on the stock market Picture This is a study in moral corruption, the erotic gaze and the creative process.
Tobsha Learner is also known as TS Learner, her genres include historical fiction, historical thriller, erotic fiction and has best sellers in all three genres. Her previous books include Sphinx, The Witch Of Cologne and Quiver, for further info please go to www.tslearner.co.uk and www.tobsha.com.
Christies Auction Rooms, Rockefeller Plaza, NYC, 2005
The sculpture was coming up; it was five lots away, about fifteen minutes to go, Felix calculated, looking over at the tall, steel-haired auctioneer standing on the podium, the screen above him showing Lot 18 – a work by Gerhard Richter. The room was packed, everyone important in the art world seemed to be there, and the auctioneer’s Swiss German accent resounded like a low French horn around the cavernous auction room.
Felix’s bidder, a young arts graduate he’d trained for such events, sat in a prime position ten rows back from the front. This was only the graduate’s second appearance at a high-profile auction and, judging from the curious sideways glances from the prominent collectors (all in their customary seats) and no one had made the connection between the handsome young Chinese-American man dressed (courtesy of Baum Galleries) in a razor-sharp Savile Row suit with Felix Baum. No doubt they assumed the Asian student was one of the newer breeds of uber-rich collectors directly off the plane from Shanghai, which had been the gallery director’s intention. The perfect foil, Felix thought before being interrupted by his vibrating mobile. He glanced at the incoming number: Maxine. He checked his watch; as usual, his timing was impeccable. Rising to his feet, he pushed his way past the seated bidders. It was only when he reached the back of the hall, out of view of the auctioneer, that he bothered to put the phone to his ear to listen to the message that had just been left.
Paperback edition
Wednesday, 5 April 2017
Hi, so finally the paperback edition of PICTURE THIS is launched on Amazon.co.uk. It looks fantastic, I'm really pleased with both the quality of the design and book as well as the editorial input from the editor Unbound supplied Jamie Groves. For those who enjoy a book in hand I really recommend the paperback.(Also pick it up earlier - 1st edition!!).
It already has four and half stars on Amazon…
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LATEST NEWS-COVER ART AND THE REWRITE!!!!
Wednesday, 29 June 2016
So apologies for not posting sooner but I've been extremely busy on the rewrite of the draft, which is NOW IN IT'S FINAL STAGES. For those regular readers of my fiction you might know that I' infamous for being the queen of the rewrite, apart of meticulous research (especially with the historical fiction) I also pride myself on my word craft - and this encapulates rythmn, metaphor (I try and avoid…
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TAKING THE B/S OUT OF ART
Sunday, 21 February 2016
One of my inspirations behind the writing of my new novel Picture This was the fascination I had for how quickly any kind of rebellion to the mainstream becomes incorporated by the arbitrators of ‘good taste’ and ‘high art’ then made into a commodity.
It seems to me this process of assimilating visual or creative rebellion then transforming it into a commodity has accelerated over the past century…
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Writer as Journey-Man - tricks of the trade.
Tuesday, 9 February 2016
Over the years (‘Picture this’ is my 11th book) I have developed a very specific writing process that really heralds back to my playwriting training at N.I.D.A (the Aussie = of RADA). Paul Thompson (currently NYU) was my lecturer and mentor then, and he taught us to approach and breakdown each scene with ‘units of action’. In other words what actually happens in that scene physically and plot-wise…
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Picture this: the making of the video
Wednesday, 27 January 2016
First of all, I'd like to say thanks to all those who have pledged so far and to those who will in the future, this is my first crowd-funding venture and I feel like a virgin, in terms of the UK the interesting challenge about 'PICTURE THIS' is that it is outside of the box of the way traditional publishers perceive me, in that it's set in contemporary times, it has at the centre of it a youngish…
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These people are helping to fund Picture This.
Hi Tobsha - I'm just wondering, is there only going to be an ebook edition of your novel, or will there be a proper books as well? It doesn't sound as if there will......I will support, but just making up my mind as to what level...Bel
This is part of their first totally digital listing, but if it's popular the book will go on to a hard copy edition, thanks again for your support
Tobsha-