Spanxing Good Fun

Hard as it may be to believe, there are those amongst us who have yet to catch up with the on-trend excitement that is The Kings Stag Saga by Dorset author Trudy Spanxwell. The publishing sensation, which took the literary world by storm in 2014 with the first instalment of the improbable tale [Stepladder to Heaven], is about to reach its conclusion with news that the much-awaited final volume of the 5-part saga - Horn of Plenty - is about to appear in bookshops.

The start of it all: Stepladder to Heaven was the first of the Kings Stag Saga books. Critical acclaim was almost non existant but the public bought into its absurdities making it one of 2014s best sellers.

Dedicated readers of the series were disappointed last April when the publishers - The Threadbone Press - announced that the final volume would be delayed indefinitely as a result of a number of unspecified CONTRIK-69-related issues. Though some technical matters [several raids by the RDC social distancing task force, for example] may have been material, industry experts believe it was a more a strategic matter - with parent company The Threadbone Corporation deciding, rightly or wrongly, that "we are confident that, during lockdown, the public will have zero appetite for upbeat escapist fiction guaranteed to distract them from the tedium of isolation and will prefer to concentrate instead on a steady diet of ever more depressing reports and gloomy prognostications delivered through the conventional and digital news media. It is clear beyond peradventure that non-fiction will triumph over fiction this year, outselling it at a rate of 15:1".

Time will tell whether those advising the Threadbone Press should be congratulated, institutionalised or sacked [sales of non-fiction soared to unprecedented levels between March and December 2020 when online booksellers orinoco reported a 300% increase in profits] but, in any event, The Threadbone Corporation will be hoping they are more on the money this time with their equally confident prediction that now is the time to launch Horn of Plenty.

The delayed final volume of the series has been eagerly anticipated - some say precisely because it is the final volume.

Certainly, those in the book trade believe that the omens are set fair. The Kings Stag Saga has attracted a steadily growing band of loyal followers drawn from a surprisingly diverse range of social groups including housewives [an escape from the kitchen], mistresses [a source of ideas], commercial travellers [a diversion and a practical manual depending on opportunity and motel availability] and weather forecasters ["the highly extended passages describing the prevailing meteorological conditions are just gripping" Loders Weathergirls Staff Bulletin] as well as construction workers whose idea of a good read has moved on from The Adventures of Wolfe Whistle and his Massive Wand towards "grown up business with a more explosive climax". Sales will. not be harmed by news that the Swyre Vintage Swingers' Naked Reading Group has decided to adopt Horn of Plenty [Extended Hardback Edition] as its Book of the Month.

Our Literary Editor Brooke Shelf provides the following note:

Trudy Spanxwell captured during a visit to Mrs Threadbone's home in 2007.

Author Trudy Spanxwell has become one of Dorset's better known personalities both through her appearance on the Threadstones book-signing circuit and her endorsement by the DHRA whose Shillingstone Regional Branch honoured Stepladder to Heaven with its prestigious Best Work of Erotic Magical Realism Award in 2016, over two years after its first publication. Recently Ms Spanxwell was featured in Dorset's Richest List - rising from 60th to 34th in a year with an estimated fortune well in excess of £4,000. A former pharmacist's assistant from Knowleton, Ms Spanxwell still has access to drugs.

As always, the Threadbone Press have gone to town, throwing everything their marketing department has at the final launch.