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Book Launch During the Apocalypse Part III: in which things don't happen and then do happen!

7/5/2020

Things are weird.

I mean that in the sense of "I can't wait to see what happens next". Not in a morbid way, but in a "we are living during something that will be in the history books" way, and I am really curious to know the outcome.

One thing that IS clear is that publishing has been royally screwed up by the lockdown. Physical books aren't getting printed and, if printed, aren't getting shipped by the big online box stores. Some chains and indies are shipping books that they have on the shelves, but anything new? Not really.

This means that Threading the Labyrinth is nowhere to be found in dead-tree form, as I discussed last time (Part II). But after some shenanigans in the big online box store, it turns out that the ebook of Threading IS available now. So we went from Book to Launch April 13 to NOPE, Book to Launch July 13, to WELL, *KINDA NOPE AND KINDA YES*: here is the ebook now across the world and here is the pre-order for the paperback to come this summer.

My launch is now three months long.

Which one the one hand isn't what I imagined at all (who did?) and on the other hand it's like I'm having a "soft opening" before the grand opening and can do online stuff (interviews, recorded readings) that will help support the book and maybe build buzz before it's fully OUT THERE this summer.

Go over to the Publications page to find links to the online stuff: where to buy the book, a review, a 5-questions interview with Breaking the Glass Slipper, and recorded readings where I talk about and share parts of Threading the Labyrinth.

Stay Tuned for what's next!

Book Launch During the Apocalypse: Part II

21/3/2020

Not two days after my last post and the publishers (Unsung Stories) and I have decided to delay the publication date of Threading the Labyrinth three months, to July 13. This was, in part, because yesterday Amazon UK removed the pre-order option for the physical book, explaining that in light of the C-19 emergency they were shifting attention away from shipping physical books; weirdly, today that option had re-appeared o the site. But with things in so much flux, it's likely that it might disappear again.

Plus, even though big retailers such as Waterstones are still open, indie book shops have closed for the time being, and they're an important outlet for books form indie presses. So to help my book be as successful as possible, it's best to delay the launch and, hopefully, be able to do in-person events in a few months and easily get the books out to readers. The Apocalypse isn't messing around!

But one cool thing: pre-ordering directly from Unsung Stories, the publisher, gets you the book three weeks early! Nifty incentive, no?

Book Launch during the Apocalypse

19/3/2020

Did you ever think you'd be living through a pandemic? Neither did I.

And I really never expected it to hit right when my debut novel was about to be released.

For the past couple of months, I've been working with my publisher to set up book launches at Eastercon and Waterstones in Cambridge in April, and to plan a big party for myself in May. This week, however, my university has closed and I've been part of the countrywide (worldwide!) rush to move in-person teaching to online learning; we've been making sure we have enough food in the cupboard "just in case" and contacting family to see how everyone is doing and if they need anything; and I've watched as those launches have gone the way of the dodo, maybe to return in an altered way in the summer. Maybe.

So how do you launch a book when no one is going out? You go online, along with everything else. The publisher's lovely PR person is setting up a Reddit AMA, I'm planning a Twitter "launch". and am part of an online literary festival.

Details to come!

THREADING THE LABYRINTH Cover Reveal!

7/2/2020

The cover for my debut novel, Threading the Labyrinth, has been revealed!

Designed by award-winning cover artist Vince Haig, the cover evokes historical gardens with its botanical line drawings and garden plan (complete with a tiny column at the end of one path!).

Fantasy Hive initially unveiled the cover, where you can read more about what inspired the book and what it's about.

Pre-orders are open (find several links via my Publications page).

New Year, New You and All That Jazz

5/1/2020

2020: hopefully the year that solidifies some things, hopefully a year that settles into itself. It is only 5 days in and already it feels as if the universe is very much saying "hold my beer" when shown the past 3 years. Selfishly, I just want it all to stay okay enough for me to get my debut novel published and launched in April. If I never publish another novel after that, I'm okay--I will have at least seen one on the shelves.

The novel, Threading the Labyrinth, has been through many changes over the past couple of years: from a PhD-viva-ready novel to one that is publishable and commercially viable. I changed its structure, re-ordered the chronology, deleted a POV character, completely changed the POV of another main character's section, increased the focus on certain themes, and thinned down sections that were over-written. I'm proud of the book, and excited in an anxious way each time a new thing happens. It was announced (didn't feel real); I got edits from the publisher (felt a bit like going back in time to when I was first doing rounds of edits on it for the dissertation); I was sent samples from possible artists (!!!); I found it was online for pre-orders (with a date and a description and HOLY SHIT IT'S GONNA HAPPEN!); and got the news that a launch has been scheduled for an upcoming convention (ohgodpeoplewillbeinaroomwithmeandthebook) . Now I am just waiting for things to be finalised.

So, moving forward, I plan to be here more, to talk about what I am reading, what I am writing, and what I am teaching. I spend so much of my life up to my eyeballs in creative writing it seems weird that I don't talk about it here. This semester (which starts in a couple of weeks) I'll be teaching undergrad publishing, undergrad Writing Speculative Fiction, MA publishing and MA Creative Writing: Special Topic which, this semester, is Time & Narrative. I have the reading list set up for that one--one week will be time travel!! wheee!!--but will be planning the classes as the semester progresses. Stay tuned for more!

Dublin WorldCon schedule (August 15-19)

28/7/2019

My panels for WorldCon:

Time travel novellas after the end of history
Saturday 16:00 - 16:50, Liffey Room-1 (CCD)
Time travel is as fascinating to writers now as it has always been, but its portrayal has evolved in recent years. How do the preoccupations of time travel writers today differ from those of the past? Do they see new futures, and how do they reimagine the past? How have changes in the publishing landscape encouraged these new time travel plots and experiments?
[me!, Kate Heartfield, Kelly Robson (M), Amal El-Mohtar]

The ins and outs of SFF erotica [over 18s]
Saturday 22:05 - 22:55, Wicklow Hall-1 (CCD)
*Adult content warning*
From sex robots to courtesans in a fantastical France, alien threesomes to elf orgies, the wonderful world of SFF erotica is as varied and exciting as the rest of genre fiction. There really is something for everyone! Join our panel of smut aficionados as they plumb the depths of erotic SFF literature.
[Anna Raftery (M), me!, Atlin Merrick, Elliott Kay]

What has art ever done for science?
Sunday 15:00 - 15:50, Liffey Room-3 (Readings) (CCD)
From the creation of anatomical models to the visualisation of other planets, how has art contributed to our understanding of science?
[me!, Ariela Housman (M), Dr. Estelle Blanquet, Dominic Riemenschneider]

So what's a PhD in Creative Writing all about? (an article)

20/2/2019

Over at the online magazine Women Writers, Women's Books, I've posted "Doing a PhD in Creative Writing: Is it for Everyone?" where I talk about what it's like to do a PhD in Creative Writing, and whether it might be a good choice for someone thinking about committing several years of their life to the pursuit of the highest academic degree *in making things up*.

Stay tuned for a Part 2 coming later.

"What Cannot be Described" in The Book of Flowering

28/1/2019

My newest story, "What cannot be Described", is out in Egaeus Press's newest limited-edition book, The Book of Flowering. It's a story about Maria Sibylla Merian, an artist and entomologist at the turn of the 18th century, who goes to Suriname to study the insects there. She hears about a mysterious moth, and her curiosity leads her into the jungle where, ill with a fever, she finds more than she expected. Limited to 350 copies, you can find more details here.

In Which I Have Opinions About Princesses

9/12/2018

I could never be accused of being a wallflower, and when people ask what I think about something, I'll tell them. Some call it oversharing; I call it being heard. Recently, Charlotte Bond, author, editor, and one of the hosts at the Breaking the Glass Slipper podcast (remember in March when I shared my opinions about tampons and women's bodies in apocalyptic fiction? Of course you do!) asked me to answer some questions she's been posing to authors about one of our favorite characters: the princess. What's good, what's 'tropey', what accessory needs to be Q'd. You can find my answers here. Oh, and I do have things to say about Elizabeth I.

Long-overdue Update: BIG Announcement!

7/11/2018

Life isn't what happens when you're making other plans; it's what happens when your job eats your life. But even that won't stop me from announcing that I have signed with Unsung Stories--winner of the British Fantasy Society Award for Best Indie Press 2018--to publish my first novel, tentatively titled Threading the Labyrinth! It will be out in 2019. Deets to come. But for now, you can read official announcement here.