Howdy, everyone!
Wow, I sure did not write the March newsletter letting you know that THE FAITHLESS was out in the world. Well, it is out! So if you have been waiting for a sign to buy it, here is your sign! You can buy it anywhere you normally buy books, and we always love if you support an indie bookstore. Here are my US and UK bookshop.org sites if you’d like to support me that way, I get a little kickback.
The rest of this newsletter will catch you up on little bonus material, summer appearances, and some general plans for upcoming work (including an exciting new announcement!).
The Faithless: Bonus Material!
Music
Whenever I work on a novel, I listen to lots of music. Sometimes I go through multiple playlists in the process, including instrumentals for vibes and lyrics for themes. So here is a playlist that I’ve started compiling as a global soundtrack for the whole trilogy! All of the songs felt thematic to me somehow so YES, do read into as much as you want to, do be afraid for all of your favorite characters. I won’t confirm any theories, but… ;)
Gay Brunch AU
I’ve dropped this little short story before but warned you to tread cautiously because of spoilers. Now, you can dive right into it and understand the full context! Just make sure you heed the warnings at the top of the page.
Secret Art Commission!!
The art commission I’ve been teasing for months is also out in the world! Some of you who pre-ordered will already have seen this art, and some of you are receiving your stickers! Congratulations and thank you so so much for supporting me and these books. You’re making it possible for me to keep telling stories like this and I’m so grateful. And now, without further ado, the art from @gildedruin.
There has also been a lot of fan art! Some wholesome and some much much less so (thank you ;)) but I’ll share that later on. You can see some of it on my Twitter if you are impatient, though.
Appearances
Fantasy in the Court, May 25
First up, I’ll be at Fantasy in the Court, May 25th 2023, 4:30 - 8:00 pm. Tickets are, alas, sold out (they were sold out before I knew what was going on, heh), but I am looking forward to seeing those of you who will be there!
Cymera Fest, June 2-4, 2023
I’ll be in Edinburgh in June and in a kickass conversation with Samantha Shannon, author of two of my favorites, The Priory of the Orange Tree and A Day of Fallen Night on Sat Jun 3 @ 6:45 PM. The event WILL be LIVESTREAMED. You can get tickets for the single event or the entire festival, whether you’ll be there in person or online. The event will also be recorded so you’ll have a month to watch it if you can’t tune in at the exact moment.
Columbus Book Festival, July 15-16
I’ll be in Ohio in July! I believe my panel is on Sunday, but stay tuned to the website. Would love to see folks! Also, being in the States means I might even do some US giveaways while I can use cheap media mail. Stay tuned!
Jesse on Youtube
I had a blast chatting with Jesse a little bit ago for Nonbinary Book Club. We talked about some of the more nitty-gritty bits of The Unbroken and The Faithless, so if you’re interested for more of my thought processes as I wrote, please go check it out! And Jesse has always been great supporting marginalized authors, so go show them so love!
NEW BOOKS!
This newsletter is already too long so I’m going to end with this final announcement: I’ve just sold two novellas to Tor.com and I’m stoked! I love Tor.com’s novella series and I can’t wait to be apart of it. The first will be called Fate’s Bane, and I pitched it as if Romeo and Juliet were cursed sapphic artificers living in the wild fens, surrounded by clan warfare and mysterious gods in a world that feels like The Northman, that would be Fate’s Bane. You can see what else I said about it on the announcement.
There are loads more things that I would love to share with you all, but I’m going to pace myself (and your inboxes!). The next letters will include updates on progress for book 3, aka The Sovereign, what I’ve been reading (Savage Bounty by Matt Wallace!!!), some excellent fan art, and my interview in Locus!
I can’t tell you how glad I am that you all are connecting with my work, and I appreciate all of the messages you send and comments you leave and tweets you tweet! They make my day all the time. Thank you also for being my Bigolas Dickolases in the wider world! (Google it if you don’t know, have fun, be ready to erase your search history.)
Stay sharp, my friends.
P.S.
I have put out this offer out on Twitter, but it’s only fair to express it here of all places.
There are three particular references to lesbianic media—books or television or public jokes. I have mentioned their existence in various interviews and in-person panels, but I have not officially divulged them. One of them is fairly obvious and many have pointed them out. No one else has pointed out the others…will you be the first to bring me all three?
If so, maybe I’ll send you something special. ;)