I always love getting lost in the Toppings in Edinburgh 🙂
Dear reader, it’s frolicking season. I really struggle with favorites - favorite colors (now we have settled on green, at the ripe age of 30), favorite season (jury’s out), favorite food (why must I choose), but I just love the progression of the year. I love the first bite of winter, the early smell of spring, the creeping long days of summer, the shift of autumn. I’m not a person who chases changes in other areas (I actually kind of hate change) but maybe seasons are just My Thing.
Either way, in the patch of countryside where I live, the flowers are growing and the fields are green and soon, it’ll smell like blackberries every time it rains, and I cannot wait.
Onto real things! I dropped the newsletter ball last month as I was travelling, but we’re back.
One of the lovely reader gifts from my travels: a painted edition of LOCKE, courtesy of The Scripted Letter Co
News & Updates
June 26 | Guildford, UK - I’ll be joining the wonderful Lex Croucher at Paper Moon Bookshop! I think this one might be almost sold out, so grab your tickets while you can.
We’re cooking up some stuff for the end of the year. I can’t share yet, but stay tuned!
Books
In case you missed it, THE THIEF AND THE TRAITOR BRIDE is coming out on September 29, 2026! She’s up for preorder now: US/Can | UK
ARCS
US READERS: TTATTB IS READ NOW FOR THE FIRST 500 PEOPLE ON NETGALLEY. This will close when they’re claimed!
After that, I think it’ll be a wish situation
UK Readers: Keep an eye out in July!
As always, please be kind and respectful to my teams when requesting ARCs. We love them. They are wonderful.
A reminder: I have no control over ARCs, so alas, I am not the person to ask!
Other stuff
I have had a few questions on preorder campaigns. Honest answer: working on it, just have not had enough time to sit down and get it sorted 🙂 It’s on my to do list!
UK readers, the Locke paperback is out on July 21 ❤ The hardback is actually completely sold out, so if you’re looking for a physical copy, it’s up for preorder now!
Writing Corner
I actually can’t believe it, but I’m off deadline. I have literally been on deadline since November, so this is glorious. I’ve read 3 books in the last week. My brain no longer feels like it’s being squeezed like a sponge. I have like two books due before Feburary, but you know what, that’s a problem for 3-weeks-from-now me.
If you’re wondering what’s next for me, I have TRAITOR BRIDE out in September, and then I’m pivoting back to horror with THE DYING SEASON, which is a London-based contemporary about necromancers, fate, and a friends to rivals to ?????? dynamic.
Behind the scenes on my last few days of deadline
General Chatter
In the last year, I’ve done more events than I probably have during my entire career, across five different countries. Since we’re loading up for more events in the fall, I thought it might be nice to do a bit of a debrief! So, here’s some stuff I learned.
To readers: you can just come to hang out!
Often, readers who come through the line will say some equivalent of “I’m sorry I didn’t read/finish/pick up the book yet!” Please, please believe me when I say: that is absolutely fine. That is wonderful! Reading is not a prerequisite, and events tend to be spoiler-free. You can come to say hi with no previous exposure to my books, or to anyone I’m with - book events are fun spaces where we can talk about writing and creativity and revel in the joy of being in the literary landscape. You can come to enjoy that.
Adjacent things that have come up:
If you don’t have a copy of the book, don’t sweat it. I pretty much always have bookplates on me!
This may change in the future, but I currently don’t have a cap on the number of books I sign. I’m happy to do backlist/friendo books/whatever floats your boat.
You don’t have to get books personalized. That is not weird, and I do not assume you’re going to go sell it on the internet (lol).
Related: if you want a quote instead of your name, that’s fine too! Just let me know if you want something specific or if it’s dealer’s choice.
Pictures are fine, videos give me hives
Okay, I know this is controversial, so let me explain better! To be clear: this is more about signing lines than the event itself. During the event, I don’t really care.
If you’ve been to a signing line with me, you have probably noticed I’m a yapper. I care a lot about talking to readers and having a genuine moment with whomever comes through. Honestly, it is my favorite part to just talk to people (and also to see people’s tattoos. Please always show me your tattoos, thanks). I am also a person with deep-rooted social anxiety, because I contain multitudes. When I’m connecting with a reader and having a really good time, then notice the whole thing has been filmed without me knowing, it really throws me off. It’s not because I think I’m going to say something weird and get cancelled on the internet (though, let us not rule it out) but it just adds this whole layer of paranoia to the interaction, because it’s no longer about me and you - it’s then a performance for a camera, and the reader interaction is the one time during the evening that I get to put the performance aside and genuinely talk to people. Does that make sense?
I am 100% happy to grab a picture with you! But in the social contract of us having a Good Time, I’d love for us to be in the moment and not focusing on the video for later.
Note for authors who are embarking into the great wide world
If you’re a writer pal heading off for the first time, here are my specific rules for myself!
When traveling internationally for short bursts, I try to stay in my home time zone/between zones as much as possible. This is often most applicable to the US/UK: waking up earlier consistently and going to bed a little earlier is much easier than jet lag.
Eat one meal a day that is predominantly vegetables. Especially when I’m bouncing between events and travel, I find the easiest thing to do is Big Vegetable Lunch, because then if I’m going out for dinner I have my nutrients and I won’t feel awful bouncing between cities and events.
Try to go for a walk every day, if you’re able to. This is with #2 in terms of self care: those little walks just make sure I’m not in a hotel room all day, because all I want is to sit in a hotel room and stare at the wall.
Limit social media. Again, see point 3: I would scroll for hours by myself in a hotel room. I delete socials from my phone and try to limit non-writing laptop time so it’s not just me and the influx of everyone on the internet. This is especially hard to do during release week, where it feels like you have to engage with everything—but your brain has to come first. Alas.
But yes! I can’t wait to meet readers in the fall on the next round of travels 🙂
Recommendations
I got off deadline and immediately read a bunch of books, so that was good.
Current read: I’m in the middle of The Heroine with 1,001 Faces by Maria Tatar and I’m really enjoying it. It is right in that sweet spot of my critical catnip.
On the fiction side, I’m reading Voidwalker by S.A. MacLean. I’m only 100 pages in but I’m having a GREAT time! It also just came out in paperback (alas PB is my preferred reading format, but I have the Pretty Shiny Edition)
I read The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee ahead of her launch event in Pittsburgh, and it is so good. I have been deeply annoying all of my students as I keep bringing it up in tutorials as an example of impeccable worldbuilding.
And that’s all! See y’all next month 🙂