Ava Glass's Blog, page 3

Meet Ava at the Capital Crime Festival

I’m so delighted to be taking part in a panel discussion at Capital Crime this year! I’ll be joining moderator James Swallow and Tim Glister, Mick Herron and Marina Palmer to talk about thrilling espionage in Secrets And The Spies That Keep Them. I’ll be chatting about Alias Emma and how my time working with real life spies inspired her character and story.

Here’s the event blurb…

CAPITAL CRIME IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S LARGEST CELEBRATIONS OF CRIME AND THRILLER FICTION. WE INVITE THE BEST CRIME AND THRILLER CREATIVES, WRITERS WE ALL LOVE TO READ, FILMMAKERS WE ALL LOVE TO WATCH, AND SPEND TWO DAYS IN LONDON DELIVERING A PACKED SCHEDULE OF ENTERTAINING AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING EVENTS.

We know what counts in the best crime and thriller fiction – engaging characters, a believable storyline, gripping plots, with endings that leave you begging for more. And we know that you want to meet these amazing creatives too. So we’ve created this festival just for you. Meet the authors and filmmakers you love and discover new ones.

We set out to give crime and thriller fans a special way to experience our favourite creatives. Capital Crime is a festival like no other – offering an unprecedented level of access to some of the world’s best crime and thriller creatives and putting them together with people influenced by their work.

Tickets for the festival start at £52 with concessions available for those on a low income, NHS workers, local residents or librarians. I would absolutely love to see you there — if you’re coming, let me know and I’ll be sure to come and say hi!

Alias Emma now available in the UK

UK readers! You can now get your hands on Alias Emma!

Yep, this “adrenaline-fueled tour of clandestine London” (according to Library Journal’s starred review) is now, appropriately, out in the UK.

London is my spiritual home and I absolutely adored researching and writing about it in such detail for this book. Like me, Emma is a person with ties to several places — but her heart is very firmly in London, and as someone who shares that trait, it felt really natural to get that across. I loved sharing details about Emma’s journey across London, featuring sights and places that will be familiar to everyone who knows London, but also some of the more hidden corners that I discovered during my time working there on — let’s say some of the more secret things that happen in the city that never sleeps…

Anyway, I hope my wonderful UK readers recognise the city and the country that is so special to me. I’d love to know what you think.

BUY ALIAS EMMA NOW

Ava on The Greatest True Spy Stories

Before I started writing Alias Emma I must have read just about every espionage book there is, from the infamous fiction titles like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to lesser-known but equally as thrilling memoirs. So I was really happy when Crime Reads asked me to write about my favourite non-fiction books about real spies.

“When I first started thinking about writing a spy novel, I read every book I could find about espionage. From Kim to Ashenden to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, along with every book that became a film starring Michael Caine. Having spent several years steeped in spies, I can honestly say that in books, real life is better than fiction. The best books I’ve discovered about espionage are not novels, but non-fiction works about actual spies and their remarkable, deadly exploits. These books are darker than Smiley. Funnier than Bond. More extreme than Jason Bourne. 

Here are my favorite, stranger than fiction, utterly gripping, non-fiction books about real spies.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE

Alias Emma available to buy now in the US

Alias Emma is out TODAY in the US!

You’ll find it in your local bookstore as well as the usual online retailers — there’s a whole list of links for ordering below.

I can’t quite believe it’s finally here — months and months of blood, sweat and tears (no, literally — papercuts are an occupational hazard!) all culminating in this one day. Gulp. But I’m so excited for you all to get to know Emma — I really think you’ll love her. People keep describing her as “the female James Bond” and that’s very flattering — but also, if I’m honest, I’m pretty sure Emma could take Bond any day… Let me know what you think when you’ve read it!

(By the way, if you’re in the UK, you don’t have long to wait — the book is published on Thursday. And it will come out across the rest of Europe over the autumn.)

BUY ALIAS EMMA NOW

Ava meets the Mystery Mavens

I was absolutely delighted to be interviewed by Sara DiVello, Mystery and Thriller Maven, on the Murder By The Book podcast! In the interview, I talk about the inspiration for Alias Emma, a bit about my own experiences working with real life spies, and how I worked with my editors to make sure that Alias Emma was a breathtaking, pacy race against time…

Alias Emma selected as an Amazon book of the month

Woohoo! Amazon have selected Alias Emma as one of their books of the month for August! I’m pretty delighted — understatement of the year. Here’s what they said about it…

“Alias Emma is pure candy for those of us who love a good spy story—this is a novel you’ll struggle to put down. Expertly paced, readers ride a wave of action at breakneck speed in this modern twist on an old school Cold War thriller. …The first of a planned new series, I can’t wait to see where Emma’s next assignment takes her.”

READ THE FULL REVIEW