L.R. Lam's Blog, page 3

Seven Devils on Netgalley; Tubby & Coos Digital Event June 20th

Happy Wednesday!

UK Cover

First up, my next book, Seven Devils, which is co-written with Elizabeth May, is up on Netgalley US & Netgalley UK. It’s also on Edelweiss (though I can’t seem to link to that directly). So go forth and request if you’re a bookseller, book blogger, librarian, etc. If you haven’t come across it before, here is the cover copy.

This first book in a feminist space opera duology follows seven resistance fighters who will free the galaxy from the ruthless Tholosian Empire–or die trying.

When Eris faked her death, she thought she had left her old life as the heir to the galaxy’s most ruthless empire behind. But her recruitment by the Novantaen Resistance, an organization opposed to the empire’s voracious expansion, throws her right back into the fray.

Eris has been assigned a new mission: to infiltrate a spaceship ferrying deadly cargo and return the intelligence gathered to the Resistance. But her partner for the mission, mechanic and hotshot pilot Cloelia, bears an old grudge against Eris, making an already difficult infiltration even more complicated.

When they find the ship, they discover more than they bargained for: three fugitives with firsthand knowledge of the corrupt empire’s inner workings.

Together, these women possess the knowledge and capabilities to bring the empire to its knees. But the clock is ticking: the new heir to the empire plans to disrupt a peace summit with the only remaining alien empire, ensuring the empire’s continued expansion. If they can find a way to stop him, they will save the galaxy. If they can’t, millions may die.

It will appeal to fans of: Mad Max Fury Road, Rogue One, Becky Chambers, Illuminae, Ann Leckie, Gareth Powell, Charles Stross, and more. It’s space opera with a slight fantasy feel. Lots of women supporting women but also being really fucking furious. We wrote this starting in 2015 and sold it in 2018 and edited it in 2019, so it was our response to seeing the rise of fascism over the last few years. I’m really proud of what me and Elizabeth accomplished. It’s more ambitious, perhaps, than we might have tried separately, since we had someone else to bounce ideas off of. It has five points of view plus flashbacks (because evidently I just can’t write a linear plot, all 7 so far have some flashbacks). I’m so fond of this cast of characters and look forward to readers meeting Eris, Clo, Rhea, Ariadne, Nyx, and the other devils. If you check it out, I hope you enjoy it! Content warnings can be found on the Seven Devils page.

Also, your reminder that pre-ordering is so, so helpful to authors, as it helps establish interest in the title to the publishers.

Purchase (US):

Apple Books / Indiebound / Hive / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository / Bookshop

Purchase (UK):

Transreal Books (signed copy) / Waterstones / Foyles / Amazon / Blackwells

Add on Goodreads!

Next up, I have a virtual event at the New Orleans bookstore, Tubby & Coos! It’s at 12 PM central time this Saturday and all the details can be found here.

 

Behind the Science of Goldilocks Recording & Cymera Workshops in June

Hello all.

Popping on to link to the YouTube of the panel I did through the Cymera Festival where I interviewed 3 of the scientists I asked questions for while researching Goldilocks. It was a great event and I enjoyed it. Bonus is you can see my mom in the video, haha! She’s the redhead who looks like me, unsurprisingly.

Also the full Cymera programme went up for its 2020 digital iteration, and I am doing two workshops next month:

When Does Good Advice Become Bad Advice? Building Resilience and Innovation as a Creative

Saturday, June 6, 2020: 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM (UK time)

One of the best and most useful skills you can develop to navigate life as a creative practitioner is resilience: the ability to recover from the inevitable setbacks and make an alternate plan of action to new or changing goals. The second skill that is useful is innovation, both in terms of creative executions of ideas and as an author. P.M. Freestone and Laura (El) Lam will lead you on a workshop to help you think about how to adapt to changes, take rejection, think outside of the box, and be nimble in a radically changing and often opaque industry. Laura Lam is a writer and creative writing lecturer who just released her sixth novel (Goldilocks) and is about to release her seventh (Seven Devils, co-written with Elizabeth May). She has been publishing for over seven years and has had plenty of unexpected plot twists in her career along the way. P.M. Freestone just released her second YA novel, Crown of Smoke, and her day job is creating and running award-winning writing programmes for productivity, motivation and project management at universities around the world.

This workshop will give you insight, tips, and tricks to develop resilience and innovation while also carving out the headspace to remain creative when it feels like you are being pulled in several directions at once.

Using Climate Change in Secondary Worlds

Sunday, June 7, 2020: 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM (UK time)

Have you ever wondered how rising oceans might affect another planet? How food shortages and the threat of war would affect an ancient kingdom of mythical creatures? How young people might fare thrust into a future they did not choose? Be it Game of Thrones’ White Walkers, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’s Darkening, or any post-apocalyptic future, climate change has become increasingly prevalent in fiction as our world meets new challenges. Using Fantasy, Science Fiction and Dystopias, this workshop explores key worldbuilding techniques and looks at the numerous ways this concept can be tackled in modern narratives. Join Katie Griffiths and Laura Lam for an afternoon of getting creative with the end of the world as we know it.

Tickets are on tiers depending on what you can afford–but please do be aware that I think our fee is dependent on what is donated, and many writers have had cancelled events and lost income due to what’s going on in the world. So please do pay if you have the means.

You can see the full programme with lots of other amazing events here.

 

Goldilocks US Launch Day!

Here we go! The second launch day is upon us, and all is still strange and surreal. But I’m really happy with all the push and publicity that Goldilocks has had so far, and I can only hope that that enthusiasm continues once the supply chain opens up again.

Purchase links yet again. Amazon has not been great at stocking the hardcover so far, so your best best is to shop elsewhere for the hardcover until things calm down and they can re-prioritise books. Bookshop is a great one because it helps raise money for indie bookstores who need help.

Forbidden Planet (signed bookplate edition) / Toppings Edinburgh (signed bookplate edition) / Portal Bookshop (signed bookplate edition) / Waterstones (a book to watch for April 2020) / Book Depository / Hive / Foyles / Blackwells / Amazon UK  / Amazon US / Bokus / Barnes and Noble / Apple / Kobo / Google / Booktopia /Bookshop

First up, lots of events this week:

Anne Leckie are I are on Crowdcast tonight at 3 pm EST / 11 am PST / 8 pm GMT answering your questions! You can register here.

Upcoming events:

May 6th: Second Life Book Club Panel with Anne Charnock, Antoine Wilson, and Yvonne Battle-Wilson, 10 am SLT.

May 7th: #OrbitTavern with Creative Director Lauren Panepinto via Orbit’s Instagram, 5 pm EST.

May 8th: Cymera event through the BBC Big Books weekend with Temi Oh for Culture in Quarantine.  1 pm GMT.

May 14th: Science Panel with Dr. Heidi DeBlock, Dr. Sinead Collins, and Dr. Peta Freestone, in conjunction with Cymera. Free but ticketed! 6 pm GMT.

The last few days saw Goldilocks get somewhat mixed but widespread coverage in USA Today, Metro, and The Times, and more (the last of which called it book club fiction for people who get mad on Facebook and once read a Margaret Atwood novel, which I found funny but also proved my point about sexism not being a “historical consideration”).

HOWEVER, Waterstones released a newsletter that called me a “singular, visionary talent,” and I think I’m going to put that on all my business cards forever.

“Through the novel’s fascinating premise Lam gives us plenty of food for thought about gender dynamics in our own world. The image of five women taking back what’s rightfully theirs from five less-qualified men, and literally freezing them in time to do so, is a symbol that will stick with me for some time. The viral pandemic that plays out off-page also feels eerily prescient.” – USA Today

I had an interview on the Chicago Review of Books, and they also said: “I was rooting for them the whole way, even as secrets and alternate motives corroded the mission. I couldn’t help but feel like this was the way the real-life Mercury 13 story should have really gone, and it was satisfying to watch these women take what they knew they deserved.”

I wrote a guest post about the Gut Punch of Accidentally Predicting the Future on Chuck Wendig’s Terrible Minds because we both know what that feels like.

“Goldilocks belongs on the shelf right between The Martian and The Wanderers, the hyper-mechanical and the ultra-psychological novels about deep space … its greatest strength is its ability to reflect on the political realities of the modern world.” – Nerd Daily

I also did an Interview for Nerd Daily.

Inverse Magazine: “HOW LAURA LAM CREATED HANDMAID’S TALE IN SPACE FOR HER NEW BOOK, GOLDILOCKS”

Craig, my husband, made a timeline about events in the world of Goldilocks: (no major spoilers). It also has the book trailer in it.

Okay, I think that’s everything. As usual, I would appreciate any help spreading the world because this is a terrible time to launch a book with so many stores closed, people out of work, people ill, Amazon taking reduced stock of books, etc. If you’ve read the book, please consider leaving a review on a retailer website like Amazon, Goodreads, Waterstones, etc. Thank you very much. Ad astra, Goldilocks!

Goldilocks Online Events, Interviews & Blog Tour

It’s launch week. I can confidently say this will be the strangest book launch I’ll have had. It’s so weird to think that on Thursday, the UK book launch date, I’ll be at home, like I have been for the last 7 weeks, where I haven’t seen anyone except for my husband and my cats. Bookstores are closed, so I can’t go see it on bookshelves. The news is terrible, everything seems so uncertain. My book launch being interrupted is so little in the grand scheme of things, but I still mourn the fact that this will likely have an effect on sales and my future career. It’s hard, and I’m not going to pretend it’s not.

While all physical bookstore events are cancelled, there are a few online events that you can tune into anywhere in the world. I’ve also been so touched by everyone who has reached out to offer to help spread the word on various platforms. To those who have pre-ordered, reviewed, and been such a great support: thank you so, so much.

Purchase:  Forbidden Planet (signed bookplate edition) / Toppings Edinburgh (signed bookplate edition) / Portal Bookshop (signed bookplate edition) / Book Depository / Hive / Waterstones / Foyles / Blackwells / Amazon UK  / Amazon US / Bokus / Barnes and Noble / Apple / Kobo / Google / Booktopia /Bookshop

April 28th: Inverse Happy Hour on their Instagram. 5 pm EST / 10 PM GMT

This series brings creators and their fans together over a drink to hear readings and discuss science, science fiction, and socialising. Past guests so far have included Mike Carey, John Scalzi, Christopher Paolini, Chuck Palahniuk, Veronica Roth, Charlie Jane Anders, Victoria Schwab, and more. So like, actual famous people.

April 30th: Instagram live on my Instagram with P.M. Freestone. 6 pm GMT.

I helped mark the publication of P.M. Freestone’s Crown of Smoke last month, and we’re joining forces again to talk about Goldilocks and social policy of infectious diseases on Instagram Live. Ask questions, hang out with us! It’ll be informal and fun.

May 5th: Event with Ann Leckie via Orbit’s Crowdcast. 3 pm EST / 8 pm EST. 

On the US publication launch, I have an event with Ann Leckie (!) of Ancillary Justice, Provenance, and Raven Tower fame. We will discuss SF and it will be lovely!

May 6th: Second Life Book Club Panel with Anne Charnock, Antoine Wilson, and Yvonne Battle-Wilson, 10 am SLT / 6 pm GMT.

“Technologists often want to tell us that immersive virtual reality technology with its potential to experience different embodiments and experiment with gender, age and ethnicity is superior to following the news, watching documentary films or even having conversations with those affected by specific issues when it comes to feeling true and deep, even long-lasting empathy with individuals from different “walks of life”.

But isn’t reading stories a form of embodiment? When a gifted storyteller can conjure up characters that have very different experiences than our own and we feel connected to them, feel through them and leave the time we spend with the story/book/narrative feeling as if we have truly grown, what is this other than a transformation into a different body , akin to switching from one Second Life avatar to another one and interacting with the world, virtual or physical?”

Is reading fiction the ultimate empathy machine?

I’ll be doing my first event in Second Life, which is quite interesting because it feels a little more like an in-person event because you have avatars you can move around. I’ll be dressed as an astronaut, which is fun.

May 7th: #OrbitTavern with Creative Director Lauren Panepinto via Orbit’s Instagram, 5 pm EST. 

Each week, Lauren will be sitting down with a new Orbit author to talk about their latest book and suggest the perfect cocktail to accompany it.

May 8th: Cymera event through the BBC Big Book weekend with Temi Oh for Culture in Quarantine.  1 pm GMT. 

As so many in-person book festivals have been cancelled, Kit de Waal and Molly Flatt have curated events for the BBC that can go forward digitally. Cymera’s event is one with me and Temi Oh talking about all things space. Other guests at the festival include Neil Gaiman, Maggie O’Farrell, Bernardine Evaristo, Alexander McCall Smith, Marian Keyes, and more.

May 14th: Science Panel with Experts who Helped with Goldilocks, through Cymera Festival, via Zoom, 6 PM GMT. 

Free but ticketed!

I am interviewing three experts who helped me with Goldilocks: Dr. Heidi DeBlock, a doctor who looks after astronaut health for NASA, Dr. Sinead Collins, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Edinburgh who runs a lab that looks at algae in the context of climate change, and Dr. Peta Freestone, also known as P.M. Freestone, who has a multidisciplinary PhD analysing biomedical research fields that focused on the sociopolitical aspects of vaccine development and global health. I’m really excited about this event, so check back or follow me on Twitter/Instagram (at LR_Lam) to keep on top of details!

 

Interviews & Blog Tour

Starting today, there’s a book blog tour organised by the UK publisher Wildfire books. I will end up linking to these when the tour has finished on Goldilocks’ book page. They will be regularly shared via social media as they go live, as well.

Interviews:

Forbidden Planet: Q&A with Laura Lam About Goldilocks. (A reminder you can buy a bookplate signed edition through FP).

I was a guest on the Page One Podcast. I was also on the Spectology podcast.

Liza DeBlock, my agent Juliet Mushens’s assistant (and yes, how I met Dr Heidi DeBlock), interviewed me about Goldilocks on the Mushens Entertainment blog.

Here is an interview on Nerd Daily. Other authors who have had interrupted book launches along with me answer some questions for The List.  Here’s a quickfire interview on Track of Words.

Other:

Waterstones listed it as one of their books to watch out for in April: “Dark and stirring, Goldilocks depicts the slow decay of trust in a race against time.”

So did Culturefly: “With the current state of the world, the idea of reading a dystopian novel might not be as appealing as it once was. Yet Laura Lam’s high-concept debut is a book you don’t want to miss [. . .] Goldilocks is a thought-provoking and relevant tale of morality and oppression.”

Book Riot said nice things: “If The Martian and The Handmaid’s Tale had a book baby, this feminist environmental sci-fi thriller would be the incredible result.”

Goldilocks has had four trade reviews: Kirkus and Library Journal gave it starred reviews, and Publishers Weekly and Booklist both gave positive reviews. Hooray!

Goldilocks Book Trailer

Good morning. I hope Thursday is treating you as well as it can.

In case you missed it on social media, Headline/Wildfire, my UK publisher, has created a book trailer for Goldilocks, which is cool! I’ve never had one before. Thank you to Joe Yule for creating it.

A high-powered, high-concept feminist dystopian thriller – @LR_Lam‘s GOLDILOCKS is The Martian by way of The Handmaid’s Tale. Out on 30th April from @WildfireBks, pre-order your copy here: https://t.co/tQ9t0ep2ZE pic.twitter.com/iieDknlNXa

— Headline Books (@headlinepg) March 24, 2020

It’s too big to upload so I’ve had to embed the tweet!

As usual, please consider pre-ordering if this seems interesting to you (link in tweet). With bookstores being closed, to say I’m nervous about this launch is an understatement. Book sales as a whole are up, as people are home, but it’s hard to know what the impact will be on people with books out this spring. I’m already seeing a fair number of books being bumped to summer or autumn. This is all pretty unprecedented.

Lx

Free Laura Ambrose/Laura Lam Novellas; Goldilocks Goldsboro Edition; Postponed and Cancelled Events

This week has been weird AF.

Until the 22nd, all of my Laura Ambrose and Laura Lam Vestigial Tales short stories and novellas that I’ve self-published are completely free until the 22nd. Feel free to give them a review if you like, but I hope they help get you through self-isolation.

Next, Goldsboro Books in London has announced their first SFF box selection which is . . . Goldilocks! There will be 500 copies of an exclusive edition with orange sprayed edges. SO PRETTY. I only found out about this a few days ago myself, and it helped cheer me up from the fact that, like many authors with book releases in the next few months, my launch events have largely been postponed. You can see details on the Visits & Events page. I’ll post updates as I know more.

It’s weird to feel so sad about it when there are people in much worse situations, but I keep thinking about the alternate timeline with no coronavirus. Where my mom and stepdad fly out, and I have a launch at Waterstones Piccadilly for the first time, and sign stock at bookstores, and do a bunch of fun events. The silver lining is that we are hoping to move a lot of the events online, which means they can be potentially accessible to more people, so again, keep an eye out on the Visits & Events page or my social media.

This is still a really weird time to launch a book. Your support pre-ordering, reviewing, spreading the word…all is greatly appreciated.

My job at Napier has moved online, and Craig is also working from home. We’re isolating as much as possible. I hope everyone is staying safe. Wash your hands.

Events & Sundry Goldilocks News & Quotes

A few things to announce!

Next event: March 12th International Womens’ Day, Event Horizon, Shoreline of Infinity, the Pleasance Cabaret Bar, 7.30 pm.

I’m back to host the monthly SF event in Edinburgh and also read from Goldilocks (this will be my first time reading from it in public! Ah!). The event will also have poetry from Jeda Pearl Lewis, a co-written piece form two of my current Creative Writing MA students, Pim Wangtechawat & Sienna Vance, a short play from the longer play of Witches’ Gets which features a few of the Creative Writing Alumni, like Noelle Harrison and Alex Delaney, my friend Cat Hellison reading from her novella, and music from Aurora Engine. Come along if you’re local!

Next, Goldilocks is gearing up towards publication, so prepare for regular updates with a bunch of links to various things. And then when those are done, get ready for more for Seven Devils! All the promotion this year. I’d apologise, but 6 books in, I’m no longer as awkward about it. Promotion is part of my job. And I love these two books and really hope people read them.

Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs) have been making their way into the hands of readers. Goldilocks is up on US Netgalley and Netgalley UK. So if you’re a bookseller, librarian, blogger, author, etc, go forth and request! If you’re not but still want to read and you’re based in the US, try entering the Goodreads Giveaway for 1 of 100 e-ARCs.

So far Goldilocks has gotten some great quotes, which I’ve also put up on the main book page. Your reminder/plea that if you think this is your cup of tea, please consider pre-ordering, as it makes such a difference and signals interest to the publisher.

Assorted purchase links: Book Depository / Waterstones / Foyles / Blackwells / Amazon UK  / Amazon US / Bokus / Barnes and Noble / Apple / Kobo / Google / Booktopia

First, here are the trade reviews so far:

“Each member of the crew has a well-developed voice and her own drives and ambitions, which makes the novel increasingly difficult to put down as betrayals and double-crossings play out aboard the claustrophobic ship. The unexpected ending will leave satisfied readers searching for read-alikes in its wake.A slow-burning fire of a novel that begs the reader to keep turning the page.”

— Kirkus (starred review!)

“Lam (Seven Devils) makes the personal political in this tense near-future family drama that’s fueled by the climate crisis [. . . ] Lam expertly evokes the claustrophobia of both tight spaces and taut relationships in the evolving struggle between Naomi and Valerie for the soul of the mission. This deeply felt space opera will please those who like their sci-fi to focus more on the characters than the science.”

— Publisher’s Weekly

And here’s what some lovely authors have been saying:

“Masterful science fiction. An absolutely stunning and compelling story.”
— K.B. Wagers, author of A Pale Light in the Black

“It’s bold and explosive, equal parts heartfelt and harrowing. Lam’s unflinching prose interrogates you, asking what prices you’d be willing to pay for the future of humanity. It’s a book that demands your attention.”
— Alex White, author of A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe

“Goldilocks is an excellent, character led space epic filled with excellent (and well-researched) science, moral ambiguity, and — in place of stereotypes and easy answers — the kind of science fiction that makes me keep reading.”

— Fran Wilde, author of Uplifted and the Jewel and her Lapidary 

“A more beautiful than usual piece of SF. Come for the superbly researched escape from a dying planet, stay for the cast of characters and emotional heart.”

— Rhys Thomas, author of The Unlikely Heroics of Sam Holloway

“Lam has assembled a fascinating cast of characters, and from the very start the story hooks you in. This would make a great movie with its massive interplanetary scale contrasting with the claustrophobic tension of the Atalanta as the crew of women begin to unravel what is really going on.”
— James Oswald, author of the Inspector Maclean novels

Launch events are being put together. So far the confirmed one is at Waterstones Argyle Street in Glasgow on May 5th at 7 pm, chaired by Ruth Booth. Watch the Visits & Events page for more information on other events happening in London, Edinburgh, St. Andrews, and Aberdeen. I’ve also got a virtual event through VR if you’re not based near any of those places!

All right, I think that’s all to announce for now. Have a good one!

L

Looking Back, Looking Forward: 2019 to 2020

Time for the usual introspective blog post over the past year and looking forward to the next one. I never know if these types of entries are interesting to anyone but me but anyway.

The last decade has seen my life change drastically. In 2009, at 21, I had just moved to Scotland from California. I was struggling to make friends and connections and was filing and photocopying for a law firm. I’d just started writing what would become Pantomime. Now I have excellent friends, some still in California, many in the UK, and several scattered around the globe. I’ve sold 8 books (2 of them twice), released 5, and self-pubbed 2 books’ worth of novellas and short stories. I got my masters and started lecturing. This is, of course, the filtered highlights. There were plenty of lowlights in there, too.

2019 was also a year of highs and lows, like most people’s. I mean, the politics and the climate change worries have been . . . *gestures hopelessly.* On the personal front, the last few years have been a bit precarious in terms of the writing career, but 2019 was when I felt I started perhaps getting a handle on things again (for now, at least). 2018 saw me sell Seven Devils, but 2019 was when me and Elizabeth May got our teeth into edits, got our lovely US cover, and started thinking about the sequel. The start of 2019 saw me sell Goldilocks on a proposal, and I wrote the whole thing before it was announced, which was a different experience. I had no idea what to expect with the project, really, but enjoyed the whole process. I know I’m proud of the book, rather amazed at how quickly I wrote the drafts, and enjoyed all the cool stuff about space I got to learn while writing it. I have no idea how it will do when it’s released, and am trying to just let go and not have any expectations.

While doing that, I also continued my romance self-pub experiment in the first half of the year. Which, on the whole, did okay, but I sadly realised that between lecturing, public events, and other writing projects, it’s one too many projects and I’m spread too thin. At present, there isn’t the return to justify investing the time it would need to take off. I’m still very glad I did it–learned a lot, wrote some novellas I’m proud of and others seem to enjoy. It meant I didn’t have quite as big of a gap in publishing new titles. If I ever have another gap in traditional publishing, I’ll probably release a few more.

I had a short story released in the Scotland in Space anthology, and participated and attended seminars relating to the Social Dimension of Outer Space project, which was a wonderful blend of my teacher life and my writer life.

A lot of this year’s change was mental. While I don’t feel like going into the details, I was not in a great place, mentally or physically or financially, at the start of the year. I was very hard on myself. Despite the fact that, objectively, my career looked fine on the outside, I felt like an abject failure. I felt like a fraud who had no business teaching writing and in general was very down on myself for all my perceived flaws. A combination of new projects, the right medication, therapy, and going off hormonal birth control (which for me caused mood issues) helped me come out of the worst of it. I also learned a lot more about myself and my identity. Seeing my friends, who are a beautiful, supportive bunch, helped a lot. On the whole, I’m a pretty chipper and calm person these days, which I never would have expected back in January. I’m still not perfect, but I’m a lot steadier. If you’ve been dragging your feet getting help because things don’t seem ‘that bad’ please do reach out if that’s a possibility for you. I am really glad I got treatment before the wheels fully came off my mental health. Bless the NHS.

On the physical front, getting back into weight lifting, yoga, and running helped me too. It’s something away from the screen. I’ll do classes or buddy PT with friends so it’s a social thing, but I’ll also work out alone while listening to music or audiobooks, which is meditative. I can deadlift most of my body weight now, and can focus more on what my body can do rather than what it looks like (as much–though I am really digging the new muscle definition). I was also diagnosed with a chronic health condition this year that, in my case, seems to be relatively easily managed so far, touch wood. I experimented with fashion and dress more androgynous most of the time, which I enjoy. Overall, I’m a lot more comfortable in my skin. I hope this continues into the new year.

Reading: I read 77 books out of my goal of 75, which I was pleased with. I also read at least 10-15 books’ worth of student work in my day job.

Travel: went to Northumberland, the Isle of Lewis & Skye, France (Paris & Normandy), Ireland for Worldcon, London (twice, for work), Pitlochry, and California for Christmas.

Public events: I did 24, so an average of 2 a month. It’ll be even more next year, most likely, since I’m releasing two books!

So, 2020. Last year, for awhile I did work and social media free Sundays, and basically tried to stay off the internet unless it was watching a film or a show. That was really nice so I’m going to try and bring that back. In general, I’m trying to cut down on social media a little and give myself more uninterrupted space to think deeply and focus on creative projects. Too much noise in my head just fires up the old anxiety.

Writing-wise:

Finish Seven Devils edits
Finish first draft of Seven Devils 2
Write Another Book TBD, hopefully
Make progress on Gay Dragon Book
Handle two launches within 4 months of each other with relative grace

Career-wise:

Apply for PhD (either a traditional one or PhD by publication)
Do some more research to deepen my knowledge base for the modules I teach. We’re also looking into rejigging the order we deliver things on the Creative Writing MA and might launch a different, concurrent Masters in the next few years and maybe eventually launch a PhD, so lots of exciting stuff on the horizon!
In general, try to be less stressed. I’m bad for checking my inbox etc on days I am not paid to work, so I need to guard my days off better and also make sure I work as efficiently as possible on the days I do work so it doesn’t bleed over.

Other goals:

Deadlift my body weight
Make progress towards a pull up
Try pole dancing and/or aerial silks again
Try bouldering/rock climbing?
Race a 10k?
Do more art!
Travel to a new country
Cook more!
Read 75 books again
Journal more

And those are my plans for next year. How about you?

 

Lx

My Patreon

My Books

Assorted News: US Goldilocks, False Hearts in German, Patreon Samplers, Holiday Signed Bookplates

Hello!

Yesterday I was able to announce that Orbit is the US publisher for Goldilocks. Press release here. Very exciting! It’s also sold in translation in a few languages, though I don’t think I can say where yet.

Speaking of other languages, False Hearts is evidently out in German! It is called Dark World there.

Lastly, today or tomorrow I’m planning on uploading PDF and mobi samplers of Goldilocks for Patreon. There will be different lengths for different levels. I usually post at least once a week on my Patreon and talk about what I’m up to, show WIP samples, write about the publishing industry, and more. I might serialise a romance novella on there next year. If you have a few bucks to spare, please consider supporting! Funds help me with any self-publishing or to various author costs like: membership dues, conventions and festivals, shipping various things, printing bookmarks. Your support really helps.

Also, I said on Twitter but if you order my books as Christmas gifts, send me the receipt and I will mail you a signed bookplate and a little handwritten note. Instructions here (except you don’t have to leave a review to claim it–though reviews, as ever, are always welcome!).

And that’s all the updates. I’m in the midst of marking for the first trimester at Napier, and then I’ll be heading to California for Christmas. Like last year, I’m going to aim to be off social media as much as possible to recharge for 2020.

Have a good festive season!

L x

Seven Devils US Cover & the First Two Chapters on Tor.com!

Today sees the grand unveiling of the US cover of Seven Devils! Out next August through DAW Books (& Gollancz in the UK–stay tuned for that cover reveal to come!).

US Cover Copy:

When Eris faked her death, she thought she had left her old life as the heir to the galaxy’s most ruthless empire behind. But her recruitment by the Novantaen Resistance, an organization opposed to the empire’s voracious expansion, throws her right back into the fray.

Eris has been assigned a new mission: to infiltrate a spaceship ferrying deadly cargo and return the intelligence gathered to the Resistance. But her partner for the mission, mechanic and hotshot pilot Cloelia, bears an old grudge against Eris, making an already difficult infiltration even more complicated.

When they find the ship, they discover more than they bargained for: three fugitives with firsthand knowledge of the corrupt empire’s inner workings.

Together, these women possess the knowledge and capabilities to bring the empire to its knees. But the clock is ticking: the new heir to the empire plans to disrupt a peace summit with the only remaining alien empire, ensuring the empire’s continued expansion. If they can find a way to stop him, they will save the galaxy. If they can’t, millions may die.

Click on the link to go to tor.com to see the cover!

I love the art by Dan Dos Santos so much (the design is by Katie Anderson). Betsy Wollheim, our lead editor, asked us what artists we liked. I threw out Dan’s name as a pipe dream, because I’ve admired his work for years. It’s so cool to actually have a cover by him! There are so many wonderful little details that tie into the characters. Feeling very lucky today. Publishing can be so up and down, so gotta celebrate the ups. This is definitely one of them.

Sneaky reminder that it is available for pre-order. Doing so helps the publisher know there’s interest in the book, and I learned this week that pre-orders at US indie stories count towards things like the NYT list. The US release is my birthday (August 4th)! Your support is so appreciated.

Here are the pre-order links that seem to be live so far:

Purchase (US):

Indiebound / Book Depository / Apple Books / Amazon / Barnes & Noble

Purchase (UK):

Transreal Books (local indie–copies can be signed upon request) / Waterstones / Amazon / Blackwells

Add it on Goodreads!