Tansy Rayner Roberts's Blog, page 7

Write Brave: How To Be Courageous And A Writer At The Same Time

Writing does not scare me.

Maybe it should. Maybe I’d be a better writer if it did, but I’ve been writing stories my entire life. I used to write and draw in the back of Famous Five novels because there were blank pages back there, and no one was using them. Writing is my thing. Writing and I are the equivalent of the comfortable friendship that grows between a person and their favourite piece of furniture.

But.

Writing is always an act of courage.

That’s something I need to remember more often, especially when I’m being hard on myself for not writing enough words, or not writing better words, or not figuring out how my story’s going to end before I get started. I need to give myself more credit for being brave, because I am VERY BRAVE MOST OF THE TIME.

This article on ArtsHub really resonated with me today: Why you need courage – not talent – as a creative.

Trying to make a living in the creative fields is brave — not brave as “oh isn’t that a brave fashion choice, I can see what you tried to do there,” but genuinely valiant. Not so much because it’s hard — writing is really hard though I’m pretty sure most jobs are hard especially when you start them, when you’re in the middle of them, and especially in the last half hour before you go home at the end of the day.

But trying to make a living as a writer/[insert your preferred art form here] is valiant because there are so many people telling you how impossible it is, how you’ll never make a living at it, how you’d be better off doing [insert job that won’t be replaced by robots or AI in the next 25 years, take your time, hard to think of one, isn’t it?] literally anything else.

I catch myself being that person around my kids, warning them away from the arts as an industry, and have to stop myself because yes, I want them to have superannuation and insurance, but it’s also not my job to squash their dreams. Robots will do that for them. Their peers will do that for them.

Trying to make a living as a writer or artist is hard because a lot of the people around you don’t actually want you to earn a living. They certainly don’t want to pay you. They want to download books and movies for free, and save their money for things that matter, like coffee to drink while they read your books and wi-fi with which to download movies for free.

Writing, like most art, is supposed to be beautiful and admired, right? It’s like grass and the sky and all that suspicious amount of snow that’s suddenly piling up because winters are colder now and summers are hotter and… cough. This isn’t about climate change, it’s about writing.

Many readers would like to imagine that books, especially the electronic variety, spring into existence without a writer participating in the process at all, except for maybe doing a little light typing as the Ineffable Creative Force magically channels through them. Or they think that writers should do it for the art, for the prestige (heh), for the love… anything but money.

But this is me being cynical, because I know better. I actually don’t know any of those readers, the ones who take writers for granted and download all their books for free while telling them to get real jobs. Most readers I know have too many books to read anyway; financial constraints all that stands between them, and their house overflowing with book purchases.

I know a lot of readers.

I know readers who use social media to reach out to writers and other readers because talking about books is the best thing ever, readers who hand-sell books to each other like it’s their job, readers who make fan art and fic about the world. Readers who literally buy new books while listening to the podcast or the convention panel making recommendations.

Some of these readers even read my work. That’s pretty great. I’ve never been so successful, even in the various heights of my career (in between the ditches and the plateaux and the maternity leave and the accidental PhD which got in the way of a lot of novels being written), that I have become cynical about readers choosing to read my work.

I’m grateful every time my Kindle Direct Publishing stats go up by one. I’m delighted when someone thinks to mention my books in a list or a recommendation. When I meet someone in real life who has read one or more of my books, I go all warm and squishy inside.

Books are time. Money is one currency, and it’s an important one, but time is a currency too, and one I become more and more aware of, as I get older. People choosing to spend money on my books is pretty great. People choosing to spend TIME on those books is an honour.

But you know. Writer gotta eat. Write please get paid.

There was a time when I thought self publishing wasn’t for me, that I needed the status that came from being selected by a publisher, or somehow my work wouldn’t count. I’m glad I got over that. It’s lovely to be picked, and it’s lovely to work with a great publisher — but you know. Writer gotta eat. Write please get paid. I’m a hybrid author now. Sometimes my books are in the hands of a publisher, sometimes I’m DIY.

I’ve done some pretty brave things over the last few years, to get my work directly into the hands of readers. To make myself write, and promise myself there was an audience waiting.

I wrote an entire novel (Musketeer Space) as a live serial on my blog, one chapter a week, and funded it with Patreon.

I learned to turn that novel into a hardcover print book and made it available for sale.

I started a fiction podcast, in which I read episodic fictional serials out loud on a weekly basis, often beginning a serial without having written the end. (again, funded with Patreon)

Last year, I talked about feminist robots on social media for a solid month, to help fundraise for the Mother of Invention anthology, with Twelfth Planet Press.

I wrote and published an essay about cancer, a word I was still struggling to say out loud when I was having radiotherapy last year (while tweeting about feminist robots, I’m such a multi-tasker).

I asked for my rights back to the Creature Court trilogy, which was traditionally published some years ago, and was no longer selling in any quantity. I decided that the books mattered enough to me that it was worth trying again.

9 days ago, I launched the Kickstarter to bring those books back into print, along with a new one I haven’t finished writing yet.

For another 21 days, I’m going to be asking people to back my Kickstarter. Shamelessly, and without reservation. Because I believe in my books. I believe in myself as a writer. And on the days when I don’t quite believe in myself enough, I have a great team of family, friends and peers around me to hold me up until I feel ready to be brave again.

Also, I work pretty well to a deadline.

Writing is an act of courage. It’s also my favourite thing that I’ve ever had to be brave about. (Writing doesn’t involve needles, spiders, driving tests or childbirth, it totally wins)

Be brave. Make art. Buy books. Ask for what you need.

Oh, and please support my Kickstarter.

Nearly Halfway: A Kickstarter Story!

Is it just me or has this been a really long week?

Yes, it’s probably just me.

I launched my Kickstarter last Wednesday, and I’m already at 45% of the project goal which is AMAZING. Thank you to all my early adopters for coming in for this all-important first week to pick your pledge levels.

We’ve already had one pledge level fill up completely! Flappers Gone Soft (hand-made crazy quilted book bag with tonnes of extras and hardback trilogy) is ALL GONE.

Now that the first wave of YAY has calmed down a bit, I thought I’d address some basics about this campaign.

WHAT IS KICKSTARTER AND HOW DOES IT WORK?

Kickstarter campaigns are still one of the biggest and best ways to crowdfund a project — that is, raise the money to do something big by collecting a lot of small pledges from different backers.

When you pledge, you’re pre-ordering your chosen “reward” — and paying for it in advance, which enables the creator to produce it. BUT your credit card only gets charged when (if!) the Kickstarter campaign reaches its goal. Whether you come in at a $1 or $1000 level, you’re part of this project now, and the creator is very grateful for your support!

If you’ve never pledged to a Kickstarter before… it’s easy! Come on in, the water’s fine. It’s a fun and exciting way to get access to interesting books, games, art and tech before they hit the stores.

WHAT’S YOUR KICKSTARTER ABOUT?

I want to reprint three novels of mine which were published by Harper Voyager back in 2010-2012. The Creature Court trilogy was a huge undertaking for me at the time — the first time I set out to write serious epic fantasy, at the time the longest novels I’d ever written, and the first time I sold a series to a Big Publisher that had strong editorial support all the way through to the end.

The trilogy won awards, got a bunch of great reviews and scored me some loyal readers. But it never got a substantial overseas release, and sales dropped quietly away to a handful of e-sales each year. I eventually requested the rights back, planning to rebrand them with great new cover art, and bring them back into print myself.

I’m working with celebrated Brisbane artist Kathleen Jennings to produce beautiful books with a strong Art Deco/1920’s feel which runs through the books. I’m also writing a brand new prequel novella so that the Creature Court’s original readers (who already have the books on their shelves) can support something new.

Kathleen has designed a gorgeous enamel pin for various reward level and I’m desperately hoping we get to stretch goal stage so I can share some of the different colour options! The classic design is pretty great, though.

I’m also hand-making fabric mice, bookmarks and other goodies.

WHAT ARE THE BOOKS ABOUT?

A dressmaker becomes the unexpected leader of a gang of glamorous, vicious warriors whose job it is to save the world while transforming into hordes of animals. Velody is determined to prove that you don’t have to be a monster to be the Power and Majesty. Not every city will survive.

WHAT LEVEL SHOULD I PLEDGE AT?

Any level you like! If you’ve never read my work before, you can get an entire digital bundle of my previous novels and stories, as well as the Creature Court trilogy and new novella, for only $20 (Creature Feature). If the enamel pin is calling your name, there’s a bargain level of A Touch of Glamour at $16 which includes the pin and the e-novella. By far our most popular level is Come to the Cabaret at $35 which includes the paperback of the novella, the enamel pin and a postcard pack, as well as the trilogy as ebooks. I’ll be interested to see if that continues to be the clear winner in backer support as the weeks continue…

WHAT ABOUT POSTAGE AND CURRENCY EXCHANGE?

Worldwide postage is included in all levels, so what you see is what you get for pricing. Because I’m based in Australia, my Kickstarter is in Australian dollars, but the currency of your country should show up for you, which is why some of the levels look like different prices. (The good news, if you’re in the US or UK, is that your currency is worth more than ours so literally everything on my Kickstarter is a bargain)

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DON’T FUND?

I will cry and cry.

But seriously (wiping away tears) I am going to get these books into print by hook or by crook. It will just take a lot longer to get there without the boost of Kickstarter investment to pay the cover artist, designer, etc. up front. So much longer. Years, basically.

ARE YOU GOING TO FUND?

There’s a tradition/superstition/statistical fact among Kickstarter supporters that any campaign that reaches half of its goal in the first week will definitely fund. I’d be very happy to prove that right! Let’s go to work.

HOW CAN I HELP?

Tell your friends! Tell your parents. Like and retweet on social media. Send virtual cups of tea and plates of cookies. If you want to pledge, do it early instead of waiting. And, you know. Wish me luck.

Let Sleeping Princes Lie – Part 21 The End of the Story

Serial complete! You can now listen to the entire novella Let Sleeping Princes Lie. My Patreon supporters can download the ebook today, which will go on sale to the general public at the end of April.

Use comments, email, or any social media to send me questions for next week’s AMA episode of Sheep Might Fly. Ask Me Anything about writing, podcasting, crowdfunding, my favourite periods of history, spaceships, book recommendations and more!

Don’t forget to check out my Creature Court Kickstarter which launched this week and is already at 40% of its funding goal!

Previous Episodes of this story:

Part 1, Charming Dreaming

Part 2, The First Rule of Spinning Wheels

Part 3, Royal Coping Mechanisms 101

Part 4, You Spin Me Right Round, Baby

Part 5, Kiss the Quill

Part 6, Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Part 7, Sometimes, Witches

Part 8, Monsters Under the Bed

Part 9, Gone To See A Witch About A Spinning Wheel

Part 10, Snakes in a Tower

Part 11, Read All About It

Part 12, Ablutions

Part 13, Sleeping With the Fishes

Part 14, The Wrong Question

Part 15, Princesses Have Many Skills

Part 16, The Hall of Lost Princes

Part 17, Just What Castle Charming Needed: Another Prince

Part 18, Kiss Your Prince

Part 19, Waking Up

Part 20 Viable Alternatives to Drowning

Sign up to my author newsletter for updates, follow me on Twitter at @tansyrr or @sheepmightfly, find me on Facebook at TansyRRBooks, and if you like this podcast consider supporting me at Patreon where you can receive all kinds of cool rewards, early ebooks and exclusive stories for a small monthly pledge.



See you next week!

Creature Court: Sample Chapter

My Kickstarter campaign to bring back the Creature Court is racing along! Things went a little quieter over the weekend which is always the case with crowdfunding but we still got over the line to $6000 which is 40% of the goal! Thanks to everyone who has pledged so far. I can’t emphasise enough how important it is to pledge early with a Kickstarter, as many supporters don’t come in until they are confident it’s going to succeed.

For those of you who still don’t have any idea what I’m talking about, or why my original readers keep talking about naked men falling from the sky, here’s Chapter 1 of Power and Majesty, the very beginning of the trilogy and an introduction to one of my many protagonists. I don’t have favourites… but obviously Velody is my favourite.

(Apart from Ashiol and Poet and Livilla and Delphine and Garnet I have a lot of favourites, okay??)

Power and Majesty

Chapter One

Velody couldn’t sleep in this city. The ancient, gothic weight of it pressed around her, through the walls of the rented room.

No one else had this problem. The other demmes were asleep on their makeshift cots, while the chaperones (including Velody’s Aunt Agnet) snored lightly from the larger beds. Every room in Aufleur was packed like this, so their landlady claimed. The apprentice fair drew in crowds from every town and village from coast to country, the dust from the railways still clinging to their clothes.

Velody missed home. She missed the warmth of her room above her papa’s bakery, and the familiar sleepy sounds of her sisters and brothers. Every street and canalway in Cheapside and the market district of Tierce was known and safe and hers. Aufleur was so much huger and darker and more foreign.

I can’t live here, she thought desperately. Not for seven years. This city will eat me alive.

A mouse ran over her pillow.

Velody sat up in a rush, pushing off the thin blankets and scrambling out of her cot. One of the other demoiselles — Rhian, she thought her name was — muttered and sighed at the noise, but quickly fell back to sleep.

There was no sign of the mouse, but Velody would now rather die than return to the cot. It was warm despite the darkness — Cerialis was the last month of summer. Wearing nothing but her cambric noxgown, Velody slipped to the window and let herself out onto the balcony.

The city was no less oppressive out here, but at least she could see the looming domes and towers instead of merely feeling them in her bones. Velody breathed in the calm air. Four hours until dawn? Six, at most. It wouldn’t do to have shadows under her eyes in the morning — what kind of mistress would take an apprentice who looked ill and shaky? Perhaps if she calmed herself out here a little longer, she would be able to sleep.

There was a soft sound beside her, and Velody turned to see a little brown mouse creep across the balcony. She was prepared for it this time and managed not to behave like a damsel in a musette melodrama.

A second mouse emerged from the shadows, and then a third. Velody was beginning to feel outnumbered. Her eyes were so fixed to the rodents that she almost missed the sight of a naked young man falling out of the sky.

He crashed, shoulders first, into the roof of the house across the street, shattering slate tiles. He rolled and dropped onto the cobbles below, bare limbs splayed in all directions. Incredibly, he was laughing, his head thrown back in hysterical giggles. He was long and lean and muscled. He was also completely off his face.

The sky came alive with colour — iridescent green with the occasional splash of pink and gold. Velody had heard of such strange light effects, but never over a city. Colours rolled off the skin of the naked, laughing man. He was beautiful, if utterly shameless.

Velody pressed herself against the window of the boarding house, hoping he would not see her. Then again, she doubted he could see his hand in front of his face, the state he was in.

The sky flashed brighter than before, in colours that Velody couldn’t even name. Was this normal?

A second naked young man stepped out of the sky, and Velody lost her breath. Normal, it seemed, had been flung out with the scraps.

This man was dark where the laughing youth was fair, and he walked down from the sky as if there were stairs beneath his feet instead of empty air. He wore his nakedness like armour, and his skin had a lantern glow about it. And really, the fact that he could walk on air was far more important than the fact that he didn’t have a stitch of clothing on, but Velody couldn’t help blushing. When her mother had lectured her on the dangers a fourteen-year-old maiden might face in the big city, this wasn’t quite what she’d had in mind.

‘Garnet,’ said the dark-haired man, his bare feet brushing the cobbles as he stood over the other. ‘Are you hurt?’

The fair one, still sprawled in the street, whooped as if this were the funniest thing anyone had ever said to him.

‘Are you drunk?’ demanded his friend, crouching down to his level. ‘Are you high?’

‘I might — might, I say — have had a tiny pinch of surrender in my flame-and-gin,’ said Garnet, enunciating carefully.

His friend smacked him. ‘You went into the sky with that shit in your blood? What were you thinking?’

‘Can’t all be perfect little saints and soldiers, Ash-my-love.’

‘Tasha’s going to kill you,’ Ash growled. ‘She’ll cut your frigging balls off.’

‘A fine nox’s work then.’ Garnet tipped his head back and stared up at the blazing sky. ‘Think the gin might be wearing off.’ He shivered.

Ash glared at him. ‘Where are your clothes?’

‘One of the roofs around here.’ Garnet waved an arm aimlessly, and stared at it as if it were fascinating. ‘I was sort of looking for them when I got sideswiped by that … that … was it a lightweb or a cluster?’

‘The things I do for you,’ said his friend and — this was the bit that had Velody pressing a fist to her mouth to stifle her gasp — his body exploded into a cloud of black shapes.

Not shapes. Cats. The cats separated and swarmed up the walls on both sides of the street. One came up to Velody’s balcony, and blinked with interest at the small horde of brown mice that had gathered there. She pressed herself further back against the wall, hoping not to be seen.

The cats returned to Garnet, several of them dragging items of clothing with them.

Garnet snatched the garments from them and pulled on a pair of trews. ‘Claw marks. Lovely.’

The cats came together and glowed briefly before reshaping into the tall, muscled and still very much naked figure of Ash. ‘Grateful as ever. Shoes?’

‘Didn’t bring any.’

‘Fine. Just stay out of the sky for the rest of the nox. Crawl home if you can — sleep in the gutter if you can’t, and I’ll come drag you home after.’

‘My motherfucking hero.’ Garnet shrugged into the shirt, but didn’t button it, staring instead at his hand. ‘How many arms did I start with?’

Ash groaned. ‘You’re too smashed to make it down to the undercity without killing yourself.’

‘’S a warm nox, I’ll manage.’ Garnet slumped back against the nearest house, almost comfortable.

‘Arse,’ said Ash. ‘Why do you do this to yourself?’

‘Know you’ll catch me when I fall,’ said Garnet with a yawn and a smirk.

‘Aye, and someday I won’t.’ Ash spun apart again into his swarm of cats, and took off into the sky in a blur of paws and tails and raw power.

Velody breathed out and closed her eyes for a moment. Someone should have warned her that the city of Aufleur was rife with flying naked men who transformed into cats.

When she opened her eyes, the street was empty and Garnet was gone.

Velody pushed herself up onto her feet, wanting to escape back to the safe confines of the dormitory. Something grabbed her wrist, dragging her back against the railings of the balcony.

‘Little mouse,’ hissed a voice in her ear. ‘Did you enjoy the show?’

Fingers dug into her wrist. Garnet’s fingers. She gazed up into the strange, beautiful face of the youth who now stood on the outside of the balcony railings, his eyes blazing at her. What did he do — fly up here? Oh, saints, he probably did.

‘I have to go inside,’ she said in a small voice.

‘Not yet, little mouse. I want to talk to you.’

He slid a slender leg over the railings, jumping properly onto the balcony. It occurred to Velody that she should be grateful he had put his clothes on first. He grasped her other arm as well, holding her fast.

‘If I scream,’ she said, ‘the whole boarding house will come awake.’

‘Good luck with that,’ he drawled. ‘Daylighters sleep deeply in this city.’ He squeezed her wrists cruelly.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Mostly? I’m wondering what a little mouse like you is doing out on a fine nox like this.’

Garnet’s eyes were a little crazy and Velody wondered what sort of potion “surrender” was. It sounded like the kind of thing Sage, her eldest brother, had been into that first year after the dock accident.

‘You see me, yes?’ Garnet asked.

‘Of course I see you.’ She pulled, but he wouldn’t release her wrists.

‘And you see the sky?’

‘Hard to miss.’

‘What colour is it?’

She looked blankly at him. ‘What?’

‘What colour is the sky, little mouse?’

Velody looked up, just as veins of rose and lilac threaded across the clouds. ‘Pink … purple,’ she said. There were three flashes in quick succession, as bright emerald as the spun silk she had admired in a shop several days before she left Tierce. ‘Green.’

‘And my friend,’ Garnet said in a whisper, ‘what is his animal?’

‘Cat,’ she said.

He wetted his lips a little. ‘Poor mouse. Didn’t see this one coming, did you? You’re one of us. And it’s going to eat you alive.’

Velody was angry now. Close up, this boy wasn’t even as big as her brother. Who did he think he was, trying to terrorise her like this? ‘And what are you?’ she flung at him. ‘Am I supposed to be afraid of you?’

Garnet laughed, and was lit up from behind by a sweep of bright white light in the sky. His hair was red-gold, not blond, and he had tiny freckles on his throat. ‘Small town demme,’ he said. ‘I know your type. Here for the apprentice fair, I suppose. You want to spend your days as a threadsmith, or a ribboner, or —’

‘A dressmaker,’ Velody said.

‘A dressmaker.’ His hands loosened their grip on her wrists, still encircling them lightly. ‘You can kiss that goodbye, my sweetling. You belong to the nox now. No apprenticeship for you, no shilleins to send home to your family, no warm husband and children in your future.’

To her horror, Velody saw her hands darken as soft brown fur tufted out from her fingers. Her ribs squeezed her, as if she was about to burst apart. ‘Stop it!’

‘That’s not me, little mouse,’ said Garnet. ‘It’s all you.’

She concentrated on her hands and the fur diminished until the skin was clear and moon-pale again. ‘Am I going to turn into … cats?’ she asked.

‘Not cats,’ as if she was stupid for suggesting it. His eyes brightened. ‘I can take it away. Take the curse from you right this minute. Leave you to your little daylight life, just as you want. You’ll never see me or my kind again. Never see the sky light up with colours.’

Somewhere along the way, Garnet had let go of Velody’s wrists. She rubbed them now. ‘What’s in it for you?’

‘Sharp. I’ll admit, it will do me no harm to hold your power under my skin.’ He stared seriously at her. ‘You don’t want this, mouseling. You don’t want the nox in your blood and your life. I’ve seen too many children burned by it.’

‘I’m not a child.’

‘Are you not?’ He seemed amused. ‘Don’t think I was ever as young as you.’

Velody’s mind raced. She was scared of this strange youth and the things she had seen. She didn’t want any part of it. A dressmaking apprenticeship, shilleins to send home … that was what she wanted.

‘You’ll have to give it willingly,’ said Garnet. ‘There’s only one way I can take it by force, and I’m really not that much of a bastard.’ He eyed her body up and down, far too appreciatively.

‘What is it you will take from me?’ Velody asked.

‘Animor,’ he said, and his mouth curved around the word like a lover’s lick. ‘You won’t feel its loss.’

She closed her eyes. ‘Take it then.’

Something warm brushed against her mouth and she realised too late that he was kissing her. She had never been kissed like this before. His mouth swamped her and his tongue flicked deep against hers.

For a moment, her chest felt itchy and strange, as if a creature was inside, scrabbling to get out. Every vein in her body hummed. Something left her, and at the time it didn’t feel particularly important.

It was the best kiss of her life, and within an hour of returning to her little cot in the dormitory, Velody had entirely forgotten it.

Kickstarter Day 1

This is Aufleur, a city inspired by Ancient Roman festivals, Victorian theatres and the Roaring Twenties. A city of garlands and flappers, of bean-cakes and circuses.

  

Every night, a secret war is fought against the sky by the Creature Court, a hot mess of shape-changers and monsters. It’s their job to save a city that doesn’t even know they exist… and Velody, a dressmaker of the Daylight world, is destined to be their King.

They fight. They love. They tear each other to pieces. 

THE CREATURE COURT:

Book #1 Power and Majesty

Book #2 The Shattered City

Book #3 Reign of Beasts

This award-winning fantasy trilogy by Tansy Rayner Roberts is returning to print, along with a brand-new novella set in the world of the Creature Court. 

It’s here! I’ve pushed the button to launch a 30 day Kickstarter campaign, raising funds to reprint the Creature Court trilogy with wonderful new art by Kathleen Jennings, along with a prequel novella and a whole lot of beautiful book-inspired loot.

Get in early for the fabric mice, and make sure your reward level includes the stunning Art Deco enamel pin designed for my books by Kathleen.

Jessica Jones Season 2 is almost here…

I’m going to be reviewing the episodes on Tor.com again once the season drops on 8 March. International Women’s Day! Prepare to get drunk, angry and cynical.

Here’s links to my previous Jessica Jones posts:

The Alias Reread Masterlist

Jessica Jones Does Not Respect Doors (1-2)

Jessica Jones Can’t Have Nice Things (3)

The Jessica Jones Paranoid Conspiracy Support Group (4-5)

Jessica Is Her Own Worst Enemy (6)

Jessica Jones Wants You To Do The Hero Thing (7-8)

Jessica Jones Takes Control (9-10)

Patsy’s Gonna Save You, Jessica Jones (11)

Jessica Jones is Uniquely Qualified (12-13)

Angels, Reporters and Awards!

The two big Australian SFF awards released their shortlists within a day of each other this year… and I’m on both!

First the Aurealis Awards, based on a selection of juries that cover each category.

I’m delighted to announce that I have work on four of the shortlists! Girl Reporter, my superhero novella from the Book Smugglers, is up for Best YA Short Story, and Best SF Novella.

My mini short story collection, Please Look After This Angel (and other winged stories) is up for Best Collection, and my story from that book, “The Curse Has Come Upon Me, Cried,” is up for Best Fantasy Short Story.

I’ve reduced the price of this book to 99cents on Amazon and Smashwords, if anyone wants to read it before the awards are announced at Easter!

Girl Reporter has also made an appearance on the Best Novella shortlist for the Ditmars, which is our fan-nominated and voted awards connected to the National SF Convention. Galactic Suburbia got nominated for a Ditmar too!

Over in the William Atheling Jr shortlist, one of my favourite awards (for a piece of SF criticism/review), Twelfth Planet Press has two nominations: for Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E Butler; and also for Ambelin Kwaymullina’s essay for Mother of Invention: “Reflecting on Indigenous Worlds, Indigenous Futurisms and Artificial Intelligence.”

Fabulous February

The school holidays are almost over. And it’s not that I don’t love having my kids around (8 and 13 is so much easier to manage than… well, any smaller numbers have been) but I am looking forward to getting my workspace back.

Juggling so many projects right now! The big upcoming one is my Creature Court Kickstarter, bringing my trilogy back into print. More on that soon!

If you still don’t have a copy of Glass Slipper Scandal, you can grab it from this Fabulous February Fantasy Giveaway over at Instafreebie, along with a bunch of other fantasy books available for free.

One of my big tasks for January was republishing the Mocklore books, now that Fablecroft (sniff) is officially closed. The ebooks have made it up, mostly as far as Amazon, but I still have a few steps to go through before new print versions (20th anniversary editions, gasp!) are available.

If any of you had a chance to put reviews up for these, I would be highly grateful, as the Mocklore books all have great Goodreads review coverage but their Amazon pages look a little bare:

The Mocklore Omnibus (Splashdance Silver & Liquid Gold)

Ink Black Magic

Bounty

I have some upcoming other Mocklore stuff planned for this year because anniversary. Stay tuned for that too.

I also have a brand new edition of Pratchett’s Women, with text updated to reflect the passing of Terry Pratchett, and a cute new cover. Again, only at Amazon for now but I will be branching out to other ebook places too. At the moment the paperback is only available through the Amazon US store but while that’s a super easy service to use, I’m going to have to publish an Australian version I think, because the postage is a killer for such a slender book and having an Australian Amazon store apparently doesn’t extend to their book printing arm. Sigh.

What else? Sheep Might Fly continues with the serialisation of Let Sleeping Princes Lie, the third of my Castle Charming novellas. (So I’m finally going to get to release it in ebook form!!) When that’s done the podcast will go a few shades of superhero, with audio adaptations of Cookie Cutter Superhero and Kid Dark Against the Machine. The next original serial will probably be another Fake Geek Girl story because I am determined to do at least ONE story in that magical university series where the characters actually attend classes instead of hanging out at the pub, fighting ice trolls and banging each other, even if it is completely authentic to the Australian university lifestyle.

Galactic Suburbia is back! We’ll be recording a new episode tomorrow. I have missed my peeps.

Let Sleeping Princes Lie – Part 15, Princesses Have Many Skills

Get the new episode here!

Previous Episodes of this story:

Part 1, Charming Dreaming

Part 2, The First Rule of Spinning Wheels

Part 3, Royal Coping Mechanisms 101

Part 4, You Spin Me Right Round, Baby

Part 5, Kiss the Quill

Part 6, Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Part 7, Sometimes, Witches

Part 8, Monsters Under the Bed

Part 9, Gone To See A Witch About A Spinning Wheel

Part 10, Snakes in a Tower

Part 11, Read All About It

Part 12, Ablutions

Part 13, Sleeping With the Fishes

Part 14, The Wrong Question

My superhero novella Girl Reporter is available to buy now, as ebook and paperback.

Sign up to my author newsletter for updates, follow me on Twitter at @tansyrr or @sheepmightfly, find me on Facebook at TansyRRBooks, and if you like this podcast consider supporting me at Patreon where you can receive all kinds of cool rewards, early ebooks and exclusive stories for a small monthly pledge.

See you next week!

Special offers & giveaways this month.

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Goodreads Book Giveaway







The Mocklore Omnibus



by Tansy Rayner Roberts

Giveaway ends February 01, 2018.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Musketeer Space is at US $2.99 until the end of January (usually $5.99).

Unmagical Boy Story is US 0.99¢ until the end of January (usually $2.99).

There’s also a brand new edition of Pratchett’s Women, my collection of feminist Discworld essays.