Ellie Marney's Blog, page 3

Nailbiters #32

(as usual, this month’s chapter of All Shall Mourn is below the fold – I really hope you love it!)

Folk Heroes

Look, I was going to tell you all about this heartwarming Christmas story of the guy who t…

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The Black Hand, vol.43

(Until the Feb ’25 release of All Shall Mourn, early chapters are releasing for paid subscribers – chapter 4 is available for Nailbiters readers now! You can access all chapters with a cheap upgrade by following the instructions right here)

Walking out of the jungle

In 1971, Juliane Diller was on a plane with her scientist mother, both of them scheduled to fly from Lima to Peru to see her father, a rainforest researcher, when the plane they were traveling in was struck by lightning. Diller’s row of seats detached from its mounting and was thrown from the plane, which broke apart only fifteen minutes from its destination. Out of the 92 passengers onboard the flight, only Diller survived. She woke up to find herself lost in the Peruvian jungle, with a broken collarbone and limited vision after injuries (and losing her glasses). It was the day before Christmas, and Diller was 17 years old.

By some miracle, Diller had been stranded in a part of the jungle barely fifty kilometers from the area that her parents – who had degrees in biology, ornithology, and zoology – had been studying for nearly three years. She was still at a massive disadvantage: Overhead rescue planes couldn’t find her through the jungle trees, she couldn’t see, she was injured, and she had no detailed understanding of edible flora. Diller found a bag of Christmas boiled sweets (what I believe is called rock candy in the US) at the plane crash site, and rationed herself to four a day, which would be her only solid food for 11 days.

But she also found a stream near the crash site, and decided to follow the water to a village. The way was long – after a week, Diller ran out of sweets and lived on water. Almost at the point of critical weakness, she lay on the bank to rest and was discovered by a group of local woodcutters and fishermen, who initially thought she was a boto, a legendary river dolphin creature that can transform into a human. Once she finally made it back to civilization, Diller’s story went viral – it was made into a documentary by Werner Herzog called Wings of Hope. Diller moved to her father’s birth country, Germany, and became a scientist – she has continued to work with the Peruvian government to protect the biodiversity of the area which saved her life.

I don’t know about you, but like so many kids of the 70’s and 80’s, I spent a lot of time wondering how I would cope if I fell into quicksand, or was attacked by piranha, or got caught in the Bermuda Triangle…or had to walk out of the jungle. Just to say, I’m glad that I never had to prove myself on any of those points, because in Juliane Diller’s position, I probably wouldn’t have been so clear-headed.

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Chapter 4 of ALL SHALL MOURN

Guanajuato, 29 October 1982

Sun is bright through Travis’s room as he stands by the window, pulling on a shirt. His most recent scar is an untidy keloid Z just below his breastbone – the entry wound scar on his back is much smaller – but it’s only a little red now, and Travis doesn’t pay it any mind.

The view through the window is a good one. Emma is out in the yard…

If you’re a Nailbiters subscriber, you should have the password that gets you into the vault. Now you’ve processed the Gutmunsson twins’ shenanigans from last month, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

If you’re not a Nailbiters subscriber and you want to sign up, click here to get instructions to upgrade your subscription, and you can enjoy 4 chapters of bloodthirsty lunacy, all the ongoing monthly instalments, the full Nailbiters behind-the-scenes archive, and my undying gratitude.

ALL SHALL MOURN – cover reveal & digital preorder link

I know you’ve all been waiting to check this out, and this is the bit of the newsletter I’m really excited about!

Ta-da!! Isn’t this magnificent??

SHE’S BEAUTY, SHE’S GRACE, SHE’LL PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE!

Excuse me while I scream a little - I adore this cover so much. Seriously, I am IN LOVE. Someone remarked to me that this cover teaches you how to read the covers of all the other books in the series, and I could not agree more. The colours, that amazing illustration, the way everything ties in together…I swear to god, I could not be happier! What makes this extra special is that the artwork and design for this cover were created by my son Ben, who is a graphic designer and animator, and this is his first pro credit, so everyone please give him a round of applause!!

You can also preorder All Shall Mourn in ebook at this link so go nuts! (that’s the US link and the AU link is right here)

Paperback readers: I’m afraid I can’t do a paperback preorder right now because Amazon doesn’t allow it - I know! It’s a total a bummer! But don’t stress, your time is coming soon. The paperback will be available exclusively on the day of release, 5 Feb 2025, and I really hope some of you are excited to get the physical copy in your hot little hands. I’ll also be offering signed copies from my website after release day, if you’re keen!

ALL SHALL MOURN on Goodreads

You can add All Shall Mourn to your GoodReads shelf now – over 400 people have already done so, which is wild to me 😊

Goodreads numbers and early mentions online are part of the slow-motion machine that works to make a book successful. I’ve heard from a bunch of people that they didn’t even know that All Shall Mourn was releasing!! So yes, there are still people out there that the algorithm doesn’t serve. If you can help by sharing the news and by adding the book to your GR lists, that would be a small but awesome thing.

I’m on Bluesky/Threads

I’m no longer on Twitter/X because of the…*waves at the general cesspit that is Twitter/X* …I mean, I have a placeholder account there, so I don’t get impersonated (weird, right? It happens, though). Anyway, somehow, because this is the world we live in now, I am mysteriously on TWO alternative text-based social media apps! I’m on Threads and I’m on Bluesky.

This is me on Bluesky… …and this is me on Threads! I mean wtf! Nobody wants this! But here we are, apparently, because no one can agree to hang out in one place 🤷

Bluesky at least gives you a header image! But seriously, I find the whole thing as bizarre as I’m sure you do.

Tbh, I don’t know how long my Threads account will last, as I recently saw that they might try to introduce ads next year, which will severely reduce its appeal. But for the time being, Threads is more fun-times and book recs, and Stephen King is there now. Bluesky, on the other hand, is where I’m more unfiltered, so you get a lot of dark humour and politics and articles about movie culture…as well as the book recs?

I like text-based social media more than video social media, but I still find this whole double-dipping thing very odd. I guess at some point the powers-that-be will put Threads and Bluesky into a giant MMA cage and make them fight to the death, and one will end up the victor…But for now, I am on both. And of course I’m still on Instagram and (to a much lesser extent) Tiktok. Anyway, basically I’m everywhere, so hit me up and say hi if you see me online!

Book giveaway winners from last month

Some of you were kind enough to share the pics from last month’s newsletter – thank you!! I’ve selected a couple prize winners, and I’ll be sending out their signed copies of Some Shall Break asap.

And just think – I’ll be able to start giving away 3-book sets of the None Shall Sleep Sequence soon!

We needed something good

So here we are in November, and I’d originally planned to send out the cover for All Shall Mourn last month, but a couple of things got in the way - 1. It wasn’t ready, and 2. I got covid. The covid thing was really not much fun at all, and honestly the “not being ready” thing took a lot of work to fix.

But you know, I’m really glad that this month is the month we get to see the cover for the first time. Because we (specifically, me, I, myself personally) really needed something good.

Last month was a lot of breathless anticipation of the US election, and then the election happened, and boy, I don’t think it’s possible that there could’ve been a worse outcome. It was…not good, and I’ve gotta say it made me feel pretty glum about the state of the world. Aaand then I got sick…

But this – this one good thing, seeing my kid slowly pull together the cover for the book that I never thought would see the light of day, that is now finding its readers – has been hugely helpful for my brain and my heart. I want to say a special thank you to all of you who’ve been getting in touch to say how excited you are to check out the cover and read the book: That is really giving me life right now, and as far as Good Things goes, I’ll take everything I can get (so say we all!) 🖤

So that’s it from me for November. Go forth! Gaze upon the glory of the All Shall Mourn cover, and add it to your GR lists/shelves, and preorder it if you’ve got a mind to do that! I also really hope that those of you accessing the early chapters of All Shall Mourn enjoy the hell out of this month’s chapter.

I didn’t do recs of books or media this month, because a) covid has been kicking my butt and I’m tired, and b) I figured the All Shall Mourn cover reveal was pretty good! Next month, I’m going to put together a giant list of recommended books for the holidays. Before then, I hope your plane isn’t struck by lightning, and that you’re not forced to wade through Peruvian jungle streams toward civilization while only eating boiled sweets. Be kind to one another – especially my US friends – and be patient and be cool. I’m wishing you all Good Things in the lead up to the end of this year, and lots of great books.

Until next time, happy reading 😊

xxEllie

Nailbiters #31

(This month, the 4th chapter of All Shall Mourn is available below the fold – plus there’s a cover reveal!)

Weird crime story

I’m breaking with tradition this month and placing my usual article about a…

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The Black Hand, vol.42

Poisoned candy! Halloween crime!

I’m here to tell you that most of the rumours circulating about poisoned candy (or razor blades in candy, needles in candy, drugs in candy etc), especially around Halloween, are urban legends. Phew! You probably already knew it, but it’s always nice to have some reassurance.

But let’s go back a little – the ‘poisoned candy’ myth first popped up during the Industrial Revolution (I know! This apocryphal tale is really old). Before the mid-nineteenth century, you probably knew everyone who was making your food? (it was probably your nan who made beer for everyone in the village, or your cousin who made the bread for everyone in the village, or your mum at home, or the guy who lived across the street at the local inn) But during the late 1800s, food manufacturing was moved out of the home/local area and into factories.

People got kind of freaked out by the idea of food made by strangers (who used ingredients that were also unknown and not sourced locally). And let’s face it, in the nineteenth century, there probably were some dodgy ingredients going into factory-made food - does the legend of Sweeney Todd ring a bell? Anyway, governments started conducting food safety testing to reassure people, a practise which continues to this day to ensure quality control. But apocryphal stories about polluted food continued to make the rounds…

Myths about poisoned Halloween candy popped up here and there over the years, and kicked off hard in the 1960s and 70s. There were actually a couple of cases involving candy-covered laxatives, ant poison, and dog biscuits handed out during Halloween (all non-fatal), and another very sad case involving a man who took out life insurance on his kids and murdered his son with cyanide-laced candy. But mostly, the threat is wildly exaggerated. More recently, there’ve been rumours about kids receiving THC gummies during trick-or-treating – there’s no evidence this is a real thing either (also, sounds expensive).

History researchers have found that the rise of urban legends related to food tampering are an indication of societal upheaval. We live in scary times! And we translate that fear into formless anxieties about food tampering hurting our children.

Now, I wonder what sort of societal upheaval we could be dealing with at the moment? 🤔

All Shall Mourn, Chapter 3

Tangier, 27 October 1982

Simon has a standing invitation at Dar Laurent in the evenings, where they drink coffee and play chess at the rattan table with the cushioned chairs and overhanging potted palm fronds.

Laurent is about eight years Simon’s senior, an aesthete, French Canadian, with brown hair and a great deal of inherited money. He favors hashish while he plays, but Simon declines the shisha and smokes his preferred French tobacco, flavorsome and dark. He is expecting Kristin at any moment, and little of his attention is on the game…

There you go – that’s a snippet from the new chapter of All Shall Mourn which is going out this month.

If you’re a Nailbiters subscriber, you’ll already have access. If you’d like to become a Nailbiters subscriber, well thank you, that would be delightful 😊 You can find the instructions for upgrading from free to paid subscription at this link.

Subscribe now

Each new instalment gives you a jolt as all the pieces of this story begin to slowly come together. If you’d like to catch up on the open-access chapters so far, Chapter One is here and Chapter Two is here. And for those of you waiting impatiently for the entire book to arrive…well, February 2025 isn’t too far away.

I’m hoping to have the cover and the digital preorder link for All Shall Mourn ready to go soon – I’d like to release it during spooky month, but the timing depends on my cover designer, so keep your eyes open and your knives sharp for updates 😊

Some Shall Break is in US paperback!

I mean AT FREAKING LAST, amiright? The book first released in hardback in the US (and in paperback for Aus/NZ) in June last year, so US readers have been waiting over a year to get access to the paperback version – if I could’ve hurried it up, I would have, but alas I am a slave to the timetable of my US publisher. Anyway, it’s FINALLY here!

You can grab a copy at B&N for $11.99, or at Target for $11.49, or at IndieBound for $11.15 right here – choose your fighter.

And thank you for supporting the book, and the series, it really means the world ❤️

Events

I was just in Canberra, teaching free writing workshops with the UWrite @ UC program – to all the students who participated, thank you! I really hope I gave you some useful tips.

This month I’m conducting workshops at St Kevin’s College, and then I’m appearing on a panel at Newstead Young Writers Festival on Sunday 20 October – it’s free to attend, but please book and discover more info here. I’ll also be at Dymocks CBD Melbourne for Love Your Bookshop Day on Saturday 12 October - I’ll be sitting on the comfy couch at the entrance to the store, along with friends CS Pacat, Astrid Scholte, Vanessa Len and more (I hope it’s a big couch!) from 11AM-1PM and I’ll be happy to sign any books you bring along 😊

What I’m reading

I’m supposed to be in Book Jail while I finish this manuscript… But I was undisciplined as always 😬

I caved and read Nestlings by Nat Cassidy (awesome, Rosemary’s Baby meets Dracula in NYC with Jewish protags, great stuff) and They Lurk by Ronald Malfi (five novellas, my first Malfi, really enjoyable but especially the first story Skullbelly and the final novella Fierce). I also got a great-looking writing craft book, Story by Robert McKee, which I’m taking notes from.

Now I seem to have busted myself out of Book Jail, I’m hoping to get a bunch of books read in time for spooky month - I bought Experimental Film by Gemma Files, and The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin, to kick things off, as well as Murder Road by Simone St James.

I was also invited to the Melbourne launch of Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma, which looks amazing, but alas I couldn’t make it! I was so bummed. Don’t make my mistake – jump on this book, which has been described as The Cruel Prince meets Ninth House.

Any of these would be an excellent addition to your Halloween TBR. And please do tell me what you’re reading for spooky month! Horror or thriller or whatever genre you prefer, I’m always excited to see what folks are reading.

Random giveaway

I’m really stoked that US readers finally get Some Shall Break in paperback, far out. I’m also really excited that we’re finally getting All Shall Mourn in only three more months 😊

To celebrate, I’m giving away two signed paperback copies of Some Shall Break – to enter, RT either of these two posts on your Instagram feed (not in your Story, just your feed, and remember to tag me @elliemarney so I know) and I’ll choose a winner by 31 October. Easy!

Option 1:

elliemarney A post shared by @elliemarney

Option 2:

elliemarney A post shared by @elliemarneyScare Up The Vote

Okay, as you all probably know, I am not American! I cannot, therefore, vote in the US election - but I’m still kind of invested in seeing Good triumph over Evil. Also, I really wanted to draw your attention to this because it’s freaking awesome.

Tananarive Due, the author of The Reformatory (and many other amazing books), has led a grassroots campaign within the US horror community to raise funds and awareness for the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz Democratic ticket. She’s organised an amazing live event called Scare Up The Vote, and seriously can you believe the names here?

This is honestly the most incredible group of horror authors and creators I’ve seen in one event outside StokerCon. If you can participate, go here to scareupthevote.com and sign up. Because we like horror in our books, not so much in RL government…

Anyway, that’s a wrap for October 🎃 I hope your spooky month is full of good feelings, tasty treats (not poisoned), and great books.

If you’re signed up to Nailbiters and reading Chapter 3 of All Shall Mourn, I hope you enjoy it! Keep an eye out for the cover reveal for All Shall Mourn, coming soon! If you’re in the States, grab your copy of Some Shall Break in paperback! And if you want to comment down the bottom of this post and tell me what you’re reading for Halloween, I’d love to hear it 😊

Until November, stay spooky and happy reading.

xxEllie

Nailbiters #30

(For the next few months, there’ll be a link to the newest chapter of All Shall Mourn available ‘below the fold’ – enjoy!)

What’s in the rug? Or shipwrecked with your family?

I wanted to share another …

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The Black Hand, vol.41

(Hi, hi! If weird crime oddments are not your jam, feel free to scroll straight down for Chapter Two of ALL SHALL MOURN!)

Harvard rethinks human-skin book binding

I mean, it’s a good thing? Harvard scholars have long known that one of the books in its collection – Des Destinees de l’Ame (Destinies of the Soul) by Arsene Houssaye – was bound in human skin. They even made a cute little joke about it in 2014 (“good news for bibliomaniacs and cannibals alike!”), when it was confirmed that the book was a product of ‘athropodermic bibliopegy’, as human-skin binding is known.

But now the university has realised that the issue of the book’s binding is more ethically fraught than they originally considered: The novel’s first owner, Ludovic Bouland, was a French physician who bound the book with skin from a deceased human patient at the hospital where he worked, almost certainly without the patient’s consent. So the university is taking steps to remedy the matter by removing the skin binding and working with authorities to “determine a final respectful disposition of these human remains.”

Human-skin binding was actually very popular (if kind of gross) from the 1500s onward. During the French Revolution there was a rumour that a tannery for human leather had been established outside Paris. Most surviving examples of human-skin bindings have been commissioned, performed, or collected by doctors (which makes sense) and there are a number of examples of books bound in the skin of criminals, or even in the skin of a book’s own author, yikes.

Of course, these items now create a metric ton of ethical problems – mainly centred around issues like human trophy collection, and the repatriation and reburial of human remains. Putting these weighty considerations aside, there’d have to be some kind of problem having such a cursed object on your bookshelf, right? Ew.

ALL SHALL MOURN Chapter Two

I know, I know – this is what you’re really here to find…and I’m honestly really excited to be giving it to you 😊

Chapter Two of All Shall Mourn is right here. It’s much longer than the last chapter, and I suspect, if you’re an Emma and Travis stan, you might like it.

I’ve been a little bowled over by the response to the first chapter release. This newsletter gained more than 100 new followers, and…still seems to be gaining followers every day, which is pretty wild. Welcome to all you new people! I write about what I’m doing and what I’m writing and lots of other macabre stuff that vibes with my writing - as you may have noticed from the ‘human-skin book covers’ thing above - so enjoy! (or, y’know, fair warning 💀)

And hey, everyone who liked and commented and got enthused on social media about All Shall Mourn – thank you so much! This is really the stuff that keeps me going on the days the writing is hard. Plus I just lovelovelove that everyone is still so excited about my messed-up little murder crew – and I’m so very grateful that I get the chance to share the end game of these characters and this story ❤️

So yeah, Chapter Two is alive and kicking. I hope you like it!

Once again, I’d like to remind everyone that this is the last free chapter going out before the book’s release in February 2025.

There will be five more chapters releasing between now and Feb, and they’ll be available each month in Nailbiters, my special-perks newsletter, which you’re welcome to subscribe to any time.

(Nailbiters costs $6AUD/month, which is about the price of a coffee these days, or $35AUD/year. Foundation members who subscribe for any amount above 35 bucks are eligible to receive a free digital copy of All Shall Mourn just before it arrives, early in 2025. And I won’t be mad if you only sign up to read the chapters and then unsubscribe, that is totally fine by me, go sick 😊)

Subscribe now

Now go forth! Enjoy Chapter Two, with all my love.

Events and Announcements

Hey, you can preorder the US paperback of Some Shall Break at Barnes & Noble! It’s perfect timing, right before spooky month, and the preorder price is rock bottom (in fact it’s even cheaper than preordering from the ‘Zon right now). Plus B&N Premium Members get an additional 10% off, so this is truly a great time to buy.

As far as events go, I’ve just finished a self-publishing workshop at Sunshine Library, which was a lot of fun – not as comprehensive as my Writers Victoria Self-Pub Bootcamp, but all the information was simmered down into a handy 3-hour chunk. If you’ve always wanted to participate in one of my self-pub workshops but keep missing out, let me encourage you to contact either Brimbank Libraries or Writers Victoria, and tell them you’re eager for them to run these workshops again!

Next week I’m off to Canberra to lead the workshops at UWrite@UC, a free two-day series of writing workshops for high school and uni students from Canberra and the surrounding regions. Want to be involved? Check out availability here at this link.

Book Week 2024, plus 2025 government school visits

Before we stop talking events, I want to say a massive thank you and send lots of love to the students (and teachers) I met during Book Week 2024. This year was my busiest Book Week ever!

And I have to say, I really noticed the difference in the level of engagement from students at public schools: the kids at those schools were so switched on and interested, which delights me, as I teach at a government school and also my kids all went to government high schools. It made me wish that more public schools had any kind of budget for author visits – most of them don’t, they’re just trying really hard to eke out the budget they have for the necessities.

Something I’m considering, once I’ve locked in the locations I’ll be visiting for Book Week next year, is potentially offering additional visits to government schools in those areas at low-cost rates. It’s an option, so let me see what I can swing in 2025.

Tis the Season for the Sneezin’

It’s Spring! Well, it’s officially Spring in Australia – and I am back on my bullshit with hayfever medication. Every year I’m like ‘I’m sure it’ll be fine’ and then September arrives and I look around at all the wattles and hakea that bloom (adorably) in a yellow haze surrounding our house, and…back slowly away to admire them from a safe distance after I’ve taken some fexofenadine.

Autumn friends, I salute you. I love autumn above all other seasons, and there’s nothing I enjoy more than taking my jackets and coats and scarves out again each year. Plus, Halloween is spooky month, which is MY MONTH, heck yes, so we’re nearly there.

But I must admit, it’s been a long long time since we had warm weather over in my part of the world, and hayfever or no, I’m ready for a taste of the sun.

What I’m listening to

I was delighted to hear this fab interview with Anna Bogutskaya, UK author of non-fiction book Feeding the Monster: Why Horror Has a Hold On Us, over on Talking Scared – it’s a really great listen, and both Anna and Neil speak so intelligently and eloquently about the psychology of horror, I loved it.

But thanks to that interview, I also got a recommendation for Anna’s podcast The Final Girls, which is also about horror but focuses entirely on the intersection of feminism and horror, and primarily interviews women and nonbinary guests, so omg yes, cue me up. They’ve done a long series of posts about serial killers, and I’ve already started listening to their episode on Mindhunter – this is so much my shit it’s crazy 🖤

What I’m reading

Still kinda too busy to do much reading, sadly…I’ve been re-reading sections of Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, which I really love (along with Hell Bent, the sequel) and I’m absolutely hanging out for the third book to arrive sometime (no pressure, Leigh!).

But you should definitely be aware that three great books came out these past few weeks – Amie Kaufman’s The Heart of the World, Kate Armstrong’s Fyrebirds, and Lili Wilkinson’s incredibly gorgeous Bravepaw. So for the fantasy lovers of all ages in your life, you’re covered with these three 😊

And hooray for September! Next time you hear from me, it’ll be October, and you know what that means…ALL THE HALLOWEEN THINGS. I am excite 😍💀

Until then, I hope you have a wonderful month, happy reading, stay warm/cool (depending on where you’re located), and enjoy Chapter Two of All Shall Mourn!

xxEllie

Nailbiters #29

(Chapter Two of ALL SHALL MOURN available in this edition - feel free to scroll down!)

Your friendly Harvard Medical School body-parts dealer

I’m having quite a fun time with Harvard  this month, aren’…

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Nailbiters #28

No crime news, just book news: ALL SHALL MOURN

Friends, we finally – finally! – have an outcome on None Shall Sleep 3 right here:

The third book in the None Shall Sleep Sequence is titled ALL SHALL MOU…

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The Black Hand, vol. 40

Announcement: ALL SHALL MOURN

I only have one announcement for this month – and if you’ve been keeping an eye on my Instagram account, you’ll already know what it is!

Friends, we have an outcome, and the third and final book in the None Shall Sleep Sequence has been announced: ALL SHALL MOURN will be released in digital and paperback in February 2025.

Here’s the back-cover blurb:

Simon Gutmunsson is on the loose.

Since the disastrous events of the College Killer case, the FBI is coming to terms with the fact that while catching one sociopath, they’ve released another. Chillingly manipulative, frighteningly intelligent, and wholly insane, Simon Gutmunsson is the worst of the worst. Now he’s free, and on the run with his twin sister Kristin, and nobody in the FBI is smart enough to keep up…

Travis Bell's last investigation for FBI Behavioral Science nearly killed him. Supported by family and his partner Emma Lewis, now Travis just needs to get back on his feet. But Emma has been recruited to help the FBI hunt the ultimate sociopath, Simon Gutmunsson, and there’s no way Travis is letting her go into this battle alone…

Emma Lewis has gained some perspective on life, and as her emotional walls come down, she realizes that only by working as a perfect team will she and Travis have any chance of beating the Gutmunsson twins at their own terrifying game. So in a journey that will take them from Moroccan souks to Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations, the stage is set for Simon and Kristin and Emma and Travis to meet up in an epic final showdown...

Aaaahhhhh!! I’m so excited!!

I’m releasing the book myself, which means you get to see it sooner than if it was traditionally published, and I’m so damn pumped to finally be sharing this book with you!

Chapters releasing now!

I’ll be releasing seven chapters from ALL SHALL MOURN in my newsletters from now until the book’s publication.

Chapters One and Two will be available to everyone, Chapters Three through Seven will only be available to readers of my paywalled newsletter Nailbiters.

Are you ready? I AM SO READY 😁
And you can get started right away…

Chapter One is now available to read here at this link.

Q&A about ALL SHALL MOURN

What happened? Did your publisher agree to publish the book?

Nope – LBYR decided not to publish, and we couldn’t find another publisher to take it. But every single day I get asked on social media about when this book is coming, and the book is ready to go, so I said the hell with it, I’m going to release it anyway.

Can I read it now?

You can read Chapter One now, today, right this minute! Click this link.

What about the other chapters?

I’m serializing the first seven chapters of ALL SHALL MOURN in my newsletters.

So the Chapter Two link will go live to everyone via this newsletter next month (September).

Chapters Three onward (from October to February) will go out once per month in my paywalled newsletter Nailbiters – those extra chapters will be exclusive to Nailbiters readers. If you’d like to sign up to Nailbiters, you totally can (even if it’s just to read all the chapters and then unsubscribe again, I really don’t mind).

Subscribe now

But if you want to save your dollary-doos a little longer, the entire book will go out February 2025.

Can I get a digital/paperback copy of the book when it arrives?

Yes! The book will be available in both digital (ebook) and paperback (print) in Feb 2025.

What about hardcovers and audio?

I won’t be able to make hardcovers, I’m real sorry. Amazon does hardcover print-on-demand, but they don’t look very good. Ingram does hardcovers, but they’re also a bit average and cost significantly more. I figure that by October, both the first and second books will be available in the US in paperback (they’re already available in paperback in Aus/Oceania), so I’m going to skip the hardcover step and go straight to paperback for All Shall Mourn.

And also, at this point, I don’t have the budget for an audiobook. Audiobook production is hugely expensive if you do it independently – especially if, like me, you prefer to have real human voices and hire decent voice actors to narrate. Right now, it’s beyond my means.

Apologies for the limited formats (and biggest apologies to the hardcover completists) but doing this all myself makes expensive formats tougher. If the book sells well, and I get the budget for a new format, I’ll let you know.

Won’t it be a bit crummy if you’re not releasing through a publisher?

I don’t believe so? It’s the same book I’d be releasing with my publisher…and also this isn’t my first self-release rodeo. I’ve published four books myself (No Limits, and my three Circus Hearts series books) and I’ve gotten pretty good at making a great quality product. I go through the same processes – editorial, typeset, layout, proofing – as I do with a traditional publisher, except with freelance professionals, and I’m spending money on a fantastic cover.

I’m planning to make a high-standard book that’ll have the same size and look as the paperbacks you already buy from the store. I hope you like it!

What will the ALL SHALL MOURN cover look like?

My cover designer is hard at work creating something that matches the existing covers of Books 1&2, and I’ll be sharing the Book 3 cover in October. Hold onto your butts!

Will I be able to preorder the book before February 2025?

Yes again! When the cover goes live in October, there’ll be links available to preorder the book. You’ll also be able to add the book to your shelves on Goodreads.

I’m hoping to make some nice swag for preorder gifts, so stay tuned.

Will this be the final book in the series?

Yes – so far as I know (unless another publisher gets in touch and offers to pay me to write more!) I won’t rule anything out, but I’ve planned for this book to be the finale of the series.

I’m just so excited that I finally get to read the book!

Honestly, ME TOO 😁 I’m seriously stoked that I get to share it with you at last. Thank you all for your patience as we’ve followed this book (this whole series!) down its strange and narrow path to publication.

I’m nervous and excited and I really hope you love it 😊🖤

 Other Events: Book Week

Weirdly, there’s been other things happening apart from just this book reveal!

I’m currently at the tail end of Book Week activities – and holy crap, what a lot of activities there’ve been! This year I have been completely smashed with school visits and events, and I’ve loved every second of it. There’s nothing so cool as getting to meet the students who are reading your books!

If you ran into me during Book Week, I hope you got a chance to say hi, and I hope I wasn’t too exhausted from all the running around to have a proper conversation, lol.

What I’m reading

Absolutely nothing. I’ve been too damn busy.

The only problem with having such a busy Book Week is that I don’t get to read any books myself while I’m in the middle of it.

But my time will come, oh yes…and I have my eye on a bunch of great books that I’ll recommend to you once I’ve had a chance to catch my breath.

What I’m watching

I mean, we watched the Olympics? Although I only got the highlights as other people in my house were watching stuff (like ALL the swimming, and weightlifting, and track and field. Personally I would’ve liked to watch more gymnastics).

And I watched Twisters – I thought it was…fine. If you want to see something actually good (with apologies to Glen Powell, who seems like he has genuine charisma and obviously tried his best), I recommend you watch the original movie Twister with Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton.

THIS is the only thing I’ve been watching on repeat: Immortal Universe and AMC released the teaser trailer for The Vampire Lestat and I think I screamed a little when I saw it. Isn’t Sam Reid absolutely perfect? (I am preening in Australian here)

That’s it – sorry for a short one this month! I have more crime oddspots lined up for next month, but I figured you’d want to get straight into the “reading the first chapter of the new book” thing right away!

It’s been a genuine privilege to get ALL SHALL MOURN ready to share with you, and I cannot wait to hear what you think… Hit me up on Instagram or Threads if you have any comments about Chapter One, and keep your knives sharp for the next instalment in September.

And thank you, thank you, thank you! It’s been so amazing hearing from so many people how much they love the None Shall Sleep series and how much they’ve been hanging out for the finale. I hardly dared to believe we’d get to this point, where I get to send the conclusion of Emma and Travis and Simon and Kristin’s story out into the world – but here we are. You folks made this happen, so thank you.

I hope the book is everything you ever dreamed of 🖤

Have a great month, and see you in September for Chapter Two!

xxEllie

Nailbiters #27

Fake museum monsters

This one’s a little weird and wonderful: Did you know that, throughout history, a generous industry developed around creating counterfeit fossils, forged artifacts, and fabricated…

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