Ellie Marney's Blog, page 5

The Black Hand, vol.34

Thieves just want it on sale

Look, I thought this might be a good way to kick into the new year, because while we’re still paying off the excesses of Christmas, who amongst us hasn’t looked at one of those KitchenAid mixer thingies and wished it was half price?

Two guys in Colorado apparently wished the same when they were sentenced for stealing a KitchenAid mixer from a Kohl’s store last year. The argument their lawyers used? That the men should receive a lesser sentence because the item was on sale.

I have the same reaction when looking at Le Creuset. No, not that I could steal it, but that it was half price. Okay sometimes I wish I could steal it.

This seems like a shits-and-giggles case, but of course it’s not – the lawyers argued for consideration over the sale issue because theft of items over $2000 is a class 6 felony, rather than a misdemeanour charge. Needless to say, the DA was not amused: “Just because an item is ‘on sale’ doesn’t mean it’s free to steal, and these defendants now get to think about this lesson in prison.”

What a Grinch! Geez, man, lighten up, it’s just a cake mixer. Also, what is property, I pay top dollar (and the price is going up! Ouch) for my Kindle books but Amazon can snatch them back at any time – anyway I digress…

Hello and welcome back!

We somehow arrived in 2024, far out! Hi! It’s nice to be back, and I hope you had an excellent festive season, and had a chance to read some good books (Maybe some of the ones on the Bram Stoker preliminary ballot? That’s a heckuva list. And the nominees for the Edgars are worth checking out too).

I also hope you got plenty of rest, because you know how it goes – before we can blink it’ll be June and we’ll all be wondering where the time went. Don’t tell me it’s not true! I mean, I’ve already skipped January…👀

A friend of mine is trying to start a movement where we all declare that January is actually still part of the year before, so we don’t really start anything until February. I’ve gotta say, I’m a supporter.

But seriously, I hope 2024 is treating you kind so far, and you and your family are healthy and well. May the odds this year be always in our favour, as they say.

Speaking of sales…

I did my best to let folks know via social media that SOME SHALL BREAK hardcovers were 50% off at Barnes&Noble late 2023/Jan 2024, but I’m afraid if you didn’t get the news, you’ve missed that window. I’m sorry! There will probably be a next time, so when I find out about sale news, I’ll send out a quick email blast. And hey, on the upside, THE KILLING CODE is (finally!) due to release in paperback real soon - I’ll keep you updated.

Where to find me

I’ll be at Writers Victoria leading a long course called “Self Publishing In Depth” across three Saturdays from 17 Feb, which is real soon. If you haven’t already booked, I’m afraid that course is currently waitlist only – but the folks at WV are pretty great, and if you’re super keen and leave your name on the waitlist, they’ll get in touch if anyone drops out.

I’m going to be covering the process of self-publishing in as much detail as I can, and I’m really looking forward to getting started! If you’re booked to attend, please do say hi, and let me know you’re a subscriber so I know I’m amongst friends 😊

I’ll also be at Beyond the Book 2024 (what used to be called Voices on the Coast), which is exciting, as I’ve never been invited there before! If you’re in the audience up in Queensland, give me a wave, or better yet, come up and introduce yourself.

What I’m reading/watching/listening to

Can I please flail for a second about Blue Eye Samurai? Seriously, it is SO GOOD.

Most definitely adult in both tone, images, and themes, it’s doing things I just don’t see live-action adult drama doing much of these days. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I finished watching it, and the visuals are just SPECTACULAR. Honestly, I’m a bit worried that I may have already watched the best show of the year (especially now I’ve learned that Yellowjackets s3 has been delayed until 2025 – wah!!).

But if you’d rather go out to the movies than stay in, Godzilla Minus One is a solid choice. Smart, courageous, and full of genuine heart, it’s a fantastic flick – I took my teenage boys to see it, and they loved it too, and all of us came out of the cinema talking about how great it was to watch something that felt real in a way that so many current Marvel films don’t.

AS far as books go, I’ve read a couple that have disappointed me lately (inevitable, when you read as much as I do) but as soon as I read the first pages of The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, I knew my bad run was over. It’s a long ‘un (about 600 pages) but it’s an absolute page-turner, completely gripping, one of those books you can hardly bear to set aside long enough to do basic tasks like get yourself another cup of tea.

Set in Florida during the Jim Crow period of the 1950’s, it’s about a 12yo African-American boy who is unjustly sent to a notorious reform school, where his latent power – seeing ghosts, or ‘haints’ – comes into full bloom. Meanwhile, his 16yo sister works frantically on the outside to get him released. A sideways glimpse into a fictional version of the real-life Dozier School for Boys, this is a brutal book, a terrifying confrontation of the horrors of racism in the Jim Crow South, so please do mind trigger warnings. But it’s full of incredible characters, heart-pounding scenes, and bravura writing, once again making me worry that I’ve already read the best book of the year…

And I’m going to combine two things into one for a moment, as a way to make them both more enjoyable – True Detective: Night Country with Jodie Foster and Kali Reis has had me gripped from the start, with its spooky setting and corpsicle full of frozen scientists giving very The Thing vibes, and it’s more fun if you dive into some of the background inspiration, so check out this episode of You’re Wrong About: The Dyatlov Pass Incident, featuring Arctic explorer Blair Braverman, for an inside look at stuff like paradoxical undressing during hypothermia, slab avalanches, and more.

The corpsicle is giving ‘Dance Party in the Snow Gone Terribly Wrong’New Year, New Look!

I decided it was time to up my game on Instagram this year, so my new theme is GIALLO – lots of murdery, creepy, over-the-top, saturated-colour-goodness! I hope you enjoy it 😊

Random giveaway

Look, I’m trying to clear some of the stuff out of my writing office, and I found three Canadian hardcovers of Every Word just lying around, so help me out a little?

I would be delighted if someone wanted to take these off my hands, to make some space – if you’d like one, please drop a note in the comments and I’ll send a signed copy to three names I pull out of a hat. (If you’re chosen, I’ll get you to email with your postal addy – postage is covered by me)

And that’s it for our first edition for 2024! It’s lovely to be back, and I really hope I can make the year amusing for you when my emails drop in your inbox once a month. Go easy this early in the year – be kind to yourself, remember it’s a marathon not a sprint – and I’ll catch you again in March.

Happy reading and stay cool!

xxEllie

Nailbiters #21

Long email alert!

This is my final email for the year, and it’s a little, er, long - I encourage you to open it in your browser to get the full effect 😁

Books I’m reading on holidays

Holidays are here!…

Read more

The Black Hand, vol. 33

Batshit holiday crime

Every time I write my end-of-year newsletter, I try to find some absolutely lunatic holiday crime to regale you with for our grand finale. This year, I think I’ve found a good one – it’s the story of the Christmas tree that wasn’t a Christmas tree.

This article from a UK newspaper explains how a woman from San Bernardo in Chile bragged to her neighbours that she had the ‘best Christmas tree in the world’, and it turned out to be…a large marijuana plant.

Police raided the house (probably on a tip-off from jealous neighbours, amiright?) and found the plant in her living room, surrounded by wrapped gifts just like a regular holiday tree. They arrested the woman for possession of £25,000 in cash, 21 cannabis plants, two homemade shotguns, and 29 bags of drugs. Ho ho ho!

It certainly gives a different slant on the idea of ‘the season to be jolly’.

Police reportedly said, “We expected to find some drugs, but the last thing we expected to see was one of the plants being used as a Christmas tree.” I hope the lady in question wasn’t using any extra herbs in her Christmas cooking, but who’s to know.

And hey

If you don’t like that batshit holiday crime story, maybe you’ll like this one about the lady in Sydney who accidentally stole 10,000 doughnuts.

Australia Represent!

Like what you’re reading? Please consider supporting me by subscribing!

How I’m doing

Hey, thank you, I’m doing a lot better now! It’s been six weeks since my surgery, and while I’m still going slow (like, slowwwww) with everything, I seem to be improving week on week. Thank you all again for the good wishes, I’ve really appreciated that ♥

The weird thing I’m finding is that I feel great for a couple of days, then I backslide into a few days of exhaustion and discomfort. But hey, four weeks ago I couldn’t stand up unassisted; this see-sawing is probably normal, right? I’m not a doctor, what do I know – safe to say that there’s still a lot of resting ahead in my future.

On the upside, I’ve had the chance to spend some quality time watching TV with my kids lately, which has been kinda great. I finally discovered GOOD OMENS – I’m not really into the action of the show, but I could happily watch Michael Sheen and David Tennant flirt with each other all day. They’ve done such an incredible job of evoking two people with a millennia-old connection that anytime they’re not onscreen I lose interest. And Sheen does this thing where his eyes keep straying to Tennant’s lips, and it’s just delightful. Anyway, I can’t wait to get into season 2 😁

In other news, I’ve finally reached my greatest goal of the year.

That’s right. After many diligent months of my continual reminders, my kids have finally learned to automatically stack the dishes on the draining board before the washing up commences.

I’m so proud.

Yes, this is me being sarcastic while I’m stuck here on the couch, watching the house get extremely messy around me.

Merch!

YES – finally, we have merch!

If you’d like to buy yourself (or someone you love) a None Shall Sleep tote, or a No Monsters Only People hoodie, or a None Shall Sleep pillow (lol) or something else, now you can! I vouch for the hoodies, they are extremely snuggly and I wear mine constantly. Go here to the brand-spanking-new merch page on my website and order to your heart’s content.

This is a pretty great achievement too, tbh 😁

Giveaway

I’ve been angsting about giveaways lately because while I’ve been stuck on the couch with health things, I haven’t been able to get to the post office with giveaway prizes.

Then I realised – wait, I can do a giveaway without posting anything at all.

So if you would like a free one-year subscription to Nailbiters, my behind-the-scenes paywalled newsletter with sneak peeks, deep cuts into how my books are written, and special treats like excerpts from None Shall Sleep 3, please leave a comment/reply on this newsletter letting me know.

I’ll choose three winners and inform them in replies, then activate your Nailbiters access immediately.

Holidays for book lovers

Look, these bookish holiday destinations are all in the UK, but I can dream, right?

There’s a nice selection in this article of places to go – writers’ retreats, book-readers’ cosy nooks, libraries to visit.  You can have the services of a ‘bookish butler’. Visit all the locations of famous UK authors’ houses or writing nooks (that’s free, you just follow the trail of blue markers). Have a library sleepover (will one night really be enough?). Go on a bookclub holiday in North Yorkshire.

And this pic (below) of the University Arms Hotel in Cambridge – am I deluded? Isn’t this the filming location of at least one scene in the Sense and Sensibility movie with Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant??

Where can you find me these days?

If you’re trying to find me on Facebook…sorry, but I don’t really live there anymore (haven’t for a while, although my author page is still up).

I’m on IG of course, and also on Tiktok, and I’m having a bit of fun there releasing reels with quotes from the None Shall Sleep Sequence, like so:

@elliemarneyauthorsounds like a plan, Travis 👍 #someshallbreak #elliemarney #noneshallsleepsequence #noneshallsleep #thriller #horror [image error]Tiktok failed to load.

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Otherwise…I mean, Twitter (yeesh, I refuse to call it X) is emitting its dying death rattles, and while I’m still there sometimes, I don’t hang around much like I used to.

Bluesky is nice, I guess? I really liked it when I joined up, but it hasn’t seemed to make a lot of progress since then. I have an account on Bluesky, but I’m only popping in and out.

Threads – yes, I am on Threads now, wth. I heard that it was nicer than Twitter, and more active than Bluesky. Initially I vowed I wouldn’t use it because once you’re on it you can’t delete it without nuking your IG profile… But dang it, I’m finding it more enjoyable than I anticipated. My only sadness is that there aren’t more horror writers I love there. Maybe more will switch over? We’ll see.

I’m not on Notes. Social media is deeply confusing to me right now. Honestly, the best place to find my unexpurgated nonsense is here in this newsletter, and also in my paywalled newsletter Nailbiters.

Trying to buy my books for the holidays?

You can! In fact, I encourage it 😂

I have a list of all my books and every place I can possibly think of where you can buy them right here.

If you’re looking for signed copies, there will be some at Dymocks CBD Melbourne in a week’s time. Otherwise, feel free to get in touch in the new year for a signed bookplate (free! I just send them out in an envelope, it’s no problem).

LoveOzYAbookclub

This month we’re reading DARK HEIR, the NYT bestselling sequel to one of my fave books of last year, Dark Rise, by CS Pacat, and I AM EXCITED. Come on over to the IG page and say hi anytime.

That’s it from me, and that’s it for 2023! Wow, did this year go fast or what? Wild stuff.

I’m still gonna be sitting here on my couch a while longer, but please allow me to wish you all a very happy holiday season! May you have a calm, enjoyable, and soul-warming celebration at year’s end. This newsletter is on hiatus from now until February 2024 (I mean, you can still read back editions if you like). But all the very best from me and mine to you and yours ♥

Take care of yourselves, happy reading, and I hope you get some excellent books for Christmas! See you in the New Year!

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub Dec 23 title announcement – DARK HEIR (Dark Rise #2)

Hello, and welcome to the final book of the year! Emm and I are very delighted to announce that our very last book of 2023 will be DARK HEIR, the second book in the Dark Rise series by groundbreaking GLAAD-nominated author CS Pacat. Here’s the blurb:

In this riveting sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel Dark Rise, Will and his allies have survived the Dark’s first assault, but at a terrible cost.

A new threat from the past is rising, and only a handful of heroes remain to fight. Pursued by dark forces, Will and his allies must leave the safety of the Hall and travel to the heart of the ancient world, making new and dangerous alliances, and revealing the shocking secrets of the past.

But Will is carrying a dark secret of his own—his true identity. Drawn to the beautiful and deadly James St. Clair, Will is pulled ever deeper into the web of the past, and finds himself tempted by the darkness within. As the ancient world threatens to return, can Will and his friends fight their fate? Or will the truths they learn tear their world apart?

I am so excited to read this one! We are fighting over who gets to read it first at my house

You can grab your own copy of DARK HEIR at 20% off through our partners, Readings Books here. Alternatively, if you’d prefer the ebook version, you can find it here or here.

Happy reading, and from Emmaly and I, all our best wishes for a happy holiday to you and yours, and a very fantastic New Year! After our usual holiday hiatus, LoveOzYAbookclub will be back in action in February 2024 – see you then!

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub Nov 2023 title announcement – THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF CINNAMON GIRL

For our November Classic Read we’d like to announce THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF CINNAMON GIRL by Melissa Keil.

Alba loves her life just as it is.
She loves living behind the bakery, and waking up in a cloud of sugar and cinnamon. She loves drawing comics and watching bad TV with her friends. 

The only problem is she’s overlooked a few teeny details:
Like, the guy she thought long gone has unexpectedly reappeared.
And the boy who has been her best friend since forever has suddenly gone off the rails. 
And even her latest comic-book creation is misbehaving.
Also, the world might be ending – which is proving to be awkward.
As Doomsday enthusiasts flock to idyllic Eden Valley, Alba’s life is thrown into chaos. Whatever happens next, it’s the end of the world as she knows it. But when it comes to figuring out her heart, Armageddon might turn out to be the least of her problems .

Melissa Keil was born in Melbourne, and has been a giant book nerd for as long as she can remember. She studied Cinema and Anthropology at university, and then spent a few years dabbling in graduate study, including Professional Writing and Editing. In between she has been a high school teacher, Middle Eastern tour guide, waitress, community theatre dogsbody, and IT help desk person. Now, by day, she is a children’s book editor, and spends the rest of her time writing, watching YouTube, and wrangling a cheeky spoodle named Hugo. Her debut YA novel, Life in Outer Space, was the winner of the 2013 Ampersand Project and the 2014 Ena Noël award. Her subsequent YA novels were The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl and The Secret Science of Magic. Melissa’s short story, Sundays, is featured in Begin, End, Begin, the #LoveOzYA anthology. Her books have been shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year award, the Prime Minister’s Literary Award and the Gold Inky, and have been published around the world.

I hope everyone enjoys THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF CINNAMON GIRL. We also have the discount code (LOVE2LOVEOZYA) now active in November for you to purchase the book for 20% off at Readings. Thank you so much to Readings! Look out for our author interview with Melissa later in the month on our Instagram page LoveOzYABookclub. Emm xx

LOVEOZYABOOKCLUB SEPTEMBER 2023 TITLE ANNOUNCEMENT – ELEANOR JONES IS NOT A MURDERER

Hello and welcome to September! Is it just me, or are the days speeding up? We’re in the latter half of the year already, and here in south eastern Australia, the wattles are out and the sun is beginning to return – I’m looking forward to some warmer weather! While the cold winter days are nice for snuggling up on the couch with a book, it’s nice to think about sitting on a deck chair, feeling the warm breeze, with ice cubes clinking in a glass as you relax into your next summer read…

Before we get to the deck chairs though, I hope you enjoy our September title – ELEANOR JONES IS NOT A MURDERER is the debut YA novel from Amy Doak, and I do love seeing more YA murder mysteries on the shelves!

Here’s the blurb:

Eleanor Jones has just started at her ninth high school in less than five years. Since she and her mum are always moving on, Eleanor likes to stay on the outer, to stay invisible. So maybe it’s just bad luck that the very first person she talks to at Cooinda Secondary College, Angus Marshall, is stabbed and left for dead the same day. The last message on Angus’s phone is from Eleanor Jones.

After being interviewed by the police, Eleanor realises they don’t have all the facts and decides to investigate. In trying to understand what happened to Angus, Eleanor inadvertently becomes involved with an eclectic group of fellow students – all of whom have their own reasons to want to solve the mystery.

As they slowly unravel Angus’s secrets, Eleanor discovers the true meaning of friendship – and uncovers a danger lurking at the heart of the town . . .

You can buy a brand new copy of ELEANOR JONES IS NOT A MURDERER from our partner Readings Books by using the special LOVE2LOVEOZYA code at checkout during September. Alternatively, you can find the digital copy here.

I hope you enjoy another twisty mystery for September, and happy reading!

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub August 2023 title announcement – WE DIDN’T THINK IT THROUGH

It’s August already! We are very super excited to announce our book for August 2023 is WE DIDN’T THINK IT THROUGH by Gary Lonesborough.

The thought comes to me: This is how I die. Dally is going to lose control and crash us into a pole or a house and we will be killed on impact.
The justice system characterises Jamie Langton as a ‘danger to society’, but he’s just an Aboriginal kid, trying to find his way through adolescence. Jamie lives in Dalton’s Bay with Aunty Dawn and Uncle Bobby. He spends his downtime hanging out with his mates, Dally and Lenny. Mark Cassidy and his white mates – the Footy Heads – take every opportunity they can to bully Jamie and his friends. On Lenny’s last night in town before moving to Sydney, after another episode of racist harassment, Jamie, Dally and Lenny decide to retaliate by vandalising Mark Cassidy’s car. And when they discover the keys are in the ignition… Dally changes the plan. Soon they are all in Mark Cassidy’s stolen car cruising through town, aiming to take it for a quick spin, then dump it.
But it’s a bad plan. And as a consequence, Jamie ends up in the youth justice system where he must find a way to mend his relationships with himself, his friends, his family and his future.

Gary Lonesborough is a Yuin writer, who grew up on the Far South Coast of NSW as part of a large and proud Aboriginal family. A massive Kylie Minogue and North Queensland Cowboys fan, Gary was always writing as a child, and continued his creative journey when he moved to Sydney to study at film school. Gary has experience working in Aboriginal health, the disability sector, the youth justice system, and the film industry, including working on the feature film adaptation of Jasper Jones. WE DIDN’T THINK IT THROUGH is the fantastic follow-up to his previous novels, THE BOY FROM THE MISH, and READY WHEN YOU ARE.

I hope everyone enjoys WE DIDN’T THINK IT THROUGH. We also have the discount code (LOVE2LOVEOZYA) now active in August for you to purchase the book for 20% off at Readings. Thank you so much to Readings! Look out for our author interview with Gary later in the month on our Instagram page LoveOzYAbookclub.

Emm xx

#LoveOzYAbookclub July 2023 title announcement – WE COULD BE SOMETHING

Hello, bookclub friends, and welcome to July

Break out your fuzzy cardigans, folks, because this month’s read is the delightful, poignant, and brilliant WE COULD BE SOMETHING, the latest book by OzYA stalwart, Will Kostakis.

Will’s books have featured here before – because he’s been on the Australian book-writing scene for a long time (his first book, Loathing Lola, was published when he was nineteen). You might have picked up one of his other books – The First Third, The Sidekicks, Monuments – but I can guarantee you won’t have read anything like WE COULD BE SOMETHING.

Here’s the blurb:

Part Coming-Out Story.

Part falling-in-love story.

Part falling-apart story.

Harvey’s dads are splitting up. It’s been on the cards for a while, but it’s still sudden. Woken-by-his-father-to-catch-a-red-eye sudden. Now he’s restarting His Life In A New City, Living Above A Cafe With The Extended Greek Family He Barely Knows.

Sotiris is a rising star. At seventeen, he’s already achieved his dream of publishing a novel. When his career falters, a cute, wise-cracking bookseller named Jem upends his world.

Harvey and Sotiris’s stories converge on the same street in Darlinghurst, in this beautifully heartfelt novel about how our dreams shape us, and what they cost us.

You can get 20% off your order of this month’s book when you use the code LOVE2LOVEOZYA while buying online from our partner, Readings Books. Or you can find the ebook of WE COULD BE SOMETHING here, if you prefer to read in digital.

Hope you enjoy our July pick, and happy reading!

xxEllie

#LoveOzYAbookclub June 2023 title announcement – THE ISLES OF THE GODS

Hello and welcome to the June 2023 title announcement. We are very excited to announce our book this month is THE ISLES OF THE GODS by Amie Kaufman.

When Selly’s father leaves her high and dry in the port of Kirkpool, she has no intention of riding out the winter on land while he sails to adventure in the north seas. But any plans to follow him are dashed when a handsome stranger with tell-tale magician’s marks on his arm boards her ship, presenting her and the crew with a dangerous mission: to cross the Crescent Sea without detection so he can complete a ritual on the sacred Isles of the Gods. What starts as a leisure cruise will lead to acts of treason and sheer terror on the high seas, bringing two countries to the brink of war, two strangers closer than they ever thought possible and stirring two dangerous gods from centuries of slumber…

I hope everyone enjoys THE ISLES OF THE GODS. We also have the discount code (LOVE2LOVEOZYA) now active in June for you to purchase the book for 20% off at Readings Books. Thank you so much to Readings! Look out for our author interview with Amie Kaufman later in the month on our Instagram page LoveOzYAbookclub. Remember all our posts are on IG now and we look forward to chatting with you all in our new home.

Emm xx

#LoveOzYAbookclub May 2023 title announcement – A HUNGER OF THORNS

Hello and welcome to the May 2023 title announcement. We are very excited to announce our book this month is A HUNGER OF THORNS by Lili Wilkinson.

Maude is the daughter of witches. She spent her childhood running wild with her best friend, Odette, weaving stories of girls who slayed dragons and saved princes. Then Maude grew up and lost her magic—and her best friend. 
 
These days, magic is toothless, reduced to glamour patches and psychic energy drinks found in supermarkets and shopping malls. Odette has always hungered for forbidden, dangerous magic, and two weeks ago she went searching for it. Now she’s missing, and everyone says she’s dead. Everyone except Maude.
 
Storytelling has always been Maude’s gift, so she knows all about girls who get lost in the woods. She’s sure she can find Odette inside the ruins of Sicklehurst, an abandoned power plant built over an ancient magical forest—a place nobody else seems to remember is there. The danger is, no one knows what remains inside Sicklehurst, either. And every good story is sure to have a monster.

I hope everyone enjoys A HUNGER OF THORNS. We also have the discount code (LOVE2LOVEOZYA) now active for you to purchase the book for 20% off at Readings. Thank you so much to Readings! Look out for our author interview with Lili Wilkinson later in the month on our LoveOzYAbookclub Instagram page. Remember all our posts are on IG now and we look forward to chatting with you all in our new home.

Emmxx