Nicola Griffith's Blog, page 26

Spear wins the Ray Bradbury Prize

The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were awarded last night, and Spear won the Ray Bradbury Award. Apparently it is a Queer Arthurian Masterpiece. I am pleased—ha! English understatement! I am fucking thrilled, delighted, and beaming! I haven’t stopped grinning since my editor at FSG, Sean Macdonald, texted me 13 hours ago.

But I’m also surprised. Before you roll your eyes let me say what I’ve already said a dozen times in the last month because it bears repeating: this is not false modesty. I’m not modest about this book at all. It’s a fucking great book. Pound for pound it was as good as anything on last night’s shortlist: Alex Jennings’ The Ballad of Perilous Graves has already won the Crawford Award; Ray Nayler’s fabulous exploration of alien intelligence, The Mountain in the Sea, is a great science fiction debut (and, like Spear, also on the Nebula shortlist); I haven’t read Sara Gran’s book yet but the reviews are good; and George Saunders, well, he’s already won Big Lit Prizes (though I admit I didn’t even attempt to read his collection because me and his work just don’t get along). Go read the beginning of that sentence again: “pound for pound.” Because that’s the thing: size matters.

Spear is a very short book1— it’s been reviewed as both a novel and a novella, and not a few reviewers complain that as a novel it’s too short, while others mutter that it tries to do too much for a novella. I disagree on both counts, of course—I think the book takes exactly the right number of words to do what it does—but the sentiment is widespread. I never call it either a Novel or a Novella and instead refer to it as a Book—or sometimes joke that it needs a new term, maybe Noveling?

So, yeah, did I really think the Los Angeles Times would give my wee noveling a prize? No—and confidently declared as much. Because I really was confident. Over the last 30 years I’ve got pretty good at forecasting my own chances: I’ve been right every time except, well, except the last time one of my books was up for something, when So Lucky won the Washington State Book Award. And, again, it was the length of the book that tripped me up.2

So now I honestly don’t know what to think about Spear’s chances for other awards. Until 12 hours ago I was absolutely confident that I wouldn’t win the Nebula next month but now I’m really not sure. I suspect that as the awards banquet approaches I’ll grow hopeful. Because although my head still says Nope, my heart has started to whisper, Maybe? Either way, I am not complaining! I plan to have a blast in Anaheim next month, win or lose.3

So if you’re going to be there please come and say hello. I’ll be the one grinning her fool head off.

1 So short that at 45,000 words it technically qualifies as a novella for awards like the Hugo (which allow a 20% word-count overage for its categories)—which of course means that some people will vote for it in that category, and others in the Novel category which means, by my reckoning (which, y’know, we’ve already establish is flawed), it probably won’t make the shortlist for either category…

2 So Lucky really is a novella—35,000 words—and would be categorised as such by any genre award committee (though of course it was never considered for any genre awards—despite being stuffed with imaginary beings and monsters). And, yes, even though I didn’t expect to win I’d given some thought to a thank-you speech just in case. The cost-benefit analysis of taking half an hour to plan for something that won’t happen versus regretting feeling like a fool when you’re speechless in front of hundreds of people is clear. It’s like looking both ways when you cross the street, or using your seatbelt. You don’t expect to be hit by a moving vehicle but What If?

3 Just as I’d planned to have a stress-free blast in Los Angeles this weekend but after a last-minute phone conversation with the Director of Events, withdrew. But that’s a story for another post.

Menewood Q&A

Bookshop.org | Amazon.com | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Amazon.co.uk | Phinney Books | Target

After I posted on Monday about the ARC of MENEWOOD I started to get many questions on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter about pre-orders, publication dates, review copies, audio editions, word count/page length, and more. This post is designed to address those questions.

When is the book coming out?

In North America October 3 from MCD/FSG, an imprint of Macmillan. 

What about the UK/Australia/New Zealand?

Frankly I have no idea. We had a deal all set up, the editor loved the book, and then she found out I wasn’t willing to either split the two into two or cut a big chunk from a single volume and she withdrew. So what’s happening now? No idea. This is the kind of crap that happened with Hild, too. When it comes to my non-sff books (the Aud novels, So Lucky, Hild, Menewood) the UK is a weird market for me. (I’ve never understood why.) But you will be able to buy it—either the export US version or, eventually, the UK edition.

Is there an audiobook?

Yes. The book will be available as a hardcover, ebook, and digital audio—all available on 3 October, 2023—and, a year or so later, a paperback.

Are you narrating the audiobook?

No. Menewood will have the same narrator as Hild, Pearl Hewitt.

Can I get hold of the book early?

If you’re a book professional, yes. The digital galley is up right now on NetGalley and Edelweiss. Or if you contact Molly Grote, my publicist at FSG, she might send you an ARC or e-galley. If you/re not a book professional, don’t despair: FSG will no doubt run some kind of galley promotion or sweepstakes, and it’s entirely possible I might run a competition or two (depending on how many ARCs I get from the publisher). So stay tuned.

Can I pre-order it now?

Yes! You can pre-order from anywhere books are sold (see the list at the top of the page and again at the bottom). Financially it makes no difference to me where you buy it—I get the same royalty—but as we need the entire book ecosystem to remain healthy I’d like to suggest you get it from an independent bookseller. And if you’re not sure which format to buy, I can tell you that I make more from hardcover sales. Plus the hardcover will glitter with gold and it’s easier to look at the maps and family tree etc. But any format is good—buy one of each!

Can I pre-order a signed and personalised copy?

Yes! From Phinney Books. And as I signed thousands of tip-in sheets a couple of months ago, some other outlets will have signed copies on Day 1—though they won’t be personalised. Closer to publication I’ll know what bookstores I’ll be doing events for, and some of those stores will also have signed copies where, with advance notice, I can personalise them. For now, though, your best bet is Phinney Books.

So you’re doing a tour?

Yes! Maybe. Those details are still TBD. I almost always travel at least regionally and depending on my health and energy maybe I’ll do select dates on the West Coast, or East Coast, or Midwest. In other words, if you’re in the Puget Sound region you will, absolutely, get a chance to see me in person. But the rest may be a mix of in-person and virtual. I should have a better idea by the end of summer.

How long is it?

Long! But not too long! It’s 30% longer than Hild: 269,000 words. The first-pass proofs come in at 736 pages, including most of the paratext—y’know, all the fiddly bits: the juicy extras.

Speak to me of the juicy extras!

Oh, there are so many! I think this deserves its own blog post. For now let’s just say there’s a multi-part Author’s Note, maps, glossary, and more. Stay tuned.

Where to pre-order

Bookshop.org | Amazon.com | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Amazon.co.uk | Phinney Books | Target

And depending where you are in the world you might want to take look at this list of independent bookshops worldwide recommended by readers. It may need updating—if you see anything obviously out of date, please drop a comment.

Big, Bold, Bloody and Beautiful

Behold! Hot off the presses: the first Preview Copy (FSG/MCD’s way of saying Advanced Reading Copy) of MENEWOOD. There’s just one right now but more are on the way!

Image description: A gorgeously illustrated book—Menewood by Nicola Griffith—standing up right on a sunlit wooden table.

Look at the blurb on the back:

Image description: the back of a big book. In giant letters the back copy reads “The long-awaited sequel to Hild—bigger, bolder, bloodier and even more medieval than the beloved original.”

This is truth in advertising. It is certainly bigger—30% bigger than Hild. Look at the size of that spine:

Image description: a thick book standing spine out and lettered in gold: Menewood Nicola Griffith

The ARC might be a bit brick-like but the finished book will be beautiful. The hardcover proportions will be much more graceful—a bigger trim size that isn’t suitable for ARCs because at this length it would be too floppy and weird to hold in softcover. Then of course there’s that cover—the gorgeous art by the Balbusso twins, deliciously-textured cover stock, and glittering with luscious gold—enough to wake anyone’s inner dragon.

And then there’s the interior design. It’s not quite finished yet—some of the pretties won’t be in the ARC—but the book is divided into three volumes, and each volume further divided, for a total of seven parts. And each part has a little bit of fanciness. Then there’s the maps. (Yes! Plural!) And the Family Tree and the Glossary. And the Historical Note. And that note’s footnotes! And… Well, there’s a lot of stuff.

And, oh , it is most definitely bloodier. The book covers four of the most violent and intense years of Early Medieval Britain north of the Humber. Let me just put it this way: William the Conqueror wasn’t the first to harrow the North…

So it’s big. It’s beautiful. And it’s bloody. And, yes, is it bold. It is not a polite book. It’s a book about power. Hild is not a shy and retiring being and it’ll be some time before she becomes anything like a saint. In MENEWOOD she is turned up to 11: love, lust, life; grief, war, risk and reward. No holds barred. But Hild is a whole human being, textured and complex. She also thinks and dreams, dwells and pauses, plans and persuades. Above all, the learns.

There’s so much I want to tell you about this book. And I will, over the next few months. In the next post, though, I’ll start with the important stuff: how to get hold of a copy—pre-orders, review copies, and perhaps even a sweepstakes or competition. Stay tuned!

Verification: where to find the real me online

Twitter will be taking away blue-check verification from those, like me, who won’t pay $8 a month for what will become a useless tool.

This post exists to

verify that, yes, I’m who I say I amlist where else you can find me online

So, hello! This is me, Nicola Griffith, writer and queer crip (see About for more). Here’s where you can find me:

My blog and website—where you are now, reading this. Starting in 1995 I began Ask Nicola, a subsite of a website run by friend Dave Slusher. In 2001 I launched nicolagriffith.com, and in 2008 started a blog, also Ask Nicola. In 2014 I consolidated everything into this site. I post whenever I feel like it—sometimes often, sometimes rarely. Take a look at the Top 15 posts of the last year and you’ll get a sense of my range of interests. If you like what you see, sign up to get new posts sent directly to your inbox.Twitter—the place I’m most likely to see what other people say and interact online. I mostly work through curated lists of early medieval history, disability, life sciences, and books. Over the last few years I’ve become less politically engaged. Facebook—both a personal profile and an official page, though my page is sadly neglected (right now it mirrors posts from my research blog, Gemaecce.com).Research blog—gemaecce.com, which I started in 2008 to have a place to put ruminations on the research I do for my sequence of novels about the seventh-century figure, Hild of Whitby. This goes through phases. I can go a year with no post, then when a book approaches publication, or when I’m in the initial, intense phase of research for a new book, post in a hurry and flurry.Instagram—where I post pictures of books, and drinks, and cats, and Kelley on an irregular schedule.YouTube—where I’ve posted a miscellany of videos, mostly to Blow Shit Up!, my playlist of FX vids, and Readings, which is, well, me reading from and talking about my books. There are also a few music videos—of Janes Plane, the band I fronted in the Long Ago.LinkedIn—which just mirrors my blog.Tumblr—ditto.Muckrack—where I sometimes remember to add portfolio links to Op-Eds, newspaper reviews, and essays I’ve written.Author pages on Amazon and Goodreads—but I rarely do anything with them.I also have placeholder accounts on Mastodon, Spoutible, TikTok, Post, Medium and many others—whenever a new thing comes along I sign up, just in case, but rarely bother to establish any kind of presence there. As and when that changes I’ll link the accounts.

Orlando on Friday: Menewood wake-up call!

If you’re going to be at ICFA this Friday, come listen to me read from Menewood! Yes, it’s early, 8:30 am, but trust me, the opening scene is lively. It. Will. Wake. You. Up!

Friday, March 17, 2023 — Orlando, FL — International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts

Reading: 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM, Vista A | Group reading. I’ll be reading from Menewood!Signing immediately afterwards in the hall opposite registration

I’ll be reading with three other fine folk. What better way to face the morning?

And then later that afternoon, 2:30 pm, Kelley will be reading something special. She’s a fabulous reader. Do come listen.

More about the cover of Menewood

Cover of Menewood: A Novel by Nicola Griffith (MCDxFSG, 3 October, 2023). Cover art by Anna and Elena Balbusso. Cover design by Na Kim.

Image description: Richly coloured cover of a novel, Menewood, by Nicola Griffith, painted predominatly in blue, gold, black, and red. The image is of a young woman—Hild, the protagonist of the novel—standing tall against an ominous backdrop of medieval warfare. Behind her in the upper left, the top corner is golden, with white-hot tipped yellow arrows arcing overhead against what might be dark mountains or forbidding trees. The arrows are, perhaps, on fire. Crows are dodging them. Below the arrows and crows a mounted warrior charges from left to right, shield glinting silver, sword raised, face hidden behind a helmet. Behind Hild to the right, against a sky full of dark cloud and smoke, the arrows fall towards a host of spears and banners. The pale blue banner in the foreground shows a stylised boar with garnet eyes. The banner behind that displays a raven. In the centre of the image, and taking up more than half of the total image area, is Hild. She looks directly at the observer with blue-green eyes filled with a weight of experience beyond her years. Her expression, partially obscured by windblown hair—pale chestnut with a slight wave—is clear and farseeing: this is a woman who makes decisions that decide lives. She wears what appears to be fishmail armour beneath a richly textured but torn and worn cloak. The cloak is mostly sky blue and held together at the breast by a great, early medieval equal-armed cross brooch of gold and garnet inlay. The belt beneath the cloak is styled somewhere between Celtic and ‘Anglo-Saxon’ interlace. In her right hand she hold a wooden quarterstaff, bound with blood-spattered iron. The cloak is overlain with other images: a red fern, a black war horse, a crow, black leaves, cloud and smoke, and bare, blood-red branches. Lettering, of textured gold in early-medieval style, is superimposed on the image. “Menewood,” centred below the cross brooch in large type. Below that, in smaller type, on the left “Author of Hild” and, on the right, “A Novel.” Below that, in large type, “Nicola Griffith.”

About the cover

Yesterday I talked a bit about the wonderful cover for Menewood by the Balbusso twins. Here’s a bit more on the process.

Long-time readers might remember that when I first talked to my editor about illustrating Hild I was adamant: no representation of Hild on the cover! And you saw how that turned out :) And though my editor was right—this time—and I was wrong, for Menewood I decided I wanted to get my dibs in early and try influence the process from the beginning.

So this time I started the conversation early—which was easy: I simply responded at length to a very useful questionnaire. Here it is (with a couple of redactions to prevent spoilers).

1. Please describe your ideal jacket for this book

An illustration by the Balbusso twins. The Hild jacket was gorgeous, and showed Hild as a child—well-fed, healthy, unscarred by life, but carrying the kind of weight and responsibility for herself and her family no child should have to. The Menewood jacket should show Hild as an adult—a young one, yes, but very much grown up—again carrying great weight and responsibility, but this time a wider, deeper, heavier and more immediate responsibility: for an entire region, and then the fate of the whole of the north of Britain. She should look honed, fierce and focused, but also, still, a visionary. 

The perfect illustration for Menewood would, like that for Hild, be textured, vivid, luxurious and atmospheric. I see her standing in a high place—top of a hill, edge of a cliff, prow of a ship—and looking out. She should be carrying her fighting staff, wearing her slaughter seax and either her warrior jacket (a kind of gambeson) or her mantle of lynx furs. There should be indications of war—banners? blood? smoke?—and the suggestion that she herself is not unmarked by war. And depending on what part of the book we’re referencing, she could be [redacted] and/or [redacted].

I want the colours to be rich and gorgeous, as for Hild, but perhaps in a slightly darker key. So the foiling, for example, instead of being gold could be bronze. Any birds should be flying/fleeing rather than nesting or singing. The light perhaps could be late afternoon.

But definitely Hild, marked by war, standing in a high place, in the natural landscape. And if I had my way, the Balbusso twins would illustrate every single Hild novel, ageing and complicating Hild as she grows.

2. What are some visual themes/key points/motifs in your book?

Nature. Hild is always outside: under the trees, by the water, climbing a hill, wading in a marsh, etc. She prefers high places and wild country. So: trees, birds, water vole, horses, sky, pond, mere, marsh, moor, mountain, swans, herons 

most important fauna: hedgehoghorsewater volemost important flora/landscape: ancient oak pollardMenewood beck and its valleyhigh moor

War. There is a lot of war in this book and Hild is always in the thick of it. So: blood, banners, bodies, seaxes, swords, shields, smoke. And Hild is physically scarred.

most important banners: Yffing (purple with boar with red eye)Cath Llew (lynx)Baedd Coch (red boar)Butcherbird (crude picture in red of a man impaled like a shrike’s prey on a white background)Iding (raven, purple on gold)Gwynedd (red dragon)3. How did the title come about? Does it relate to a passage in the book?

Menewood is the name of Hild’s valley, her personal possession, her safe place and heart-of-home; a secret, wooded valley with a system of becks and ponds, guarded at its mouth by an ancient oak pollard. Menewood is Hild’s last redoubt, her final bolthole, green and quiet and safe—for a while. 

4. Do you have any images or reference material that you would like us to consider?

For a sense of colour see anything from the Sutton Hoo ship burial or Staffordshire Hoard: gold, garnet, sapphire/blue enamel, etc. But if there’s anything in particular you’re interested in I could draw them for you

5. Is there anything you’d prefer not to see on the cover? Least favorite color? Preference for photography over illustration or vice versa? The only person I want to see on the cover of Menewood is Hild.She must not look demure or sweet in any wayI dislike dull and muddy colours: mustard, beige, olive, etcI’d like a richly-coloured illustration, preferably by the Balbusso twins so that the figure of Hild herself looks like a sharper, more experienced, and honed version of the child on the cover of Hild

On balance, I think I got what I wanted—only better, because now the Hild of my imagination has a shape and colour in the real world. The art’s gorgeousness seemed to galvanise the publishing team—and now we’re finalising the rich interior design. It is delicious! But I’ll talk more about that another time.

Meanwhile, if you’re so inclined you can pre-order the book anywhere books are sold, or see the enormous list of independent booksellers worldwide I put together a while ago, or get from your favourite store or platform.

Pre-order

Bookshop.org | Amazon.com | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | Phinney Books | Target

Menewood cover reveal!

Cover of Menewood: A Novel by Nicola Griffith (MCDxFSG 3 October, 2023). Cover art by Anna and Elena Balbusso. Cover design by Na Kim.

Image description: Richly coloured cover of a novel, Menewood, by Nicola Griffith, painted predominatly in blue, gold, black, and red. The image is of a young woman—Hild, the protagonist of the novel—standing tall against an ominous backdrop of medieval warfare. Behind her in the upper left, the top corner is golden, with white-hot tipped yellow arrows arcing overhead against what might be dark mountains or forbidding trees. The arrows are, perhaps, on fire. Crows are dodging them. Below the arrows and crows a mounted warrior charges from left to right, shield glinting silver, sword raised, face hidden behind a helmet. Behind Hild to the right, against a sky full of dark cloud and smoke, the arrows fall towards a host of spears and banners. The pale blue banner in the foreground shows a stylised boar with garnet eyes. The banner behind that displays a raven. In the centre of the image, and taking up more than half of the total image area, is Hild. She looks directly at the observer with blue-green eyes filled with a weight of experience beyond her years. Her expression, partially obscured by windblown hair—pale chestnut with a slight wave—is clear and farseeing: this is a woman who makes decisions that decide lives. She wears what appears to be fishmail armour beneath a richly textured but torn and worn cloak. The cloak is mostly sky blue and held together at the breast by a great, early medieval equal-armed cross brooch of gold and garnet inlay. The belt beneath the cloak is styled somewhere between Celtic and ‘Anglo-Saxon’ interlace. In her right hand she hold a wooden quarterstaff, bound with blood-spattered iron. The cloak is overlain with other images: a red fern, a black war horse, a crow, black leaves, cloud and smoke, and bare, blood-red branches. Lettering, of textured gold in early-medieval style, is superimposed on the image. “Menewood,” centred below the cross brooch in large type. Below that, in smaller type, on the left “Author of Hild” and, on the right, “A Novel.” Below that, in large type, “Nicola Griffith.”

About Menewood

Menewood has been a long time coming—over a decade from beginning to end. I was eager to write it but it would not be hurried. It’s a big book, epic and intense—rage, love, lust, loss, fierce joy, grief, triumph, delight—but it’s also full of gentler emotions, those stolen moments of contentment and peace, basking a moment in sunlight, or enjoying a quiet conversation over a bowl of soup. It’s a book about life: how it feels, what it means, why it changes. And its beating heart is its protagonist, Hild: becoming herself, learning to live on her own terms, to build and wield power—exploring and really inhabiting who she is.

It’s set 1400 years ago in seventh-century Britain and it takes up where its predecessor, Hild, left off. It covers fewer years of Hild’s life than the first book yet it’s longer, and deeper and richer—a bigger book in every way. (Imagine it as a trilogy in one volume and you’ll have a sense of what to expect.) It has, though, the same mix of heroic scale and human intimacy, the same soaring exhilaration in the high, wild places of the Long Ago.

Hild when it came out ten years ago was a different kind of book—full of the awe and magic of life, only with no actual magic. It was about a different kind of protagonist: a bright girl then young woman who stayed one step ahead of the murderous whims of a volatile king using acute observations of nature and human behaviour to work out what might happen next.

How do you portray that on a cover? You find a different kind of artist—in this case an artistic team, Anna and Elena Balbusso—who play with time, perception and colour to create clean visions that are somehow infused with layers of wonder. For Hild, they captured Hild’s frank and open gaze perfectly. We wanted to refresh the cover of Hild to coincide with the publication of Menewood—and we’ve adjusted the type—but the image didn’t need a single change. (See below.)

Now, for Menewood, the Balbusso twins again perfectly capture who Hild has become: Against a backdrop of violence and regime change stands a young adult marked by war, honed by the responsibility of power—and vivid with life.

I loved writing this book—Hild and her world are a joy to me. I can’t wait for you to read it.

I love this cover. Later this week I’ll write more about the process to come up with it. Meanwhile, here’s the new cover for Hild.

Refreshed Hild cover The new cover of Hild: A Novel by Nicola Griffith. Cover art by Anna and Elena Balbusso.

Image description: Richly textured cover of a novel, Hild, by Nicola Griffith, painted predominantly in green, with green-black, black, indigo, red, gold and white. The image is of an adolescent girl—Hild, the protagonist of the novel—standing straight against a backdrop of the natural world at night. Behind her and to the left, the full mon is bright and silhouetted against it are bare tree branches and four roosting birds. White specks and faint shades of indigo hint at a starry night with gauzy drifts of cloud.  The pattern of trees and sky without birds, is repeated to the right. In the centre of the image is Hild, standing with her hands behind her back and her head slightly turned but nonetheless gazing directly at the observer with clear blue-green eyes. Her head and shoulders are protected by a chanmail coif but enough strands of hair escape to show it is dark chestnut. This is a girl-woman with the thousand-yard stare of someone who has faced death and made terrible decisions since the age of eight, who looks out with the clarity of one who knows life is an undiscovered country full of joy and patterns to be understood. She survives because she has an extraordinary mind and a will of adamant. Her longsleeved overdress is the same colour as the sky and blends into the background. This blending is furthered by and overlay of the same bare black tree branches. A gold and garnet equal-armed cross is fastned at her breast and she wear a belt decorated in interlace from which hangs a seax. Lettering, of textured gold in early-medieval style, is superimposed on the image. Above Hild, across the top, in small type, “Extraordinary…[Hild] resonated to many of the same chords as Beowulf, the legends of King Arthur, the Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones. — Neal Stephenson” to Hild’s left, “One of the best novels, period. — Dorothy Allsion” and to the right “Truly, truly remarkable. — Karen Joy Fowler” Just below the centre of the image, immediately beneath Hild’s cross, in giant type, and all-caps, is “HILD” Immediately below that, again in small type is, to the left “Picador” and, to the right, “A Novel” Below that in large type, “Nicola Griffith.”

Spear is a Nebula Finalist!

Spear is a finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Novel. I am DELIGHTED!! I mean it—really thrilled. Really pleased to be in this company, too, a terrific set of books; all very different in mood and tone.

Nebula Award for Novel

Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree (Cryptid; Tor)Spear, Nicola Griffith (Tordotcom)Nettle and Bone, T. Kingfisher (Tor; Titan UK)Babel, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom)The Mountain in the Sea, Ray Nayler (MCD; Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

I was convinced that this slim book would fall firmly between the cracks, lost between novel and novella, and not get nominated for anything. Yet now it has three nominations: the Nebula Best Novel Award, the Los Angeles Book Prize Ray Bradbury Prize (Ray Nayler is up for that, too), and the Subjective Chaos Kind of Award (Ray is nominated for this one, too—though in SF rather than Fantasy, and, hey, so is T. Kingfisher!). It really is turning into the Little Book That Could.

Here’s the full list of Nebula Finalists in all the other categories.

Winners will be announced at the 2023 Nebula Conference, held May 12–14, 2023, this year at the Sheraton Park Hotel at the Anaheim Resort, Anaheim, CA. There is also an option to attend virtually. But this year I’m going to be there in person—even though I will have been in Los Angeles just three weeks earlier. It seems I’ll be racking up the frequent flier points this year. Hey, maybe I can use some of them to buy a new jacket. I mean, if this isn’t an excuse to dress up and go to town, what is?

Woo hoo!

And because there can never, ever be too much excitement, come back here first thing tomorrow for the Menewood cover reveal—and some juicy tidbits about what to expect from the book—because it’s fucking *gorgeous*!

Coming tomorrow: Menewood cover reveal!

Tomorrow you finally get to see the splendid, amazing, and fabulous Menewood cover—but also a bonus reveal! I’m hugging myself with delight at the thought. Stay tuned…

Today and tomorrow: ECCC

This afternoon I’ll be at Seattle Center for Emerald City Comic Con where I’ll be doing a panel followed by a book signing. Sunday morning I’ll be doing another panel followed, again, by a signing. Details below:

Saturday March 4, 2023 — Seattle, WA — Emerald City Comic Con

Panel:5:00 PM – 6:00 PM, Room 340-341 | Something Old, Something New: The Art Is in the Retelling — Exploring myths from cultures around the world, retelling well-known fairytales, new takes on old stories.Signing: 6:15 – 7 PM, Literary Signing Table #2

Sun, March 5, 2023 — Seattle, WA — Emerald City Comic Con

Panel: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM, Room 340-341 | Writing in Apocalyptic Times — Pandemics, unraveling climate, political upheaval… the world is seeming more and more like a post apocalyptic novel. How the world today impacts writing about tomorrow.Signing: 12:15 – 1:15 PM, Literary Signing Table #1

It’ll be my first ComiCon of any kind. Come and say hello!