Anyone who knows me knows I am not a fan of appending -ween onto things to imply spookiness, but here we are. This summer is going to be spooky and who am I to fight it.
News!
First off, The Needfire is now available in paperback, so if you’ve been holding off buying in order to have a nice supple, flexible book to hold, your time has come. You can buy it for only £10.99 from all good retailers (and some bad ones).
Secondly, pre-orders are still going for The Haunting of Avis Lovelock, which will be out in paperback on the 26th of August. We’ve had some lovely blurbs and early reviews which we will be shouting about in a future newsletter.
Third: an announcement! We’ve got another book coming out!
Dang, look at that cover!
That’s right, and ANOTHER pseudonym! Splasher is a nostalgic sports horror that will be out from Transworld imprint 3AM Books on the 16th of July, and you can pre-order a copy now.
Come on in, the water’s fine!
Autumn 2006. Low-rise jeans are in, grunge is out, and all Spencer Ward should be worrying about is his new job as Assistant Swim Coach at Richardson University. It’s been a decade since tragedy struck during his own college years, but Spencer is determined to sink his skeletons and focus on a winning season for his team.
Until, that is, two students are found dead in the pool on the first day of training. While everyone assumes it was a horrible accident, Spencer is overcome with an ominous sense of déjà vu.
There’s blood in the water, and not just because competition season has started. As increasingly severe freak accidents plague the students, and twisted shadows are seen by the poolside, Spencer and his swim team must work out what is hunting them before it’s too late. The pool echoes with the ghosts of the past, and they won’t rest until they are finally heard.
Full disclosure: this was an IP book for which we had to audition, and I’m pretty sure we got it because our 2006 references were so on point. Because we were just out of college ourselves then because we are… old.
But hey it means we got to write a book full of nostalgic references (including the terrible, terrible fashion - I will fight the resurgence of low-rise jeans with every fibre of my being) and work with some talented people so if this is what being old gets you, bring it on.
Lastly but not leastly we are thrilled to have been nominated for several British Fantasy Awards - Best Horror Novel for The Needfire, Best Anthology for Lesbians in Space, and Best Newcomer!
We are both surprised and thrilled, and so grateful to all the people who nominated us. We’re up against some incredible writers so our expectations are low, but even this has been an incredible boost.
Where are we?
We’re going to be putting on our stripey shirts and beanies this summer and popping up all over the place. If you see us, come say hi!
June 5-7: Cymera Festival! We’ll be on a panel about Gothic Horror with Charlotte Cross and Amy Jane Stewart, ably chaired by our great pal SK Horton. And E will be interviewing this little-known author named Stephen Graham Jones (!!) on the Saturday as well as running a querying workshop. We’ll also be at the quiz, in the audience, and at the bar - hope to see you there!
June 20: We’ll be at Dundee Book Festival with Hester Musson and Natalie Jayne Clark discussing Scotland as inspiration for fiction across a broad range of genres.
June 24: Haunted Happenings at Waterstones West End in Edinburgh with Heba Al-Wasity. Weavingshaw is an amazing book and we can’t wait to chat with Heba about gothic mysteries.
June 26: Atomic Coffin launch at Toppings & Co, Edinburgh. Ben is a dear friend and we are so excited for his debut horror novel to surface! E will be chairing, and will try to keep the ‘but can we see pictures of your adorable cat’ questions to a minimum.
August 7-9: MCM Birmingham. Details forthcoming, but we’re looking forward to our second Birmingham trip this year.
September 6: McLellan Book Festival. This is a special one; M grew up on the Isle of Arran so going back to do an author event is a bit like coming full circle.
September 10: We Are All Haunted at Leeds Waterstones. In this panel we’ll be sitting down with Solaris buddy Rhiannon Grist as well as folk horror legend David Barnett and master storyteller Yvonne Battle-Felton.
There’s more, but I think I’d be stretching the definition of ‘summer’ if I included it, so they’ll have to wait for another newsletter. Autumn-ween, anyone? 😝
One last thing…
E is the administrator of the annual Cymera auction, which has just opened today. All funds raised will go to supporting SFFH events and activities in Scotland. There are signed/dedicated/annotated copies of amazing books, mentoring and critique opportunities, book bundles, art, and some very cool residential/retreat packages as well!
Take a look and place your bids! Closes at noon on Friday June 5.
