A Little Costume Change

Not one, but TWO cover reveals ✨

Hello, friends, and happy 2024! I hope you all had a lovely holiday season full of good food, good company, and long stretches of uninterrupted reading time. As for me, I spent it in Maleny, a beautiful little town in the hilly hinterlands of Queensland. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to a hot, summery Christmas featuring cold potato salad and grilled prawns with their heads left on, but it was a beautiful place to spend some time. I spent some of that time working through copyedits for Fyrebirds. It’s an inconvenient truth of authorhood that sometimes we have to work over the holidays. But there was something rather lovely about sitting out on my mother-in-law’s balcony every morning, listening to loud Australian birds call to each other as I fell back into this world I love so much.

Not a bad office view, if I do say so myself.

The holidays also saw me dealing with a lot of health stuff (don’t worry, all’s well), so I didn’t spend as much time reflecting as I normally would as we enter into a new year. But I think I’ve finally found my word for 2024: NOURISH. I spent so much of 2023 flirting with burnout; I worked and pushed until I had nothing left. This year, I want to make plenty of time to nourish my creativity, which means doing more of the things that fill my well: hiking, going to museums, talking with good friends. I want to focus on feeding my mind, nourishing my body, and recognizing when it’s time to rest, even when I feel the pressure to keep going.

Now, on to the Fun Book Business! Today I bring you something really exciting: not one, but TWO cover reveals. I am thrilled to present the cover of the paperback version of Nightbirds, coming June 4 in the USA, and the hardback version of Fyrebirds, coming August 27. These babies are going live on the internets tomorrow, but I wanted to make sure you saw them first.

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BUT KATE, I hear some of you whispering. These are VERY DIFFERENT from the original cover. Why so different?! I have feelings. The answer requires a little peek behind the scenes.

It all started when we found out the artist who created the incredible art for Nightbirds wasn’t available to work on Fyrebirds. We toyed with the idea of having someone else create something in a similar style, but feared it wouldn’t sing in quite the same way. And so my team at Penguin started talking about going in a whole new direction: one that would catch the eyes of readers who may not have seen Nightbirds when it first hit shelves. One that would capture the story’s feminine magic and intrigue, but express it in an entirely different way. I think what they came up with is, in fact, pretty magical. The vibrant colors! The birds with crackling wings full of lightning and fire! There’s an energy to these covers that delights me.

You all know how much I love Nightbird’s original cover, but it’s exciting to see this story get a makeover. I’m all for mid-concert costume changes, which I know Matilde also approves of. I think she’d love this new look, and I hope you do too (even if it means your hardbacks won’t match. I know: I’m sorry!).

Don’t forget: you can now pre-order Fyrebirds in the USA, and also the Nightbirds paperback. I’m working on some really lovely pre-order gifts that I can’t wait to share with you.

x Kate

PS: Did you choose a word for your 2024?