Glitter and Gold
Nightbirds is (almost) here! 🥂
Nightbirds comes out in under a week. How is that possible? For a long time, it felt like the day would never come, and now it’s barreling toward me. I’m excited and nervous, and a little bit terrified. Mostly I’m grateful to be here, with you.
Sneak Peek(s)
Special content ABOUNDS in this newsletter!
First, we have a video of me unboxing the finished hardbacks Penguin sent me. This was my very first time seeing the finished book in all its glory. No filter, no makeup, no prep: just my honest reaction to holding this beautiful thing in my hands at last. There will be some of me just looking down at pages, staring besottedly, but I hope you enjoy this raw look behind the scenes.
Second, we have a special (and very juicy!) excerpt from the Nightbirds audiobook.
This is a much bigger sample than you’ll hear over on Audible or any other streaming service, and I’m grateful to Penguin for giving me permission to share it.
But first, a story. When I was 13, I came down with a disease called pseudotumor cerebri. It’s a rare thing that it tripled the amount of fluid in/around my spine, resulting in strange and twisting consequences. There were flu-like symptoms (to put it mildly), plus severe back and head pain that went on and on and on. There were spinal taps and hospital stays. There were lonely, nauseous nights and scary tests. It laid waste to my body. I went from being a sporty kid to a very weak one, isolated from friends, stuck in a pain-filled shell I couldn’t leave. If you’ve suffered long-term illness, then you know how lonely it can be, even when you’re surrounded by loved ones. It was the first time in my life I had to walk a difficult road all alone.
It also gave me a crossed eye (and a long stint wearing an eyepatch, an experience which somehow managed to work its way into NIGHTBIRDS). The world was doubled and blurry without it, but with it, my depth perception was terrible and my one eye couldn’t cope with much. It was hard to watch TV or read, and my spirits were suffering. So my mom started bringing home audiobooks from the library. I would lie on the couch, knitting holed-filled scarves for my cousins and being transported into other worlds. Audiobooks didn’t save me - doctors and time and luck did that - but they rescued me from my loneliness. In the dark tunnel that was my pain, they made me feel less alone.
Audiobooks have remained a constant for me ever since: a boon on long road trips, a transportive treat as I’m sewing, a balm during particularly hard or anxious times. No surprise, then, that I felt strongly about seeing NIGHTBIRDS brought to life in this form, and the team at Penguin did it beautifully. They involved me in every step of production and let me cast the final vote on its narrator. I knew when I heard Saskia Maarleveld’s audition that I didn’t want anyone else. I can’t express how incredible a job she did, and so I’m going to let you listen and discover for yourself.
Listen to the prologue and first chapter of the NIGHTBIRDS audiobook (courtesy of Penguin and The Exploress) …
You can go and buy the audiobook everywhere they are sold.
Meanwhile, on Pub Dates…
Pub Dates and my other podcast, The Exploress, have been mixing and melding this month (with a healthy dash of Nightbirds in there, too). Amie and I have released episodes on weaving 1920s real-life history into our novels (The 1920s: take it or leave it), and we’ve shared an Exploress episode - I’ve just kicked off a season on what life was like for the ladies in the Jazz Age! In this one, we dive into the infamous flapper and find out what she’s all about.
There’s only a few days left to claim your signed copy and special preorder goodies!
Make sure you grab the special NIGHTBIRDS pin, and/or a signed and personalized copy/some character cards from One More Page, while you still can. Both preorder campaigns close as of February 27.
Come see me on tour
I’m about to hit the road, and I can’t wait to meet some readers!
And just for fun….
Enjoy this video of my working on my 1920s-appropriate, historically (mostly) accurate flapper dress that I plan to wear to the launch in Virginia and Melbourne! You can’t hear me talking - Instagram doesn’t let you download audio, sadly - so you’ll have to go over there if you want to hear me explaining what I’m doing. I am always here to talk to you about my sewing adventures.
Next time I write you, NIGHTBIRDS will be out in the world, on shelves and hopefully in your hands, readers. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Awesome getting to hear the start! Looking forward to the rest!
Ahhh!!! So exciting!!