Excitement galore here at the moment! Not only is Diva doggy Amelia up for Ireland’s Next Top Madra (Vote here! Vote Amelia! Vote Often!) but The Queen’s Wing by Jessica Thorne is a Spotlight book for Science Fiction and Fantasy on Netgalley – just in time for Octocon this weekend!
It’s all go!
Very exciting times as the Octocon programme has gone live! Here’s my schedule for the weekend –
Just to warn people – Sunday at 11.30 am I’m running a writing workshop. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Full details can be found on the Octocon website and clicking on the title of the panel (etc.) will give all the details and all the wonderful guests.
Can’t wait to see everyone.
The Queen’s Wing by Jessica Thorne is now available for book bloggers and book reviewers to request on Netgalley, prior to release on the 21st November 2018.
I’m so excited about this cover, revealed today by Bookouture. The book is now available for Kindle pre-order from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com , Kobo and iBooks, and will be released on 21st November. For now, it’s at the low low price of less than a bag of crisps, folks. Pre-order. You know it makes sense.
Come on over to the Bookouture page on facebook or twitter (@Bookouture) and share the fun.
‘I was born to fly,’ I told my brothers. But it isn’t true. I was born to be a pawn in the great game of royal houses, married to someone – anyone – my family deems suitable. If I’m lucky, he’ll be my own age and bearable. If I’m very lucky, he’ll be someone who understands my need to fight, and to fly…
Bel, born to nobility, would do anything to spend her days alongside her brothers – soaring through the heavens in her beloved flyer. She’s faster than any of them, but she knows her days in the skies are numbered.
When a surprise attack on the palace lands Bel’s father on the throne, her life is forever changed. In order to secure her father’s empire, Bel must travel to a distant land to marry the recently widowed young ruler, Conleith.
But Bel’s new home is less than welcoming: compared to the refined ladies at court, Bel seems like a wild woman, and assassination attempts, treason and mystery threaten her at every turn. With a growing attraction to Con, her life is further complicated by the attentive leader of her bodyguards – a warrior called Shae whom she has loved since childhood…
A heart-stoppingly magical new novel that will keep you turning the pages. Perfect for fans of The Selection, Bella Forrest and Sarah J. Maas.
A post on Dublin for Dublin2019’s Touring Tuesdays.
Come on a tour of Dublin. It’s the first in a series so if anyone has any suggestions on what else to cover let me know. I’m thinking of the Trinity, Merrion Square area next.
New year, as they say, new me!
I’m delighted to share the news I have been sitting on (not terribly well if you’ve met me in person of late) for some time – Bookouture will be publishing the book known as “the notorious Space Opera which is not really a Space Opera, more of a fantasy with a large helping of Planetary Romance, go on ask me what that is…”, actually entitled The Queen’s Wing and have contracted the next book in the series as well.
I’ll be writing them as Jessica Thorne, which is a super Space Opera-y name if you ask me. I imagine her flicking her hair over her shoulder while walking away from explosions. Which she totally didn’t cause. Honestly.
The Queen’s Wing will be released in November with the sequel following hot on its heels in February 2019.
I’m really excited to be working with Kathryn and all the Bookouture team. All the details are up on the Bookouture blog here and I have a Jessica Thorne page for news etc as it happens, here on the website. There is also a twitter account to keep up to date – @JessThorneBooks
So, let’s get ready for an adventure!
The Dubh Linn trilogy has an array of Dublin locations, and a few in Dubh Linn as well so, after a conversation at the launch of A Darkness at the End, I put together an actual map. There’s loads to play with, a list of locations. You can switch to satellite and zoom in and even work out all the routes if you want to do a walking tour. If you’d like it bigger and in more detail you can go to Zeemaps and Dubh Linn clicking here.
Happy Christmas. Don’t get lost.
Wexworlds is on next month, the weekend of the 7th-8th May, and I’m very excited to announce that I will be there on the 7th, giving a talk, reading and signing at 3pm in the Battlestar Galactica suite.
Come and nerd out with me in the sunny southeast.
So tomorrow I will be off to Manchester for Mancunicon, which is also Eastercon and tomorrow evening I will be moderating a panel called True Love and Trophies. I’m very excited about this one.
True Love and Trophies
Friday March 25 07:00 PM to 08:00 PM (1 hour) Hilton Deansgate – Room 6
Romance may be the ultimate crossover genre, found in everything from horror to hard SF, urban fantasy to space opera. But it can be a two-edged sword – nothing makes the audience happier than True Love Winning Against All Odds, but few things can make a reader wince as much as the Shoehorned-In Love Story, The Girl As Reward, or the Completely Inappropriate Time To Declare One’s Feelings. Join our panel for a discussion about what SF and fantasy can learn from the romance genre, how speculative narratives are changed by the female gaze, and how to craft a believable love story in the most extraordinary settings.
My fellow panelists are
Jacey Bedford, D.A. Lascelles, Kate Soley Barton & Justina Robson
So come along and join us if you’re at the convention. I’m there for the long weekend and I will be spending my time, as per usual, looking slightly lost and harried but do say hello. And help me.