The truths we tell
Reupholstery, writing, and reviews
Book stuff!
As I get ready to finish the Olympians Arc of Olympus Inc (don’t worry, more books in that world are coming!) I have permanently dropped the price of Persephone in Bloom to $2.99 (USD). Now is an excellent time to tell your friends to buy it!
I have some very exciting Bespoke and Bespelled news to share very soon. Just imagine me vibrating in place with my hands clapped over my mouth and you’ve got it.
Reupholstery
Remember when I said a few newsletters back that even though Hera Takes Charge’s Don works at an interior design/garden centre I would absolutely not be getting into DIY?
Why do I lie to myself? Three days after I wrote that, I put together some flat-pack furniture and used my hot glue gun to affix washi tape to the raw MDF edges, surely the very lowest level of DIY, but DIY nonetheless.
Then I bought a second-hand footstool and called my mother, the Empress of Upholstery, who has literally recovered every chair and sofa in my home except the computer chair I’m sitting in right now. Yes, including my dining chairs. Now I have plans to cover the faded red velvet with something more aligned to my eclectic collection of big botanicals and cheerful abstract prints.
Also, I made a rug:
This rug was directly inspired by Jane Brocket’s Yarnstorm, one of my favourite places on the internet, where she writes honestly and beautifully about art, textiles, and making things.
I decided to be honest with myself. Yes, I’m going to do more of this.
I asked a friend about quilting resources and there’s no going back now.
Writing
This orgy of crafting might indicate that I have a lot of free time, but in fact the opposite is true and I am so busy writing that I have to craft, so as to put the busy someplace when I can’t physically1 or mentally write any more. Otherwise, I will literally speed-walk around my house, like a greyhound with the zoomies.2
I am entering Deadline Goblin mode on Hera Takes Charge, where the book has emerged from a nebulous mass of sketched scenes and scraps of dialogue and now needs to get finished so that I can send it to my beautiful editor and throw myself at her feet, apologizing for all the semi-colons.
Hera is book three in the Olympus Inc. series, and that means it’s also time to start serious promotion efforts.
Could you do me a favour?
Reviews!
If you’ve read and liked Persephone in Bloom or Aphrodite Unbound (or both!) I would really, really appreciate if you would review the book at the retailer you bought it at, on Goodreads, on Storygraph, or on all three.
Reviews won’t sell the book all on their own, but if someone who doesn’t know me from a hole in the ground clicks a link and is trying to decide whether or not to buy a book, seeing reviews (from real people, not robots!) can make a big difference. And because I’m about to do lots of promo, explicitly reaching out to people who don’t know me, those reviews could be crucial.
These do not have to be thoughtful, superbly crafted pieces of literary critique! (I mean, obviously, I would love that, but it’s seriously not necessary.) They can be a single sentence:
“I liked this book because it’s funny”.
“I’m a big fan of the He Falls First trope and oh my god does Hades fall first.”
“So nice to see a fat, body-positive Persephone”
“I like that the author clearly thinks Zeus is a massive asshole. #justiceforHera”.
Except, of course, whatever you want to say.
To hopefully make this a little easier, I’ve put direct links to the book pages on my most popular markets, plus the two big review sites:
Persephone in Bloom (all retailers)
Aphrodite Unbound (all retailers)
If you can, please drop me a line! And if you already have, please know that I have read it at least fourteen times, and deeply appreciate every word.
I also did some knitting and my hands are very unhappy about that, so knitting is now off the table until I can have less keyboard time. I’d show you a picture, but it’s a gift for the Empress of Upholstery, and one day she might actually read this newsletter.
One of the great things about living alone is the absolute freedom to be my speed-walking, muttering self with no shame or inhibition. The other day I found cream cheese in my hair.
How exciting! Thank you so much for introducing me to storygraph - I’m about to dive deep! Will copy my goodreads review over!