Hello, friends. This week, the Agency novels are once more bursting forth into the world, dressed in their new, super-atmospheric covers! To mark the occasion, I've written a brief guest post and my generous publisher, Candlewick Press, is sponsoring separate giveaways at each of the following blogs. Click to read each post and hopefully win a full set of the Agency novels: Four Victorian … [Read more...]
Scandal & superheroes
Hello, friends. On April 26, Candlewick Press will be reissuing all four Agency novels in super-atmospheric new covers. There will be a mini blog tour and some giveaways (hurrah!), and I'm feeling pretty verklempt about the whole thing. I am so grateful that the amazing people at Candlewick remain 1000% behind my books. I adore the new covers (which are closely based on the amazing UK … [Read more...]
Reading ahead, reading abroad
Hello, friends. I had SUCH a lovely batch of unexpected mail this week! First came Candlewick Press's spring/summer 2015 catalogue. Its cover (right) is based on the cover of the new Kate DiCamillo novel, Raymie Nightingale, which will be published in April. Hurray! I had more personal reasons for reading the catalogue, too. It feels like the March publication of Jessica Spotswood's A Tyranny … [Read more...]
What is a novel?
Hello, friends. I recently had a long and utterly engaging conversation with three fellow writers: two of them critically acclaimed poets, all of us writers of novels. We were talking about the act of writing. One of us, who is working on her first novel, said that for her, writing it was like posing the question, "What is a novel?" That is, what are the novelistic conventions I value? Is it true … [Read more...]
Pedants unite!
I'm slogging away at the copyedits for Candlewick's edition of The Traitor in the Tunnel. One of the things I love about being edited is learning new stuff. For example, did you know the difference in usage for convince and persuade? According to my anonymous but clearly passionate copy editor, "you convince someone to a point of view; you persuade someone to an action". There you go! And … [Read more...]
A Walk in the Void & Kat, Incorrigible
Hello friends! This month, Mondadori publishes the Italian edition of the second Agency novel. It's called La Detective. Passeggiata nel vuoto, which translates to The Detective: A Walk in the Void. I really, really, really wish I could read Italian. Here's the cover: And the full dustjacket: What do you think? I also have a few lovely announcements. Some French readers have … [Read more...]