My Life Was Different Before Pacific Rim
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In which the book is launched, long live the live the book launch
June 3, 2025
Well, Titan of the Stars has officially been unleashed upon the world. a moment.and, wow, i need new sharpies I had a great release week, in that I mostly...
In which we think fondly about That Inevitable Victorian Thing
May 19, 2025
“Kate,” you say, “don’t you have a new book out soon? Why are we talking about this one?” Because I love it, pocket friends. And because it’s earned out, so...
In which we get ready to launch my *checks notes* sixteenth book
May 3, 2025
I literally typed the title, said “that can’t be right”, and counted on my shelf. It is, in fact, 16. ANYWAY Welcome to May 2025, and the launch of Titan of...
In which April is going to be like that, apparently
April 5, 2025
Dahlia Adler was all “Hey, I have a book out next month”, and then I was all “Oh! I also a book out next month!”, and then I remembered I have a theoretical...
In which Prairie Fire turns ten years old
March 3, 2025
In March of 2013, I flew to Austin, Texas to go to my first writing retreat. It was exciting, not the least because I’d be meeting new people from every part...
A small move (again)
February 25, 2025
This is kind of a test. i bought this notebook in batuu because i am weak for notebooks, but it turns out that i can write on both sides of the page without...
In which we pick a word for 2025 like it's almost 2025
January 1, 2025
even though by the time you get this it will actually be 2025
In which planning what to write in 2025 is like racing sled dogs while people who don't know any better complain about animal cruelty
December 4, 2024
or: sometimes the dogs don't run
In which November is about to be eaten by a dragon (affectionate)
October 31, 2024
look, i'm just saying, if you need me, you might have to schedule it in advance
In which planning your writing career is like planting a wildflower garden where you always thought you'd put a sandbox
October 9, 2024
obviously this one is going to go off the rails immediately
In which the end of summer is like trying to do your own book promo
August 19, 2024
or, barnes & noble is having a sale and two of my books are in it
In which going home again is like finally watching a jaguar eat a capybara in an animal documentary
May 1, 2024
look, some of us had weird hobbies BEFORE the pandemic
In which Pretty Furious is now available to buy wherever books are sold
April 17, 2024
and at libraries. we love libraries.
In which getting your editor to write your newsletter is like, uh, getting your editor to write your newsletter
April 4, 2024
In my defence, it is the 12th anniversary of the OWEN phone call
In which The Story of Owen turns ten years old
March 1, 2024
For the life of me, I cannot remember where the idea came from. I know where I was. It was a Saturday morning in March of 2011. I was in a Starbucks in St....
In which the 10 year anniversary of my being published is like renewing my passport
February 2, 2024
or "I went to Antarctica and I want to tell literally everyone all about it"
In which a planning new year is like a jar of embroidery floss ends
January 1, 2024
(my apologies if you get this twice, substack and i had a small operational kerfuffle.)
A Small Move
December 29, 2023
in which tinyletter makes us find another newsletter site that doesn't automatically feed AI
In which Crimson Climb is now available wherever books are sold
October 10, 2023
Good morning, pocket friends! It is Wednesday October 11, which means that Crimson Climb has been out for a whole day now, and I am extremely excited about...
In which redefining yourself is like the time Britain got into a fight with its tax code over whether Jaffa cakes were in fact cake or if they were cookies*
September 15, 2023
*I know. I don’t care.I don’t often go back to a lot of places when I travel. Even if it’s nearly the same, like when I did the bus tour of Scotland with Amy...
In which writing a book is not at all like riding a bicycle
January 5, 2023
Immediately after thinking of this title, I thought “well, writing a book is also pressing hard on someplace tender”, and even though it might be too early...
In which shelving a manuscript is like driving to that corner in Grande Prairie where you can turn left and get on the Alaska Highway and then going straight through
October 26, 2022
In the town of Grande Prairie, there is an intersection where you can turn left and get on the Alaska Highway. I haven’t spent a significant amount of time...
In which navigating career shifts in publishing is like playing Uno with people you love
September 27, 2022
The last time I went to visit my niece and nephew, they had a new version of Uno. If, like me, you are a traditionalist who doesn’t interact with little kids...
In which drafting an uncontracted novel is like learning to accept the passage of linear time as broken up into manageable pieces by the municipal garbage collection schedule
August 10, 2021
Sit with me for a moment.The first thing I do every week after I take the garbage out is go into the kitchen and generate at least two pieces of garbage: the...
In which I admit that writing is a privilege and then try to feel okay about liking nice things
July 11, 2021
My first big publishing event was ALA in Las Vegas, the summer of 2014. I was terrified. Not because it was a place I'd never been and not because it was the...
In which I can explain
June 20, 2021
Okay, so this was definitely supposed to be the MAY newsletter, but then my life kind of got taken over by Mass Effect Legendary Edition and, honestly, I...
In Which Writing With Depression Is Like Being In A Krill Ball Narrated By David Attenborough (You're The Krill)
April 6, 2021
The first thing about my depression I noticed before I knew it was depression was that I couldn't handle narrative television anymore. Any sort of tension...
In which having an idea for a book is like waiting for a connection in an airport
January 24, 2021
We're far enough into lockdown and having the border shut that I am starting to miss some completely ridiculous things. Like, I don't just miss my friends...
In which writing a novel is like stress baking when you live by yourself
December 7, 2020
Before this year, I would have told you that December is the best month to be a stress baker. Christmas cookies are numerous and fiddly, but most of them...
In which attempting NaNo without access to coffee shops is like, well, tbqh, I'm making this up as I go
November 9, 2020
When I started writing fanfic, I mostly did it during lectures at school. My archaeology notes were full of sketched out SG-1 dialogue and LotR character...
In which celebrating the fifth anniversary of a book is mostly a distraction because *gestures to everything*
October 7, 2020
I like to think that I would have done this under normal circumstances, but the truth is that I would have probably just bought myself a cupcake and called...
In Which Planning A Novel Is Like Finding My Brother's Cottage With A GPS
November 20, 2018
I'm a bit famous in some circles for writing entire books in a week while at my brother's cottage. It's something I am trying to get away from, now that I am...
In which the new privacy law is like Solo: A Star Wars Story (no spoilers, I haven't seen it yet)
May 23, 2018
So sometimes you just do a thing because all of your friends are doing it? And by "your friends", I mean "...some kind of law"? Anyway, you've had a million...
In which revising a novel is like going to Australia in 2018 when you left Australia in 1998
January 17, 2018
When I was 12, my dad had a teaching exchange to Noosa, Australia, and my mum, my younger brother and I all went with him. We lived there for a year. Dad...
In which promoting a book is like driving across Nebraska in October
January 10, 2018
This is going to take some explaining. So once upon a time, I was kindly helping Tessa Gratton with some background information about Canada because she was...
In which starting a writing career is like the time I went to Canadian Tire to buy myself a Christmas Tree and came home with a KitchenAid Mixer (and a Christmas Tree)
August 21, 2017
In 2008, I met a girl called Non-Publishing Rachel (I mean, that’s what I call her). More accurately, she met me when she overheard Casey Lyall (yes, that...
In which building a protagonist is like fortifying Orkney for World War II
July 30, 2017
One of my pet peeves is when readers of a book critique the protagonist’s ability to solve whatever problems the plot presents. Obviously there is a whole...
In which world-building is like animal husbandry in Iceland
July 7, 2017
I’m not one of those writers who builds complicated worlds. Don’t get me wrong: I consider myself good at world-building, and I enjoy it a lot, but I don’t...
In which writing is like a volcano
June 30, 2017
I don't know how Iceland is going to show up in one of my books someday, but I'll bet you that when it does, it'll be a volcano.(The first author I ever...