Kalyna the Cutthroat Cover and Excerpt
My God, it's beautiful.
I honestly couldn't be happier with what designer Samira Iravani, artist Bose Collins, and Erewhon books put together here.
Over at io9, you can learn more about the book and read an excerpt:
Unrest Sparks a Need to Flee ASAP in This Exclusive Excerpt From Kalyna the Cutthroat
Conventions!
I should probably start telling y'all where you can find me in the coming months.
September 15-17, Birmingham, England: Fantasycon
I'm nominated for an award, plus I'm an ego monster. I had to go!October 18-22, Virtual: Chengdu Worldcon
October 26-29, Kansas City, MO: World Fantasy Convention
Come say hi! I'll be on various panels and probably at the bar—I'm easy to spot.
The Butterfly Passion
I'm still deep in revisions on Kalyna the Cutthroat, and one book I'm reading for research is Chris Jennings' excellent Paradise Now: The Story of American Utopianism. This gave me the chance to learn more about 19th century wackadoo theorist Charles Fourier.
Fourier had a lot of bonkers ideas mixed in with some genuinely good ones. For example, he correctly predicted global warming, but thought it would be good, leading to a future of lemonade seas, lion taxicabs, and seven-foot-tall humans with tails. Some shit is too wild even for me to rip it off and put it in a fantasy novel.
Fourier also split all humans into 810 "passional types," which were meant to explain what work they were best suited for and how they should live together communally. This one particularly caught my eye.
I'm glad he made space in his theory for us flamboyant queers riddled with ADHD.
Lastly
Back when the Cutthroat cover was still secret, I asked my manicurist to make an abstract design based on it. I adore what she came up with.
Since then, I've already gotten yet another manicure. For this one, she literally mixed clear gel polish with Manic Panic face glitter. Perfection.
