There are so many good novels coming out, or recently out, and I can't read any of them now because I am up to my eyeballs in research books at the moment. I love research, though, and I thought I'd use this edition of the newsletter to talk about how I find answers to historical questions, using one recent example of a question I had, and how I went looking for the answer. Research is something I get asked about a lot, and these days, it's getting harder to do well online.

I've got a few topics on the go for my novel Mercutio at the moment: astrology, ships, playing cards, city-state politics, maps, food, clothing, philosophy … This week I spent a whole day reading about travellers from China to Europe in the 13th century. Sometimes I need to know a lot about a topic and sometimes I just have a question or two. And sometimes what I learn is that there is no definitive, findable answer.

Where possible, though, I like to find the answers to my questions as accurately and fully as I can, both because I think it's a useful service to be as accurate as possible, and also because the real, weird complexity of history makes for better fiction than just replicating assumptions.

Here's an example of a specific question I had earlier this month and how I approached it.

Yesterday was the 80th anniversary of D-Day. 

I've always been interested in the history of the Second World War, and I talked to my grandpa about it a fair bit in the last years of his life. Although he'd been (narrowly) evacuated from Dunkirk with the rest of the British Expeditionary Force in 1940, by 1944 he was nowhere near France (he was posted in Iraq, doing vehicle inspections as Armament Quarter Master Serjeant.) That's why the memoir he wrote for his family in 2000 doesn't talk about D-Day except in passing. But it does include a long passage about his worries that "the present generation" might not realize how terrible the consequences might have been if the fascists had won the war. My grandpa and I were indeed from different generations, and there are lots of things he might not see the same way I do. But I agree with him wholeheartedly about that. 

One reason I wanted to write a novel set in the Second World War was to add my tiny contribution to the ongoing work of keeping that history alive and real, or at least spurring a reader or two to find out more about it. History can be forgotten–and more immediately, it can be suppressed or twisted to the ends of those in power, or those trying to take power.

My novel scheduled for publication in September, The Tapestry of Time, is about the abuses of history, and how fascists tried to take control of the historical narrative then as they continue to do now. 

Hi everyone! The news is out about the new book I’m working on:

I’ve wanted to write about Mercutio forever — and specifically, about John McEnery’s portrayal of Mercutio in the 1968 film of Romeo & Juliet, which got under my skin decades ago and has been part of my creative brain ever since. I’m so pleased to be working again with Jane Johnson (my editor at HarperVoyager UK for The Chatelaine, The Valkyrie and The Tapestry of Time.) I’m mid-way through the draft now, and I plan to send it to Jane before the end of this calendar year. This is a standalone; the second book in the deal will be for something unrelated.

The last two books before this one were really difficult for me process-wise, so I’m glad to say this one is coming more easily, at least so far. It’s also tremendous fun to write. I’ve been very deliberate about finding the joy in it, and taking my time.

Hi everyone,

This week, the main thing on my plate is the draft of my current novel, plus some contract non-fiction writing. But yesterday, the first line of a story popped into my head. I opened a file to jot it down, and then the second line came… and before I knew it, I had this strange little story.

So I thought I’d share it with all of you, hot off the press, so to speak! It’s about 700 words, so it’s a quick read.

Hi everyone! I'm really pleased to share that The Valkyrie has been shortlisted for the Aurora Award for Best Novel. It shares the ballot with Bad Cree by Jessica Johns, Marigold by Andrew F. Sullivan, Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice, and Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It's a tremendous honour to see my book in that company, and I can honestly say that no matter who wins in the ceremony on August 11, I'll be cheering wildly. I'm a huge fan of Waubgeshig's work in particular, which has reshaped the way I think about the future.

As it happens, the subject for this newsletter is reading. Lately, I've been hungry for books that don't colour inside the lines. There has long been pressure on writers, especially in genre, to create a frictionless reading experience: a narrative that has a familiar shape, and sentences that don't make you stop to think. (For the record, many of my favourite books meet this definition. It's not a bad way to write; I just don't think it's the only good way to write.) These days, that pressure feels stronger to me, for a few reasons.

A few weeks ago, an independent publisher announced that they were going to use an "AI" tool to sort submissions. (Using an Israeli AI startup, no less, at a time when the government of Israel is using “AI” surveillance methods to target human beings.) They backed down once the speculative-fiction community reacted, but other publishers will use these kinds of tools (I'm sure some already are). Indeed, one of the reasons publishers feel tempted is that generative "AI" is ballooning the numbers of submissions.

I don't remember the first time I became aware of Locus magazine. It's just always been there, the hub for news about science fiction and fantasy publishing, the place where upcoming books were listed, where books and stories of all kinds were reviewed. The Locus recommended list kicks off the award cycle every year, and it has introduced me to many writers I hadn't read before. It is one of the incubators for conversations about what people in our genre are doing in new and interesting ways. It's a magazine that makes an effort to grow and get better, and to cover as much as it can. This is particularly valuable with each passing year, as professional reviews become more and more concentrated in fewer publications.

As you may have seen, the annual Locus fundraiser has entered its final three days. I've donated two perks (a signed paperback of The Chatelaine, and a letter in response to any question you have for me, which I'll type on my Facit 1620 and sign and put in the mail to you. The question could be "should I keep writing?" or "what is your recipe for pancakes?" or anything at all.) There are also incredible perks from the top writers in the field.

Below is the cover for the issue that featured me, back in April 2020. That article was the result of a long conversation with Locus's Arley Sorg in a hotel room at the 2019 Nebulas. I remember talking to Arley for a long time about some personal things I hadn't really articulated before (because he's a warm, thoughtful person with genuine curiosity and compassion). And I remember Arley carefully triple checking the details of my biography, because Locus sees itself not only as a running conversation, but also as an archive of the genre, the magazine of record.

A few years later, I ran across a small error that involved my participation in a panel, in a Locus convention report. It was an understandable error (the source had provided inaccurate information) on a very minor matter and as a former journalist myself, I am not one to rush off and demand corrections for things from busy people. All the same, in this particular case, the facts mattered to me, and because it was the magazine of record, I wrote and (politely) asked them to correct it. They did, promptly and professionally.

I've just sent the copy-edited file of The Tapestry of Time back to my publisher, along with a form giving some information for the audiobook narrators. The book comes out in September. The next step is page proofs (and I should see cover art soon!)

My acquiring/developmental editor and I finished with the big picture stuff in December, and then the manuscript was passed to another editor for the copy edit, which covers grammatical and style issues line by line, clarifications and fact checks, as well as continuity and timeline snarls. This book has an intricate plot that weaves through very well documented history, and it went through revisions that moved around the events of the story. In the end, I'm pleased there were only a few small things that needed to be fixed. I'm always very grateful for the careful work of copy editors!

Authors do get some time (typically two weeks or so) to go over the copy edit to approve or reject changes, or address any queries. While I try not to reject a change out of sheer stubbornness, authors may choose not to take a copy editor's suggestion.

One of the things that my copy editor was checking for was British English, for two reasons: this book is coming out from a UK publisher, and it's written in the points of view of British people. It's very seldom I've been able to write any fiction in Canadian English, with the notable exception of short stories in Canadian magazines. The Venn diagram for how these three forms of English usually interact kind of looks like this (if I oversimplify to show what I mean):

Back in February, I was invited to be a guest speaker at a meeting of the Oxford University Speculative Fiction Group. (A remote appearance, alas. I'll get to Oxford one of these days!) I decided to speak about archetypes in fiction, and specifically character archetypes, and how they can support or undermine political structures. The talk draws on some examples from my own work, especially my next book, so it's a bit of a sneak peek at that as well.

We had a long and interesting Q&A session after this, but what follows is more or less what I said during the lecture portion.

On July 20, 2020, I was scrolling through Twitter on my phone, as one did in those days, and I came across a question from someone I didn't follow, just one of those questions people throw out on social media to get a conversation going. The question was this: "Combine the first movie you ever saw in theaters (that you can recall) with the last movie you saw in theaters. What film monstrosity have you created?"

Hi everyone! Apologies for a second missive so soon after the last (an unusual occurrence) but there's a cool and time-sensitive opportunity to let you know about, especially for those of you who will be in Ottawa in the last week of February.

I told you last week that my book The Valkyrie is the February book for the book club run by CBC Ottawa's afternoon radio show All In A Day (hosted by Alan Neal).

Tomorrow afternoon (Feb. 1) they'll announce the exact location and date in late February for the meeting. I can't tell you that yet, but it's a place in Ottawa that's very special to me. If you miss the announcement of those details on All In A Day, you can find them on or after Feb. 1 on my social media (Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, Mastodon) and I'll also post it on the events section of my website.

Once that happens, there's usually a flurry of folks trying to get the limited seats.

Hi everyone! I have some exciting news. In late February, The Valkyrie is going to be the book for the All In A Day Book Club on CBC Radio here in Ottawa!

This feature highlights local authors. The host Alan Neal encourages listeners to read one book together for a month, and then he meets with listeners and the author in a special location in Ottawa, where we all talk about the book.

(People join both in person and virtually via Zoom.)

It's then recorded and broadcast on All In A Day (which is the afternoon radio show on CBC Radio One, heard 3-6 p.m. ET on 91.5 FM).

Happy new year, everyone! We've had a lovely family holiday, eating vegetarian tourtière and other goodies, and listening to my small but growing collection of vinyl on the Fluance record player that I asked for as my combined Christmas/birthday gift.

I'll be 47 in a few days, and as is often my wont with birthdays, I've been pondering mortality and other big questions.

I rewatched the 2021 David Lowery film The Green Knight this week. I know that it had a divided reception among medievalists, but I adore it. This time around I particularly appreciated the imagery of greenness as life/death, without any division where that slash is. The decision to be ready to die is the same as the decision to be ready to live. In a way, it complements the opposite imagery in T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, which is partly about clinging to half-life:

Hi everyone! First things first: it's been a while since we did a giveaway, and I have a few spare copies of some of my books, so let's do it! If you'd like a signed paperback of The Embroidered Book, The Chatelaine, Alice Payne Rides or Assassin's Creed: The Resurrection Plot, shipped anywhere in the world, email me at kateheartfield@gmail.com by noon ET on Nov. 30 and I'll use a random number generator to choose one winner and ship it out. (Note that both AC: TRP and Alice Payne Rides are sequels!) If I choose you, I'll need to know:

• Which book (TEB, The Chatelaine, Alice Payne Rides or AC: TRP)

• Whether you want it personalized to you or as a gift (depending on where you live, I should be able to get it there before Christmas, although I can't guarantee that.)

• Your mailing address

This will be my last newsletter for 2023 (barring any huge news) and I just want to say thanks to everyone who's picked up one of my books this year, or spread the word. It was a big year for publications -- the paperback of The Embroidered Book, The Valkyrie, the reissued version of The Chatelaine, and Assassin's Creed: The Resurrection Plot. I wrote a blog post reflecting on the year in life and writing.

Hi everyone! First of all, a quick housekeeping note. I've just changed the newsletter delivery system from Mailchimp to Buttondown. My main reason for this is that Buttondown does not use newsletter content to train generative AI (or sell it to others to do so.)

So far, so good with the move, but if you notice any technical issues, please do let me know, at kateheartfield@gmail.com.

With Christmas coming up, a note that if you'd like a signed copy of one of my books, I recommend getting in touch with Bakka Phoenix in Toronto, or Perfect Books or The Spaniel's Tale in Ottawa. They all ship and have at least some signed copies in stock (and for the Ottawa stores, I can go in to personalize copies as long as you give us a little notice.) I'm also happy to mail signed and personalized bookplates, my treat. Brookline Booksmith will have bookplated editions of The Valkyrie available to coincide with our online event (see below.)

(Also: if you know anyone who'd like a copy of Assassin's Creed: The Magus Conspiracy in Italian or Polish, do get in touch! I have an extra copy of each and can send them out, signed, for the cost of shipping.)