Finding North: August 2024
Puppy news, writing retreat, plus tour and stuff 🐾
Note: The recording above is a reading of this newsletter — it’s not produced, so you’ll hear the occasional stumble, or sounds of daily life in the background. If you’re someone who needs or prefers to hear their news, then I hope it’s helpful.
Hi there! I’m Amie Kaufman, NYT and internationally bestselling author of The Isles of the Gods, Illuminae, Aurora Rising, These Broken Stars, and many more books besides. This newsletter is the place to learn about my latest releases or events, and to follow along behind the scenes as I find my way through writing, and through life.
Hi, my friends.
I have so much to share this month! I’m counting down to my book release and writing to deadline — and I have puppy news and talk of writing retreats as well! We’ll hit the business notes first, in case that’s what you’re here for, and then we can settle in for a chat.
In this letter:
The Heart of the World preorder offer
The Heart of the World tour - US + Australia!
What I’ve been up to
What I’m writing
What I’ve loved lately
Memento giveaway
Let’s get started!
The Heart of the World preorder offer:
Time is ticking! The Heart of the World, the sequel (and conclusion) to The Isles of the Gods is out on September 17th (or August 28th if you’re an Aussie.)
I know I’ve said it before, but here it is one more time: preorders are the single best way you can support an author. They tell publishers and booksellers that you’re excited about the book in a way that nothing else can.
If you have a mailing address in the US, UK or Australia (or can borrow one!) you can lodge your preorder (hardcover, paperback, ebook or audio) to claim a set of two art prints of the beautiful cover art, by Aykut Aydogdu. I think they’re just beautiful, and so many of you have asked for them. I have them framed at my house, and recommend it!
Click the button below to claim, and for a whole list of FAQs.
Friends, every time you preorder a book, an author spares the life of a character you love. Will you be a hero?
Here are all the US preorder links for The Heart of the World.
Here are all the UK preorder links for The Heart of the World.
And here in Australia we don’t have a one-stop shop, so here are links to Dymocks, Readings, Amazon, QBD, and your local independent bookshop for The Heart of the World.
The Heart of the World tour:
I’m heading to the US to talk all about The Isles of the Gods and The Heart of the World — and to be honest, all my other books too. And who knows what else. I love a chat. I love hanging out with readers. I’m unashamedly, cheesily into it.
You can find details on all my tour stops at the button below, as well as links to the hosting bookstores, in case you’d like to order a signed and/or personalised copy from them. The link also has heaps of FAQs, including signing guidelines and a description of how book events work, in case you haven’t been to one before.
Aussies! I’m also delighted to announce I’m holding a launch event with the glorious
J. Armstrong on August 28th here in Melbourne, and we would love to see you there as we celebrate both The Hand Fyrebirds!You can book right here, or find details of how to order a signed copy.
Now, I’m sure I’m not meant to say just yet, but if you’re in Sydney, please keep Thursday September 5th free, and keep an eye on my social media and my next newsletter!
What I’ve Been Up To
The big news at our house is the arrival of Molly, who’s a six month old Smooth Fox Terrier — she came to us from a rescue, and has immediately captured our hearts. Those of you who have been with me for many years will remember our darling dog Jack, who lived to seventeen or so (age is often a guessing game with rescues) and left us about a year ago now.
I still miss Jack so very much, but I know that the final steps to being ready to welcome in a new dog are, for me, actually meeting that new dog. I needed to hold Molly, and to fall a little bit in love with her jauntiness and curiosity (and her snuggles) to be ready for her.
It’s the same when I start a new book, really. Often my head is buried in the book I’ve just been writing, and I don’t yet feel ready to start the new project. But in the starting of it, I find I become ready.
What I’m Writing
I am one busy lady on the writing front. Those of you on instagram have been following along in my stories as I track my progress writing the book I’m calling RSR for now. I’m about 25,000 words in, and planning to finish a rough draft before I head to the US on tour. Here’s what my daily screenshots look like:
As I send you this newsletter, I’m away on a writing retreat that I’ve been taking each July or August for nearly a decade now. The same core group of writers — the people to whom The Isles of the Gods is dedicated, in fact — come along, and we always welcome new writers if we have spare beds in the house we visit each year.
For me, a writing retreat is the chance to sink into a story and immerse myself in this totally unbalanced way that would never work any other time, but is fantastic at certain points in my draft. For days on end I’ll get up in the morning, write all day, and break only for walks, brainstorming sessions, or meals with the other writers there. I’ll come home with my brain oozing out my ears, but having made that big, solid progress you can only make with concentrated blocks of time.
If you find writing retreats intriguing, you might like our latest episode of the Pub Dates podcast, which is all about what it’s like to go on retreat.
What I’ve Loved Lately
I’ve been reading so much lately — I’m writing so much that I have to refill my well as a matter of priority. And gosh, have I hit some good books.
The Mirror of Beasts by
is such a brilliant successor to Silver in the Bone — it was everything I wanted and several things I didn’t know I wanted. Alex is an auto-buy author for me, and never, ever disappoints. Grab this series for portal fantasy, treasure hunting, Arthurian legend, Indiana Jones vibes and banter galore.Meanwhile, Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan is genius, and made me cackle. Imagine if you could jump right into your favourite fantasy series. Imagine you knew the narrative when you arrived. And imagine you discovered that you’d appeared as the villain. Imagine the way you could change the story… If you didn’t think you’d end up cheering for a villain, that’s about to change.
If you’re an Aussie, I want to tell you about one other thing I’m loving lately. Incredible author Kelly Gardiner (who is also my PhD supervisor, and knows just about everything under the sun) is now teaching in-person classes, and running retreats. No matter who you are, you can learn from Kel — and you should. (Fun aside: in The Heart of the World you’ll meet a character called Scholar Kel, who is absolutely named in honour of the real Kel!) You can find all the details here.
Giveaway
This month’s giveaway is for a copy of Memento, the prequel to the Illuminae Files. These physical copies were the preorder incentive for Aurora Rising, and aren’t available for sale anywhere.
I’ve been re-reading Illuminae recently for reasons that must remain obscure for now—it’s been nearly ten years since the book came out (oh, is that a hint?) and it’s so enjoyable to have that distance under my belt, and laugh at the jokes in that book all over again.
As I have eight different published series, and folks who are fans of one might not be fans of another, I like to let you choose which monthly giveaways you want to enter for, and which you want to leave.
To win, leave a comment telling me your favourite character from the Illuminae Files!
The giveaway is open internationally. One answer will be randomly selected about halfway through the month, and I’ll reply in a comment to let you know to check your email! Good luck!
And that’s it for this month! I’m going to leave you one more time with those preorder links — I promise that after September I’ll give you a nice, long rest from these links!
Here are all the US preorder links for The Heart of the World.
Here are all the UK preorder links for The Heart of the World.
And here in Australia we don’t have a one-stop shop, so here are links to Dymocks, Readings, Amazon, QBD, and your local independent bookshop for The Heart of the World.
See you in September!
Agree with Marieke, I have to do a quick revision. Love Kady and Ezra but fave is Winifred Mccall- go girl :)
Can’t pick between Kady & Hanna, they are so powerful despite being teens, very insipiring characters & they both have such a great character growth throughout the saga!