Finding North: December 2024

Book updates, holiday recs and mango season 🥭

Note: The recording above is a reading of this newsletter — there’s no different content, and 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.

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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.

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Hi, my friends.

Somehow we’re nearly at the end of 2024! Among other things, I’m spending the end of the year indulging in some time travel — I’ve been re-reading the Illuminae Files for reasons I cannot yet disclose (but that relate to the 10th anniversary coming up next year) and indulging in some delightful nostalgia.

These stories changed my life, and I still love them so much. It’s been a joy to mix up reading these books with diving into edits on my next book set in space — and a joy to realise I’m still here, all these years later, doing what I love!

In this letter:

• Dealing with the end of year rush

• My Done List for 2024

• Update on Lady’s Knight

• Update on Project RSR

• Dealing with book bannings

• Piles of audiobook and holiday gift recs

• An Illuminae giveaway

It’s summer where I am, which means it’s time to buy a tray of mangoes every week. It’s one of my favourite ways to mark the turning of the seasons.

What I’ve Been Up To

We’re drawing in on the end of a long year — the other day my husband and I were noticing that even though neither of us works in a traditional office environment, we still feel that crawling-over-the-finish-line pressure that comes with the end of the year.

I have a lot left to do before we hit 2025 — more on my editing endeavours below — so I’ve been carefully filling up the well, to make sure I don’t fall down before the finish line. Definitely in tortoise-not-hare mode! Slow and steady and stopping for snacks wins the race.

The line-up this time featured musicians from the Ramones, Lagwagon, the Presidents of the USA, and more.

For me, one of the best ways to refill the well is live music. There’s something about being part of a crowd, letting the music roll over you, that recharges my brain. We saw Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, one of my favourites — they’re a punk supergroup who only do covers, don’t take themselves seriously, and put on amazing shows. Seriously, look them up, pick any of their covers that you recognise, and enjoy!

This hallway was a catwalk you were invited to strut joyfully along.

I also went to a beautiful exhibition themed around joy — seven different installations, all calling on some different aspect of the emotion, from nostalgia to ancient sagas, from childhood toys to togetherness. I let myself slow down and soak up each room, and the experience of not being in a hurry was a joy in itself.

What I’m Writing

Looking back on what I’ve done this year, there’s a very good reason I’m tired. Here’s the list:

1. Books outlined: 4 (Project RSR, Lady’s Knight 2 (twice, don’t ask) and NOAM)

2. Books drafted: 1 (Rebels)

3. Books edited: 3 (Lady’s Knight x 2 rounds, Project RSR x 1)

4. Samples written: 2 (Lady’s Knight 2, NOAM)

5. Pass pages: 2 (Lady’s Knight and Heart)

6. PhD interviews conducted: 2

7. Teaching: loads

8. Festivals: many

9. Tours: 2

10. Readalongs recorded: 2 (The Heart of the World and Fyrebirds on the Pub Dates podcast)

And that’s just the list of work stuff — life has provided plenty to keep me busy as well.

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In current news, we’ve completed pass pages on Lady’s Knight — coming June 2025 — and the book is starting to feel very real! I’ll have more to share in the new year, but just for fun, here’s one of the graphics I made when we pitched the book to our editor, to convey the mood of the thing…

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I also promised that I’d report back this month with how edits on Project RSR (title to be revealed!) are going. This is my space book, and I’m enjoying writing it so much! The answer, to my intense relief, is well! I had a long Zoom with a very clever friend who works at NASA, and can report it turns out I did not break any of my science, and in fact came up with one thing that I didn’t know about, but is actually real.

We’re also starting to talk covers — yes, for a book that’s tentatively slated for Feb 2026, this stuff starts so early! — and I’m excited about the direction we’re taking.

Going back to space has been SO much fun, and I’m excited to take you guys there with me!

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And finally, on the writing front, I want to share a post by my friend

M. K. England

on the risk that the new US administration poses to many of the books we write. As someone who has a hot pink book about two ladies who fall in love coming out next year, I’m squarely in the middle of this. M.K. lays out what’s at risk, and what you can do as readers — from library requests, to preordering to encourage publishers to hold the line. You can read it here.

If you haven’t read M.K.’s stuff, then you should, and if you’re inclined to preorder Lady’s Knight:

🇺🇸 She’s at Amazon or Barnes & Noble, with more links to come!

🇬🇧 She’s at Waterstones or Amazon, with more links to come!

🇦🇺 The Aussie system works on a different timeline, so no links yet, but you’ll hear all about them when they arrive!

📙 And finally, you can add the book on Goodreads right here.

What I’ve Loved Lately

I’ve been on a real audio run lately, and I want to recommend a few favourites.

If you’re a space nerd, and/or love alternate history, try The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal. It’s narrated by the author, who’s also a cult-favourite narrator in her own right, and she does the voices so well. Audio nerds know what I mean!

If you’re a Formula 1 nerd (I know there are quite a few of you reading!) then try The Formula, by Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg, which takes you through the history of the sport via its innovations and its rivalries.

And if you’re just having a bit of a breakdown, try The Fortnight In September by R.C. Sherriff, which I found when Kazuo Ishiguro recommended it on NPR as a perfect book to escape lockdown stress.

And finally, here are some books I’ve recommended through the year that might make great gifts — try the links for poetry, a true crime style thriller, some sci-fi, a couple of fantasies, some sci-fi-politics, some non-fiction and a murder mystery.

News and Events

Over on the

Pub Dates

podcast we’ve wrapped up the year with spoiler episodes for Fyrebirds and The Heart of the World (publishing soon) and we’ll wrap up 2024 with some book recs before the holidays, and some chat about podcast plans for next year.

Event-wise, I am delighted to announce that for the first time in forever, I don’t have a single event on the horizon. We are, however, planning some amazing stuff for Lady’s Knight next year, in both Australia and the US, so keep an eye on this section…

Giveaway

This month’s giveaway is Illuminae related! I recently found this stash of signed bookmarks from about ten years ago — you can tell they’re old, because Jay’s signature has so many letters in it! These days it’s waaaaaay more streamlined than that.

So, if you’d like the chance to win our vintage signatures, leave a comment telling me one thing you’re excited about for the holidays — let’s fill up the comments section with joy!

One answer will be randomly selected, and I’ll reply in a comment to let you know to check your email!

And that’s it from me for now! I’ll see you in 2025! I’m about to pack up my things and head off in my campervan for a gorgeous writing retreat to finish up my Project RSR edits, so I’ll report on that and bring you pictures next time!

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