Finding North: May 2023

The Isles of the Gods is out today!

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.

Hi, my friends.

I’ve been waiting a long, long time for this day. I began writing The Isles of the Gods in 2013, in fact. The characters sprang to life in my head, the first couple of chapters poured out of me, and I was convinced my masterpiece would be ready in no time.

Not so. I just wasn’t good enough yet. So I waited, and I worked on my craft, and I kept on daydreaming about that story. In fact, I continued to set this book aside and pick it up again for nearly a decade, never able to make it match up to the vision I had in my head. Until finally I was ready.

And today, The Isles of the Gods hits bookshops around the world.

Usually my newsletters are full of others sections — I talk about what I’m writing, what I’ve been into and up to lately. But I know you’ll forgive me if just this once, I talk about this thing that’s making me so deeply happy!

Here’s an important heads up: if you’re in Australia, England, Ireland or Scotland, please check the event details at the end, as I’m coming to see you in person!

And because I know you’re here to support my work, I’ll just say it straight — if you’re going to read The Isles of the Gods, then buying it during release week really makes a difference to authors. It’s a little like voting, where many people think one individual voice doesn’t make a difference. But it does! Early purchases put books on the radar for booksellers, publishers and other readers.

USA preorder links are all here. | Aussie and UK links are all here.

If you’ve already bought a copy, or if you’re about to now, make sure you lodge your receipt by May 6th to claim your preorder rewards. Click here to do that.

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I grew up on the water—in fact, I took my first steps on a boat. When my daughter was two weeks old, I took her down to the sea to dab some salt water on her and introduce her to a place I know she’ll love like I do.

Here I am sailing as a kid, absolutely pretending that I am someone else and I am in a book.

I wanted to write a book that took you down to the sea too, to share what I love with you and help you love it too, and I simply wasn’t good enough yet.

So I waited.

The book finally finished incubating during the long, long lockdowns of 2020 and 2021. Perhaps it was the quiet (although with a one and then two-year-old in the house, I’m not so sure) or perhaps it was the long hours I had to sit with the story, but I think it was something else. I think it was the intersection of having nearly two dozen books under my belt, my craft so much stronger than it was all those years ago, and my desperate need for fun.

That’s what this story is. It’s fun. It’s an adventure. It’s got romance, banter, chase scenes and dances, shipwrecks and battles and a bookworm who gets caught up in a quest when he was just trying to get to a library.

It’s about a sailor girl who’s never looked beyond the deck of her own ship, who suddenly finds herself caught up in world affairs. It’s about a prince who’s never taken a moment in his life seriously before, who suddenly might be the only person who can save the world from a war between the gods. Did I mention that he’s handsome? He’s handsome.

I turned to the 1920s for my inspiration, a time when record players and radio and cars and neon lights sat alongside tall ships still sailing cargo around the world and horse-drawn carts. I created a whole world, and I gave it magic, and I played with all the clashes the 1920s brought us, between new and old, between technology and tradition.

I cut some of the clashes in our world to create a safer place for readers—a place where your gender, or sexuality, or race aren’t an issue. I did keep the differences between classes, though—watching the characters step into each other’s worlds has been a lot of fun.

I couldn’t be prouder of this book, and I couldn’t love it more. I hope you love it too.

I hope it does bring you down to the sea, and shows you what I love about the way the blue stretches all the way to the horizon, and the salt scents the air, and rainbows glimmer in the spray.

I hope it offers you even half as much fun as I had writing it—that you love coming with me onto tall ships, into underground clubs, to street markets with food so good you’ll lick the plate, and abandoned temples on sacred islands.

I took this pic last year, at my first post-lockdown signing. I’m not joking when I say that getting to meet readers feels like magic to me.

I am so, so grateful to have all of you on the journey with me. I don’t write stories for recognition, or for bestseller lists, or prizes. I write them because it’s an incredible feeling to beckon to another human being and say “Psst, want to hear a story?” And to sit down with them, and lean in close together, and begin: “Once upon a time…”

I’m so, so happy to be experiencing that feeling yet again.

Welcome aboard the Lizabetta. I’m so happy you’re here. Let’s set sail.

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News and Events

Australia:

Melbourne: Click here for tickets to the Melbourne launch party this Thursday, May 4th! They’re free, but required.

Sydney: The legends at Sydney Writers Festival have added a second session for our panel due to popular demand (by which we mean you bought all the tickets to the first one in half an hour) but we have no capacity for a third, so jump on it! Come see me chat with Lili Wilkinson and Lynette Noni. There will be a signing afterwards, and books will be for sale. I’m also happy to sign backlist. Click here to book.

Scotland: I will be at Cymera Festival in Edinburgh on Sunday June 4th, in conversation with L.R. Lam and chaired by P.M. Freestone! There will be a signing afterwards, and books will be for sale. I’m also happy to sign backlist. Click here to book.

Ireland: Our announcement is coming very soon, but if you’re in the vicinity of Dublin, and you’re free on, say, June 13th or 14th? Maybe keep those days free, and keep an eye on your inbox for more details.

England: You should also watch your inboxes for more news soon, but in the meantime — and you didn’t hear it from me, because I’m not meant to say anything yet — if you happened to be around, say, Birmingham (4th July) or Liverpool (5th July) or London (6th July) then maybe pencil into your diaries that you might have something fun to do that evening? Nothing in particular, obviously.

USA: I wish I was coming to see you all, but I do have one small consolation offering — my book Ice Wolves is on sale on Audible for $5.99 for the month of May. It’s a book written for 8 - 13 year old readers, but one of the most common pieces of feedback I get is that parents have loved co-reading it with their children. So if you have a road trip coming up, this might be one everyone can live with! Click here to check it out.

Worldwide: If you’ve lodged your receipt, then I hope I’ll see you at the virtual Q&A we have planned for those who preordered, or bought in the first week! You can lodge your receipt here. You’ll get an email soon advising the details and date. Also check out my note on my Pub Dates podcast, just below.

For those who listen to my podcasts, I can report that there’s a new season of Amie Kaufman on Writing now up and running, with episodes on building romantic tension, creating maps and how to describe characters so far.

For listeners to

Pub Dates

, where Kate J. Armstrong and I take listeners behind the scenes as we go through the publication process, our most recent episode is about writing romance, and in the next one, we’re going to attempt a live recording of my Melbourne launch — so wherever you are, you can come to the launch party!

And finally…

That’s it! I’m going to share the links to buy a copy of The Isles of the Gods again one more time — and if you do, remember to claim that reward by May 6th!

USA preorder links are all here. | Aussie and UK links are all here.

Thank you again for all your support, my friends. I’m grateful for each and every one of you. I’ll be back next month, returning to our regularly scheduled programming as I chat about what I’m working on, and all the fun stuff I have planned for the rest of the year.

Happy reading!

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