Season’s Greetings and The Dark Days ClubRelease News
Hi All,
It is exciting times here! The Dark Days Club is already out in Australia (under the title Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club) and will be released in the UK on January 21, and the USA on January 26. Walker Books in the UK are doing a huge sampler drive on Oxford Street in London on the weekends of 23rd January and 30th January. You can get your hands on two chapters of The Dark Days Club along with a chance to win copies of the book and fashion vouchers to the tune of 150 pounds, so keep an eye out for that–the teams will be outside TopShop, Primark and New Look and will be wearing The Dark Days Club branded jackets so you won’t be able to miss them. I will be attending Geekfest in January to teach a bit of Regency dancing, and in March….drum roll please…I will be touring the USA with The Dark Days Club! Right now, however, I am getting ready for the holidays and gearing up to bake the family Christmas biscuits (I don’t cook very often so this is a BIG DEAL). Wish me luck. If you are keen to know about the books and documentaries I used to research The Dark Days Club, I have just updated my Research page with links to some great series and a very long list of just some of the books I read. Yes, I am a research nerd. Finally, for your enjoyment, I offer our annual festive madness below. This year’s effort has a Regency theme…of course. Happy holidays! Cheers, Alison
Guest at RWA Conference in Melbourne!1st August, 2015Hi All,This year, I am a guest at the fabulous Romance Writers of Australia conference at the Park Hyatt Melbourne from August 21st-23rd. I will be running a Scene Diagnosis workshop, participating in a panel about world building, and taking part in the huge signing event on Saturday the 22nd. The signing is open to everyone. If you are not attending the conference, a small fee is either paid by booking online through here or at the door. There are books for sale on the night and a great line up of authors to meet. Hope to see you there!In other news, the USA, UK, and Australian covers for the first book in my Lady Helen series –The Dark Days Club–are being completed. They are all very dfferent and very gorgeous. I’m hoping to be able to share them with you soon. I’ve also got some very exciting news for my USA readers–it looks like I will be touring the USA early next year. Huzzah! More details as they come to hand.Cheers for now,AlisonEon optioned to be made into a movie4th May, 2015Hi All,I’m finally able to release the exciting news that EON has been optioned to be made into a movie. Huzzah! The fabulous film director, Katja von Garnier, has taken out the option, and so the first step in the very long path to EON making it to the big screen has been taken! I am totally thrilled. Katja has directed such wonderful films as Iron Jawed Angels and the award-winning Ostwind, among others. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well and we eventually go into production!Cheers, AlisonA quick side trip from the Regency to Victorian Steampunk20th April, 2015Hi All,It’s been a busy month or so for me -– I’ve been writing Book 2 in the Lady Helen series, dancing up a storm at the Jane Austen Festival Australia, and strolling through the Queen Victoria Gardens at the Melbourne Biannual Gothic and Victorian PIcnic. Below is a pic of me in my Steampunk gear (with parasol and valise in hand) chatting with my friend Anne-Marie Jaeger at the picnic. The gorgeous photo was taken by Wolf and Oak, who were snapping professionally on the day and have very generously allowed me to share it.Cheers for now, AlisonProduction Year for Lady Helen!29th March 2015Hi All,Now that the release date for the first book in my new Lady Helen series is set for January 2016, the publishing process is swinging into action. I’m expecting some cover drafts to come through soon from Penguin USA, Walker Books UK and HarperCollins Australia — always an exciting time. At some point, I’m hoping to be able to give you a sneaky peek too! I’m also about to finalise the copy edit of the first book, and then it goes into galleys where it is set into the font and design that the publisher has created. I’m also working on a new website that will be based around the Lady Helen books. It will be the place to go to for extras about the series and any breaking news. Stay tuned for news about the unveiling!In about two weeks I will be packing my travelling trunk and hat boxes and journeying to Canberra for the annual Jane Austen Festival Australia. It will be a fun weekend, full of Regency dancing, plus a symposium about the Battle of Waterloo and the men in Jane Austen’s books. Below is the poster for anyone who may be interested in coming along. I believe there are still some tickets available. Click here to go to the site for more information.And hey, did I mention that I taught my first Regency dance class a few weeks back? It was great…and very hard work! I think I need to hit the cardio a bit harder at gym to be as fit as those gals in the Regency. The dances I taught were about 5 minutes long and we were puffing afterwards. They danced for up to half an hour at a time and had to converse charmingly all the while. Good grief!Cheers for now AlisonSome exciting news brewing about EON11th November, 2014Hi All,A quick update to let you know how my new Lady Helen Regency supernatural adventure series is coming along. As you may already know, the release date for Book 1 is now January 2016 (see my previous post for the whys and wherefores). Now that it is November 2014, the eyes of my publishers are turning to their 2016 list. That means Book 1 is finally going into the production process. Cover ideas will be coming my way, copy will be written and ideas will be thrown around about how to best value add to the new website that we will be building for the series. All very exciting!I also have another piece of exciting news brewing about EON. I can’t give any details yet––not until everything is signed and sealed––but stay tuned.On another fun and fashionable note, I have been featured on the Inside Out Style blog. You can check out my stylish thoughts here.Cheers for now,AlisonThe Bath Summer Ball, U.K. research and a publication date for Lady Helen!9th July, 2014Hi All,It has been a busy few months for me with lots of writing, a research trip to the UK, and finally, a publication date decided for the first book in my new Lady Helen series. I have to warn you, though, the release date is quite a way off. In fact, it is not until January 2016! I know, I know––that is ages away, but let me tell you why it is going to be such a long wait.Firstly, it takes me at least 18 months to write one of my books. That’s not particularly slow, but then again, it is not particularly fast. The Lady Helen series is going to be a trilogy and my publishers want to release one book a year, so in order to give me the time to write at my best, we have decided to “front-load” the series. That is, when Book 1 is published in January 2016, Book 2 will already be finished, and I will have started Book 3. That way, we can release a Lady Helen book each year thereafter. Yay! And what is even better, I will be able to write at my best pace, create the books I want to create, and not implode from deadline stress. Double yay. So, if you do enjoy my books, I ask you to hang in there. I promise Lady Helen will be worth it!One of the joys of writing the Lady Helen series has been all the deep research into the Regency era––officially 1811to1820. I’ve been lucky enough to visit the UK a number of times to get some first-hand experience of the places I am writing about, and the elegant artifacts from the period. My recent trip last month was centred around Bath where the third book will be set (I’m currently writing Book 2). As it happened, the trip coincided with the Jane Austen Festival Regency Summer Ball: an annual costumed event in Bath. I couldn’t miss a chance like that, so I hauled my ball gown and all the associated extras (stays, chemise, stockings, reticule, feathers etc) across the world and attended the ball with my very patient husband, who agreed to don Mr. Darcy breeches and jacket. The ball was held in the magnificent assembly room at The Guildhall, the perfect setting for the event. It was wonderful and so useful for my research, and as you can see from the photos below, a fantastic time was had by all. Yes, even by my husband, who looked very handsome in his outfit. You can see him in his full splendour on my Facebook Author Page (via the f button top right).On the left is the very happy author living the ball scene in her novel, and on the right, learning a tricky dance step.Above, the felicity of movement!My Facebook Page is also the place to contact me or leave a comment––I’d love to hear from you. And remember to register your ‘Like’ too – a good way to keep up with Lady Helenprogress such as cover reveals and sneak peeks!Finally, this week I am a guest at Sandi Wallace’s blog. Sandi is a crime novelist and is running a series of short interviews about career starts and highlights. Check out my interview here.Cheers for now, AlisonIt’s Nearly Festival Time!29th March, 2014Hi All,My apologies for the ‘radio silence’ here on my site. The reason is that I’ve been busily editing Book 1 of my new Lady Helen series––a Regency/supernatural adventure trilogy––and writing Book 2. There is still some to-ing and fro-ing about the release date of Book 1, but as soon as that is all sorted, I’ll let you know when it will be out in the world.In other news, I am getting ready for the annual Jane Austen Festival Australia (JAFA) in Canberra. This year it is from Thursday 10th April to Sunday 13th, and I have been taking some Regency dance classes to prepare myself for a weekend full of dancing and Regency fun. The festival is celebrating the 200 year anniversary of the publication of Mansfield Parkand I’m running the inaugural JAFA Book Club. We’ll be chatting about the world of Fanny Price and Edmund and Mary Crawford over cupcakes and coffee -– what could be better? I’m also excited by the chance to see some single-stick combat, a method of self defence that uses a gentleman’s cane as a weapon. I’ll be taking lots of notes (and maybe even taking a stick in hand to give it a try) for research because Lady Helen will soon be wielding a cane in battle!The festival also gives me a chance to wear my full Regency wardrobe, so be warned, there will soon be lots of photos of me in day gowns and spencers and bonnets. Here’s one of me in my beautiful ballgown from last year’s festival to get the ball rolling (ugh, what a bad pun!).Cheers for now, Alison Photo by Steven Shaw Happy Holidays!22nd December, 2013Hi All,Here’s the latest news from my part of the world.Kindle price reduction of my adult crime novel I must apologise for the problem with the recent Kindle “Price Coutdown” promotion of my adult crime novel, A New Kind of Death. I wasn’t aware that the “Price Countdown” offered by Amazon was only available for the USA and UK. So, to make up for the lack of access to the promotion for my Australian and international readers, I’ve decided to reduce the everyday worldwide Kindle price of A New Kind of Death to US$2.99. So if you were looking for the reduced price during Black Friday/Cyber Monday and it didn’t show, you’ll find it on the Amazon site now. Happy reading!EON and EONA in Japan I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that I have just agreed to a deal to publish EON and EONAin Japan. This will be the first time any of my work has been published in Japan so I am absolutely stoked and can’t wait to see how they handle the covers. Will it be manga style?Alas, a delay in my new series As so often happens in publishing, the release date for the first book in my new historical/supernatural series––Lady Helen and the Dark Days Club––has been delayed. It will not be published mid next year as previously announced, but early 2015. I’ll keep you up-to-date with more details as they come to hand.I hope you and your family have a great holiday season. Take care and I’ll see you in 2014.Cheers, AlisonHere’s your chance to get my crime novel on Kindle for only $1.99!26th November, 2013 Hi All,I’m putting my crime novel for adults – A New Kind of Death – in the Kindle Countdown promotion over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend. That’s this coming weekend, so here is your chance to snap up the e-book for a fraction of its normal price!The price countdown starts at 6am PST on Friday 29th November (that’s Saturday at 1am AEST for Australian readers) and will go like this:Friday, November 29th the e-book will be sold for $1.99 Saturday, November 30th – $2.99 Sunday, December 1st – $3.99 Monday, December 2nd – $4.99Actually, its more of a count up, than a countdown, but that’s what Kindle calls the promotion. The sale ends at 11.59pm PST on Monday 2nd (Aussie readers remember to factor in the time difference throughout). The e-book will then go back to its normal RRP of $5.99.Whoo Hoo, I say! Go get it while you can. Here’s the blurb to whet your appetite:Shooting your first film can be murder…Hannie Reynard has landed every aspiring filmmaker’s dream: a hefty grant to make her documentary, Freaks or Frauds. But the groundbreaking film that is meant to launch Hannie’s career may kill her first. Blowing the grant money on a lost weekend in Paris was bad enough, but now the ‘stars’ of her film – women who share a unique genetic trait – have stopped talking…and started disappearing.Blackmailed into accepting a burned out colleague as her cameraman, Hannie follows a perilous trail that leads her and her crew toward a powerful puppet master with a deadly obsession. But closing in on them all is a ruthless hitman with a lethal shooting schedule of his own…A New Kind of Death is a dark and wickedly adult comic thriller with just a touch of speculative intrigue. It was previously published in the USA as Killing The Rabbit and was shortlisted for the prestigious Davitt Award.‘A sharp, aware and compelling thriller, taking the genre into exciting new territories.’ – Michael Marshall author of Blood of AngelsCheers for now, AlisonAlison is back in 2013! (for a little while, anyway) 9th October, 2013Hi All,The first of my Lady Helen Regency adventure novels is now edited and heading into the next phase of production: copy edit! Still a bit of work to do, but it is getting closer and closer to completion and release next June. And I’ve seen the cover. WOW! It’s absolutely brilliant. Can’t show it around yet, but as soon as I can, I’ll let you have a sneaky peek.Right now, I’m getting ready to head over to the UK to research book number 2 and to attend the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton. Before that, however, I’m taking part in a Twitter event tomorrow via @PenguinTeen. It’s a chance for you to have a chat with me and four other Penguin Fantasy authors. Here’s the line up:· Alison Goodman (Eon and Eona) · Melissa de la Cruz (Frozen, Heart of Dread #1) · Michael Johnston (Frozen, Heart of Dread #1) · Kristin Cashore (Bitterblue) · Morgan Rhodes (Falling Kingdoms)So, if you have a question or two that you would like to ask me about Eon and Eona, Singing the Dogstar Blues or my new Lady Helen books, join the chat @PenguinTeen. It’s scheduled for:USA: Wednesday 9th October at 7PM-8 PM Eastern Time, which is 4PM-5PM Pacific Time Australia: Thursday 10th October at 10AM-11AM.Below you can see the official Flyer that was posted on Facebook. Unfortunately the sweepstakes competition is now closed, but you can still tune in to @PenguinTeen at the above time (according to your country and time-zone) and join in the Twitter chat. Hope to Tweet with you tomorrow!Cheers, AlisonAlison is still in 1812! 8th July, 2013Hi All,As can sometimes happen in the development of a novel, I hit a bit of a roadhump in the road to submission. Consequently, I’m still hard at work on the final bits of my Regency adventure novel and have a new August submission date. Wish me luck! In the meantime, I leave you with a cheeky reworking of the Pride and Prejudice cover by a company called Pulp! The Classics that publishes classic novels with retro covers. I particularly like the shout-line, and the anachronistic cigarette is a hoot too!Cheers, AlisonAlison is currently in 1812! May 4th, 1812 (okay, 2013)Hi All,I’m in the countdown to the deadline for my new Regency adventure novel, so I’m going to be pretty much incommunicado until early June. I’ll keep tabs on my Facebook Page every now and again, so please do drop by and say hi via the portal opposite, but I won’t be answering comments or posting until I’ve returned from 1812. Have a great month!Cheers, AlisonDarkMatter Zine Interview! March 1, 2013HI All,It’s been a very busy January and February. I’m forging ahead with my new Regency adventure novel and the past two months have included a lot of interviews around the re-release of my adult crime novel, A New Kind of Death. On my Facebook page, I’ve posted a rather good article about it that appeared in the Herald Sun, or if you have a bit of time, DarkMatter Fanzine conducted an excellent in depth video interview with me about my writing career which I’ve embedded below. I do a bit of umming and erring at the beginnng (I’m far more comfortable sitting behind my desk creating worlds than sitting in front of a camera talking about myself) so sorry about that, but I do get better as the interview progresses.As ever, if you would like to drop me a line, mosey on over and Like my Facebook page (you can find the portal to your right) and send a message. I will get back to you!Cheers for now, Alison Half-way through new novel! January 22, 2013It’s a bit belated, I know, but Happy New Year! 2013 is already shaping up to be interesting. I’ve been writing hard over the holiday break and I’m coming up to the mid-point in my new supernatural adventure novel set in the Regency. Huzzah! Usually at this half-way mark, I have a bit of a mid-book crisis, but so far so good. I’m still rocking along and enjoying every minute of it.To keep me spurred on, my Mum recently gave me some ‘Regency’ pictures she found stashed away in her cupboard. She cut them out of the English Women’s Weekly decades ago but now has no idea why she kept them, so has passed them on to me for inspiration. Thanks, Mum! Now, by my reckoning they are a much later “Romantic” rendering of the Regency era, perhaps late Victorian or even more modern than that. I can’t make out the artists’ names, but if anyone does know who did them, drop me a line via my Facebook page. All that aside, they are, I think, quite lovely and depict some seminal social moments in the Regency gal’s life: being introduced to a young man at a ball, attending the theatre, and hanging with the BFF’s. Needless to say, the captions are mine and not the originals…Cheers, Alison‘Miss Charles, allow me to introduce Mr Timms. He’s a tool, but good for one dance, at least.’‘Good Lord , Beatrice, look what Sally Withers is wearing!’‘So according to this map, there’s a secret passage in the ball room that leads to the Philsopher’s Stone.’A New Kind of Death Kindle e-book out now and Happy Holidays! December 23rd, 2012Hi All,Great news for those who like to read a bit of crime fiction now and again. My adult crime thriller A New Kind of Death is now available as a Kindle e-book from Amazon for the fabulous price of $5.99. Yay!I also promised a few more pics from the print book launch, and when I say a few…I mean one. So here it is, a pic of me and my publisher Lindy who heads Clan Destine Press. Two very happy campers!So, we are now in the thick of the very merry holiday season and, as is my holiday habit, I have posted a little reading gift for my readers. This year it is an article that takes a look at the twisting, winding road of historical research. I recently went to the UK to research my new series set in Regency London, and was inspired to write the article. You’ll find it here. I hope you enjoy.Finally, I would like to leave you with warm holiday wishes and a hope that the New Year brings you happiness and prosperity. 2013 will be a busy year for me – I will be finishing the first book in the Regency series, editing it for an early 2014 release, and then heading over to the UK to research Book 2 and the World Fantasy Convention. Phew!Cheerio and sunny holiday greetings from the Southern Hemisphere! See you in 2013. Launch of A New Kind of Death plus Special Promo Price December 14th, 2012Hi All,Last night we had the Melbourne launch of my adult crime novel, A New Kind of Death, and it was a blast. The weather was hot and sticky with lots of rain to snarl up the Christmas traffic, but loads of intrepid friends and fans made the journey to The Rising Sun Hotel to celebrate the release of the book. It had all the elements that I think make up a great launch: friends, short speeches, fried food and a bar tab!It was a great evening all round, and included a screening of the short animation that shows the development of the cover that my husband designed. You can check out the animation here, on the ANKoD page, where you will also find a three chapter taster of the novel. Please be aware that the novel is aimed at an adult readership and the taster does contain explicit language and adult themes.I’m waiting for some official photos of the launch to come through, but here’s a ‘less official’ pic to start things off: me signing a book for my two lovely nieces, Joci and Samantha.AND NOW FOR THE SPECIAL PROMO PRICE: For a short time, the publisher of the print edition of A New Kind of Death, Clan Destine Press, is offering a special promotional price of $AUD22.00 (rrp $AUD27.00), and will post overseas as well as around Australia (postage is additional). To claim the promo book price, Click here to order and use the code NEW-KIND-OF-DEATH when you check out.And, as ever, if you would like to say hi or leave me a comment, you can do so on my Facebook Page. I do personally read and answer all my messages, but it may take a little while for me to get back to you as I’m hard at work on my new Regency adventure series.Cheers for now, Alison Melbourne Launch of A New Kind of Death December 5th, 2012Hi All,Are you going to be in Melbourne on 13th December? If so, come and join me for the launch of A New Kind of Death, the Australian edition of my adult crime novel which was originally published in the US as Killing the Rabbit. A signed and personalised crime book is a GREAT Christmas present, so take the chance to come along and tick one off the pressie list! Your invitation is below and entry is only via RSVP. Thanks.Cheers and hope to see you on Thursday the 13th. AlisonPhotos From Brisbane Supanova November 11th, 2012Hi All,I had such a blast at Supanova Brisbane. A big thanks to the Supanova crew for yet another great event. Here are some pics of my fellow authors, and a few fan girl moments for myself!From L to R: Rachel Caine, Kylie Chan, Joe Abercrombie, Trudi Canavan, and yours truly.And here are two of my total fan girl moments: Luke Perry and Morena Baccharin. Sigh. Both such lovely people.Cheers for now, Alison
