Episode 32: End of Year Update

Did you miss us? 👯‍♀️

Welcome to the Pub Dates newsletter! We’re so glad you’re here.

This newsletter is released as a companion to each podcast episode, and we use it to share the visual elements of our discussion — from mood boards to design sketches, from photos to secret giveaways just for subscribers.

In episode thirty-two, we popped in for an end-of-year catch up, and talked about our future plans! Read on, because we’d love to hear your answers to our question about next year’s episodes.

Here’s the episode, if you haven’t had a chance to listen yet:

First, though, here are a few of the bits and pieces we promised you in the episode! First, a couple of mini holidays — come with us for a moment to Ireland and Tasmania…

Here's the view from Amie's cottage in Ireland, where the last episode was recorded, along with the sheep that lived outside the bedroom window.

And here's Kate, living that hiking/spa life she has always dreamed of, down in Tasmania.

Now, the bookish stuff you missed.

First, Amie’s cover:

And second, the flap copy for Fyrebirds — though a warning: spoilers lie here, so scroll past if you haven’t read Nightbirds yet, and stop when you see the next picture. (And then go read Nightbirds.)

With tensions rising and their powers no longer a secret, the Nightbirds must decide for whom and for what they are willing to fight for and how far they will go in the spellbinding sequel to the international bestseller Nightbirds.

The Nightbirds were once their city’s best-kept secret, but now the secret’s out. What’s more, they can do feats of magic no one has seen in centuries. They’re like the Fyrebirds of old: the powerful women who once moved mountains, parted seas, and led armies. Some say that when four join together, they become a force that shakes the earth and sends magic rippling through it. It does seem as if something has awoken in Eudea, but the four girls responsible don’t want the world to know the full extent of what they can do—at least not yet.

As the new leader of Eudea works to lift the prohibition on magic, the churchmen who do not support it—and the gang lords who profit from it—whisper rebellion. The secret resistance who once sheltered the Nightbirds is rallying, too. Smelling blood in the water, an ambitious Farlands king threatens to take Eudea. As war looms, and the empire’s fate hangs from a knife’s edge, the Nightbirds have to decide if becoming more than that are—Fyrebirds—to protect Simta is worth losing themselves entirely and the lives and loves they might have had.

You can preorder The Heart of the World by clicking here. And you can preorder Fyrebirds by clicking here. (These are US links — if you’re overseas, please check your favourite bookseller.)

Here’s us at an amazing immersive theatre show we attended during our season break, just to break up all this text.

Also we have a question for you.

Now finally, we’d love to hear from you on our ideas for our 2024 season. What sounds particularly exciting? What haven’t we thought of that you’d like to add to the roster? Here’s the list so far:

• Process nuts and bolts — for example, what copy edits are and how they work.

• Writing a second book — how to plan it, how to expand your world.

• Craft topics — things like writing villains, more episodes like the one we did on writing romance.

• Writing life — come along on writing retreat with us.

• Readalongs — quick readalongs of Isles and Nightbirds before their sequels come out, with Easter Eggs and giveaways.

  ---

---

Leave a comment, let us know! That’s it for this episode — we’ll be back in February, and in the meantime we send you all our warmest holiday wishes.