August's Monthly Digest: Book Tour Dates (Hurray!), Book Recommendations and How I Get Into the Writing Mindset
Australians, we here go! I'm coming to NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, Canberra and South Australia in October, as well as Perth, of course!
Join Me For Lunches, Gin Events, Morning Teas and More!
It’s that time of year where I get to come out from behind my desk and talk to all of my readers about The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard! Unlike the author cliche, I love touring – talking about the book I’ve just spent two years working on is so much fun, and I really enjoy sharing all of my research, the stories behind the book and meeting everyone.
And it’s a big tour this year!
6 states and territories and 17 events – we have gin, champagne and lots of afternoon teas!
I’m sorry I can’t make it everywhere – you can see below how long the tour is! We’re rotating a state in and out each year to make it manageable – apologies to Queensland, which I visited last year. But it means I’m coming to TAS, ACT and SA for the first time ever, and to VIC for the first time since 2019! Also, my daughter is doing her final exams in October – gulp! – so I have to come back home and give her moral support, tissues and chocolate! I hope you understand.
I really do get the very best events, as you can see from the graphic below, and we have a great mix of evening and daytime events, as well as paid and free ones.
You can find booking links and more information about each event by clicking the button above (we’re waiting on final links for a couple of events, but most are available). And yes, this is the final list – there won’t be any more events added, so grab your tickets before they sell out! We had a number of events sell out well in advance last year.
I really can’t wait to meet everyone, to talk to you about The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard, to sign your books, and to hear your stories – chatting to people at the signing desk is always so much fun because you tell me about the connections between my books and your life or the lives of people in your family and I treasure those stories. Look forward to seeing you very soon!
Reading Recommendations!
I recently posted this video in my new online book club that I’m running with fellow historical novelist Belinda Alexandra. But I thought those of you who don’t follow me on Facebook might like to see it too! Yes, I’m raving about Demon Copperhead again, but I have a couple of other recommendations in there as well. Let me know what you’re reading right now in the comments!
And if you haven’t joined our book club yet but would like to, please do – we have nearly 1,000 members and it’s a wonderful community!
Fabulous Preorder Offer For North American Readers!
Attention all my North American readers! The paperback of THE THREE LIVES OF ALIX ST PIERRE is coming your way very soon with a gorgeous new cover – and we have a very special preorder offer for you!
I know how many of you have been waiting for the paperback and the good news is that if you preorder the book and submit your proof of purchase from any retailer, you'll receive a signed bookplate (which is a specially designed sticker featuring one of my illustrations that I've signed to go inside your book), and the first three chapters of THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ASTRID BRICARD -- my upcoming January 2024 book!
To find out more about how to submit your proof of purchase, just click here.
PS: the paperback is out on October 17, so we're counting down the days!
My Morning Routine For Getting Into the Writing Mode
This is the time when not a lot seems to be happening but, let me tell you, it’s busy at Natasha Lester HQ! I have a book to finish by the end of October and I’m about to be thrown into the thick of publicity for The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard.
It means I haven’t been around on social media that much because I like to draw back when I’m immersed in writing. Writing is interior, whereas social media is very exterior and I do what I can to keep myself in the room with my characters for as much of the day as is possible when I’m on a deadline.
To help with that, I start my day with a run, which is kind of an active mediation for me. Then, these days, I do my morning pages – I recently wrote about starting The Artist’s Way a few weeks ago – followed by a short meditation from the Insight Timer app to take myself out of mum/parent/morning craziness mode and into writer mode, and I also listen to a poem from the brilliant Poem of the Day podcast. I exercise my body, but I also find it’s good to exercise my mind by listening to how other people use words in strange and surprising ways, and poems tend to do that. Not every poem strikes a chord, but enough do that I’m wedded to this as part of my writing practice now.
By the time I’ve done all of that, I'm ready to write. At the moment, I’m rewriting my manuscript for the second last time (the final time will be more of a proofread in October), using everything I did in June when I worked through John Truby’s Anatomy of a Story. And I’m delighted with the way The Secret Life of Marie-Madeleine is coming together.
In fact it’s going so well that I feel confident I’ll meet my deadline, even with a book tour smack bang in the middle of October.
Other things I’ve been doing this month include checking out the press proofs for the cover of The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard. If you’ve seen the Australian cover, you’ll notice the woman on the front is wearing a dress in a very particular shade of blue. We always knew it would be a challenge to get the cover to come off the printing press in just the right shade but we’re all perfectionists!
So, it’s meant Hachette’s Editorial Manager and Production Controller have been sending me photos of proofs as they come off the press, and we’ve been tweaking the cover again and again until, finally, it came off the printing press just right! I’m very lucky to have such a wonderful team of people who care so much about making beautiful books and I guarantee Astrid Bricard will look amazing when she’s on shelf on September 27!
Some Substacks That Caught My Eye
I love reading really good pieces of writing, and I also love people who explore interesting ideas. There are lots of fascinating writers and topics here on Substack but sometimes it’s hard to know where to start, so here are three articles that I especially enjoyed this month:
- about the ethics of true crime writing. I sometimes wonder about the ethics of writing historical fiction too – often I’m writing about terrible things that happened to people. Is it ethical for me to make a career out of that? I don’t really know what the answer is. Is it your motive that perhaps makes a difference? I come to my books wanting people to know about wonderful women from history who’ve been forgotten and overlooked. I love sharing their stories, because, without them, I perhaps wouldn’t have the opportunities I have today. But is that justification enough? I hope so – but it’s complicated! The article is definitely worth contemplating although, like I say, it’s tackling a different genre.
This piece by Ted Gioa about AI. I love that AI use is already declining, that we’re already seeing its limitations versus the power of human beings.
I’m a big fan of George Saunders’ writing exercises. Here’s his latest.
To Finish Up - Win Some Divine Diptyque Products!
QBD Books have a great preorder offer happening right now for The Disappearance of Astrid Bricard. If you preorder the book from them online or in store, you can go in the running to win $500 worth of Diptyque products. Diptyque make the most heavenly candles and I adore them, so I almost wish I could enter!
You can find more information about the offer here. (I think this is likely to be open to Australian residents only, but you can check with QBD Books if you live elsewhere).
That’s it for this month! I hope to see some of you when I’m on tour. Let me know in the comments if you think you’ll be able to make an event. And, as always, let me know what you’re reading and also what resonated with you from this month’s post!
I love reading about your writing process and all the stuff that goes on behind the scenes!
Yay, I have just booked to come and see you at BRTD in mid October, I can't wait! And on the ethics of writing historical fiction, here is my thoughts after recently reading The Tattooist of Auschwitz and so much WWII fiction: Firstly, author notes are important! These are a great way for authors to explain their rationale, sources and ideas and so readers can understand what sits behind the story, don't you think? I think telling Lale's story, mostly told from his perspective but in her words, was a really vital contribution to society's knowledge of what happened. It might or might not be 100% accurate, but it is his story (and mostly accurate), which makes it special. Secondly, what if nobody wrote about the past and the people who lived in it? That would be so sad! I would rather read an author's interpretation of a mostly untold story, rather than know nothing about that person or that moment in history. A bit like Anna Funder's Wifedom - she was inspired by researching real people in the past and has allowed us to get to know them a bit better by writing about them (I have not read this book yet, but I think it is a great addition to the public's understanding of Orwell and his wives). Imagine if she hadn't, because she was worried about the ethics of writing about the dead. So I think as long as the author note explains what is inspired by history and events, and what wasn't, I think the ethics are honoured. Don't you? I also think sensitivity reads can help - like asking people who are closer to the setting of the story to read it before it is published? If they indicate that the story is believable and not hurting anyone's reputation, then that's great!
Regardless, please continue to be inspired by incredible women doing remarkable things and sharing their stories with us in your wonderful books! x