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The Hugos and The Raven Tower

First of all, SUPER CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE HUGO WINNERS!!

Kermit flailing happily

The less said about the actual ceremony the better, and besides lots of people have already said good words about it, and do listen to them. But the results were fabulous! The results were always going to be fabulous, because LOOK AT THAT FINALIST LIST they are all awesome.

2019 was a particularly strong year for novels. There were lots of fabulous debuts, lots of amazing new work from writers who readers were already familiar with. There were way more excellent books than there could ever be places in that list of finalists. There always are, of course. There are always works on the longlist that missed out on the shortlist by a few votes, or maybe more than a few votes but that doesn’t mean they didn’t equally deserve to get the recognition that comes with being shortlisted. But that’s legit, right? It’s how things go. That’s just how the cookie crumbles.

I’ve had a taste of that cookie quite a few times now. It is, let me tell you, one delicious cookie. And when the email came telling me that The Raven Tower was a finalist for the Hugo Award, I thought of the books in that longlist, how often I’d had a bite of this cookie, and how many of the amazing books from 2019 were debuts, and/or were books that, when I’d read them, my first thought was, Oh, this should be on the Hugo ballot. More books than there were spots, for sure. And I realized that I could do something about that, at least in a small way.

And so I withdrew The Raven Tower from consideration.

Let me be perfectly clear–I was overwhelmed at the thought that so many readers felt The Raven Tower deserved to be a Hugo finalist. I have been treasuring that for months. And as I’m sure we all know, these have been months during which such treasures have become extremely important.

I also want to be clear that this is not any sort of permanent decision on my part. I make no promises about withdrawing anything in the future. If I am ever so fortunate as to have a work reach the shortlist again, and I see what seems to me a good reason to withdraw, I will. If I don’t, I won’t. It is, after all, one of the sweetest, most delicious cookies around!

It’s just, I thought I might spread that happiness around some this time out, and so I did the little bit I could.

I want to thank all the writers who had amazing books published last year. And I thank, as always, my readers, who are wonderful and fabulous and awesome. You all make life brighter and better.

Where I’ll be next week (and a bit beyond)

I haven’t been updating much, even by my own standards, sorry!

Anyway, The Raven Tower is coming out in paperback, and if you’re in St Louis or St Charles next week, you can come see me! I’ll be at

Left Bank Books, Tuesday October 1 at 7pm
399 N. Euclid Ave.
Saint Louis, MO 63108

and

St Charles City-County Library, Kisker Road Branch, Wednesday October 2 at 7pm
1000 Kisker Rd
St Charles, MO 63304

If you’re near either of those places on those dates, stop in and say hi!

And if you miss me, I’ll also be at the University City Library on Monday, October 28 at 7pm.

I hope to see you there!

Raven Tower Giveaways!

The Raven Tower is out next week!

And Orbit is running some cool giveaways! Copies of The Raven Tower, and some cool swag!

There’s an Orbit Loot giveaway here, that runs until the 28th, and a Goodreads giveaway that runs till the 25th! And keep an eye on Orbit’s Instagram for another chance to win!

In the meantime, if you haven’t already, check out this excerpt, and this sample from the audiobook read by the always awesome Adjoa Andoh!

And if you’re into the fanworks thing, check out the various days in this Raven Tower release event! I’m looking forward to seeing what cool stuff the participants come up with! My readers are awesome.

Raven Tower Giveaway (US and UK only)

Wanna win this stuff? (The stuff in the picture is a black tote bag with a white silhouette of a raven and the words “There Will Be A Reckoning” on it, a Raven Tower bookmark, a lapel pin, and a copy of the book itself.)

If you’re in the US or the UK you can enter a giveaway to win this loot! Here’s the US link and here’s where you go if you’re in the UK.

I just got a big box of finished copies, and boy are they beautiful! I can’t wait for you all to read it.

Also, I will be touring, not all the dates are finalized, but as soon as I know my schedule I’ll post it here.

Coming Soon: The Raven Tower

I’ve been quiet lately, not just here, but my other social media hangouts. Sorry about that! Things are a bit chaotic at Casa Leckie just now.

But! My novel The Raven Tower will be out February 26! In fact, if you’re in St Louis you’ll be able to find me at Left Bank Books! It’s part of their SF STL series, which honestly you should be checking out, if you’re in the area and into SFF. In February alone they’ll be having the fabulous Charlie Jane Anders, and Jasper Fforde!

Anyway. The Raven Tower! Advance copies have been going around, and there have been some very flattering reviews.

And as if all that isn’t exciting enough, the audiobook is narrated by the amazing Adjoa Andoh. And you can hear a sample of the first five minutes right here. She’s a wonderful reader and I can’t tell you how happy I was to hear she’d agreed to do The Raven Tower.

Anyway, there you go. It’s getting to be Book Countdown time. I seriously can’t wait for you all to be able to read this, and I hope you enjoy it.

Giveaway–Advance Reading Copies of THE RAVEN TOWER

So, my next book comes out at the end of February. But I have a box of advance reading copies, and I am in the mood to give presents. So!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beginning today, December 4, until December 11, I’m raffling off three copies of The Raven Tower! It works like this: click the link above, and provide your email address and answer the question. (It’s a very simple question.) When the raffle closes I’ll randomly choose three winners. If you win, you’ll need to provide me with a snail mail address so I can send you the book. I’ll send books anywhere the USPS lets me. Good luck!

(I will not keep any of your information, or give it to anyone else. One entry per person, please.)