Bletchley Park Block A
This is very timely! Block A of Bletchley Park, the secret WWII British signal intelligence facility, is now set to be opened to the public. Needless to say, I would love to go there and check it out – apart from revealing the inside of the block, including the codegirls work stations, there’s also a fantastic exhibit of memorabilia and first-person accounts about how it all worked.
I just wrote an article on codegirls for the book release, and it was enormous fun (I’ll let you know when it goes live). But writing it made me wonder how much people actually know about women’s roles at Bletchley Park and Arlington Hall. Did you know, for instance, that there was a canteen onsite at Bletchley that catered such delicacies as corned beef and prunes to thousands of workers there each day, on 24-hour rotation shifts? Or that more than 70% of the workforce in signal intelligence was female? Or that the average age of the women codebreakers at Bletchley was just nineteen?
As someone who’s spent much of the last two years thinking about the processes of codebreaking, I reckon the details are fascinating.
The time, it is coming!
It’s officially 5 months until THE KILLING CODE releases, friends – so this is about the time I start getting very nervous, wondering what people will think of the book and whether they’ll like it. It’s also when I begin frantically planning for the weeks ahead; what scheduled events, which launch celebrations, what on earth to wear, how to put on makeup…(remind me about that again?)
It’s going to be even more exciting this time, because I’ll be in the United States to see the book release – yep, disasters and plagues notwithstanding, I’m going to America! If you’re in the States, I’ll be dropping by bookstores from Texas to New York City, so stay tuned to see if I’m coming to a location near you, and where you can get personally signed copies of THE KILLING CODE in-store 😊
If you’re in Australia, there’s more celebrations to come in September, plus a raft of giveaways and events. Watch this space for news!
THE KILLING CODE Australian cover and preorders
Which leads perfectly into telling you that the Australian cover for the book is coming soon! I’ve seen it, and it’s an absolute rocket. Keep an eye out, because the cover will be revealed early next month, along with a link for Australian/Oceania preorders, so you’ll be able to grab your copy nice and early.
If you’re in the US, you can already order a copy now, you lucky duck 😊
Subscriber giveawaaay
This is definitely a month for celebrations - there are many readers of this newsletter now, which brings me much joy, so I think a random giveaway is in order.
I’ve chosen 5 subscribers at random to receive a signed copy of NONE SHALL SLEEP:
ninamiller0476, sqnoonan, katiebow10, sarah.mcmahon.91, and scott.limbrick – congratulations! I’ll get in touch with you via email to arrange your parcel 😊
Big announcement news
Something else exciting is happening very soon…Alas, I can’t shout about it now, as I’m not yet allowed (ARGH). I have known about this for months and I’ll be so glad not to be gluing my tongue to the roof of my mouth anymore.
It’s one of the worst things about being an author, having all this cool news but it’s embargoed and you can’t share it ‘until the appointed time’?? But the time, it is coming, so keep your eyes wide open for info on my social feeds @elliemarney on Instagram and Twitter and @elliemarneyauthor (tiktok) – you are absolutely going to flip 😉
Oh, did I just share that throwaway line about being on TikTok?
Yep, I’m over on TikTok now (trying very hard not to embarrass my kids…)
Drop on by and say hello @elliemarneyauthor!
5 Correct Ways to Get Rid of a Dead Body
In light of the coming excitement, I’ve decided to postpone this segment - about how to get rid of all your unwanted corpses - until the next edition of The Black Hand. I sincerely hope none of you need the information before then 👀
THE KILLING CODE character art
I’m absolutely stoked to say that we’ll soon be unveiling the character art for THE KILLING CODE, created by my incredibly talented friend, Ana Radovcich - here’s a sneak peek in this collage:
Ana’s vintage-inspired artistic style was a perfect match for the book – and the message of ‘Death to Fascism!’ inspired by her Yugoslav Partisans lines up extremely well with my gorgeous codegirls, who are working to defeat fascism as Allied codebreakers. Read on for a feature interview with Ana as she talks about her work and how she created the artwork for THE KILLING CODE…
Hey Ana! Please tell us a bit about yourself, and your work as an artist
I’m a first generation Australian, born to Croatian parents in Perth. I was one of those kids who constantly drew things, even while watching the telly. I remember drawing portraits of George Negas and Jana Wendt while watching 60 Minutes.
I studied Fine Art, finishing up with a Master’s Degree from RMIT in Melbourne, and I have a fabulous job as a coordinator and tutor for a government-funded art course in Castlemaine, Victoria. This allows me to share my skills with students and watch their own abilities and talents unfurl. It is very rewarding.
My own practice was always a bit of a mish-mash. I paint, draw, sculpt, install and assemble – both conceptual and traditional approaches. I have dabbled in everything, even silver-smithing. I think all this has helped me become a versatile arts educator. However, my current practice is more focused as I am working on a portrait project called Projekt Partizan under the name Unuka Partizana which means granddaughter of Partisans. These are drawings of WW2 Yugoslav Partisans.
What first prompted you to create artwork around anti-fascist Partisans?
The pandemic gave me time to think more about my heritage and ruminate over the disturbing wave of historical revisionism in the former Yugoslav republics. I decided I wanted to do something to help revive the memory of the heroic Yugoslav Partisans…and because it is personal to me. My grandfathers and my uncle were Partisans. My maternal grandmother was a member of the Anti-fascist Front of Women. My paternal grandfather and his 16 year old son were killed in action. There were reprisals for families of Partisans - they were arrested and sent to concentration camps – this was the fate of my father and his family (they survived).
Socialist Yugoslavia was born out of the sacrifices made by the victorious multi-ethnic and multi-religioned Partisans. When Yugoslavia disintegrated in the horrific civil wars of the 1990's, the forces of nationalism took hold, steering history against the Partisans – they become a taboo subject. It’s like we are discouraged from acknowledging that we (the different nations) were once brothers and sisters fighting for a common cause.
To counter this, I made a call out to fellow descendants of Yugoslav Partisans via Instagram, inviting them to send me a picture of their family Partisan so that I may draw their portrait and share their story on my Instagram and website. It’s been wonderful to connect with people - this art project is more activism than art. To my followers, it brings their Partisan ancestor to life – and with it hope, joy and pride.
What mediums do you usually work in, and how long does it take to create a portrait? Do you have a favourite medium?
I love a lot of mediums, especially oil paints and gouache, and for drawing, charcoal is my favourite medium. I am getting faster at the portraits, it’s a learning curve for me – it depends a lot on the quality of photo that I am provided with and my own ability. Photos from the 1940’s don’t give me much detail to work with! I have an IG friend in Canada who runs the photos through AI which renders amazing detail and helps me a great deal, but even this can be a little hit-and-miss – after all, the computer is making assumptions as to what the person might look like. I don’t look at the clock while I’m drawing, but I’m guessing all up, I might spend at least 9 hours on a portrait, plus more hours looking and scrutinizing.
What's something important about Partisans that you think people should know?
I’d like people to know that the Yugoslav Partisans (of the Peoples Liberation Army) were among the 5 biggest anti-fascist resistance movements in WW2, not to mention the most effective - Winston Churchill recognised this, and promptly sent reinforcements to the Partisans and organised refuge for civilians. They were a communist organisation, but during WW2, rather than fight for communism, they fought against fascism, which was paramount as it was this that united all the peoples, communist or not.
The Peoples Liberation Army allowed and encouraged women to join the Partisans and take up arms – which they did eagerly and in great numbers. They also heavily advocated women’s liberation and made it a reality in Socialist Yugoslavia. There are around 90 decorated female National Heroines.
The message behind my artwork is a personal message of gratitude to these heroic people. Also, history is often fashioned to suit a certain agenda. I know that Tito fashioned history to suit his agenda, but I can’t help excuse him for this and revere him, for it was he and his Partisans that liberated Yugoslavia and their agenda was ‘Brotherhood and Unity’, which sounds pretty decent to me. I just know for sure that my own family history is one that I can feel proud of.
What was the process you went through to create the character art for THE KILLING CODE? Do you prefer creating artworks for invented people or real people?
This commission was right up my alley: WW2, 1940’s, great hair and fashion, brave women! Ellie described her characters to me – their personalities, their secrets, their past, their fashion taste. She showed me examples of real life people from whom I could get an idea of the look she was after. Drawing them was quite challenging - in contrast to drawing the Partisans where I am striving to draw what I see, here I had to invent features but draw what was in Ellie’s mind. Drawing their hair-dos and dressing them was fun. Ellie provided me with lots of examples from the internet and I had a dig around myself. The characters were completely hand-drawn in charcoal pencil so there was lots of rubbing out and tweaking. Luckily I had a good robust paper to work on. It was a team effort with Ellie to achieve the final nuances. It was very satisfying to make her girls materialise.
I can’t say which I prefer, real or invented portraits. I think real is easier, but invention more fun. I am just delighted that Ellie asked me to contribute in this way to her exciting book The Killing Code.
Ana, thank you for answering these questions 😊 and because I’m always interested in books, what are you reading right now?
Funnily enough - or predictably - I am reading Wartime by Milovan Djilas, a WW2 memoir by one of Tito’s right-hand men. I also just finished re-reading Women and Yugoslav Partisans by Jelena Batininc. I’m a bit of a WW2 history nut.
Hey, it’s Ellie here again - I hope you enjoyed that glimpse into Ana’s work, and I equally hope you’re looking forward to seeing her creations next month!
LoveOzYAbookclub
Last month we read League of Liars, the latest book by Astrid Scholte, and for May, we’re reading Libby Lawrence is Good at Pretending by Jodi McAlister. If you’d like to join in with bookclub, you absolutely can at any time right here.
What am I doing lately?
Well…to be honest, my days have been pretty full up with prepping for THE KILLING CODE release, completing final finishing touches for the Australian/Oceania version of that book, plus editing another book, and also beginning work on two other top-secret book projects.
In between, I’ve been parenting my kids, taking over some of the housework from my partner (who does quite enough already) now that I’m working from home, beta reading for writer friends, and generally…living life. Life just gets busy, right? Even now I’m no longer teaching, I find it busy – it’s like, whatever you’re doing somehow expands to fill up the available space…
I haven’t had loads of time for reading lately, which makes me sad, but I’ve been watching MOON KNIGHT with my kids, which has been a lotta fun. I’ve also watched the first few episodes of SHINING GIRLS, a new Apple+ production of the time-bending crime novel The Shining Girls by South African author Lauren Beukes (definitely worth a read, if you haven’t caught up with it yet).
And that’s it from me for May! For subscribers to my paywalled newsletter NAILBITERS, keep an eye out for a new missive this week - there’s much to report…
Until next time, I hope this month treats you kind, and that you’re all as excited about the book launch as I am – I’m very much looking forward to seeing my codegirls take flight 💖
Take care, stay well, and happy reading!
xxEllie
TEXAS? I am very excited about that tour tidbit!