The Black Hand, vol. 20
Sleepovers and transgressive ritual
Here’s a good article for the spooky season: Ashawnta Jackson delves into the connections between slumber parties and folklore.
Ever had a party with a Ouija board? Ever huddled in a bathroom at a friend’s house, each of you staring into the mirror while repeating ‘Bloody Mary’ three times? Ever tried to levitate your friends with one finger, like the gals in The Craft? Then you’ve been participating in a ritual as old as time, something passed down through generations.
Anelise Farris has documented and studied these traditions, and draws links between sleepover occult party games and the way teenagers experiment with belief systems, and want to walk on the wild side and do ‘things deemed inappropriate’ but in a safe space. Legends, Farris argues, “allow children and adolescents to question and explore as they begin to construct their own worldviews”.
Basically, slumber parties are one of the new places where folklore and ritual is passed down, since older places of social nexus (like village celebration fairs and women’s sewing gatherings) have lost relevance. Which is pretty cool, but I still wouldn’t want to repeat ‘Bloody Mary’ into a mirror three times.
US tour, Australian launch, and THE KILLING CODE release
I’m back from the United States! It was incredibly amazing! And also very tiring!
Truly, the USA is a wonderful place – I visited Los Angeles (and ate some incredible Mexican food and some sublime Caribbean food), then flew to New York City (and walked down Fifth Avenue in my filthiest T-shirt, because I didn’t know Fifth Avenue was so fancy!) then promptly left, catching a train from Grand Central Station (beautiful!!) to Poughkeepsie in upstate New York. Poughkeepsie proved to be delightful – it’s right on the Hudson River, and I walked over the bridge that spans the river – but I had plans, so I hired a car and drove through New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts to arrive in Vermont.
Vermont was SO GORGEOUS – just miles and miles of the most beautiful mountains and forests, and it was so green, omg (for an Australian, to be told ‘oh, it’s so dry, this is the end of summer’ and yet be seeing all this green foliage and grass…Let’s just say there was a bit of cognitive dissonance. At the end of summer in my home state, everything is brown as dirt). I spent 4 days traveling to and around Vermont, finally arriving in Stowe, where I admired the Von Trapp Family Lodge (it’s the real Sound of Music Von Trapps! My mind was blown) and met a writing buddy for ciders and work chat.
Sadly, I had to leave Vermont, but then I got to spend 5 whole days in New York City, launching THE KILLING CODE at Books of Wonder, and visiting a bunch of bookstores to sign copies along the way (Oblong Books in Rhinebeck, and Barnes & Noble 5th Avenue, and Barnes & Noble Union Square, hi and thank you!)
All this to say – USA, you were fabulous. Everyone was so kind and welcoming, and launching my book with you was a dream…I really want to visit you again, if you’ll have me 😊
It was quite a whirlwind, arriving back in Australia to launch THE KILLING CODE at Readings with Lili Wilkinson – I had a great time at the launch! I was also very jetlagged, so I hope what I said made sense!
And that’s it – my latest book is launched. It feels like I’ve run a marathon ten times over; but I’ve been blown away by the kindness and generosity of every single reader who’s contacted me to say how much they love my gutsy codegirls. If you haven’t yet grabbed a copy of the book and you’d like to, you can go here to order online, or there are signed copies at Readings Kids Carlton, Dymocks Melbourne CBD, the Younger Sun Bookshop, Dymocks Highpoint, the Avenue bookstore, the Little Bookroom, Stoneman’s Bookroom in Castlemaine, and Bookish in Bendigo (if you’re in Bendigo, please give the wonderful ladies of Bookish some love! They’ve opened a fabulous new indie bookstore, and it’s smashing).
I’ve also been amazed by the reception to a book that highlights the work of women codebreakers – I’ve been asked to talk about female codebreakers during WWII with Phillip Adams on Radio National, and with Indira Naidoo on Weekend Nightlife, and with other national and state broadcasters, which has been thrilling. It seems there’s a lot of people out there with an appetite for the stories around women’s codebreaking efforts in the war. And lots of people have started reviewing the book! Which is amazing, and I’m always grateful that people take the time to do that.
And I’d like to thank you all, for following along this journey with me – it’s been absolutely magic, and I couldn’t be more grateful and happy 😊
Welcome to new subscribers!
I mean, I should’ve said this first up, but hey – a bunch of new friends have joined the newsletter list! Welcome, and thanks for jumping aboard! I should point out that I don’t always waffle on about book touring; I generally talk about weird or interesting crime-related stuff, plus what I’m writing and reading, the occasional giveaway, and some behind-the-scenes book info (there’s more behind-the-scenes info on my paywalled newsletter, Nailbiters, so’s you know).
However you arrived, please pull up a chair and make yourself comfy – we don’t stand on ceremony here – and I hope you find plenty of things to take your fancy.
What’s up with giveaways
I got them out! At last! I finally sent all the giveaway parcels – hooray!
I have to apologise, because I’ve been so slow with this – it’s mainly been the launching and book-touring, but last week we also had some bad floods in my home state, which meant my local post office was cut off by water (and so was I, temporarily).
The post office survived, and we’re all fine! (others were not so lucky – if you’re looking to help, these fundraisers are verified and would love to receive donations) But I’m happy to say that I finally got all my parcels away – that’s parcels for the last newsletter giveaway, the social media giveaway, and THE KILLING CODE preorder campaign prizes. If you won or signed up to any of those things, expect a package in your mailbox soon 😊
Nailbiters friends, I’ve got a cracking giveaway coming for you in the next edition.
Also, I’m going to do one final giveaway for the year, and it’s going to be a MEGA one, so keep your eyes open here and on socials – it’ll happen in early December (and I promise to mail it on time this time, so it gets to you for Christmas).
What I’m watching
Oh my god, Interview with the Vampire is AMAZING – if you’re not watching that, can I suggest you get on it immediately?
I was nervous about it, having been scarred by exposure to the terrible Tom Cruise-Brad Pitt film in 1994 (it’s a bad version, fight me), and I was also worried about how the storyline would be handled if the story was contemporised – I mean, Louis was a plantation owner in the original books??
But I was fretting needlessly: shifting the timeline to 1910, and casting Jacob Anderson (Gray Worm in GOT) as Louis changed the whole ballgame. The writing is impeccable, and clever, and Sam Reid – who I originally considered too lantern-jawed for Lestat – is an absolute revelation. This Interview is beautiful, and the matching His-and-His coffins are fabulous; it makes the queer subtext canon text, and it’s glorious.
Go watch, and enjoy these two fabulous actors chomp scenery and steal every scene with their smoking sexual tension and divine costumes. You can thank me later.
What I’m reading – Halloween edition!
Okay, I’m still on my horror novel jag, but hey, I’ve read some great horror books lately – just in time for the spooky season!
While I was in the US, I finished The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, and it’s one of the best things I’ve read all year: weird and unsettling, with genuine scares, and the language is vibrant – and if you like it, you might also like this interview with Jones at The Loser’s Club: A Stephen King podcast.
I read Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia on the way home in the plane, and I have to say, this one took me by surprise – it started out as classic gothic fiction, and then it got more and more freaky, until by the end it was pure horror. I adored the writing, and the gutsy Mexican heroine who was an intelligent, urbane, cocktail-swilling sophisticate. If you’re looking for something new, there’s a reason this book has been on so many bestseller lists.
From A Buick 8 by Stephen King is an old book for King (I think it was published in 2002?) but a new one for me – I skipped a bunch of late-90s/early 2000s King, and now I get to discover them all over again! This one is really worth it; it’s about grief and destiny, as well as being a Lovecraftian horror of the best and weirdest kind. It has some interesting things to say about how hard it is to make sense out of mindless violence – he wrote this one while recovering from his near-death experience after being hit by a car, and also it was pretty soon after 9/11 when this book evolved, so I can see those things threaded through the story. Overall, this is a genuinely good book, and you know you’re in safe hands with King (and isn’t that a kicker?).
Books I’m looking forward to in 2023
There’s a bunch of new titles coming next year, but I’m looking forward to a couple in particular – and yep, I confess it’s because they’re written by friends, but I’ve also read sections or early drafts of these books, and I guarantee they’re going to knock your socks off.
Keep a look out for A Hunger of Thorns, a brand spanking new fantasy by Lili Wilkinson with wonderful cottagecore vibes and some of the most original spellwork I’ve read for ages. Also, you absolutely do not want to miss Nightbirds by Kate Armstrong – this is Kate’s debut, and if you like the idea of gifted girls in a 1920s-style magical world (think flapper dresses, Great Gatsby parties, and cocktails which give you special powers) then you’re gonna love this.
Finally, if Isles of the Gods, the new fantasy by Amie Kaufman, isn’t somewhere at the top of your list, then…please go check your list! Because I’ve already had some peeks at this one and it’s SO GOOD. Pirates and sleeping gods and obnoxious playboy princes and omg you are not ready.
Podcast interview: The Exploress
Speaking of Kate Armstrong – not only is she a writers of cool books, but she also has a wonderful podcast called The Exploress which does a deep dive into women’s involvement in fascinating things down through history.
I was given a chance to chat with Kate about codegirls and the glitter and glamor of Washington DC during WWII for the podcast right here, and I had such a good time, I thought I’d share it with you 😊
Upcoming events
YA ROOM book chat – on Wednesday 26 October from 7-8.30PM, I’m joining the YA Room bookclub chat via Zoom, as they discuss THE KILLING CODE; more details here!
NOVEL NEIGHBOR with Brigid Kemmerer – this is a virtual event that I had to reschedule when my flights got rearranged (argh), but FINALLY, on Sunday 30 October at 4PM CT (remember, times in Australia will be different!) Brigid and I will get to chat together about our respective books! You can join in here.
FRIGHT NIGHT at the Wheeler Centre – I’m reading an original spooky story for this event at the Wheeler Centre on Friday 4 November at 8PM, along with some other awesome YA writers and some fab emerging writers too! You can book tickets here.
LoveOzYAbookclub
This month, we’re reading – very appropriately – HOMETOWN HAUNTS, an anthology of scariness by local Aussie writers, edited by Poppy Nwosu. You can find out more about LoveOzYAbookclub on the FB homepage, and everyone is welcome!
Okay – phew, it’s been another massive missive (hey, that rhymes) from me, but I’m really glad to be back in my groove now the launch season is over. Next year, things kick off again as SOME SHALL BREAK, the sequel to NONE SHALL SLEEP, gets closer to its June 2023 publication; but for now, I’m going to enjoy the down time, concentrate on writing new books (oo-ooh! Don’t worry, I’ll tell you about them soon) and go back to doing normal things, like exercising and taking out the garbage.
I hope you’re doing okay, and for Australian friends, that you haven’t been badly affected by floods – take care out there, and please don’t drive through flood waters! And to all my newsletter mates, may your days be easy and your burdens light. May you find many cool books to read over the coming weeks! Stay safe and happy reading 😊
xxEllie