The Black Hand, vol.32
Victorian headless portraits
No, seriously – people during the mid-to-late 1800s had a penchant for gruesome (and sometimes funny) portraits of themselves and their family members without their heads.
Death was a fairly commonplace affair in the Victorian era, before contemporary medical science was much of a thing. Curiously, at around the same time, the nascent art of photography was being experimented with in a variety of ways. Negatives were cut and pasted and messed around, in an attempt to create something amusing and original – and what’s more original and hilarious than having a photo of someone holding their own head?
Headless selfies would certainly have become a thing if Victorians could have afforded their own cameras. Instead, they turned to photographers expert in manipulating the machinery, developing chemicals, and negatives.
Those wacky Victorians… This is right up there with all their other weird death-related stuff, like making dolls of dead family members and making jewellery out of dead folks’ hair.
We think it’s weird – I mean, I’ve been re-watching The Haunting of Hill House, and it seems super-weird when one of the characters embalms her own sister for burial? But people in the Victorian era lived cheek-to-cheek with death, and families often dealt with their own dead, washing and clothing and preparing their loved ones for their final rest.
For them it was just normal.
What’s happening
Well, not much at the moment, as I’m recovering from surgery.
Yep, it’s been quite a time since I last sent out a newsletter. After some concerning test results, I was (very suddenly, I might add) admitted to hospital for abdominal surgery at the end of October, then I went back again a week later to deal with an infection. I’m currently 3 & ½ weeks post-op, and there’s not much I can do except sit on the couch, lie in bed, and make the occasional walk to the kitchen or the bathroom or the end of our driveway.
I wasn’t sure whether to mention my health issues in public, as I didn’t want to freak anyone out. But then I figured that some of you might be wondering what had become of me, so I posted about it on IG:
It’s been a bit of a wild time, and I’m really appreciative of all the good wishes, so thank you, it has meant a lot 🥰 I had all these grand plans – to be writing None Shall Sleep 3 was top of my list – but obviously a lot of that fell by the wayside, and I’m just now starting to recover something like normal function. But I’m okay, and now I’m capable of sitting up and typing on my laptop again, I’ll be diving back into work (mainly to avoid being really bored – I hate being sick, and I get bored so easily, I am a terrible patient!).
My medical care team were fantastic, and thankfully I live in a country where necessary healthcare is free. Thank you again, so much, to all of you who sent love and good wishes! And thanks for your patience as I slowly come back to life.
What I’m watching
I’m actually not watching as much TV as I’d expected, given I’m in the middle of a convalescent period. But like I said, I’ve been getting into a rewatch of Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House with my 17yo (he hasn’t seen it before) and damn if that show isn’t just as scary second time around! I have Many Opinions about the show, none of them critical of Flanagan – I think the show is a masterpiece – and all of them related to ‘why would you take your kids and go live in a haunted house, what is wrong with you’. Anyway, drop your Hill House opinion in the comments, if you have one you’d like to share!
The other thing I’m getting into – very late to the party – is Andor, which I’m watching with my 15yo. We’ve been having an excellent time making commentary on all the characters, and we both feel very strongly that this is one of the more adult and sophisticated offerings in the SW Universe. Again, comments and opinions on this and other media are always welcome!
What I’m reading
Okay, we’ve hit a big late-year release week – the much-anticipated second book in the DARK RISE series by CS Pacat, DARK HEIR, came out this week, and there was a fantastic launch at Dymocks CBD Melbourne (which I couldn’t attend because of being on stupid bedrest – wah!). I absolutely cannot wait to get a copy of this book! It’s going to be fought over furiously in my house once we get our hands on it, and I’m sooo looking forward to reading.
The other books that came out this week were ONLY SHE CAME BACK, a brand new YA thriller by Vermont author Margot Harrison, which I encourage you all to read because it’s a ripper, and I blurbed the book. Margot has been writing great thrillers for a long time – her first book THE KILLER IN ME came out in 2016. She’s also amazing on Tiktok, with a popular, long-running series of quirky reviews of vintage YA books, I encourage you to have a look!
Another book - which I didn’t blurb, but wish I did - is April Henry’s thriller TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE, which is coming out in paperback this week and is a corker. April’s brand of twisty stories with real-life research into incredible situations are guaranteed to grab readers, especially reluctant ones. She’s a genuinely kickarse author who practises what she preaches – she does Brazilian jiu-jitsu in her spare time, knows how to pick locks, has offered to share her tips on how to break free of zip-ties with me, and last time I spoke to her online, she demonstrated how to get out of handcuffs!
Finally – and this one you absolutely *must not* miss – the latest book in the Murderbot series, SYSTEM COLLAPSE by the indomitable genius Martha Wells, has released. If you aren’t reading Murderbot, please stop reading this immediately and go get a copy of the first book, ALL SYSTEMS RED, right this instant! Apparently SYSTEM COLLAPSE isn’t a standalone, so you need to read the first books to get oriented. But that’s no hardship - these are absolutely some of my favourite books in any known universe right now. I don’t know what else I can say to convince you, just go read it, I guarantee you will have no regrets.
What I’m writing
NONE SHALL SLEEP Book 3 – but slowly.
Everything is pretty slow right, as I can’t sit up to type on my laptop for extensive periods yet. But I’ve re-read the first two books and read through all my notes, and made notes for the next two chapters, so in theory I’m ready to get back into it.
Because of all the palava over the last month, my writing rhythm has been a bit thrown, so I’ll start again the best way I know how: by working in my notebooks, jotting down ideas for dialogue and scenes. Give me a few days and I’ll hit my stride again.
I’m also thinking deeply about my plans for 2024, and goals I’m going to set for next year, and starting to spitball ideas for books I might like to write.
I’ve written one adult horror novel, and I’d quite like to write another one now I’ve got a taste for it. I also have another YA thriller pitch, which I’d really love to write but so far no publisher has been interested in buying it. And I have the first 100 pages of a thriller which fits somewhere in the middle between adult and YA – my agent and I need to have a conversation about which direction to take that one in. Or there’s another option: think up something new. I’m always open to a new idea!
Let’s see what happens 😊
Events
My Self Publishing Bootcamp – three intensive Saturdays across three consecutive weekends at Writers Victoria – has been rescheduled!
It was due to happen this month, and obviously things didn’t quite go to plan… But I’m pleased to report we’ve found new dates in February-March 2024, so if you’d like to book (or re-book) for that course, please go here for bookings. I’m really quite excited about this course, as it’s one I’ve hosted a couple of times now, and this time I have some new things to teach for promo/marketing – I reckon it’ll be a lot of fun.
I’ve also started lining up other events and festivals and school appearances for 2024, so if you’d like to book me for your organisation or school or library, please contact me at elliemarney@gmail.com and let’s work it out!
The Killing Code US paperback
I said it would be out in time for Halloween? Oops – I was wrong.
It’s due for release in the US in March 2024. Sorry to spin you around there! I genuinely thought it would be available in paperback a year from the hardcover release, which is what usually happens. I don’t understand why there’s been a delay (nobody in publishing explains things to authors, alas) but I really hope you’re excited to get a cheaper version of the book when it appears!
I’d really like to know if the audiobook of The Killing Code is going to be made available to AU/Oceania readers sometime soon – you can already access it in the US/Can, from what I understand, and it’s read by the excellent Natalie Naudus. I don’t have word on that at the moment, but if you live in Australia and want the audio of this one, please let the publisher know! (write to them, or tag them in a socials post) The more demand, the more likely it’ll become a thing.
In better news, the None Shall Sleep Sequence will soon be available on audiobook in the UK, which I’m ridiculously happy about. And SOME SHALL BREAK has gone into its second printing! Woot!
If you’re desperate for new books from me, you can always revisit the CIRCUS HEARTS world – the first book is only 99c (or $1.99AU) 😊
LoveOzYAbookclub
This month’s title is a throwback classic – THE INCREDIBLE ADVENTURES OF CINNAMON GIRL by Melissa Keil, who has been writing quirky and delightful OzYA for years, and only recently released a series of junior fiction books. You can jump aboard LoveOzYAbookclub any time you like by dropping by our IG page.
Well, this is a bit of a quick one from me – but like I said, I still can’t sit up at my laptop for extended periods yet. I’m hoping to be able to do more typing soon! There’s only so much TV I can watch before my brain starts to curdle, and reading other peoples’ books right now just makes me wish I was writing my own…
I hope you’re all doing okay, and that these last few months of the year aren’t too crazy for you. I’ll catch up again in December, but until then, stay awesome and happy reading!
xxEllie