This was a busy year for publications, and the promotion work that goes along with that! I had two new novels out in the world in 2023:

• The Valkyrie (HarperVoyager UK)
• Assassin’s Creed: The Resurrection Plot (Aconyte Books)

There were also two releases that don’t “count” for things like awards because they weren’t out for the first time in 2023, but they were milestones in my life all the same:

• The paperback edition, with a new cover, of The Embroidered Book (HarperVoyager UK)
• The Chatelaine, a revised edition of my 2018 debut novel (HarperVoyager UK)

My editor at HarperVoyager UK was Jane Johnson for The Valkyrie and The Chatelaine (Jack Renninson for The Embroidered Book) and at Acontye, was Gwendolyn Nix. Covers by Andrew Davis (HarperVoyager) and Bastien Jez (Aconyte).

It was lovely to bring The Chatelaine back into the world after it was out of print for more than three years. And it was lovely to see The Embroidered Book steadily pick up new readers, partly because of word of mouth (thank you for telling a friend, or sending someone a copy!) and partly because it was listed on the Locus recommended list, was shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Award, and won the Aurora Award.

I did a lot of events this year, because of all those books. The highlight was probably the recent Ottawa International Writers Festival event, mainly because I got to share a stage with my hero, Emma Donoghue. I was thrilled to be interviewed on CBC by Alan Neal ahead of that event: his enthusiasm for The Valkyrie and his insightful questions about the book were so gratifying. (By the way, the edition in the photo to the left is the Locked Library edition, which was such a delight to be a part of.)

This year was a rebuilding one for me in some ways, a year of catching up on the many household repairs neglected during the years of caregiving and looking after a young child. A year of returning to the physical and embodied in many ways: I took up running, bought a typewriter, started a record collection. It was also a year with a whole lot of work in it! Which may be why we still haven’t finished painting the living room and the basement is still only half-organized….

Some of my recent writing has come fairly smoothly: the first few chapters of a new book I’m excited about have been a joy to write, and the story that was nominated for a World Fantasy Award this year, “The Morning House”, poured out of me in an evening in 2022. Other writing has challenged me this year, which to me, is always a positive: that’s why I love writing books. It never gets stale. The Resurrection Plot was ambitious and it required several weeks of very hard thinking and diligent work to revise during the edit stage. I’m very proud of the result and I’m pleased that the Assassin’s Creed fans who liked The Magus Conspiracy were happy with the sequel. My next novel (we’re still working on the final title) fought me every step of the way in the first draft, and then it also required a very intense revision period to make it the book I wanted it to be. In both cases, the guidance from my great editors was a huge help.

This has felt like a crossroads year for my novel career: I’m at the beginning of a few new projects, with the continued partnership of my wonderful agent Jennie Goloboy. 2024 looks like it will be fairly quiet publication-wise, at least for the early part of the year, but very busy writing-wise. This year, I didn’t have any new short fiction published (although my 2022 story “And in the Arcade, Ego”, will be in the Year’s Best Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by Stephen Kotowych and available on Dec. 5.) I expect a story publication or two in 2024, if all goes according to plan, but for the most part, I’m focusing on novels for the next little while.

I hope for peace and justice for all in 2024, and I hope for good things for you and yours. I’m so grateful to be able to write books and share them with readers.