Hello dear friends. Just posting a little update.

Thank you so much for your support and encouragement. I’ve had such enormous fun making the podcast this year, but it’s been a tough year financially, and I’ve only just scraped by. The only reason I’ve been able to do that is because of listeners’ help. I’m so grateful for the donations that have let me cover my podcast hosting costs, the costs of migrating my glitchy website over to a more reliable host, and all the other expenses of putting together a weekly show.

It’s hard to talk about without sounding – to my ears at least – a little corny or insincere. I genuinely didn’t think anyone would send me anything via the ko-fi page, and I was stunned when people did. Especially as I’m offering nothing in return except my gratitude. I love making the podcast and I love writing, and I feel very lucky to have listeners possessed of such generosity. Thanks.

Yet the hustle goes on! This week I’m putting out multiple episodes, all about my novel, The Honours. I’m hoping that, for the people who haven’t read it yet, I might be able to tempt you to grab a copy – and help me out in the process – or perhaps buy one as a gift for someone you think would enjoy it. I’m also hoping that you’ll pre-order my next novel, The Ice House.

I don’t want to make the show all about me each week, and neither do I want to pad out each week’s episode with a lengthy essay about how writing is my sole source of income, and how vital every sale is to my ability to keep doing the work I’m doing. But I do need to sell books to keep doing this work, and to keep putting out free podcasts. So I’ve packed everything down into a single week where I talk a bit about my work. I hope you’ll listen, and share it, and – if you’re willing – help me keep going by ordering the two books I’ll be talking about.

Why not buy The Honours via Mr B’s Emporium? A brilliant independent bookshop who do worldwide shipping and are really great. They do a gift-wrap option so you can support me, an indie bookstore AND a friend who’ll get an ace present.

They also have a pre-order link for The Ice House. I’ll make sure I pop in round publication time and sign any stock they’ve got, so any pre-orders via this link will – unless I have some terrible accident – by signed by me. If they get at least 100 pre-orders before launch, I’ll make a little bit of exclusive extra content and throw that in with the books too.

Pre-orders are the lifeblood of any novelist’s career. If you think you’d like to read The Ice House, please consider pre-ordering, to help give the book the best launch possible. And thank you very, very much for all your kindness.