Chapter Five: Final Call, All Aboard!

Hello!

Hibernation season is upon us; our Kickstarter closes in two days; in our heads, we’re in late 2026, thinking about our next books. Time is weird.

Right. Kickstarter! This is your last chance to grab our merch or our expertise—and we’ve added a special Bonus Item! More below.

Also in this newsletter: answers to common questions, including, “How do I get more stuff?” and “When will I get my stuff?” and “Can you help me fix my story?”

(Right over here, soon, and yes.)

With esteem,

Huw, Rebekah, Lara and Rachel

Last chance for delightful items, both real and imaginary

Down with flimsy tote bags! Our new totes are printed by the artist-run Bushwick Print Lab on high-quality, recycled-fabric tote bags made in the USA by EnviroTote. In short: yes, they will hold all your book-shopping.

If you have enough physical objects in your life, how about an imaginary item? We can’t tell you in advance what it will be. Each one is invented just for you.

All available until Thursday evening, or thereabouts, via Le Kickstarter.

Announcing a Kickstarter bonus item: the Puzzlemaster

You: a writer. Your story has hit a roadblock, and you can’t find away around it, over it, or underneath it. You’ve tried backtracking. You’ve tried writing longhand. You’ve even tried working on it at an expensive cafe.

Huw: an acute and inquisitive puzzlemaster blessed with the ability to unravel even the thorniest knots and unpick the most complicated issues in your fiction, piece by piece. He is personally responsible for fixing most of Lara’s published novels. Now he will fix your story!

You’ll get an hour to work with Huw on the stickiest bit of your project. Describe the ills that plague you and marvel as he deconstructs the hurdles with genius and care. Limited to five sessions; you can book one by choosing the Puzzlemaster reward on Kickstarter.

Some FAQ about how Kickstarter works

If your question isn’t answered here, just hit reply to this email.

Yep. Simply go to our Kickstarter page and click on the green Manage Your Pledge button, directly to the right of the green hermit crab/video introduction. You’ll need to be logged in to your Kickstarter account. Here’s some additional instructions, or reply to this email for help.

The Witch of Prague is published on March 17; we’re aiming for everyone to receive physical books as close to that date as possible, dependent on the vagaries of shipping. E-books will be sent on the day itself. The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo is published on June 17: same deal.

If you ordered merch, it’ll be on its way to you right after the Kickstarter closes—unless you’ve chosen a bundle, in which case it’ll be shipped to you with your book(s).

Books: yes.

Merch: maybe.

The Puzzlemaster: nope, this is a one-time-only offer!

Reviews are in for the Witch! One review!

The first review of The Witch of Prague is online! You can read it here. Hugo Award-winning reviewer Paul Weimer writes:

“The story of the Prague Spring, as filtered through magical realism in The Witch of Prague, is a story, then, that has strong resonance in a world where authoritarian forces are on the rise and seeking to shut down dissent and resistance. It is a novel that is ostensibly magical realism historical fiction, but like a lot of fiction, it is a novel about today and a novel for today.”

(The image above: a sneak preview of The Witch’s back-cover illustration.)

This is how we’ve been recommending The Witch to our friends:

• If you like a little supernatural spice in your meticulously researched history…

• If you’re interested in finding the cracks in the authoritarian façade…

• If you support women’s rights but also women’s wrongs…

• If you’re in it for the just deserts and the unjust fates alike…

• If you like your star-crossed lovers problematic and complicated…

• If you’ve ever wondered how deep the corruption goes...

Thanks for coming to our book-rec parties!

Lara, who hosted our New York City party, recommended Nicked by M.T. Anderson and came home with Ursula Le Guin’s Book of Cats. Many attendees recommended Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. One guest, pictured above, was particularly keen on The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies by Beatrix Potter.

Attendees at our Seattle party described it as “great for refueling the well of creativity”. Co-host Rachel says that popular topics of conversation were “Jared Pechaček’s intense and strange fantasy The West Passage—and the hotly anticipated Cameron Reed novel coming out next year”. There were no babies, but one very shy dog.

Missed your chance of obtaining esoteric reads? Our friends at Asterism are holding an open house and holiday sale on Small Business Saturday, November 29, at their Seattle premises.

We’ll be hosting more events in the new year!