On Thursday night last week, The Shining Girls did not win the Gold Dagger for Best Thriller in the Specsavers Crime Thriller Awards. That honour was taken by Mick Herron, for his “wickedly clever send-up of the classic British spy novel”, Dead Lions, which sounds terrific, and he’s supposed to be very charming and lovely himself. I […]
My demented story of killer hairballs and art monsters, Unathi Battles The Black Hairballs came out in Finnish translation in kick-ass SF/comics/pulp magazine Tahtivaeltaja with the most incredible illustrations by Olli Hihnala, that totally nail it! Can someone pay for me and Olli to do this as a comic please? (And yes, okay, maybe this could be, in […]
The Shining Girls is Book of The Year in Exclus1ve Books’ Readers’ Choice award. Thanks to all the wonderful choosy readers! It was up against nine other titles, selected as Book of the Month, throughout the year, including Perfect by Rachael Joyce and Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. It’s apparently quite rare for a South African book to take […]
I wrote an essay over at The Richard & Judy Bookclub, about the treatment of violence in The Shining Girls, the personal story that partly inspired the book, why violence in fiction should be upsetting and how we talk about victims. Here’s the opening. Click through to read in full. (Trunk Girl ad via The […]
I’m thrilled that The Shining Girls is the kick-off title for Cosmopolitan Magazine UK’s new Book Club. Interestingly, Cosmopolitan’s Lorna Gray told me that get the most hits when they post about books on the blog, over and above celebrity news, health, fashion or lifestyle, which is inspiring. Women: well-rounded. Who would have thought? (Insert sarcasm mark […]
I have a new short comic out, “Birdie” for DC Vertigo’s The Witching Hour anthology, illustrated by amazing Cape Town artist Gerhard Human. A little witch who scavenges the dumps of a future Cape Town for messages from the dead is dragged into solving a gang murder. Lots of South Africanisms and a call back […]