The Spider's Bride

[smokingboot]

Naughty larians let the cat out of the bag. My first novel, The Spider's Bride, is out in October. It can be pre-ordered here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_ss_w_h_/026-1205551-9747629?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=The+Spider%27s+Bride
Or here:
http://www.amazon.com/Spiders-Bride-Debbie-Gallagher/dp/0809572117/ref=sr_1_20/103-5787982-3547817?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185789186&sr=1-20
Or here:
http://www.tesco.com/books/product.aspx?R=9780809572113

Or some other places I can't be bothered to check.

I can't pimp this up properly. Suppose you buy it and hate it? I guess I would just have to clutch my cheque and get over it, but a part of me would be gutted. So rather than sell, which I simply cannot do, especially to my friends, I want to talk about the book a bit. If you are interested in the things below, you may well like The Spider's Bride, because these are the main sources and inspirations for it:

Novacaine
Winter, frost and spiders' webs
The video for 'There There' from Radiohead's album 'Hail to the Thief'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs1DX32t38c
Richard Dadd's life and paintings, in particular 'The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke'
http://www.pemcom.demon.co.uk/queen/queen2/ffms.jpg but I was also inspired by his Bacchanalian scene, Come Unto These Yellow Sands, Crazy Jane and Levant paintings.
The Tempest of course, now and always.
The work of Walter Potter and victorian anthropomorphic taxidermy in general http://www.walterpotterfoundation.org/
The Secret Commonwealth by Robert Kirk
Rackham, Fitzgerald et al, natch.

And somewhere at the back of all this, the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon traditions of fairies, Tam Lin and the long lost folk before him, who could be beautiful and generous, and very cruel if you crossed them; they hated cold iron, changed their shape as they pleased, drove mortals mad, kidnapped the special ones, and understood perfectly that time is just a dolls house.

So there you have it. It's not Ankh-Morpok, it's not Harry. But in total honesty, and this is the nearest I can come to pimping it, if it was not mine, I would still relish it. No reason for you to, though. I have more to say about this book but for now, that is quite enough of that.

The magnificent mamapusscat wants to create a publishing party for it. I don't know, a part of me wants to get on with the next and not look back at all. And anyway, I am confused as to what I want; an elegant little promo with copies for sale and the whole Bridget Jones little black dress and wine thing...or just a party for friends to celebrate my baby. If anything comes of it, you know you're invited!

Comments

[squintywitch.livejournal.com]

Many, many congratulificiations! I ordered it last week (and would have done even if you hadn't written it:) )

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

*Beams happily* Thank you. I hope to celebrate it in your company sometime.

And if it turns out to be a dud, let us approach wreckage in honour of my attempts to write it and yours to read it:-D

What in the name of Jim Dale...?

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

But where's the hand-illuminated, suoper deluxe leatherbound collectors' edition?

Re: What in the name of Jim Dale...?

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

It's cunningly concealed in a tardis in a vast and friendly wine cellar;-)

[caffeine-fairy.livejournal.com]

Yay you!

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

Thank you, here's to inspiration in all its forms!

[wildwinter.livejournal.com]

As I've already said - many congratulations. :-)

I'm very jealous. *grin*

Thank you

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

Matter of time, methinks before you are considering publishing parties of your own:-)

[bytepilot.livejournal.com]

If we ask sweetly would you sign our first editions ?

Boomboom!

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

You can ask me for anything at all, my dear duke, I don't thnk you have it in you to be anything other than sweet!

Re: Boomboom!

[bytepilot.livejournal.com]

Darling boot, you never fail to set my heart aflame.

Would that there were a chance that you'd answer 'Yes' to some of the things I dream of asking you.

[bytepilot.livejournal.com]

Either your light has been even further hidden under a bushel, or
There are more coincidences in the world than seems likely.

Synchronicity certainly

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

If I am ever to return permanently to the capital, I may have to take my own advice and turn troglodyte.

Re: Synchronicity certainly

[bytepilot.livejournal.com]

I'll see if we can find you a cellar to hide in.
Daylight could be slipped under the door in packages.

[november-girl.livejournal.com]

You should definitely have a launch party.

Promo or party?

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

Heh, I guess I need to talk to my agent about what the publishers can give us in the way of marketing. As I am only a wee baby author, it seems highly likely the answer is very ickle indeed:-)

[ellefurtle.livejournal.com]

Fabulous! We must have wine!

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

Well, it's a toughie...a possible teeny soirette in a beautiful little book shop, with copies for sale signed by the author? This would be lovely, but supplying the booze might be expensive, and of course, people cannot get so plastered they a) throw up b) dance all night c) attack the giant cardboard cutouts of the book cover.

Or a room in town somewhere with booze and music til the late hours, and loads of fun but precious little evidence of yer actual book thingy...

[sixtine.livejournal.com]

Oooh, that's awfully exciting. I have happily ordered a copy and imagine that means you can buy a penny chew at my expense.

Only the best for thee and me

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

I'll push the boat out and buy us a pack of Maynards sours/Tangfastics. We can put them on cocktail sticks if we feel flush:-)

[ravenrigan.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have to wait until pay day to order mine, (too much month at the end of the money).

And Launch Party Yay! When the publishers see how many chums you have who have immediately bought the book, just because you wrote it, they will understand that you are hot hot hot, and stump up for somewhere posh, at least if there is any justice in the world.

And when you have become the next JKR, I can smugly say "I knew her when she was a normal person...."

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

No-one is ever going to believe the 'normal person' bit!

There is the possibility of course, that the calibre of my friends, rather than my book, will be pointed up by these orders - but I will see what can be arranged in the way of a party just for the pleasure of seeing everyone:-D

BTW, what's the name of the shape of your specframes? Time for me to spend the money and get the readers...

It's brilliant sentences like the above that will get my book onto school curriculums across the country!

[ravenrigan.livejournal.com]

Yes, I did think about that but in a fug of flu and alcohol last night was incapable of coming up with a word that managed to be accurate without being insulting, so I let it ride.....

Dunno about the shape, that would be jommetry, never my strong suit. Sort of vaguely oblong or rectangular I suppose.

Can't remember which pair you've seen me in most recently.

The new black and pink ones (they look purple, which was, as you can imagine the selling point with the little pink diamantes on the sidepieces are Prada, Schweetie (air kisses). They were horribly expensive, but I figure that if something is going to be part of your face for most of your waking hours, it's worth it. The small black metal ones with the tinted lenses which I wear for LARPing were from specsavers, and were quite cheap IIRC, but that was about five years ago, and the nice burgundy and blue frames I used to have (when we met in Girraffe) are by Moschino. They also do them in purple and orange.

While I don't beleive being designer automatically makes glasses better, it just so happens that the last two times I've been to the opticians the only frames I could visualise permanently attached to my face were the designer pair. But since the previous time it was one of the cheapest pairs in the shop, I'm not going to angst about turning chav just yet.

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

It's the moschinos I liked, the actual shape of the frames that suit my face. Time for spec hunting is upon me!

[lucyas.livejournal.com]

Wow - congratulations!

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

Thank you~! *beams*

[chomper99.livejournal.com]

Zoiks! That's wonderful news. Many congratulations and hearty pats on the back for the fruition of your hard work. October is really not that far away...

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

Well, I try not to think about it! But thanks for those backpats:-) Do you like the videoclip? Perfect unseelie...