August 2023: The City is Loud
Things have ramped up for me since returning to Edinburgh. I held my breath at the end of July, waiting for the waves of wonder and overwhelm which accompany August in this city. There’s an abundance of arts festivals and I’m involved in lots of events for work plus supporting friends and peers. I’m doing a reading at an event for Edinburgh International Book Festival, details below!
Writing
I’m working on the final touches for Book 1 after feedback from my agent and looks like we’ll be ready to submit to publishers imminently. It’s both exciting and terrifying – hopefully more news soon!
I’ve been keen to work on materials for Book 2 while still immersed in the world, creating world ‘bibles’ for the two new places our characters will be exploring. It’s been so fun experimenting with societal structures and landscapes and thinking about how they will feed into the plot of Book 2, which takes place some years after the first book and will be more epic in scale.
Reading
Again another (very) light reading month, mostly because I’ve been working on my novel and attending lots of arts events!
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
For years folk have recommended this to me and after loving the Monk and Robot novellas, I decided to dive into the first book in the Wayfarers series. It was everything. I read this one slowly, savouring it like a warm homecooked meal. It’s been fascinating working my way back to this book after reading other books touched by its magic. I was impressed by Chambers’ world-building, especially around alien life-forms, which is done with both deft and respect. Her weaving of political tensions was also done with nuance and balance. I’m kicking myself for waiting this long to get to it and will definitely be picking up the rest of the series!
Events
Scottish BPOC Writers Network invited me to read at Our City, Our Stories on Friday 25th and I’ll be sharing a stage with some of my favourite literary folks. I’m planning to share the opening of my Edinburgh-set Gothic-Fantasy Victorian sapphic WIP, which is my next big project. The event is free but ticketed and I’m so looking forward to it!
Until September, stay soft, light, slow,
Kat x