A Bowler Hat full of Awesomeness

I've known about this for some time, but I'm ecstastic to announce that Nathaniel Lambert (author of Sideshow PI: The Devil's Garden, It's Okay to be a Zombie, and the forthcoming The Horribles) has written the introduction for Strange Men in Pinstripe Suits.

It is awesome.

He is also awesome - though most of you possibly already know that.

In other news, I'm struggling with my mailbox man story. It's weaving delightful images in my head but they're not transferring into a workable, non blah plot. Here's the only extract that works...

"Sir, spiders are crawling from your bowler hat, so I'm afraid we're going to have to ask you to leave."

"You can ask," he said. "And yes, you're right to be afraid."

I'm going to let it rest and wait until my heart is desperate to write it. In the meantime, I'm editing my dissolving girl story, only it turns out she doesn't quite dissolve.

Olive's Kicked the Bucket

Seven weeks to the day of her release The Sour Aftertaste of Olive Lemon has officially sold out. We had an initial print run of 25 copies, and then a second print run of another 25 copies, which means (for those who are mathematically challenged) that 50 copies of Olive Lemon are lurking in various parts of the world, from the UK, to the US, to Argentina, to Australia, to Sweden.

Thank you to everyone who bought a copy, read a copy, or perhaps stole a copy (we all have gremlins hiding under our desks, right?). Thanks to everyone who took the time to promote Ms. Lemon. And, a special thanks to Nate Lambert and Stephen Blundell for making this ride wonderful.

Sour Aftertaste of Olive Lemon

My chapbook, The Sour Aftertaste of Olive Lemon, is now available for purchase at Bucket 'O' Guts for $6 incl shipping & handling in the US (payable via paypal). If you live outside the U.S. you can email Nate Lambert at bogpress@gmail.com and he'll get back to you with the price including shipping & handling. That is, of course, assuming you want to buy. No pressure.

Anyway, now onto some goodies. If you would like a free 'Olive Lemon' bookmark signed by me, then email your address to me at firemaiden (at) blueyonder (dot) co (dot) uk and I'll send one along to you. Here is a pretty picture of said bookmark:

And now onto some prizes:

First prize: Signed 'The Sour Aftertaste of Olive Lemon' poster and a signed limited edition Olive Lemon jigsaw.

Second prize: A signed limited edition Olive Lemon jigsaw.

Competition Rules:

Promote Olive Lemon on your blog or website by either posting the below advertising poster on your blog, by mentioning Olive's release and linking back to my blog or to the Bucket 'O' Guts website, or some other ingenious wild plan that promotes Olive in some way. Anything really. And be sure to let me know you've done so by either leaving a note on this blog post or emailing me at the above address.

Competiton closes August 30th 2009 at midnight (your time).

Oh, and if you do buy a copy - thank you, thank you, thank you.

It's hard to gulp with a sore throat...

Why write when you can play around with your blog?

I've updated my Bibliography page and hopefully made it that little bit more accessible. I've put a dividing line between then and now (if you read my last post you'll know what I mean). If you didn't, it doesn't really matter.

I'm getting excited and very, very nervous (what if nobody likes it?) about my chapbook. The edits are done and at the moment it looks like 'The Sour Aftertaste of Olive Lemon' will be published in July. I should have cover artwork soon - it's difficult to gulp and yay at the same time. In the meantime, here's the blurb:

The Sour Aftertaste of Olive Lemon by Catherine J Gardner
"It is important to show no signs of madness even when the world about you is clearly insane…

Olive Lemon is determined to discover what lies beneath the polished veneer of her town. When the Mayor bans citizens from venturing into the grey streets of the neighbouring suburb, a tantalising place of tattoo parlours and screams, Olive’s world begins to snap apart like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.”