The Proof is in the Pudding
British proofs of A SPY LIKE ME land + launch teaser, a bumper Feb & talking character
Dear Reader,
The British proof of A SPY LIKE ME has landed – and it’s BEAUTIFUL! Gloss map of Venice, anyone?
If you’re not in the publishing world, you might be wondering what I mean by proof – unlike an Agatha Christie denouement, it’s not evidence that I’m guilty of something, other than writing a novel. An “uncorrected proof” is an early reader copy, which goes out to reviewers, festival curators and, in this case, mega Bond fans! It’s so exciting to see folks share the US and UK proofs online (not to mention nerve-wracking, as the first responses roll in…)
This week, I’m dispatching the beautiful UK proof to girl with the golden pen founding members. There are three subscription tiers to girl with the golden pen:
FREE: you receive 2 newsletters a month, offering a window into my writing life
PAYING £7 a month or £70 a year: you receive 2 newsletters a month with regular bonus content including a NEW FEATURE, videos on my creative process with creative writing tips! Plus complementary tickets to online events and socials.
FOUNDING MEMBER £150 a year: you receive all this plus signed proofs, first editions, merch & more!
If you’d like a UK or US proof, numbers are very limited so sign up or upgrade to founding member now!
Launch Teaser
You might have noticed this teaser on Instagram this morning. I’m thrilled to reveal that the launch for A SPY LIKE ME will be in collaboration with the 007GB Club on Saturday 27th of April. Watch this space for intelligence on venue and guests, coming to you declassified on Monday 11th March. You’ll want to have your fingers on the trigger to get tickets fast, as space will be limited for this special one-off event. I can’t say anymore, except that I’m very, very excited…
A Bumper February
I was here, there and everywhere in February. The month started up in the Highlands, where I was teaching creative writing at Moniack Mhor. We were 1,200 feet above sea level but just a few short miles from Loch Ness. There was no way to know this, however, as the croft was snow blind, ghosted white by blizzards. I was teaching with the novelist Ross Raisin, the first time we’d met. One of the nicest things about these weeks is starting as strangers and, after just five days, you’re having breakfast by the fire in your Arsenal pyjamas as if you’re the oldest of friends. Sharing food and fires with the participants creates a bond too that you might struggle to achieve in three years of a university degree. By the week’s end we were all playing Scrabble and sharing writing over whisky.
The subject for the week was Finishing Your Novel, apt as I was rising with the dawn to get words down for Book 3 in the Double O Series. I’ve reached the magical thinking stage of the novel, where every person and thing I encounter seems to have been sent by the universe to help me finish the book. So naturally, the train delay which turned into a three hour coach journey brought me a conversation with a safety engineer on trains, helicopters and submarines. If you sit beside me in the next month, expect to be grilled for information that might just help a Double O…
After Moniack Mhor, it was a location-hopping week with my mum, visiting Leeds, returning to Edinburgh, then going to Kent and London. The Faversham Literary Festival was a lovely sense of return, as my grandmother lives in the area and has been taking me to the secondhand bookshops there since I was 12 – it’s where I discovered Modesty Blaise in beaten up Pan paperback. I was at the Festival talking about A Wild & True Relation in a suitable eighteenth century Assembly Rooms, and it was really touching to have my family there.
In London, I visited Spies, Lies and Deceit at the Imperial War Museum (I’d recommend, but go at quiet times as the displays are quite small) and then was part of a record crowd at the Emirates along with my mum, watching Arsenal Women beat Man U 3-1! JOY! That joy was capped off by a live recording of Big Kick Energy, my favourite women’s football podcast, hosted by comedians Suzi Ruffell and Maisie Adam, pictured with me below forming a many-handed monster. Somehow within 5 minutes I was on stage and had a new nickname: Five Hands Kim. It’s too convoluted to explain, but essentially my unusually long torso is five hands long.
This nickname followed me to Devon, where I was teaching creative writing at Totleigh Barton Arvon with my friend, the novelist Fiona Mozley. As it turned out, Fiona’s torso is also five hands long, and the participants gave us a cowboy band name: FIVE HANDS KIN. This came with a Scrabble crest and everything. Literally made my week.
This time, the subject was Starting your First Novel, which proved an inspiring return to essentials as I consider my characters’ arcs, the subject of today’s video below for paying subscribers. This is a new feature of a girl with the golden pen: as so many of you are writers I meet at literary festivals and workshops, I thought it might be a nice way to start a dialogue around writing.
Again we were blessed with a fantastic group, and by the end of the week there was an actual magic show from one of the participants, AN ACTUAL MAGICIAN! He even made a card appear from under my watch without touching my hand. Jaw-dropping, full marks all round. In another rather magical moment, I asked the participants to name their favourite characters and one writer chose Tom West – reader, I blushed.
After our week at Arvon, I appeared at East Gate Bookshop in Totnes, a significant location in A Wild & True Relation. It was really touching to share the novel with people who’d already read it, a new experience for me as the book moves into paperback.
And now home! Book 3 of the Double O Series is due to the publishers on the 8th of April, so I’m writing like a woman possessed. Can anyone else hear a clock ticking, or is that just me…?
From Kim, With Love x
For paying subscribers below, here’s the first in a new video series, where I talk about my writing process and offer tips and ideas that I hope you’ll find inspiring! I hope these videos will start a dialogue, so intend them to be informal, dust motes and all…! I’d love to hear any thoughts or questions in the comments.
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