Summer Touring

Hi, folks!

The last few weeks have been terrific. The family and I spent a wonderful week at the beach with relatives. We moved to Los Angeles eight years ago. The move was great for our work and for the kids’ school. But we very much miss family. So it’s warming to see everyone together on these trips.

After the beach, JT and I celebrated our 16th anniversary by spending the weekend in Doylestown, PA. I attended a panel at Doylestown Books while there, and had a blast. The bookstore brought an all-day, standing room only crowd of people, many of whom had driven for hours.  As always, it was great to see Paul Tremblay, whose novel Horror Movie hit the bestseller list (!). Doylestown is Chuck Wendig’s hometown, and I was excited to tell him how much I love his work in person. It was also great to hang out with so many rising stars of horror, including Rachel Harrison and Nat Cassidy. After the panels, we all went out for dinner and drinks. Special thanks to Margeurite Turley, Violet McMaster, and Kristi Elisii, who put the event together and welcomed us all so warmly.

From there, I headed to the UK, where I met with my publisher at Titan, signed stock (including the UK editions of The Keeper and The Missing), and had an interview with Forbidden Planet. Aside from New York, London is by far my favorite city. I also met with a producer at ITV, thanks to a good friend who made phone calls on my behalf, despite being on vacation with his family.

This was at Titan/Forbidden Planet. 

When I was two years old, my family lived just outside of London for a year. My father, a surgeon, had a fellowship with Dr. Charnley, the guy who invented the prosthetic hip. I remember very little about that time, except for the night before we moved back to the States, when I got very scared about such an abrupt change. My brother reached down from our bunk bed and held my hand all night, which my mom captured in a photo.

Below are my favorite pieces from the Tate Modern, by Belkis Ayon, who lived a fascinating and tragic life. 

From London, I went to Glasgow for my first WorldCon, a massive science fiction and fantasy convention held every year at a different location. They were kind enough to put me on seven panels and events, which kept me busy. The highlights were the panel on sex work in SFF, Female Rage in SFF, and future fuel sources to reduce climate change. That last one was filled with PhDs in the field. I did my best to hold my own! The upshot of their work: re-icing the arctic might buy us some time; space solar panels seem, right now, like the cleanest option to fuel the future. 

It’s never clear to me whether going to all these conventions is worth the effort and expense, but in this case, I’m glad I went. I got to see an old friend from the UK, whom I haven’t sat down with for over fifteen years. We came up together and in that time, her career has soared. I’m so happy for her. Shout outs to Ellen Datlow, Liza Trombi, JS Breukelaar, Kat and Ian Rogers, Sarah Pinborough, Nick Mamatas, Cat Ward, and Daryl Gregory. Also to the entire Titan Books team, particularly my UK editor Cath Trechman.

A crazy thing happened in my hotel. Because it was fully booked, they put me in the handicapped room. The room was oddly spaced, with all the lights very low, the furniture in unexpected locations. During the night, I got up. I was still jet-lagged, I guess, and thought I was back home, because as I got back into bed, I leaped up and backward, like I do at home. I used to be a high-jumper, so picture that.* But it turns out, there was no bed into which to leap. I’d estimated wrongly. So I fell, body-slamming the floor with my upper back. As I lay there, stunned, I wondered: how did this happen? It was a miracle that I had not hit my head or neck on the sharp night table, a miracle that I’d landed on the high, muscular side of my back. 

The pain was so great that it took about an hour before I was able to fall asleep again.I wound-up with a large blood bruise. But that’s all. Otherwise, no damage. I was up in the morning like nothing had happened, walking 8-10 miles a day per usual.

Over the week or so since it happened, I’ve been thinking about that fall, thinking about all the good luck I’ve had in my life. It’s easy to notice the bad things– the stuff that didn’t work out. I’ve only ever written exactly what I wanted to write, and for the most part, it’s been published. No bestsellers yet, but I have the good fortune of time and more books to write and publish, which can only increase the odds. This is extraordinarily lucky.

Was that too “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy?” I thought so.

Anyway– I finished One Flew Over The Cuckoo;s Nest and there’s a reason it’s a classic. Whoo-boy, as McMurphy would say. I also just finished Maeve Fly by CJ Leede, a smart slasher horror novel that reminds me of both Brett Easton Ellis and Chuck Palahniuk. 

I’ll be at Bouchercon in Nashville at the end of the month. I’ve got a 3pm panel on August 28, and Alma Katsu and I will also be dropping by Parnassus books and signing stock. 

Also! Barnes and Noble is discounting A Better World from now through September 2. Tell your neighbors! Tell your friends!

Thanks for reading. If you’ve taken anything away from this newsletter, it should probably be: body-slamming the floor in the dark is a bad idea. 

Yours sincerely,

Sarah

*Why would anyone leap backward and up into their bed like a high-jumper, you ask? It’s likely my husband asks the very same question.