It’s been a quiet month so far. I’ve been working on edits of book five and on the first draft of book six, but there isn’t much I can say about that: the actual details of staring at the computer screen and whimpering are never that interesting to other people. At least the weather here in the UK has finally – finally – turned nice, and I’ve been enjoying sunshine for the last two days. (What is this strange yellow ball in the sky, say English people, and why is the sky blue all of a sudden.)

I’ve been reading a number of excellent books – including Catherynne Valente’s Space Opera, Melissa Caruso’s The Defiant Heir, Ruth Ball’s Rebellious Spirits, and Rebecca Kuang’s The Poppy War, among others. All of which are very good indeed. (And I need to find and reread my copy of The Investiture of the Gods before the sequel to The Poppy War comes out, just in case there are any clues in there… Even if it’s not a very good translation. I’ve never got over the use of the phrase “unholy bronze toaster”.)

Upcoming things include, yes, the Eurovision Song Contest! (See also Valente’s Space Opera, mentioned above. Eurovision in space!) Semifinals on Tuesday and Thursday this week, final on Saturday. I love Eurovision. It’s silly, it’s entertaining, it’s brilliant. And even if there is some political voting, the people who come at the top are usually emphatically the ones who deserved it. So yes, I’ll be sitting in front of the television, with my latest quilt in my lap so that I can work on the binding, and I’ll be enjoying myself. If you watch it, I hope you do too.

The Italian translation of The Masked City, La città segreta, will be released tomorrow (18th April) in Italy.

It’s still astonishing to think that I’m being published in Italy – and given that part of the story is set in an Italy, I only hope that the readers enjoy it and that I haven’t failed too badly in portraying it. Venice is a beautiful city. Any faults are my own.

In just 15 minutes you can ask me anything on Reddit for the next two hours, at this link:

https://redd.it/8c1gy8

(Only from 8-10pm UK time . . .)

There hasn’t been much news lately, I’m afraid – and I’ve been neck-deep in edits on book five and writing on book six.

But here is something which may interest people – I’ll be doing an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit on Friday 13th April, at 8-10pm UK time. My username there is GCogman, and I’ll try to post a link to it on the day itself.

Your Imminence, your Disgraces, my Thorns, Shadies, and Gentledevils – no, wait, that’s from Screwtape Proposes a Toast. Wrong context. Ahem.

I am delighted to be able to share the US cover and the lead-in text for book five of the Invisible Library series, The Mortal Word.

When Irene returns to London after a relatively straightforward book theft, Bradamant informs her that there is a top secret dragon-Fae peace conference in progress that the Library is mediating, but that the second-in-command dragon has been stabbed to death. Tasked with solving the case, Vale and Irene immediately go to 1890s Paris.

Once they arrive, it seems that the murder victim had uncovered evidence suggesting that he may have found proof of treachery by one or more Librarians. But to ensure the peace of the conference, some Librarians are already hostages in the dragon and Fae courts. To save the captives, including her parents, Irene must get to the bottom of this murder—but was it dragon, Fae, or even a Librarian who committed the crime?

https://bookriot.com/2018/03/21/cover-reveal-the-mortal-word-the-next-book-in-the-invisible-library-series-by-genevieve-cogman/

(And yes, I’ve seen the UK cover too, and it’s also gorgeous – hopefully I can share that soon as well . . .)

I am absolutely delighted to share the news that Pan Macmillan will be bringing out three more Invisible Library books. (Yes, that’s books 6-8 in the series.)

Here’s the press release.

I’m really past speech here. When I was writing the first book, I never dreamed it would go anything like this far. Thank you all, everyone who’s been reading the books, and who’ve convinced my publishers to continue the series. Thank you.

In other news, The Invisible Library is going to be published in Russia by AST, and in Romania by Nemira. Again . . . well, this isn’t something I ever dared hope for, but it’s fantastic that it’s happening.

At the moment, in between all this joyful news, I’m working on editing book five. Though next week I will be taking a little break and spending a few days in Barcelona. Not for work, just for my own pleasure – though I will be doing a little research while I’m there. At least the weather should be better than it is in the UK at the moment!

Best wishes to you all, and thanks again.

After a refined and randomised selection process – no, it didn’t involve throwing steaks with the numbers attached to a pack of dire wolves – the following people have won codes for a free copy of The Lost Plot audiobook.

Here on my blog:
Hazel Pinner
Andreas
Amy Keister

On the Goodreads version of the blog:
Debbie Rozier
Trizzie

I’ve notified the people on Goodreads via private message.
However, the other winners – Hazel Pinner, Andreas, and Amy Keister – will need to email me (at librarian@grcogman.com) in order to get their free codes. Please note that I have no way of sending you the codes otherwise – I don’t think that I should be posting them publicly on this blog!

Thanks to all who put their names in, and I hope you enjoy the book – and I hope that everyone else enjoys it, too. Apologies to those who didn’t win. There will always be another time . . .

And that’s it. We have passed midnight on Saturday 27th January (UK time), and the chance to enter for the audio giveaway is now over. Winners will be announced shortly. Thanks to all who put their names in.

Apologies for not posting for a few days – things have been hectic. I’ve just turned in the first draft for book five (yes, it has a title, yes, I’ve seen the cover, yes, I hope to show you both soon) and the day job is also in the middle of a busy cycle. So I have had very little brain of late.

However, I do have a special giveaway!

Please respond to this post. From the collected people who’ve replied here by Saturday 27th January, I will pick five people at random who will win a copy of the audiobook version of The Lost Plot.

(Terms and conditions: end of giveaway will be Saturday 27th January, 12 o’clock midnight UK time. Also, I will list the names of the people who got drawn as winners on a later blog post here, but if you don’t respond to me, I will not know your email and I will have no way of sending you the authorisation code for the audiobook. Which would be a pity.)

And thank you, to everyone who’s bought the book, whether as physical book, ebook, or audio – I hope you enjoyed it.

The Lost Plot is released in America today.

(Insert lots of exclamation marks here.)

Amazon – The Lost Plot

Audible – The Lost Plot audiobook

Thank you to everyone who’s supporting the series. I hope that you enjoy it! (I love you all, have some cocktails, dance the night away, get chased by wolves, etcetera…)