Some parts of the year are just “head down and keep working”. I’ve sent back the proofs for book one in the Grayne’s series, and also the dedication and acknowledgements, so that’s done, but I have to keep grinding on book two – not to mention the day job, and the weather (annoyingly up and down), and quilt-making, and housework, and . . .

The Masked City is currently just £4.99 on Audible, till the end of the month (June, that is) – check it out at https://www.audible.co.uk/search?keywords=The+Masked+City+Genevieve+Cogman

I’m going to visit my parents in a week, and will have a very lazy time, and am very much looking forward to it. Perhaps I’ll even catch up on my reading. One can hope.

Incidentally, re the “quilting” reference above, I occasionally make quilts for Project Linus. This is a charity which produces handmade quilts and blankets for children in hospitals, hospices, and so on. If you are a sewer or knitter or crocheter or similar practitioner who wants to make stuff, but whose family and friends have started backing away when they see you coming with an armful of presents, this is an excellent way to enjoy your craft and know it’s going to people who’ll appreciate it. (Also, possibly, to use up some of those things you bought in a moment of madness or as part of a special offer and are now unlikely to use in any planned project. There are kids out there who will appreciate the fabrics with cute bugs and robots all over them. Trust me.) Links are https://www.projectlinus.org/ for the US or https://projectlinusuk.org.uk/ for the UK. If there are other countries who do it or similar charities out there, excellent, but I don’t know about them offhand.

Take care and stay safe.

I’m delighted to be able to share the cover and blurb for my new book, A Scholar’s Guide to Demonology & Other Dark Arts – coming in October!

See the details (and UK Amazon link) on my webpage here: https://www.grcogman.com/books/a-scholars-guide-to-demonology-other-dark-arts/

Philomela once enjoyed the carefree life of a Cambridge Classics PhD – until her father’s gambling debts forced her to trade prestigious academia for a job on the windswept Yorkshire Moors.

Graynes, an isolated all-girls school, offers a quiet – if terribly damp – lifeline. As the new Latin mistress, Phil expects nothing more taxing than dreary weather and making dead languages interesting. Instead, she finds unsettlingly eccentric staff, frankly terrifying schoolgirl pranks . . . and a demonic summoning circle in the cellar.

For Graynes, it turns out, is no ordinary school. But the training ground for the Queen’s elite demonologists.

Guarding the realm from the forces of hell was certainly not on the job description. But as Phil is plunged into a world of dark arts, talking familiars (and many custard creams), she uncovers a sinister plot that threatens not just the school, but the fate of England itself . . .

I apologise for radio silence – things have been rather hectic at the day job, and I’ve had no brain for much else.

However, I can now confirm that I’m going to be attending the Festival of Words at East Riding – at Beverley Reference Library, on Saturday 7th March, 2-3pm, to talk about the Scarlet Revolution trilogy. (Or anything anyone else asks me about.)

Full details at https://www.eastridinglibraries.co.uk/festival-of-words/

Otherwise . . . well, still fairly busy. I’ve just returned the latest version of my new book (first book of new trilogy) after the second round of edits, and I’m working on book two. Currently the protagonist is trying to deal with a case of sleepwalking which has something sinister behind it. Life is never easy for protagonists.

I would like to wish everyone a merry Christmas, happy new year, compliments of the season, and just generally a good and happy end of 2025 and beginning of 2026.

If anybody’s into audiobooks and wants a bargain, there’s currently an Audible Monthly Deal on for Scarlet – they seek it here, they seek it there, and if you want it for just £3.99, well . . .

I’m currently in the middle of edits for the first book of my new trilogy (a homage to St Trinian’s with demon summoning and a Latin teacher protagonist) and probably will be for a while, but I plan to take a break over Christmas. I hope you all get the same opportunity.

Take care and stay safe.

I’m suffering from a bit of a cold at the moment (not COVID, thank goodness, I tested) and looking forward to my flu jab on Saturday. Well, is “looking forward” quite the right tone? Anticipating as a very necessary evil, perhaps, and being grateful that Sunday should be a non-active day. I don’t always get post-vaccination malaise, but life being what it is, I’d rather not have something tremendously important to be doing on the day directly afterwards.

On a “definitely looking forward to” note, it’s the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton at the end of October, and I’ll be attending. My definite commitments are:

Thursday 6.00 – 7.00 – Meet The Author

Friday 8.00 – 9.30 pm – Mass Autographing Session

Saturday 10.00 – 11.00 – Reading Group 20 (Horror)

Saturday 6.00 – 7.00 – Fantasy: Beyond the Binaries

If you’re going to be there, high five!

I’ve handed in the current draft of book 1 of the new trilogy (girls’ school, demon summoning, Latin teacher, all-round mayhem) and am starting in on book 2. Wish me luck.

No, we’re not in Autumn yet, but we will be soon, and then all of the UK will be complaining that it’s too cold (and possibly too wet – I do hope so, we need the rain) rather than complaining that it’s too hot.

Current first draft nears its end. (This is the one described as Girl’s School With Demon Summoning, and it’s the first of three. I’m having fun with the protagonist. She is not always sensible.)

I’ve also really enjoyed K-POP DEMON HUNTERS, which has an entirely different set of demons, but much better singing. (My favourite song is WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE, but they’re all good.

Current news: SCARLET is currently just 99p on UK Amazon, at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scarlet-Genevieve-Cogman-ebook/dp/B097N3Q2HT/ – so should you not already have that little ball of Pimpernel-ish joy and vampiric bloodlust, it’s there to be grabbed.

Bank holiday in the UK tomorrow. Last one till Christmas. I will enjoy the day off work. Well, day job work. Writing continues. Will that be my epitaph? Probably for a lot of us.

Less than a fortnight now till DAMNED comes out, and I’m having the usual run of nerves. It’ll also be strange when it’s over and I can file all my Regency and Revolution research away . . . well, for the moment at least.

More immediately, I’m going to be in London a couple of times in the next few weeks, and also at It’s Strange Up North in Leeds.

Firstly, I’m attending London Comic Con on Friday 23rd May: I’m going to be in the “Just A Little Bite…” panel at 1:00 pm on the Writers Block Stage (together with Bella Higgin and Cat Hepburn), and then I’ll be doing a signing on the Author Signing stage from 1:45 – 2:40 pm. (All times and locations subject to not being altered by the Comic Con organisers, because we all know that Stuff can happen.

Secondly, I’m at It’s Strange Up North in Leeds on Saturday 24th May, 5.30 – 8.30 pm. (To anyone looking at the dates: yes, I know.) You can find the details at https://www.waterstones.com/events/its-strange-up-north-2025/leeds: there are going to be a lot of excellent authors there, and I’m proud to be in their company.

Thirdly, I’m going to be in Waterstones in Covent Garden in London on Tuesday 27th May for an event organised by the British Fantasy Society: ‘BFS Bookclub: An Evening with Genevieve Cogman’, where I will answer questions about the Scarlet Revolution series and interact with fans about their thoughts on the book for a reader-centric evening about all things fantasy writing and reading. (Details and booking at https://www.waterstones.com/events/bfs-bookclub-an-evening-with-genevieve-cogman/london-covent-garden.)

After all that, I think I may collapse.

And then go back to working on the first draft of the next book. (Girls boarding school, demon summoning, hapless Latin teacher…)

Just a quick note that Audible are doing a promo on the first 5 Library books until Sunday. If you’d like to give them a go, get then while they’re cheap.

No real other news for the moment: counting down till the release of DAMNED. There may be a couple of things happening in May, and I’ll fill you in when I have more details.

I’m delighted to be able to share that I’ve signed a deal with a new trilogy with Tor UK.

It involves a boarding school for girls, demon summoning, dark academia and a hapless Latin teacher, and I like to think of it as somewhere between St Trinian’s and Faust, with a dash of PG Wodehouse.

The Bookseller announcement is here:

https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/tor-uk-summons-dark-academia-trilogy-from-genevieve-cogman

More details will follow as and when I can share them. In the meantime, the next book out will be Damned (and I’ve just sent back the final proofs for that, so the Pimpernel’s latest scheme is progressing nicely) . . .

Thanks to everyone for your support. It’s because you keep on buying my books at your end that the publishers keep on making deals at their end. Much appreciated!

Firstly, happy holidays and appropriate wishes of the season to everyone! Merry Christmas if you celebrate it, Happy New Year if you’re on the solar model, and the compliments of the season where appropriate. I hope that you’re having – or have just had – a good time, that you and the people you care about are well, and that any return to work (such as my own on Monday this week) isn’t too painful.

Secondly, ELUSIVE is currently available (ebook form) for just 99p on UK Amazon, at:

Finally, there may be some interesting news coming later this month. (When is news not interesting? A demned interesting philosophical question, as Sir Percy might say.) If it happens (and no future is certain) I will share it as and when I can. Fingers crossed.