Hope all is well and you’re managing to feel somewhat optimistic about the world as we know it. I’m going to bypass any mention of a country that starts with the letter A, because I find it too upsetting and just wish the world leaders would get their shit together. And also because I cannot really shed any light on the situation, and I don’t in any way wish to disregard the crisis, but for today I am going focus on writing you a nice letter with some inspiring and exciting news:
We have a new book!
On the 14th of July we signed a contract with Jillian Halket for her memoir Blade in the Shadow. She’s a young writer, just 28 years old, and this is her first book. It’s an inspiring memoir that dispels myths surrounding OCD, substance abuse and trauma, told through a young, working-class, disabled woman from rural Scotland.
Here’s a short description:
From a young age, Jillian is obsessed with rituals to keep herself and others safe from the intense, dark thoughts. After moving to Glasgow, she hopes for a new beginning but the thoughts keep getting louder, so she escapes by pushing her body to unknown limits.
Blade in the Shadow is a coming-of-age memoir filled with hope, sadness, strength and beautiful prose, in which Jillian shares her story of how darkly absurd life can be.
Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 1:
"The room is airless and my mouth has an alloy tang like my spit is made from metal. Adrenaline tears through every fibrous nerve of my body. Just like every other morning I reach for the door handle and find I cannot open it. I hit my head off the frame again and again and pray for it to split open and let the worms and grubs pour out. The burrowing obsessions have rotted my brain and left porous holes behind like old cauliflower. In a viral loop in my mind the same four words repeat: I am not safe."
Katy and I have been pitching Blade in the Shadow like mad. To journalists, bloggers, authors, newspapers – everyone we can. We’ve been at it for weeks now. And, I’ve got some great news. Last week Jillian had an interview with Elsa Maishman with The Scotsman. The article will be out in late September (we’ll keep you posted on that). We’re absolutely elated and can I say how very proud I am of Jillian? Debut author, not even 30, lands an interview with The Scotsman within weeks of announcing the book? Unbelievably wonderful.
Our release date is 14 October. You can pre-order Blade in the Shadow here.
Other news – I finally took a vacation! It was somewhat of a micro-holiday but nonetheless was very cool. I went to Edinburgh in early August and finally got to meet Aidan Martin (Euphoric Recall) and John Gerard Fagan (Fish Town), and was delighted to meet Jillian Halket as well. If you’d like to take a look, we’ve posted photos on Twitter and Instagram.
Other other news – I’m thrilled to let you know that we now have ebooks available on our website! You can take a look here: gutspublishing.com/books. They are priced lower than Amazon, and keep in mind you get a free ebook when you buy any of our paperbacks.