SPRING NEWSLETTER

Back in January,

when I envisaged putting this, my March Newsletter, together, I thought it would be filled with exciting developments on my road to publication. There would be news of upcoming events, proof-drops and hopefully an almost finished second novel. Instead, as well you will know, the country, having barely recovered from horrific levels of flooding, finds itself in the grip of a worldwide Coronavirus pandemic. Three months ago, if someone had told us that soon the entire country would be in self-isolation, nations would close their borders and the shops would run out of loo-roll and pasta, we would have thought it an exaggerated plot in a dystopian novel.

But the real world has a habit of taking us all unawares. We are in a new reality and nobody knows how long it will go on. Countless people worry where their next meal will come from now that they have no work, and the brave workers of the NHS, our new heroes, are daily risking their lives to help the sick. As a historical novelist, dare I say it, that while people talk of this being unprecedented, we don’t have to look back too far to see this has happened countless times before, with waves of plagues, the Spanish Flu, Ebola and other epidemics that sweep from time to time through populations. We are none of us immune to nature. Life has never been, and can never be, risk free.

That said, in a time where a measured, calm response is, I believe, as important as ever to maintain, we must think of ways to keep spirits up and make the most of our lives in isolation or quarantine. Apart from Netflix, box sets and on-line exercise classes, what better way is there to while away the time and escape into another world, than to dive into a wonderful novel? On this subject, a little plea: wherever possible, order your book from an independent bookstore – lots are still delivering. Many will struggle to survive this difficult time and it will be such a shame to lose these wonderful resources. I believe it’s in everyone’s interests to see these stores remain on our highstreets. Failing that, Waterstones and Amazon are still delivering books, albeit slower, and there are always kindle versions if you can’t get hold of a physical copy.

Unlike handwash, toilet roll and medicines, there are no shortages of good books. I thought I’d share with you a few of the fabulous new books I’ve read over the last few weeks which are either just out, or to be released in the next couple of months. These are very varied, as I read widely, but they include:

Next on my reading list is The Animals at Lockwood Manor, by Jane Healey, which sounds fantastic and I can’t wait to dive in.

NB - I put the Waterstones links here, but if you fancy any of them of course they can be sourced from other places too!

It is only two months

to go until publication of People Like Us/Daughter of the Reich. In the UK it will (I hope) be out in hardback – it is due to go to print within the next two weeks so as long as the printer remains open, it will be available. It will also be available in audio and ebook (paperback publication has been put back to November). In the US it is out in all formats on 12th May. The book has been picked by Library Love Fest staff for their May suggestions list (although I appreciate libraries are currently closed).

Publicity plans have all moved on-line. I will be taking part in two on-line literary festivals. The first is the Stay At Home Festival, which is running from 27th March to 11th April. Check it out for some fabulous events to join for free. I will be appearing with some other great debut authors to discuss our journey to publication and the challenges of launching a book in the midst of a pandemic on Monday 6th April, 7-8 pm. Tune in to the event here. I will also be taking part in a historic novelist panel in the MyVLF virtual literary festival which has some fantastic line-ups, again for free. It looks technically amazing and I will be appearing in the Theatre, date and panel to be confirmed in my next newsletter.

On my actual release day, 7th May, I have two events planned. First, at 6 30 pm for an hour, head over to Twitter where I will be doing a Q&A (so get some questions ready!) with the fabulous author Madeline Dyer for a Book Party Chat - look for #BookPartyChat and #PeopleLikeUs. Secondly, do join me at 8:30 pm for an hour for my online launch party (see invitation below) where I will be live streaming from my author Facebook page, speaking about the book, answering questions and running a giveaway of some brilliant books. You can connect to the event here: https://www.facebook.com/louisefeinauthor

In other news, I have secured a few more foreign translation rights over the last few months, namely France, Spain, Russia and Greece. These are all very special and exciting and brings my foreign translation total to eight altogether to date. I did, before everything shut down, manage to spend a wonderful day in London with my editor, Hannah, touring lots of lovely independent booksellers, telling them all about People Like Us, and chatting about books. My perfect day…

I am very much looking forward to my book hopefully reaching readers. It feels a very long time ago that I received my publishing deals, and whilst this is not the way I had hoped to welcome People Like Us/Daughter of the Reich into the world, it is still special none-the-less. This is made even more special seeing the incredible support the author, bookseller and publishing community is offering to authors launching books at this time. Books are important to society and in my very small way, hopefully I am contributing to this vital resource.

You can pre-order the book here on Waterstones and Amazon in the UK. For the US, the link is here.

Thank you, and most importantly, stay well and safe!