Plans and Thoughts, Thoughts and Plans
News from Crowhill Cove
A summary for you on what to expect in this edition in case you want to scroll down to the interesting bits: author’s note on last week’s short story; Lit Fest report; what’s next for this newsletter; this week on TikTok; and the progress report with an update on my week-on-week sales and writing progress.
Author’s Note - Moss Pavements
I finally got the chance to bring this short story out of storage, and I’m so happy I did. This is one of my favourite things I’ve ever written, honestly. I don’t know why, but when I write short stories, I’m very often drawn to witchy, woodland, woo-woo kind of stuff.
If I were to get analytical about it (oh boy, here we go), I would say it ties into the overall themes of everything I write as ‘myself’ instead of for clients. I was thinking about this a lot lately and I realised that a key thread of my work is queerness; queer love, queer characters, queer experiences.
In the academic world we talk about ‘queer theory’ not just in terms of actual sexuality, but in terms of queering - becoming ‘other’. In a sense, then, a world where nature has swallowed up civilisation and magic is the only thing that can save us is a kind of queering (living a life outside the boundaries of what we would today call normal) and an un-queering (returning the planet to the natural state it inhabited before humans developed things like concrete and plastic).
So, even though you might not think a short story like this has any queerness to it, it has some queerness under the hood. Witches are pretty queer, anyway. Empowered, powerful women who don’t need any man to do anything for them, who can dethrone a king and disarm a warrior with a flick of a hand? Who live with a group of other women in a chosen family unit and eschew the rest of society? I mean, hello, ladies, am I right?
Too Many Cooks is out now in paperback! Just a quick reminder for those who missed it last week.
Last Saturday, I attended the Tunbridge Wells Lit Fest, selling my books on a stall in their author’s area.
I had a really great time meeting fellow authors and receiving such kindness - as well as the flag above, another author also let me borrow some book stands to stop my books falling over.
The actual event wasn’t a HUGE success. There were probably about twenty or so people who actually came through to visit. The stand next to mine did okay with six books sold, the one down from her sold four, and I only sold one. I kind of expected to be around that ratio compared to others, because queer books are kind of niche, so I’m quite happy with my sale. It’s just a shame so few people came by, but I think this is the fault of the organisers - our room was rather out of the way and not anywhere near any of the actual Lit Fest speaking events.
I did say I was going to be putting remaining copies on the TikTok Shop, but I’ve decided to refresh my typesetting on all my older books now I know how (you get to thinking about these things when you only see twenty new people over the course of five hours). So, I’ve sent the other copies back and I’ll be reordering them next time I have an event to go to, in a newer format.
I’ve also been having some plans and thoughts (hence this week’s title) about Hydropower, and I’ve finally come to a conclusion that works for me.
I will be publishing chapter 15 - I’m planning to work on it this week, so keep your fingers crossed for me that nothing unplanned happens - but it will be in the format of a mid-season finale. Depending on how things go, I’ll either resume the chapters here eventually, or I’ll just publish the whole thing as a finished book once it’s written. This is your call to tell me in the comments if you want it to come back!
What will I be doing instead? I want to focus a bit more on the things that I care about, i.e., talking about and thinking about books. I want to share some essays here informed by my current studies, by what I’m reading, by what’s happening in the world of books. Expect a view on books that encompasses feminism, ecocriticism and especially ecofeminism, queer theory, and similar veins, as I want to practice using these viewpoints as I gear up towards what may be a new academic era to my career. I’m considering a publication rename to something more general (after all, it’s been a *while* since this was just about the Crowhill Cove books), but I will keep the URL because I do NOT have the patience to go around changing it in absolutely every single place I’ve shared it, of which there are MANY.
That’s my current idea of things going forward. As always, your views are welcome. I figured now is the time to do it, with fewer than 100 subs and 3 of those paid, rather than feeling like I want to change further down the road when it feels more impossible.
I find it hard to let go of plans once I make them, even if the results aren’t there, so this is a big step for me. My therapist is proud. Ha!
Books
Okay, you've read the Substack posts (and maybe you're a little bit confused if that's where you started). Wondering who all of these characters are? Thinking you need a refresher on past books?
Each week, I share the one TikTok video that performed best out of the last seven days.
All of these videos are available on TikTok for free, but if you’re a) not a TikTok user or b) just want the best highlights, this is a convenient place to see it.
This week’s best is below, and it’s what I wish I knew before attempting to customise my Ikea bookcases to look built-in:
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Note: Changes are in bold, comments in italics.
TOTAL SALES:
Crowhill Cove series (Don’t Move Out, Don’t Go Outside, Don’t Fly Home, Don’t Leave Town, Don’t Check Out, the 1-5 boxset, and Don’t Move Your Desk): ebook - 1,149, paperback/hardback - 44, KU pages read - 808,450, free downloads - 6,304
Kiss The Cook - ebook - 19, paperback - 1, KU pages read - 6,401 (225 pages = 27 equivalent full-book reads) - The number of ebooks sold has gone down in my report, but there’s been no refund? I don’t know how to explain this
Cook Up A Storm - ebook - 18, paperback - 1, KU pages read - 6,558 (212 pages = 28 equivalent full-book reads)
Too Many Cooks: ebook - 7, paperback - 1, KU pages read - 2,613 (200 pages = 10 equivalent full-book reads)
Serial Investigations full series (Pre-Substack releases: books 1-12, 2 bonus novellas, 2 boxsets): ebook - 501, paperback/hardback - 104, KU pages read - 397,482, free downloads - 1,819 - Expect a drop in paperback sales after I return the copies from Lit Fest
WRITING:
What’s Cooking, Good Looking?: 41k words written
Cooking on Gas: preorder up, theme ready
Crowhill Club: all covers, themes, and titles done, characters created and romances/interpersonal relationships between books set up
Mystery project: cover design bought!!!, initial ideas on characters, plot, themes
Hydropower: Written to end of chapter 14
Client status: One book waiting for final edit notes, one book in writing phase
SUBSTACK:
Subscribers: free - 83, paid - 3
Followers: 402 - That’s a new milestone!
By the way, please like this post if you enjoyed it and would like to see more! This helps me decide what to do for future content.
XO Rhiannon
Boo to paint chips! I painted a bookcase once, years ago - never again.
I will say: I have not had a chance to read Hydropower, but when you publish it in book form I will certainly buy it and read it. My best reading time is at bedtime, usually not on the screen in my office. Also, I find I'm hopelessly behind in my Substack reading generally, but buying and reading a book is an Event that sets it apart from the avalanche of posts. There's my 2p. ;)