If you’ve got a book club or a library group and you’re thinking of discussing The Husbands, and you’d like me to call in to chat - first, thank you so much for considering my book for your group! I would love to call in if we can find a time that works, I have such a fun time with these.
Here’s the deal:
I’m in the UK, and I tend to write in the mornings and do other work in the afternoons, so my lunchtimes and the end of the working day are the best bet. Unfortunately that means evening events in American timezones tend to be difficult (ESPECIALLY the west coast)
I’ve got a calendar of availability here, with times mostly on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. This should automatically translate availability to your time zone. (If you’re in the Americas and struggling to find a time, maybe check out Tuesday which generally runs slightly later than the other days. If you’re in Australia, check out Sunday, when I have some morning times, which should be your Sunday evenings.)
Happy to use my Zoom account, or if you have a regular setup you like to use then that works too
If there’s a time that works for you, please book it in! Timeslots are available a couple of months in advance (if you’re super-organised and booking now for later in the year, or can’t find a time that works, drop me a line)
The calls are listed as half hour slots but the time limit on those is pretty flexible; generally I’ve found we end up talking for maybe 35-40 minutes
We can have a general chat, or I can do a little 15 minute talk (with time for chatting/questions afterwards) on:
Inspirations for and thinking behind The Husbands - writing friends’ dating profiles, being bad at choosing ice cream flavours, that kind of thing
Something more craft focused - the writing process, specific writers whose work informs mine, drafting, finding the book’s voice, etc
Videogames versus novels - what it’s like working in games, how writing a novel was different, how they relate to each other
I do need at least one or two other people on the call to have their cameras on, I’m pretty bad at talking to a blank screen and none of us would have a good time!
Please don’t record the session without checking
Very occasionally someone offers me a fee for calling into their group - that’s absolutely not necessary, but if do you have budget allocated for a speaker then please consider a donation to Arts Emergency, who help young people from underrepresented backgrounds with access to mentorship, expertise and opportunities in arts and culture
You might also want to check out the reading guides that my publishers have prepared - the US/Canadian version is here, the UK version is here