Rachel Hartman's Blog

Just found out that IN THE SERPENT’S WAKE will be out in paperback on Feb. 21st! If you’ve been waiting for the paperback, or waiting for both books of the duology to be out in paperback, the wait is almost over.

Also! I have a short story, called GHOST STORY, coming out on Feb. 17th at The Sunday Morning Transport. What’s TSMT, you ask brightly? Why, a wonderful scheme to get a new SFF story into your inbox every Sunday morning, of course! The editors, Julian Yap and Fran Wilde, have a knack...

So we’re getting ready for our annual Roman feast, a few days from now. The nice thing about Saturnalia is you can kind of fudge the date, a bit before the solstice or a bit after, your choice. This year, we’ll feast on the 22nd, but I had to get the pork marinating today. We’re making ofellae (pork belly) Ostian style (Apicius 7.4.1), and the marinade has got dill seed, celery seed, cumin seed, peppercorns, bay leaves, and asafoetida, along with a good portion of fish sauce. My hands, even afte...

Oh, right, I did! Haha, that sounds just like me, right before I disappear. Still… here I am? How are you?

I do feel like the new Patreon (Fake Folktales!) is off to a better start than a dilettantish ne’er-do-well like myself had any right to expect, so that’s something. Thank you to everyone who’s joined me on this silly adventure so far. Another story is coming in early December. I’m trying even as we speak to whittle it down to a more manageable length, or figure out how to split it in tw...

Friends! Hello! Yes, it has been a long time since I posted. I’ll tell you what: the pandemic, plus getting my son through the end of high school, plus finishing In the Serpent’s Wake, plus… well, that’s probably plenty, even if it wasn’t everything. ALL OF THAT has been a lot, and I really only finally just now (long line of adverbs means I’m SERIOUS) feel like I’m crawling out from under the rubble and can breathe again.

Breathe and like, take in the spectacularly disorienting view of the r...

Friends, I am pleased to announce that In the Serpent’s Wake is finally out in the world. It took me four years to write, so it should take you at least that long to read… just kidding! I hope. But I do recommend reviewing Tess of the Road, if you’ve forgotten who’s who and what’s what. Serpent is a sequel, and may require a bit of grounding in the first book.

This being a time of plague, alas, I am not going on tour ...

Titles are hard. Only one title ever came to me before I even started outlining the story to go with it, and that was my third book, Tess in Boots.

That’s the title that sparked the writing, anyway. You observant readers may have noticed it’s not the title the book ended up with. Tess in Boots, alas, was simultaneously too young-sounding — evoking Puss in Boots — and too “adult” sounding, as it were. It’s a rare title that can span that gap. Fortunately, this was not my first novel and I had ...

Hello computer-friends. You’re probably wondering where I’ve been. In a hole, is where, working hard on the Tess of the Road sequel. It’s still called Tess of the Sea, and am very close to finished. Just a few more twiddly fixes, and then it’s off to copyediting. As soon as there’s a date, I’ll let you know.

My other exciting news, however, is that my first novel, Seraphina, has been translated into Irish by my extremely smart and talented husband, Scott Oser. It will be out soon from Coiscéi...

Going to Worldcon? Here’s where I’ll be, and when:

Format: Panel
16 Aug 2019, Friday 13:00 – 13:50, Wicklow Room-3 (CCD)

Remember the “Greatest swordsfight” from the “The Princess Bride”? Or Darth Vader’s duel with Obi-Wan? How about Aragon versus the Nazgûl? There can be only one! Bob Anderson was an Olympic competitor turned swordmaster/fight choreographer who knew how to tell a story with weapons. Our panelists will analyze how he did it.

Rachel Hartman, Zoë Sumra, Mr...

The schedule is set for the Celsius Festival! I’m very excited about finally visiting northern Spain. I’ll try to take lots of good pictures.

Meanwhile, here’s an extremely good girl, who is going to turn ten years old very soon:

Throw the ball, Mom! For the love of dog, throw the ball!

Just dropping you a note to let you know I’ve updated the Appearances page, finally. I’m going a few interesting places this year, so if you find yourself in California, Spain, or Ireland at the right time, please do come and see me!

And local friends: I’m making an appearance in Burnaby in May as well, although it’s not about me. I’ll be the other half of the “In Conversation with Jay Kristoff” at Metrotown Indigo, May 13th, 7pm. We’ll be discussing his latest book (co-authored with Amie Kau...