Thank you (and an offer of a free signed book)!
It’s been a busy six months of Substacking for me. I wanted to say a huge thanks to everyone who has subscribed during that time and helped me work towards a point where I can spend more time writing and less time promoting that writing. I appreciate everyone who reads my writing here, whether you do it via the free subscription or happen to be one of the small group of people who’ve so far been generous enough to take the paid option, but I wanted to let you know that I’m offering a free signed and personalised paperback of my novel Villager to ANYONE who upgrades to the cut-price annual £80 subscription this weekend (i.e. before midnight, UK time, on Sunday 11th June). That includes those of you who are overseas.
Villager, my thirteenth book in all but my first work of long form fiction, was published in the UK in paperback a couple of months ago, and is being released in the US this week. It’s a psychedelic novel of swirling time, earth magic, river spirits, wise stones, lost music and opinionated hills, set over a period of 200 years (some of it in the future) in and around a village in a place which is a little like Dartmoor in some ways but isn’t actually Dartmoor. William Boyd called it “marvellously inventive and imaginative” and Mojo magazine said it is “an exquisitely detailed, many-voiced tale of people, place and folklore ... a communication with lost voices rich in wonder, longing and exalted psychedelic flight.” You can read reviews here and here which will tell you a bit more. After you upgrade, I’ll email you to get your signing details and address and then send the book out this week.
Additionally, I have four lovely original linoprints by my mum, Jo (who has illustrated the inside of my latest five books), for the first four people who upgrade (you get these in addition to the book, although I’ll send them in separate packages, due to the prints being larger than the book)…
I’ve been trying to keep the pieces on here very regular in addition to working on my next novel, 1983 (which will be published next year, and which you can read about - and pledge - for here). In case you’re new in these parts, here is a small selection of some that I’ve particularly enjoyed writing:
Ladybird's Well-Loved Tales Deconstructed
The True Stories Behind Some Of The Photos In The 1970s Habitat Catalogues
Reviews Of Some Crisps I Have Eaten Recently
Quite a lot of you have now asked about the prospect of a Villager audiobook. I’m pleased to say I’ll be starting to record this very soon. Audiobooks are already available of my books 21st-Century Yokel, Ring The Hill and Help The Witch.
Thanks for reading!
Tom
