In France it’s La Rentrée – the French term for Back to School – which means that after the lazy summer days of sunshine and aperitifs, it’s time to get back to work. (My summer wasn’t lazy, actually, since my bike and tent featured in a few escapades and I fell in love – but more about that in a later post).
So to begin La Rentrée, I have some book news to share with you. In previous posts, I explained that my novel Tree Magic has been re-released by Impress Books in a second edition. The paperback is now available and looks amazing. I love the woody font used for the section pages.
To celebrate the new edition, my publisher has sent Tree Magic on tour. This means that every day between 7th and 14th September, a series of book bloggers – 35 of them at the last count – will be posting reviews, interviews and generally flooding social media with photos. This will lead to millions of book sales and make me a bestselling author. I hope.
The blog tour is organised by Love Books Group. You can find details of the bloggers involved at the link to their Tree Magic page. I’ve also copied the dates into the ‘Tree Magic Series‘ tab on this blog. If you’d like to drop in and comment on their posts, that would be wonderful.
Very shortly after, on 6th October, I’m delighted to announce that Tree Slayer – the sequel to Tree Magic – will be published in both e-book and paperback format. And because you’re kind enough to read my blog posts, I’m going to share the cover with you. Ssshhhh, the official cover reveal (for the whole world and not just you) takes place on 16th September.
Isn’t it just stunning?
You can already pre-order Tree Slayer from your local bookshop or online. The ISBN numbers are 9781911293392 for the paperback and 9781911293408 for the e-book. And if you want to resort to Amazon, here are the links to the Tree Slayer pages on the UK, US and French Amazon websites.
Tree Slayer is also going on tour with Love Books Group. The dates are from 26th October to 1st November, so hopefully there will be plenty of buzz – or hype or whatever the marketing experts call it – for publication day on 6th October.
What’s more, the lovely Jacqueline at French Village Diaries will be posting her review of Tree Slayer on 30th September followed by a Q&A interview with me on 2nd October.
Would you like to see the blurb for Tree Slayer? Yes? OK, here you are:
A horrific gale. A mysterious quest. The most important tree in France to save.
Nine months after the events of Tree Magic, Rainbow is struggling to come to terms with how she’s changed. Her bond with trees has grown and she’s found a way to work with them. But Amrita’s warnings about a Tree Slayer are gaining strength and Rainbow can no longer ignore them.
To protect France’s woodland, she’ll need to save the One Tree, although its whereabouts remains a mystery. To find it, Rainbow will have to leave everything she knows and loves. It will be her greatest challenge yet – but she cannot succeed alone. She’ll have to enlist the help of Eole, an enigmatic scientist and sceptic.
Rainbow’s journey through mountains and forests will increase her understanding of the tree world and of herself. But her life is at risk. Does she have what it takes to face the Tree Slayer? And can she trust Eole, who has powers of his own?
While writing Tree Slayer, I was invited on a residency in the Pyrenees mountains, which is where part of the story is set. I wrote a series of blog posts about it and will be re-blogging them from the beginning of September. I hope you’ll enjoy (re-)reading them.
One final piece of good news regarding the Tree Magic series: both books have been selected for the Bookseller Association’s Christmas catalogue. This is where 90% of independent booksellers stock their shelves, so you may even see my books in your local bookstore in December.
Add to all those dates the preparation I’ll be doing for an autumn writing workshop and live interview at my local bookshop, Le Texte Libre, and I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s going to be a busy month of September, full of highs (good reviews), lows (bad reviews) and important questions, such as: How am I going to find time to continue editing the third book in the series? And what colour will its cover be?
Happy Rentrée to you all!
Harriet Springbett's playground 