Hi all! This is just a quick heads-up to say that the ebook of Our Hideous Progeny is on sale this month! 🥳
If you’re in the US (or any other region where Harper owns the rights), then you have until October 21st to grab a copy on your favourite ebook platform for just $1.99!
And if you’re in the UK (or any other region where Transworld/Doubleday owns the rights), then you can get it for 99p on Kindle all month long!
Hi, all – I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be at Nairn Book and Arts Festival this year! 
Come join me on Fri, 6 Sep at 4pm for an interview/Q&A about OUR HIDEOUS PROGENY.
Thanks so much to the wonderful Sean Lusk for chairing, and to the Nairn Bookshop for sponsoring the event! 
Tickets are £12 each, £3 for under-18s. Book your seat now!
Hi all! It’s been a shamefully long time since I posted any updates here, as I’ve been busy at work editing Book 2 – but please join me today in celebrating the release of the US paperback version of Our Hideous Progeny! 🥳
Have you ever picked up the hardcover of OHP and thought, “Hmm, looks interesting, but I just feel like it’s approximately 8 ounces too heavy and 0.69 x 0.25 x 1 inches too large”? Then the OHP paperback is for you!!
Fantastic news: OHP has been shortlisted this year for a few different literary awards!! Our Hideous Progeny is:
…shortlisted for the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction!
…a finalist for the Publishing Triangle’s Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction!
…and longlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for Best Published Novel!
I’m so incredibly honoured to see OHP recognized among some truly amazing groups of finalists!!
It’s weird, it’s queer, and it’s here in bookshops near you! OUR HIDEOUS PROGENY is my debut novel, a spiritual sequel to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and a love letter to women in science and the fascinating history of Victorian paleoart.
Are you a fan of Victorian mad science? Gothic gays? Women who are angry, and ambitious, and covered in blood? Then OHP may be for you!
Note: Our Hideous Progeny is a Gothic novel, and may contain content that is distressing to some. View the trigger warnings/content warnings here.
Evocatively and compassionately, Our Hideous Progeny seeks a way to tell the stories of those ‘whose tales cannot fit in one book, those poor creatures who remain lost or forgotten’.
the new yorker
This immersive blend of historical and science fiction brims with surprises and dark delights. . . . An incisive exploration of women’s rights within the field of science. . . . The setting, too, feels wholly authentic, making it easy to get sucked in. Readers will revel in Mary’s personal and scientific discoveries and root for her to succeed in an unfair world.
Publishers weekly ⭐️ starred review
Our Hideous Progeny is a worthy successor to Shelley’s ground-breaking science fiction masterpiece.
autostraddle, best queer books
Compelling and utterly absorbing, Our Hideous Progeny is an artfully crafted debut that echoes the dark essence of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein while maintaining a fascinating originality all of its own.
Susan Stokes-Chapman, author of Pandora
Exquisitely written, brimming with imagery both beautiful and shocking, this daring debut makes the rivalries of the Victorian scientific establishment thrilling and urgent, bringing us a story worthy of Mary Shelley.
Sean Lusk, author of The Second Sight of Zachary Cloudesley
A fantastic read: I felt everything about Mary, her simmering anger and her intellectual delight, so very clearly.
Freya Marske, author of The Last Binding trilogy
A gut busting adventure to escape into. I loved it. Loved the setting, the characters, the high stakes. What an exceptionally talented writer. Can’t wait to talk about this to everyone.
Ericka Waller, author of Dog Days
This is no typical revisiting of Shelley’s iconic tale… This is a post-Gothic treat, an enjoyably moody, fog-drenched fictional commemoration of women in science.
Booklist ⭐️ starred review
Fans of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and historical horror with a queer feminist twist will not be disappointed… In this immersive, richly detailed novel, Mary is an enthralling heroine with whom readers will empathize, and owing to assured, luscious prose, whose plight they will champion.
Library journal ⭐️ starred review
A wonderful book; dark, passionate, multilayered, and rich with enticing detail.
Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat and The Strawberry Thief
Our Hideous Progeny takes inspiration from Mary Shelley’s masterpiece along with the Victorian fascination with scientific innovation and the prehistoric world. This wonderful debut evolves into a gripping Gothic tale of grief and ambition, passion and intrigue.
Jess Kidd, author of The Night Ship
Darkly brilliant and sumptuously gothic, this atmospheric debut left me reeling.
C. J. Cooke, author of The Lighthouse Witches
Witty, dark and sharp as a scalpel… brilliantly captures what it’s like to be a woman in a man’s world.
LIZZIE POOK, author of MOONLIGHT AND THE PEARLER’S DAUGHTER
Our Hideous Progeny opened its glorious mouth and swallowed me whole. I absolutely loved it.
Joanne Burn, author of the hemlock cure
More exciting news today, especially for my American friends — I’m thrilled to announce that my debut book, OUR HIDEOUS PROGENY, has been acquired in the US by Wendy Wong at Harper Collins! 🥳
I’m so thankful to my US co-agent, Tamara Kawar, for negotiating this deal, and so excited to work with Wendy on editing OHP! We’ve already been working together for a few weeks now, along with my UK editor Kirsty, and I feel so fortunate to have such an enthusiastic and talented team helping me bring OHP into the world.
Speaking of, I’d better get back to the edits grindstone; US friends, mark your calendars for spring 2023!
— CEM
Absolutely fantastic news today: my debut novel, the Frankenstein-inspired paleontological gothic OUR HIDEOUS PROGENY, has been acquired by Kirsty Dunseath at Doubleday!
It’s been such an exciting week, and I’m thrilled I get to announce this at last! Innumerable thanks to my agent, Sue, for all her hard work (and for managing to negotiate this deal while BOTH she and Kirsty were on trains, no less!). When Sue first sent OHP out to editors, I settled myself in for what I’d heard could be a long and trying process, only to be absolutely blown away by the speed and enthusiasm of the responses — Kirsty’s first among them! I’m so grateful to Sue for her Agenty Expertise, and can’t wait to bear witness to Kirsty’s Editory Expertise as we work more on OHP over the next year. It’s always wonderful to meet someone who feels like they truly love and understand your work, and Kirsty Dunseath is just such a someone. OHP couldn’t be in better hands 🙂
Oh, and did I mention it’s a double book deal?! Speaking of, I’d better get to work writing; more news on OHP and my as-of-yet-secret Book 2 to come!
You can read the full press release on The Bookseller here!
I have a very exciting announcement to make today: I am now officially represented by Susan Armstrong at the C&W agency!!
If I were any higher over the moon right now, y’all, I’d be rapidly approaching Mars. Sue and everyone else at C&W have been so delightful and welcoming already; my book could not be in better hands. It’s been a long journey to this point, and it’ll be another long journey ahead, but I’m excited for every step!
And now — to edits!
— CEM
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