Tag: News

Upcoming Event: Nairn Book & Arts Festival!

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!

Tickets >>

US Paperback Release & ebook/audiobook sale!

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!!

Sales & Promotions!

  • In conjunction with the paperback release, the US ebook is on sale this month for $1.99, wherever ebooks are sold! Snap it up now for less than the price of a cup of coffee! (Honestly, in this economy?? Less than a third of the price of a cup of coffee :/ So buy three! Why not!!)
  • AND, the OHP audiobook is also on sale on Chirp until Jun 1st for $4.99! US-only also, I’m afraid, but I highly recommend Chirp – I’ve been subscribed to their audiobook deals email list for ages now, and their prices absolutely knock other retailers like Audible and Kobo out the park.

Award Nominations!

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!!

OUR HIDEOUS PROGENY: Out now!

Sticky post

It is not the monster you must fear, but the monster it makes of men . . .

Years ago, Mary’s great uncle — dropout medical student Victor Frankenstein — disappeared in the Arctic. Now, in 1853, she and her husband Henry live in London, struggling to make a name for themselves as paleontologists.

Unfortunately, in a world where scientific success requires wealth and connections, they don’t stand a chance: Mary, the illegitimate daughter of a housemaid, with a sharp mind and a sharper tongue; and Henry, a recently-fired geologist better known for his gambling problems than his radical theories. But when Mary discovers some old family papers that reveal the truth of her great-uncle’s past, she comes up with a plan—one that will pay their debts, prove Henry’s theories right, and finally get her some of the respect she deserves.
They’re going to make a monster…

⭐️ #1 Amazon bestseller ⭐️ Lambda award finalist ⭐️ shortlisted for the society of authors’ Betty trask prize ⭐️ Edmund White Award finalist ⭐️ shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize ⭐️ As seen in The NEw Yorker, NPR, SFX, Publishers Weekly, booklist, and library journal

It is not the monster you must fear, but the monster it makes of men . . .

Years ago, Mary’s great uncle — dropout medical student Victor Frankenstein — disappeared in the Arctic. Now, in 1853, she and her husband Henry live in London, struggling to make a name for themselves as paleontologists.

Unfortunately, in a world where scientific success requires wealth and connections, they don’t stand a chance: Mary, the illegitimate daughter of a housemaid, with a sharp mind and a sharper tongue; and Henry, a recently-fired geologist better known for his gambling problems than his radical theories. But when Mary discovers some old family papers that reveal the truth of her great-uncle’s past, she comes up with a plan—one that will pay their debts, prove Henry’s theories right, and finally get her some of the respect she deserves.
They’re going to make a monster…

⭐️ #1 Amazon bestseller ⭐️ Lambda award finalist ⭐️ shortlisted for the society of authors’ Betty trask prize ⭐️ Edmund White Award finalist ⭐️ shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize ⭐️ As seen in The NEw Yorker, NPR, SFX, Publishers Weekly, booklist, and library journal

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.


Praise for Our Hideous Progeny

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

New US Publisher!!

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! 🥳

Publisher's Marketplace Deal Report: Fiction: Debut. January 24, 2022. C. E. McGill's "Our Hideous Progeny," pitched as a queer take on the Mary Shelley classic, in which an aspiring paleontologist and great-neice of Victor Frankenstein attempts to make her name in the patriarchal world of Victorian science by creating her own monster, only to reevaluate what monstrous truly means, to Wendy Wong at Harper, in a good deal, in a pre-empt, for publication in spring 2023, by Tamara Kawar at ICM on behalf of Sue Armstrong at C&W (NA).
As is tradition, here is my very own Publishers Marketplace screenshot, the most coveted gray rectangle of the publishing world

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

OUR HIDEOUS PROGENY: Coming in 2023!

Absolutely fantastic news today: my debut novel, the Frankenstein-inspired paleontological gothic OUR HIDEOUS PROGENY, has been acquired by Kirsty Dunseath at Doubleday!

Read the full press release here!

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!

NEWS, NEWS, NEWS!

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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