Publishing can sometimes feel like the slowest moving thing in the world, but occasionally things happen at pace.

A few weeks ago, my brilliant publisher for The Coral Bones, Unsung Stories, announced the heartbreaking news that they will be closing down. If you haven’t yet seen George Sandison’s post about why, please do take a look – it has so much to say about the extraordinary challenges of running a small press, and it’s testament to the dedication and passion of George, Dan, Vince and Laura that Unsung has continued for as long as it has. I will be forever grateful to them for giving The Coral Bones a home and a chance to find readers.

There is currently a sale for all the titles on Unsung’s list, including The Coral Bones, and you can still support our books until Unsung wraps up later this summer.

Without Unsung, I would not have been seeing the incredible news just a couple of weeks later that The Coral Bones has been shortlisted for The Kitschies Red Tentacle. This is such a huge honour – I have followed the Kitschies Awards avidly over the years and exploring their lists is always a source of great delight and discovery. To be among such company is a real privilege.

The Kitschies winners will be announced on 24 June at a ceremony as part of Bradford Literature Festival.

Finally, it was a delight to attend my second MCM Comic Con in London this weekend. Huge thanks to fellow authors Temi Oh, Nicholas Binge, and Kate Dylan for a great discussion on the Dystopian Worlds panel, and thank you as ever to the brilliant team at Forbidden Planet for looking after us at the signing afterwards.