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Make worse choices with Zilla Novikov

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Strap up friends and strangers. It’s time to make bad choices … together

I wrote a novella called Query where I mash up publishing under late-stage capitalism with climate change activism and trauma-dumping on strangers. It’s also a queer love story and it’s been called “pants-wettingly funny.” Rysz published the regular version with a SFW cover but he also sold a book box with a special edition cover which I literally have to censor if people are at work, link here if you’re not at work or you work in a very chill workplace.

The query cover with a censored bar over the page the typewriter has written

We sold out of the first run of Query book boxes, which a) was fully incredible and b) what the heck guys, do you want to make a grown woman cry from happiness? Because I’ll do it.

So Rysz and I bought another round of mostly different, equally deranged swag to put in print run two for another round of Query book boxes.

Rysz was like, “wow people like book boxes huh” so he’s put on a sale so you can get any or all of the books from his press in the SAME BOX. I have read every book he’s published and I love all of them, but hot DAMN Corrupted Vessels has a good cover so I plan on getting that one myself.

The Corrupted Vessels cover in all its body horror glory

You also have the option of getting ALL THE BOOKS Rysz publishes AT THE SAME TIME. Open your heart and your bookshelves. Let something in. I can’t promise this is a good choice, but it’s a choice. Ask yourself, what could go wrong? Then do it anyway.

Behind the Screens: Tuesday Author Interview

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Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

Mind over antimatter cover

Sabitha: Today’s story is a bit off-the-wall—maybe literally! Rose Green is going to tell us about the wacky science fiction novel, Mind Over Antimatter! 

Rose: I’m Rose Green, author and illustrator, and my latest work is Mind Over Antimatter, a middle grade science fiction novel.

Thirteen-year-old Cole Uribe can’t believe his luck when an invention contest wins him top security clearance. His mission: pose as the grandson of inventor Nicolás Araya and find Araya’s plans for the micro-black-hole-powered storage device—before Alzheimer’s erases Araya’s mind for good. Except…Cole’s not the only kid claiming to be Marcelo Araya. And one of them is telling the truth.

Can a real grandson, a fake grandson, a nosy neighbor girl, and the greatest mind ever to lose brain cells be a match for a top-secret, most ruthless organization?

Sabitha: What inspired you to write this book?

Rose: Mix a little Nicola Tesla, a little Terry Pratchett, and an unusual landscape in Idaho and you end up with this book.

Sabitha: Sounds wild! We have a lot of writers in our community. What’s your writing process?

Rose: I like to be hands-on when I write. I want to really know what the characters are experiencing. While I could not play with black holes, I did crawl through some lava caves. Location is always important to me in writing, so a lot of my process is me going out and experiencing something there, and then coming home to write about it.

Sabitha: What book do you tell all your friends to read? Besides yours of course!

Rose: Some favorite middle grade books include Brandon Sanderson’s Alcatraz series, Frank Cottrell Boyce’s book Cosmic, and books by Kenneth Oppel.

Sabitha: When you picture your ideal reader, what are they like?

Rose: That smart kid in your life who reads a lot, thinks a lot of complex thoughts, and maybe hasn’t quite figured out how to fit into the world yet. Underneath, though, they are really cool (and hopefully will someday recognize that).

Sabitha: Does the location the story takes place mean something to you or to the work?

Rose: Definitely! Idaho is such a little known state—people think potatoes, and that’s it. But it’s got this interesting farmer-scholar combo going; people value education greatly but also love the wild. A lot of people speak more than one language there. And you can go to Yellowstone in the morning and catch a nice string quartet visiting your local university from New York in the evening. The first town in the US to run on nuclear power is in southern Idaho. Television as we know it was developed by someone from Idaho. I wanted to capture all of that.

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Rose: You can catch up on my writing and illustrating on my website. Meanwhile, Mind Over Antimatter is available in print and ebook form from a variety of sources; see this link for more information.

Happy Birthday Cascade!

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Rachel A Rosen wearing an awesome plaid dress talking at the Merrill Library

June marks the one-year anniversary of Cascade’s publication. It’s a novel about magic, climate catastrophe, and Canadian politics, about the compromises we make with power, and about how to keep fighting when the struggle is lost. You should definitely read it, if you haven’t already. It’s a lot funnier than that description makes it sound. In that year, I’ve used the patented FAFO Method to learn all about what it takes for an unknown author to launch a weird book into the world (and maybe make some money along the way).

Cascade with hot chocolate and scrabble letters spelling out fuck

A rather unscientific survey by the Bookseller indicated that more than half of debut authors found that being published negatively affected their mental health. While I am relieved to say that on most days, I don’t share their sense of crushing disappointment, it hasn’t always been an easy path. Here’s what I learned in a year of being An Official Published Author, Like For Real, It’s Sitting On My Bookshelf With My Name On the Cover(TM).

  1. You are going to do more marketing than you think.

Unless you are one of the tiny minority of authors who get the full and enthusiastic backing of a major publishing company, you are going to end up doing the bulk of your own marketing. Yes, even in trad pub. You will make appearances in any place that will have you. You will bombard your social media feed with Bookbrush graphics. You will struggle to condense your great work of art to a listicle of tropes. You will start conversations with friends, family, neighbours, and strangers about your book. Very few of them will find it as exciting as you do.

This is patently unfair to the less comely among us who would prefer not to be perceived, and to those of us who can’t summarize our cross-genre weird fiction in a snappy sentence. I long for a world in which the author’s personality and brand didn’t influence my reading choices, but unless you’re getting reviewed by major publications, it’s the only way your book will get out there. So while you’re working on your masterpiece, I highly recommend working on your charm offensive and screen presence. Also, the person who invents a way to crosspost book announcements to Instagram, Facebook, what’s left of Twitter, TikTok, Tumblr, Goodreads, Amazon reviews, and a blog or two can take all of my money as far as I’m concerned.

  1. Don’t go into the woods alone.

I can’t overstate the importance of a community. Without the Night Beats crew, I’d be lost in the woods. I’m terribly antisocial and I hate putting myself out there, and it’s having a team of other creatives around me that make the whole process manageable. The main people who buy books are other authors looking for comps, so it’s time to put on your best extrovert hat and make some new writer friends. Shared pain is lessened, shared joy is increased, and the company of other eccentrics is a gift in itself.

  1. Scams and scammers abound.

This one I could have guessed at, in retrospect. The publishing industry is not a particularly lucrative one, and the most profitable corner of it is separating naïve authors from their hard earned cash. Post about writing, and you’ll have vanity presses beating down your door to “sign” you. Post your book, and you’ll be flooded with strange people claiming they’ll promote you. Get to know Writer Beware and similar resources and approach every offer with caution and cynicism.

  1. Shoot your shot.

Be ambitious. With your writing, because the world has more than enough mediocre books, but also with your promotional strategies. You’d be surprised at who will take you seriously. The tiny blog with 100 readers might want money to review your work (do not give it to them), while the author you’ve admired for years will blurb you and champion your work to their followers. You never know. The worst anyone can do is say no and laugh at you, and you’ve already done the silliest thing imaginable by trying to make money in book publishing. You no longer possess shame, so ask away.

  1. Advice given to new authors is heavily padded to make it to five points.

Much advice given to new writers boils down to “research social media and build your following,” but let’s face it. If you were any good at all with social media, you wouldn’t have had the time to write a whole novel. You probably hate social media almost as much as you hate Daddy Bezos. It’s responsible for decreasing attention spans, the occasional war crime, and burying your book so deep in the algorithmic morass that readers will never find it. You have to do it anyway. No amount of raging against the fates that have caused you to be born in this century and not one in which you could unleash your bon mots in a broadside will save you from having to engage with whatever corporate-owned monstrosity is demanding your content.

Other good advice includes “don’t make your first book a sprawling cross-genre trilogy with messy, difficult characters, a dark cliffhanger ending and literary pretensions.” But, of course, that’s what I did. And there’s no money in writing, so you might as well write the book of your heart. I did, and I love it, and I’m excited to bring you the sequel soon. You can find it at The BumblePuppy Press, your favourite online book shop, or maybe even at your local indie bookseller or public library!

Book Report Corner

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by Zilla N.

Beyond Human Cover

Lower Decks Press has done it again, producing another anthology of undeniably modern short stories that reads like Golden Age science fiction. I grew up reading ‘Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine’, and these stories feel as familiar as rereading those yellowing pages. But between the alien battles and unintended consequences of cybernetic technology, the themes of this anthology belong firmly in 2023.

We live in a world where late-stage capitalism is turning every aspect of our lives into a commodity to be optimised, not for ourselves, but for our employers. Workplaces put on wellness seminars because mentally and physically healthy employees work harder. In Beyond Human, undertested technology is used to maximise workers’ productivity, from those in office jobs to working personal protection. Consent becomes an illusion, if the truth of what you are consenting to is withheld, or if the consequences for failing to abandon your bodily autonomy are more severe than the risk.

I also see a trans reading in many of the stories. Society dictates what transformations must be imposed on us, but also which we are denied. Parents, religious leaders, and governments refuse to allow some people to replace broken body parts with cybernetics, or to upload their minds to the cloud. In a world where trans people are all-too-often denied the agency to modify their bodies, science fiction is the perfect vehicle to show the injustice in these stories.

In some ways, the most hopeful stories in this anthology are those with the reverse message. Instead of humans becoming alien to themselves, we learn to see the humanity in that which is unlike us. Whether it is the space dinosaur trying to save our doomed planet or the aliens who cannot survive without merging with us, Beyond Human asks us to see the other in a new, kinder light.

As always, the proceeds from the sale of the Lower Decks Press anthology go to charity, so get your sci-fi fix and support a great cause at the same time. Get it here.

Behind the Screens: Tuesday Author Interview

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Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

The Blood Hotel cover

Sabitha: It’s a thrilling day today! We’ve got Cheryl Peña here to tell us about her three novels, The House of Wynne Lift, Descent of the Vile, and The Blood Hotel. Cheryl, can you tell us a bit about your creative works?

Cheryl: Most of my work is science fiction that deals with common themes of perception versus reality and issues related to starting over later in life.  As a writer who debuted at 50 years old, I feel like older protagonists are often left out of genre fiction.  They’re often side characters, but rarely the main character.  Therefore, most (but not all) of my protagonists are older, at least thirties, but often more.  I feel that people are never too old to contribute to society or make a difference.

Sabitha: I completely agree with that! Can you tell us what inspired you to write your most recent book?

Cheryl: The latest novel is The Blood Hotel, which is a sequel to my first novel, Descent of the Vile.  I got the idea for it when my friend, author Hermione Lee, suggested there could be more to the story, as I’d originally thought it would be a standalone novel.  But there was a lot of room to add to the narrative, and it came together very quickly.  I already had a title that sounded right, so I created the plot around the title.

Sabitha: Was there any music that inspired you while you were writing?

Cheryl: Definitely.  I usually write to classical music, so I played Ludovico Einaudi and Stephan Moccio a lot.  I also listened to Bryan Ferry and Franz Ferdinand when the mood was a little more up-tempo. 

Sabitha: Do you have a “fan-cast” – do you have actors you’d cast as your main characters?

Cheryl: Descent of the Vile was inspired after watching all three films in the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy back-to-back and having a nightmare that night.  The dream became the opening sequence for the book, which featured Simon Pegg (naturally) as Jackson Riley, having a really bad day.  So, he’s the person I pictured as I wrote the books.

Sabitha:  Which character do you relate to the most and why?

Cheryl: I had to figure out how to relate to Jackson as the books were told from his point of view.  Although my first book, a suspense thriller novella called The House of Wynne Lift, featured an all-male cast, I wanted to portray Jackson as realistically as possible.  I did a lot of research writing the novella, but I did even more for the novels to understand the male psyche and how it differs from others.  I also took acting classes, which helped me learn to internalize the role I was writing so that I could imagine myself in that character’s place.

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Cheryl: You can find me at my website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. My books are on Amazon—you can find The House of Wynne Lift, Descent of the Vile, and The Blood Hotel.

Behind the Screens: Tuesday Author Interview

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Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

The Flourishing cover


Sabitha: Merlina Garance joins us to talk about their queer mystery romance, The Flourishing. Merlina, describe this fascinating book!

Merlina: The Flourishing is a lesbian romance novel set during a police investigation. When Andy Campbell, Detective Inspector in Leicester, gets assigned the case of Mr Parry’s disappearance, she expects to find nothing else than an umpteenth marriage ruined by a husband taking off with his mistress. Instead, she ends up investigating a murder case, and struggling to fight her attraction for Mrs Parry. When she realises the feelings are mutual, things definitely get complicated…

Sabitha: What inspired you to write this book?

Merlina: It’s a bit of a silly story. A very good friend of mine lives in Mexico and we have tried several times to exchange mail, but it always gets awfully delayed by the postman in his town. So we thought it would be funny to get revenge by writing a story about the postman going missing. Somewhere along the way, the postman disappeared and a romance plot came to me, because I cannot help myself.

Sabitha: That is delightful! We have a lot of writers in our community. Can you share your writing process?

Merlina: It includes a lot of daydreaming. I write most of the scenes in my mind while on the bus, or while walking or driving. Then I frantically type up the gist of it on my phone and then stay up for hours turning that into proper scenes. When the inspiration stops randomly striking, that’s when I need to pick up a notebook and start the real work: making character sheets, writing a timeline, cross-checking all that information… It’s not as fun as the first part but it’s what ties it all together.

Sabitha: What book do you tell all your friends to read? Besides yours of course!

Merlina: My real answer would be Le Coeur Cousu by Carole Martinez, but it’s in French and hasn’t been translated as far as I know… So I will recommend The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. It is a really heartwarming read, and I believe it has a healing power for all those who grew up a bit different, feeling cast aside until they found their real family.

Sabitha:  Which character do you relate to the most and why?

Merlina: Andy is who I would be if I didn’t overthink everything so much. But I’m probably closer in personality to the love interest: mostly polite but capable of being impulsive when I feel really strongly about something.

Sabitha: How did you choose the title?

Merlina: It’s related to the name of the love interest. Her name is loaded with meaning and during the story, she decides to start using another one. The Flourishing is strongly linked to that second name…

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Merlina: You can order here and find out more on my website. You can find me on Instagram and on Facebook.

Wrong Genre Covers

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In honour of Cascade’s first birthday, Marten Norr designed Rachel a Wrong Genre Cover. This is Cascade as a puzzle book for kids. If you’d like a professional graphic designer to make you an awesome on-genre cover for your own book, Marten takes commissions on Twitter or at his e-mail flowerprincedesign (at) gmail (dot) com.
Cascade with a fun puzzle labyrinth!

Behind the Screens: Tuesday Author Interview

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Every Tuesday, get to know a bit about the stories behind the books you love, and discover your next favourite novel.

When Oceans Rise cover

Sabitha: We have a deep fantasy for you today. Robin Alvarez is here to tell us about When Oceans Rise. Robin, take us away!

Robin: When Oceans Rise is a YA contemporary fantasy which comps as a Filipino Little Mermaid (with no mermaids) meets The Butterfly Effect. 

A teen girl gives up her voice to the sea witch to escape an abusive relationship, but after she’s dropped into an alternate universe, the sea witch uses her voice to unleash Filipino monsters on the worlds. The girl must get her voice back to save both worlds.

Sabitha: What inspired you to write this book?

Robin: When Oceans Rise is based on this moment, at seventeen-years-old, when I decided to go surfing during a hurricane and almost died. I’d been in an abusive relationship. That day in the surf, I got caught in a fierce riptide, and I wondered if it would just be easier to let go. Ultimately, I didn’t. But When Oceans Rise is built around that entire scene of powerlessness and struggle and questioning what I was worth.

Sabitha: That’s such a powerful moment. Was there any equally powerful music that inspired you while you were writing?

Robin: ‘Explosions’ by Ellie Goulding was a big influence for the way a person can feel like they are destroying everything around them. 

Sabitha: We have a lot of writers in our community. What’s your writing process?

Robin: I’m a hybrid writer currently, and I prefer to write in a 4-act structure because it just makes the most sense for my brain. 

Sabitha: Do you have a “fan-cast” – do you have actors you’d cast as your main characters?

Robin: Someone else made me a fan-cast that now lives in my brain! Liza Soberano is a Filipina American actress, and Diego Tinoco is of Hispanic descent so they’re a dream! 

Sabitha: That’s lovely! What book do you tell all your friends to read? Besides yours of course!

Robin: Recently? Ever Since by Alana Bruzas. It made me cry so much and really shows the warning signs of a different kind of abuse. 

Sabitha: That’s such an important message for a book. In your own novel, which character do you relate to the most and why? Has it changed?

Robin: In my villain era, the sea witch! In my healed era, Anita, the happy, supportive best friend. 

Sabitha: How did you choose the title?

Robin: It’s based on another song that inspired my book! “Oceans” is a song with images of just trying to keep your head above water. 

Sabitha:  If you could pick any author to read your book, who would you want to read it? Why them?

Robin: Jenny Han! I’m such a big fan of her writing, and she is the coolest author to follow. Her life just seems magical!  

Sabitha: When you picture your ideal reader, what are they like? 

Robin: Weird! I love all things weird and people who are not afraid to be themselves.

Sabitha: Agreed! Does the location the story takes place mean something to you or to the work?

Robin: Yes! It’s set in Corpus Christi, Texas which is where I spent my teen years. I love Corpus so much because for all the darkness I experienced, there was always more light. 

Sabitha: Thanks for sharing your story and your process. We’re looking forward to reading! Where can the Night Beats community find you and your book?

Robin: When Oceans Rise is available is major retailers like Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Target, as well as several indie stores online. Please follow me on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter.