Win a Signed Copy of The Shadow Dancers of Brixton Hill
You like signed books. I like signing them. It's win-win.
You see that? It might feel like a giant dog is breathing on you every time you go outside right now (it does here, at least), but Halloween is coming.
First off, if you were a subscriber to my Mailchimp mailing list and you’re reading this, it means I successfully ported you over. Feel free to unfasten your seat belts and move about the cabin. And now, what’s new:
TRIVIA QUESTION: Which famous film creature was modeled after the Oscar statuette? The answer is at the end of this newsletter.
GIVEAWAY: I’m offering a signed copy of my new novella The Shadow Dancers of Brixton Hill. Go to this page to enter: https://woorise.com/nicolewillson/the-shadow-dancers-of-brixton-hill-signed-copy-giveaway-july-2023
The giveaway is limited to residents of the continental US and runs through July 30th. Please enter, tell your friends, and share.
You can, of course, always get a regular copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Dancers-Brixton-Hill-ebook/dp/B0C4C19Q2L/ And I’ll gladly sign any of my books if you’re willing to send them to me.
WHAT I’M WATCHING: I’m delighted that What We Do in the Shadows, my favorite vampire comedy, has returned. At the end of last season, I worried that turning the hapless familiar Guillermo into a vampire would wreck the show’s momentum. However, I love the way the show is handling it. I’ll say no more if you haven’t caught up yet.
WHAT I’M READING: Every Woman Knows This by Laurel Hightower, Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann, and Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. I’m pretty sure I read Rebecca as a teenager, but have little memory of it. So I’m revisiting Manderley as an adult.
WHAT IS THIS XEET!?: I don’t even know what’s going on with Twitter (oops, I mean X) anymore. I’m still there and would prefer not to bail on it because it’s by far my widest-reaching social media platform. However, I put together a list of social media where you can find me here: http://nicolewillson.com/blog/contact/ At this point, Bluesky is my favorite of the many alternatives. The current invite-only policy is a drag, but I’m due to get another invite code pretty soon. If you haven’t been able to get on yet, let me know in the comments and I’ll ping you when I have a new invite to hand out.
REVIEWS, REVIEWS, REVIEWS: If you’ve read The Shadow Dancers of Brixton Hill, please consider leaving a review on Amazon, Goodreads, and any other review site you use regularly. The novella is at ten Amazon reviews right now, and I’d really like to see that number rise. It doesn’t need to be a long review—“I liked it!” will work. It doesn’t need to be a good review—“Bleah, that sucked!” will work just as well. There’s been a recent uptick in authors attacking reviewers for anything less than five stars; I promise I’m not one of those. Never have been, never will be.
TRIVIA ANSWER: Director Jack Arnold pictured the Oscar statuette with gills, scales, and fins when he was looking for inspiration for an upcoming movie. And thus, the Creature of the Black Lagoon’s distinctive appearance was born. Wouldn’t the Oscar ceremonies be way more interesting if they said “And the Creature goes to…”? I got the information for this question from Mental Floss: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/70635/40-fascinating-facts-about-your-favorite-horror-movies
Thanks so much for reading, and if you know anyone who might be interested in my work, please feel free to pass this along to them.
Stay spooky and safe,
Nicole