I am really excited to announce that my new novel, The Pit, will be released later this year.
In recent blog posts, I’ve spoken about how I’ve been struggling to write for almost a year now. The cause has been a fun mix of world events, life events, poor mental health and a Moby Dick-esque existential crisis. It has left me in a pretty paralysing space. I don’t think depression has ever hit me this hard before (I’m usually more of an anxiety type of gal) and not being able to do the one thing I thought I was destined for has been tough. And by tough, I mean I’ve been questioning what the heck I’ve been doing on this planet for the last thirty-seven years, and what the heck I’m going to do for however long I’ve got left on it.
To combat my perpetual writer’s block, I decided to tick something off the bucket list and enrol in a master’s programme in literature, which starts this October. It has already had a profound affect on me – the mere thought of it has given me a new lease on life, like I’ve been woken up. I can see my purpose again, and while it is still (surprise, surprise) books, right now I need to be studying them rather than writing them.
However, before my creative brain decided to go AWOL, I managed to complete the final draft of a novel, The Pit, and it has been sitting on my laptop ever since, waiting to be let out.
The Pit was inspired by a newly discovered love of western novels, such as Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry and St Agnes’ Stand by Thomas Eidson, but also my enduring fascination with cults, the end of the world and the impact of isolation. It’s part-horror, part-science fiction, part-western, part-literary fiction – The Pit is certainly a new direction for me creatively, but one I feel I have been building up to ever since I wrote These Unnatural Men.
There will be a cover reveal for The Pit soon (currently being created by the incredible Carl Doherty of Shelf Abuse), as well as information on pre-ordering, the publication date, behind the scenes stuff and much more, but for now I would like to introduce you to the blurb:
In a barren canyon stands the Pit: a dilapidated farm where little grows and no one is meant to stay.
Ada has been banished there by her commune as punishment for a crime she cannot – or will not – accept. Alone, she is expected to survive the harsh land with nothing but her dog to guide her.
Then Joe arrives.
Wounded and sent from the commune to live under Ada’s care, he is as much a prisoner as she is. Ada soon begins to suspect his arrival is no accident. The commune has not told her the whole truth. Perhaps they no longer trust her to live alone. Perhaps they no longer trust Joe to remain among them.
Whatever the reason, the two are trapped together at the Pit, forced to depend on one another in a place where survival is never certain.
But as their solitude deepens, so does their bond – and the secrets that brought them there begin to surface.
The Pit is a story of loneliness. Of devotion. And hope.
There it is. Fun fact, writing the blurb is one of the most painful parts of the novel-making process, so I hope it excites whatever neurons in your brain enjoy a good story.
As I mentioned, there will be lots more sneak peeks to come, but for now thank you so much for reading. I fucking love books.
((PS: If you’re interested in reviewing The Pit, please email me and I’d be so very happy to share an advanced copy with you.))
Can’t wait for The Pit?
Then may I recommend my dystopian novel, These Unnatural Men? Available in paperback and ebook.
The public call her a cold-blooded murderer. An executioner. A killer for hire.
Nieve Hindeman is a euthanasist.
She is one of hundreds of professionals relieving patients of their pain every day. To her, euthanasia is simply a medical solution to a medical problem.
But when Nieve starts to treat a voluntary patient – a man who is physically healthy but choosing to die – she starts to question the work she does. How can she prove that someone’s desire to die is genuine? Can a patient ever be psychologically terminally ill? And is a life ever not worth saving?
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