L.R. Lam's Blog

Hello!

I have a few author copies and am quickly running out of space in my little flat. I put up a call on social media and got some responses, so thought I would offer them signed for holiday gift options, or just for yourself! These will be around cover price + shipping.

INSTRUCTIONS: 

Email lauralamauthor@gmail.com with your order. I’ll respond and ask you to reserve your copy of the cover price via Paypal. Once the package is sent, I’ll ask you for the shipping balance since that’s variable–I’m using the honour system, so please do end up paying the shipping price. Let me know if you’d like any specific dedications or names. There are varying levels of copies for each edition, so it’s first come, first served.

Please order by December 6th at the latest, as I’ll be flying to California on the 8th!

I would offer a gift-wrapping service, but I am absolutely terrible and it would look like a 5-year-old did it, so I am recognising my limitations.

PATREON SPECIAL OFFER:

If you’re a long-standing patron at my Patreon, message me through there or my email and depending on your order, patron level, and length of membership, we will work out a discount.

If you join my Patreon, you’ll have whatever level you join at removed from your total order, plus £1 quid off per paperback and £2 off per hardback/trade paperback as a thank you, even if you elect to cancel or lower your tier down the line. Though I hope you stick around! My Patreon has updates on my WIPs, prose snippets, creative prompts (those are public), craft posts, places to ask me questions on writing and publishing, and more. Mentoring is available at the upper levels. It’s primarily pay-what-you-wish during the pandemic minus the extras like mentoring.

THE BOOKS:

Micah Grey series:

UK paperbacks of Shadowplay (6 copies) & Masquerade (6 copies). Price: £8 + shipping.

These have a beautiful matte finish. I unfortunately have run out of Pantomimes. However, if there’s interest, I could look into either ordering more from the publisher or seeing if a local bookstore can order them in for me and I can sign them there.

This is an award-winning crossover gaslight fantasy series, starring a genderfluid, intersex lead in a Victorian-inspired world. There are magic circuses, romance, coming of age, automatons, sleight of hand, and magic returning. For fans of Caravale or the Night Circus.

I also have a few editions of the original release through Strange Chemistry Books. These are rare as this edition has been out of print for years. I have 4 editions of Pantomime and 3 of Shadowplay (Masquerade was not released through this publisher). As these are rarer copies, I’m selling them for £15 + shipping.

Shattered Minds: 

A cyberpunk, near-future thriller starring a female serial killer to elects to become addicted to dream drugs so she’s only killing people in VR rather than real life. When an ex-colleague is murdered and his AI downloads important information into her brain that could take down a big corporation, plenty of people want her dead. She partners with a group of hackers while she fights her addiction to both the drugs and killing. A companion novel to False Hearts. For fans of Dexter or Inception.

UK hardback with shiny silver/grey foil (4 copies): £13 + shipping

UK export trade paperback with shiny silver/grey foil (3 copies): £12 + shipping

UK paperbacks (10 copies): £8 + shipping

US hardback (1 copy): £13 + shipping

False Hearts:

Conjoined twins Taema and Tila escaped a restrictive cult in the redwoods outside of San Francisco and are surgically separated. A decade later, one twin is accused of murder and the other twin must go undercover to prove her sister’s innocence and save her life. A BBC Radio 2 Book Club selection. For fans of Orphan Black or Inception.

UK paperback with red edges and silver foil (4 copies): £8 + shipping.

US trade paperback (2 copies): £12 + shipping.

I also have US hardbacks of False Hearts, but they are in California. I can send these after December 8th from the US once I arrive. £13 + shipping. Or if you’re in the UK/Europe and don’t mind waiting until January, I can bring the copies back and ship from the UK.

Goldilocks: 

5 women steal a spaceship to journey to an exosolar planet to escape rampant misogyny and save humanity from an Earth dying of climate change. Of course, things are never as simple as they seem, and there are secrets on board that might threaten everything. Good for people who both read science fiction or would like to dip their toes into it. Lots of moral questions and pretty passages about the beauty and grandeur of space. Often pitched as The Handmaid’s Tale meets The Martian.

“Earth is dying, men are awful.” — The Times

UK hardback (5 copies): £13 + shipping

UK paperbacks (15 copies): £8 + shipping

US hardback (3 copies): £13 + shipping

US paperbacks (3 copies): £8 + shipping

Seven Devils (will only be signed by me–likely not seeing Elizabeth before Christmas):

A Sunday Times bestseller! For fans of Star Wars and Firefly who wished the cast was basically entirely made up of foul-mouthed women.

“Just a space opera with occasional lesbian snogging.” — SFX

UK hardback (3 copies): £13 + shipping

US hardback (6 copies): £13 + shipping

US trade paperback (4 copies): £12 + shipping

UK paperback (15 copies): £8 + shipping

I don’t have US paperbacks as they haven’t arrived. And no, there are no spare Illumicrate editions.

And remember, Seven Mercies comes out in mid-January! You can essentially pre-order signed editions by joining my Patreon for a few months.

Romancing the Page (as Laura Ambrose):

My self-published f/f romance set in the publishing industry! Consists of three novellas in one volume.

Trade paperback (2 copies): £12 + shipping

So there you have it! I have no idea what level of interest I’ll receive, but I’m so grateful to anyone who orders. Thank you for reading and please consider spreading the word to those you think might be interested in my work.

L x

This is a quick note that if you were hoping to see me at Octocon in early October, I’ve had to pull out as I’m getting surgery the day before and will still be in hospital. Hopefully I’ll be able to be involved another time!

I’m still on for my event on September 26th at WOWCON.

Hello! First up, I made my Seven Mercies book page, finally, which has several pre-order links. If you want a paper copy, please order sooner rather than later, as evidently there are widespread supply chain issues due to climate change + Suez canal + cost of paper + COVID + general state of the world. Ooft.

Anyway, next: after a hiatus from events for a few months, I have a few upcoming ones:

WOWCON, via WriteMentor

Talk: Writing Science Fiction with Laura Lam
£12.00

SUNDAY 26th September 5-6pm (BST)

Climate change is at the forefront of many of our minds, and whether in our world or a secondary one, may end up working its way into our fiction. In this talk, Sunday Times bestselling author, Laura Lam, details some of the climate change research she’s done from writing near-future thriller Goldilocks, as well as a Youtube channel CYOTopia. She will give tips and tricks on using climate change science to create believable, rich worlds to become the backdrop to your stories.

OCTOCON:

We’re in This Together Now: The Importance of Found Families

SATURDAY 2nd October 11am-12pm (BST)

Catherine Sharp (moderator), Dan Abnett, Nik Vincent-Abnett, Laura (El) Lam, Amie Kaufman

On Twitch. A gang of mismatched teens fighting supernatural horrors. A close-knit spaceship crew. Superheroes (and sometimes villains too) banding together against a common enemy. Whether they’re hurtling around the universe or crossing forests and mountains on a quest together, the bonds built between companions and crew can be tighter than those between blood relatives. What do the found families we enjoy say about the relationship we find ourselves in and the things we create together in Fandom?

SATURDAY 2nd October 12-1pm (BST)

Chat with Laura Lam

On Zoom. Sign-up required. We can chat about writing, craft, my books, what I’ve researced, publishing–whatever you fancy, really!

SUNDAY 3rd October 11am-12pm (BST)

Reading: Laura Lam

On Zoom. I might read from Dragon Book for the very first time!

SUNDAY 3rd October 12pm-1pm (BST)

Crime Narratives in Other Worlds

On Twitch. Jack Fennell (moderator), Michael Carroll, Laura (El) Lam, Aliette de Bodard, Christopher J Garcia

Murder. Blackmail. Theft. Fraud. Even in far and future worlds, we can’t escape them or the institutions that police and punish them. Why are crime narratives central to so many science fiction and fantasy stories, and what makes them different to the crime tales set in the world we see around us?

The third annual Cymera Festival has snuck up on us again. I’ll be doing two events this time, but looking forward to attending some of the others.

Sunday, June 6, 2021: 2:30 PM  3:30 PM

When your own freedom is at stake, what price are you willing to pay to save yourself and millions around you?

In Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell, the success of an arranged marriage may just decide the fate of a whole empire. And then there is the small matter of the suspicious circumstances surrounding death of the previous spouse …

Meanwhile in Seven Devils by Elizabeth May and Laura Lam, seven resistance fighters are up against a corrupt empire.

Sunday, June 6, 2021: 7:15 PM  8:15 PM

In the stunning finale of Becky Chamber’s Wayfarer Series, The Galaxy, And The Ground Within, three strangers do their best to help those at the fringes of the Galactic Commons after a freak technological failure brings all traffic to a halt, while in Stark Holborn’s Ten Low an ex-con ventures on a breakneck race to escape across an alien moon thriving with aliens and criminals.

Two telling tales to remind us that we are not alone in space!

Hope to see you there!

L x

Patreon
Books

Hello and happy Monday!

A quick post to let you know that I’m doing a charity lot for the Books for Vaccines auction. There are loads of great things up for bidding.

I’m offering a mentoring session of up to 20k words plus a Zoom or in-person (if you’re in Edinburgh) meeting. 

Bidding is open for 10 more days and at the time of posting the highest bid is £100. This is worth around £250 usually.

Help spreading the word appreciated!

So a little while ago, Elizabeth and I unveiled the US cover of Seven Mercies, the sequel to Sunday Times bestselling (I will never not say this) Seven Devils.

It will also be launching January 2022.

Pre-order the UK edition here via the retailer of your choice!

Pre-order the US edition here via the retailer of your choice!

Your usual reminder that pre-ordering is so important! It makes it much easier to prove to the publisher and retailers that there’s demand for the book, so it’ll help it reach more readers.

Also, if you haven’t picked up Seven Devils, feel free to do so knowing that the sequel is not (that) far away.

Grab Seven Devils if you like women (and one dude) smashing the patriarchy in space!

Praise for Seven Devils

“Star Wars recast for the modern age.” — The Guardian

“A thrilling ride from two of the most exciting authors in the genre.” —Gareth L. Powell, BSFA award-winning author of Embers of War

“More gripping than The Expanse.” —Charles Stross, award-winning author of The Laundry Files

“I was promised Mad Max: Fury Road in space—I got that and so much more. Seven Devils is an explosive new addition to the space opera genre. May and Lam had me from the first severed finger! This is a book you are not going to want to miss and the start of a series that promises to be a wild ride.” —K. B. Wagers, author of the Farian War trilogy

“This first collaboration from Lam (Goldilocks) and May (The Falconer) revels in the frenetic energy of its girl power–infused, space operatic premise.” —Publishers Weekly

“The first book in a duology is a witty, fast-paced, feminist space opera.” —Booklist

“Lam and May have looked ahead to a future where women serve equally, are just as strong and capable in combat as men without falling into the typical tropes of heartless assassin or distressed damsel awakening to her power. Each of the characters in Seven Devils is distinct with her own character, personality, backstory, and soul.” —The Roarbots

Good evening,

Elizabeth and I can finally unveil the title and US cover of the sequel to Seven Devils…introducing Seven Mercies!

Elizabeth made this gorgeous image. 

Unfortunately Dan Dos Santos wasn’t available for book 2, but this beautiful art is by Kirbi Fagan. Cover design is by Katie Anderson. I love how it’s basically the colours of the bi flag, and that the devils are on shattered glass. That purple flower ends up being important, but you’ll have to read to find out why…!

Seven Mercies will be published January 18th, 2022! Pre-order now.

The second book in a feminist space opera duology that follows the team of seven rebels who will free the galaxy from the ruthless Tholosian Empire—or die trying.

After an ambush leaves the Novantae resistance in tatters, the survivors scatter across the galaxy. Wanted by two great empires, the bounty on any rebel’s head is enough to make a captor filthy rich. And the seven devils? Biggest score of them all. To avoid attacks, the crew of Zelus scavenge for supplies on long-abandoned Tholosian outposts.

Not long after the remnants of the rebellion settle briefly on Fortuna, Ariadne gets a message with unimaginable consequences: the Oracle has gone rogue. In a planned coup against the Empire’s new ruler, the AI has developed a way of mass programming citizens into mindless drones. The Oracle’s demand is simple: the AI wants One’s daughter back at any cost.

Time for an Impossible to Infiltrate mission: high chance of death, low chance of success. The devils will have to use their unique skills, no matter the sacrifice, and pair up with old enemies. Their plan? Get to the heart of the Empire. Destroy the Oracle. Burn it all to the ground.

And if you haven’t had a chance to grab the Sunday Times bestselling Seven Devils! Order from fine retailers.

This first book in a feminist space opera duology follows seven resistance fighters who will free the galaxy from the ruthless Tholosian Empire–or die trying.

When Eris faked her death, she thought she had left her old life as the heir to the galaxy’s most ruthless empire behind. But her recruitment by the Novantaen Resistance, an organization opposed to the empire’s voracious expansion, throws her right back into the fray.

Eris has been assigned a new mission: to infiltrate a spaceship ferrying deadly cargo and return the intelligence gathered to the Resistance. But her partner for the mission, mechanic and hotshot pilot Cloelia, bears an old grudge against Eris, making an already difficult infiltration even more complicated.

When they find the ship, they discover more than they bargained for: three fugitives with firsthand knowledge of the corrupt empire’s inner workings.

Together, these women possess the knowledge and capabilities to bring the empire to its knees. But the clock is ticking: the new heir to the empire plans to disrupt a peace summit with the only remaining alien empire, ensuring the empire’s continued expansion. If they can find a way to stop him, they will save the galaxy. If they can’t, millions may die.

And to close, here are the US covers side by side. Keep an eye out for the UK cover, which will be unveiled soon!

Seven Devils

Seven Mercies

Happy Thursday, all.

Today it is not an April Fool’s (to be honest, I’m not a fan of Internet Prank Day), but the Seven Devils UK paperback is released today! Luckily here in the UK, bookstores will be opening this month, so hopefully that’ll help people discover it. The paperback is lovely and has spot shine on the spaceship!

Grab it now!

I’ve done some events recently. I did a SF panel for Wondercon, which is a companion con to San Diego Comic Con. Panel description:

Questions of science and its potential for both benefit and disaster are endemic to speculative fiction. Bookseller Ali T. Kokmen explores the spectrum of positive and negative applications with creators Sarah Gailey (The Echo Wife), Eric Glover and Arielle Jovellanos (Black Star), Laura Lam (Goldilocks), Jonathan Messinger (Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian series, #3 The Uncommon Cold), and Andy Weir (Project Hail Mary).

You can still watch it here on Youtube! It was fun ‘meeting’ Andy Weir after over a year of describing Goldilocks as “The Martian meets the Handmaid’s Tale.”

Last weekend also saw Gollanczfest at home, where Elizabeth and I did two events to support the paperback release–an event with out UK editor, Rachel Winterbottom, and a SF panel with Stephen Baxter, Adam Roberts, and Alastair Reynolds. Plus there are loads of other events! Loads of content, for free!

Part 1 – I only just noticed ours is the only event that warns for strong language and gruesome content. WHOOPS.

Part 2

As a result of Gollanczfest, Seven Devils was briefly discounted to 99p on ebook, and it reached #7 in overall Science Fiction, and was a #1 bestseller in Space Opera!! So that was very fun to have the orange bestseller banner for (I think) the first time.

A Hidden Hope by my alter ego Laura Ambrose is free on Amazon until TOMORROW! So grab it now if you haven’t already.

Cover copy:

Natalie and El used to be writing critique partners, sharing their work chapter by chapter. Falling in love off-page was like the next part of the story. But after a huge falling out, three years have passed in bitter silence.

When they both appear at a science fiction convention in London, Natalie, a struggling writer, wants nothing to do with El, the hot debut novelist who sold her book at auction under a male pseudonym. But over the weekend, ignoring each other–and their attraction–proves impossible, not least because they have several panels together. Can El hope to atone for the mistakes of their past, and is Natalie willing to let hope fly?

Grab it now! 

If you’d like to support it a bit more, you can grab the collection of all three novellas in the collection Romancing the Page for around £4. Not a bad deal for 90k of work!

Also, I keep forgetting to post on here, but the US paperback of Goldilocks has come out recently, and it looks quite spiffy. So feel free to grab a copy or tell a friend! Despite quarantine and lockdown woes, it seems to have done all right, which I’m very pleased about. Grab it now!

The Earth is in environmental collapse. The future of humanity hangs in the balance. But a team of women are preparing to save it. Even if they’ll need to steal a spaceship to do it.

Despite increasing restrictions on the freedoms of women on Earth, Valerie Black is spearheading the first all-female mission to a planet in the Goldilocks Zone, where conditions are just right for human habitation.

The team is humanity’s last hope for survival, and Valerie has gathered the best women for the mission: an ace pilot who is one of the only astronauts ever to have gone to Mars; a brilliant engineer tasked with keeping the ship fully operational; and an experienced doctor to keep the crew alive. And then there’s Naomi Lovelace, Valerie’s surrogate daughter and the ship’s botanist, who has been waiting her whole life for an opportunity to step out of Valerie’s shadow and make a difference.

The problem is that they’re not the authorized crew, even if Valerie was the one to fully plan the voyage. When their mission is stolen from them, they steal the ship bound for the new planet.

But when things start going wrong on board, Naomi begins to suspect that someone is concealing a terrible secret — and realizes time for life on Earth may be running out faster than they feared . . .

The Martian by way of Handmaid’s Tale. For fans of The Power, Station Eleven & Vox. 

 Lastly, the next C.Y.O.Topia video has dropped!

In this inaugural interview of artists and scientists, Dr. Sinead Collins and Laura Lam interview YA author Lauren James, whose eco YA SF book Green Rising is out in September with HarperCollins, and Dr. Johanne Vad, whose work looks at animal behaviour around oil rigs. How do we think about eco regeneration? What sort of infrastructure will renewables need in the sea? What would you do if you started suddenly growing plants out of your fingers?

Pre-order Green Rising: https://laurenejames.co.uk/green-rising/​
Join the Climate Fiction Writers’ League Newsletter: https://climate-fiction.org/​
Changing Oceans: https://changingoceans.com/​
Check out Scientist Rebellion! Scientists are standing up for climate change. See how you can get involved: https://scientistrebellion.com/science/​

Hello! My friend Sinead (who was one of my science consultants for Goldilocks) and I have been working on a project over the last few months, and we’re finally ready to launch it! The official press release is below–please feel free to spread the word. The first episode (which we filmed outside before it got really cold/we were back in strict lockdown) is up, and we’ll be having regular episodes going forward. I’m so excited! An excuse to learn more science and talk to interesting people and feel like we’re at least trying to make a little bit of a difference. We have some great guests lined up. If you’re involved in climate change research and would like to be interviewed (especially if you’re a scientist), you are welcome to get in touch via the contact form! I hope you enjoy and like, subscribe, hit the bell, all that sort of things you’re meant to do for visibility.

The lovely icon was designed by Cat Hellion.

—

Sunday Times Bestselling SFF author and Edinburgh Napier creative writing lecturer Laura Lam (Goldilocks, Seven Devils) and University of Edinburgh evolutionary biologist Sinead Collins have launched C.Y.O.TOPIA, or Choose Your Own Topia. This is an interdisciplinary project that investigates two different approaches to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and limiting the global average temperature rise to 1.5C— we create two near-future worlds, one which met carbon emission goals by less equitable means (Stick) and one with more equitable strategies (Carrot).

C.Y.O.TOPIA will primarily be a YouTube channel, with episodes looking at elements of the societal and scientific changes needed in order to reach emissions goals. Episode 1, which sees the launch of the series, looks at the ramifications of ground transport. The second episode will look at migration patterns as a result of climate change. A future episode will attempt to theoretically spend Jeff Bezos’ or Elon Musk’s fortune to solve climate change. In the videos, Edinburgh in Carrot & Stick are being illustrated by Scottish artist Alex Naughton, with each episode adding more detail. Research assistance is provided by Jeremy Lowe.

In between these larger episodes, Collins & Lam will interview artists and scientists about their work. Future confirmed guests include critically acclaimed YA writer Lauren James, author of upcoming Green Rising and founder of The Climate Fiction Writers League, and Dr. Johanne Vad, an early-career scientist in the Changing Oceans group at the University of Edinburgh.

Subscribe to C.Y.O.Topia and learn more about climate change science, help build these two versions of a future, and discover what we can do collectively to bring about a better world.