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Special Reader’s Edition

 

Upcoming Appearances

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I’m very excited to announce my next virtual appearance since I’ll be chatting with some of my favorite people! On July 22, 2021 at 8PM Eastern (pretty please don’t make me try to convert time zones!) We’ll be talking about cozies — in our PJs! Meet Me In Pajamas is a fantastic Instagram Live series hosted by MEET ME IN PARADISE author Libby Hubscher. I’ll be joined by Jennifer J. Chow (MIMI LEE Sassy Cat Mysteries) and Mia P. Manansala (ARSENIC AND ADOBO). If you haven’t ever watched an Instagram Live series before, it’s easy! Go to Instagram.com on @libbyhubscher‘s page or @libbyhubscher on the Instagram app. Around 8PM Eastern, Libby’s profile picture will have a Live! ring around it. Click on her profile picture to join the broadcast. I think you will need an Instagram account to view, so be sure to set that up ahead of time. (APPEARANCE ARCHIVED HERE)

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News on NO MEMES OF ESCAPE

I don’t know if I’ve talked much about the publishing process here, but there are a lot of moving pieces and they move slow. I turned in NO MEMES OF ESCAPE to my editor in April 2020, right as lockdown was starting. We recently finished proofreading. Right now, NO MEMES OF ESCAPE is out with early readers for reviews.

Next up starts the audiobook process and shortly after that, NO MEMES OF ESCAPE (the follow up to KILLER CONTENT in the Brooklyn Murder Mysteries) will be available in bookstores and online retailers! Stay tuned to future newsletters and social media posts (Twitter @oliviablacke, Facebook @AuthorOliviaBlacke, Instagram @oliviablackeauthor) for details on how to get a signed bookplate *OR* how to order your own personalized, signed copy from One More Page Books!

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Freebies

I don’t have any freebies for you this month. I know, I know and I’m sorry … BUT … freebies are coming. There’s going to be a free sneak peek into NO MEMES OF ESCAPE and (drumroll please) a free short story featuring Odessa Dean and her friends at Untapped Books & Café. Stay tuned to future newsletters for exclusive first looks and social media posts (Twitter @oliviablacke, Facebook @AuthorOliviaBlacke, Instagram @oliviablackeauthor) for details.

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What I’m Reading

Writing is fantastic and there’s pretty much no thing I’d rather be doing, but I can’t write all the time! Not only would I burn out, but as previously mentioned, publishing is a slow business. So what do I do between rounds of edits or while I wait for the next phase in publishing? I read, of course! I’m extremely lucky that I have advanced access to some of the best and brightest upcoming books thanks to the #Berkletes and other writers in my genre or from my publisher, which means sometimes I get to read books that won’t hit the shelves for a few months still. This gives me a chance to read until my heart’s content and brag to y’all about how amazing they are! Here’s just a few of the books I’ve read (note: I got a free ARC for most of these, and have already preordered them for my shelf!) recently:

• Courtney Ellis, AT SUMMER’S END (Aug 10, 2021) Literary Fiction. This story, and the fantastically painted characters within will still be with me for a very long time. Every word played out like a movie in my head-a lush and lovely movie filled with perfectly flawed people. It isn’t often I find a book that the author has literally poured their soul into, but this is such a book.
• Sarah Zachrich Jeng, THE OTHER ME (Aug 10, 2021) Suspense/Thriller. Every time I thought I’d figured it out, something changed and with each twist I’m drawn in a little more. There are so many layers to the story, just like there are so many layers to the choices people make, and the consequences of those choices. This mind-bending thriller kept me guessing until the spectacular conclusion!
• Joanna Lowell, THE DUKE UNDONE (available now!) Historical Romance. THE DUKE UNDONE is well-crafted and rich with details. Every sentence is as meticulously plotted as a painter’s brushstrokes, only Joanna Lowell’s canvas is written pages. Everything about THE DUKE UNDONE is marvelously entertaining, and I highly enjoyed spending a rainy weekend in Victorian England with Lucy and her duke.
• Freya Sampson, THE LAST CHANCE LIBRARY (Aug 31, 2021) Women’s Fiction. THE LAST CHANCE LIBRARY is every book lover’s book. When a shy assistant librarian’s sanctuary is threatened, she learns that she can do anything she sets her mind to – even rallying a small English town around their beloved library.
• Amanda Jayatissa, MY SWEET GIRL (Sept 14, 2021) Suspense/Thriller. If I could give a book ten out of five stars, this would be that book. Amanda Jayatissa’s MY SWEET GIRL is a dark, twisty thriller with more loops and curveballs than Space Mountain. This is everything a great book is supposed to be – it has heart and keeps you guessing on every page.
• Ali Hazelwood, THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS (Sept 14, 2021) Contemporary Romance. You know that old trope from 80s movies where the nerdy girl lets down her hair and takes off her glasses and is miraculously transformed into the hottest girl in school? Forget That Noise. THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS is smart and goofy and sexy fun, and Olive doesn’t need to change a thing to get the happy ending she deserves.