Happy New Year! 2020 is just a lovely number to look at, and I’m hoping that the year (really the decade) turns out to be just as attractive, especially as it relates to all things writing. With that said…
I have news.
Exciting news.
In just a few short weeks, I will be putting out my first book! It’s a novella called Sibyls, and I have been so excited to share this story with readers. I spoke a little about my timetable for getting this book out into the world during my 88 Cups of Tea mini-interview at the tail-end of Jason Reynolds’s episode back in September, and I can’t quite believe that it’s really happening.
In case you missed the cover reveal on social media, this is what the galleys of Sibyls look like:
For those of you obsessed with design and layout, these proofs are 6×9, in no small part because that’s what the book printer suggested for their particular machine. And while I’m proud of my ARCs and grateful that they came out looking as good as they did, I was asked by one of the first random strangers to glimpse a copy in my hands: “ooo, is that a book of poetry?” No, no it is not. I do love poetry, but Sibyls is far from a book of poems. (This goes to show that random strangers are sometimes the wisest people you can hear from.) So the actual novella is going to be slightly more compact, at 5×8, which will make it a little chunkier and more novella-looking. I’m also leaning away from glossy and towards matte in terms of the finish.
And for those of you who don’t care about the cover because you just want to know what it’s about, I can tell you this: Sibyls is about a town called Foreston where nothing ever really happens…until one day, it starts raining and doesn’t stop for nearly two weeks. And after that, a lot begins happening around Foreston. The people in town start to change: some become psychic, some borderline homicidal. Household items start to disappear, and the buildings and homes in the town can’t seem to dry out from the rain. And then one night, twenty strangers show up apparently out of nowhere, but their ties to Foreston may be more tangible than they seem…
Sibyls is a work of weird fiction. It brings together the magical and the mundane, the funny and the eerie, whimsical coincidence and deadly serious revenge.
I’ll be posting again very soon with a link for pre-orders, as well as the official release date. In the meantime, I hope you consider adding Sibyls to your TBR list for 2020! It was a lot of fun to write, and I hope it’ll prove just as fun to read.
With warm wishes for a great start to the new year,
Melissa
Melissa Bobe 