I’ve now finished posting my murder mystery novel online at gottiewrites.wordpress.com You can read the whole thing for free. I’ve been blown away by the response so far – here are some of my favourite reviews:
“An absolutely pitch-perfect portrayal of fandom by an author obviously fluent in fan culture. It made me deeply nostalgic for my LiveJournal days. I devoured it and I hope it starts a trend of novels about fandom told in the form of social media posts.” – Lizzy on Goodreads
“James understands fandom. Even fictionalized this is the most accurate depiction of fandom I’ve ever read about and I would love for James to write more based around fandom. James understands the obsession, the memes, and the love and sometimes scary world of fandom. Of what can happen when you piss off the wrong person in your fandom, if you ship something no one else does, if your opinion differs or your theories don’t align with the rest of the fandom. Fandom can be a beautiful thing, but it can also be toxic.” – Sarah on Goodreads
“Gottie is the girl you love to hate. She makes so many unbelievable choices throughout the course of the story but it’s impossible to turn away as she uncovers secrets about Rob’s own online past. It’s an excellent exploration of fandom culture, especially the examinations of what fannish behaviour is okay and what borders on stalking or harassment. This is definitely one of the most nuanced representations I’ve seen of online culture and I applaud Lauren for the effort she put into it.” – Em on Goodreads
Thank you to everyone who’s supported it, either by talking about it online or through Ko-Fi/Patreon! It was such a risky project to do and it means the world to me that so many of you have responded so well.
On 13th May at 6pm BST, I’m going to be answering spoiler-filled questions about the completed novel over on the fan-run Discord. You can join here: discord.gg/n85j3dQ
In other news, here’s a snippet of The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker, which comes out in four months:
I didan interview with The Bookseller about The Quiet at the End of the World for the YA Book Prize shortlisting.
I started the story with a virus spreading across the world, giving everyone nose bleeds. Once the pandemic was over, doctors started to notice that no women were becoming pregnant – everyone had become infertile because of the virus.
As I’m writing this, the coronavirus pandemic is growing worse by the day. I could never have anticipated that the situation in The Quiet at the End of the World would really come true. It’s been an eerie experience, watching the news unveil through social media in the same way I wrote last year in the novel. I’m not sure I’m enjoying it. Hopefully the story provides some comfort to people who are self-isolating or have contracted the virus.
I think in times of crisis, art and media become more important than ever, and I’m happy to have written a novel that helps people cope. Especially because our real-world virus is definitely not going to stop people having babies, like in the book!
Wren James 