# Shuttered



## Mouse (Apr 4, 2014)

I am massively excited to announce I have signed with Dreamspinner Press for my novel, _Shuttered_. 

Here's the blurb, which some of you may recognise as you helped me write it (particularly HB!) -



> When Daniel has a reading from clairvoyant Rowan at a craft fair, he quickly realises it’s a con. But he likes Rowan, seeing the charm behind the chancer's facade, and so rather than expose him, he starts to date him — only to discover that some of Rowan’s other cons are far more serious.
> 
> The so-called psychic owes ten thousand pounds to two men after deceitfully claiming to be able to find the body of their murdered mother. Daniel must help Rowan open up to recover the genuine gift he possessed in childhood and contact the spirits before the men catch up with them — and Daniel’s telepathic connection with his dog Sasha might be the key to doing so.



Due for release some time in December.


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## Foxbat (Apr 4, 2014)

Well done


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## Cat's Cradle (Apr 4, 2014)

Wonderful, congratulations!!!


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## Jo Zebedee (Apr 4, 2014)

Heh, I'll be congratulating you on every platform.... 

But, anyhow -- congrats, congrats, congrats. It's a great story, with fab characters (and a wonderful dog) and absolutely deserves to be out there. 

Remember us when, won't you...?


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## Gary Compton (Apr 4, 2014)

Very well done! I am delighted for you.


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## Brian G Turner (Apr 4, 2014)

Congratulations.


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## Parson (Apr 4, 2014)

*Mouse*, 2014 looks like it will be the year for your splash into the big time! Maybe they will make a movie, call it something like, Hm, "The Mouse that Roared." --- 

I've said right along that there would come a day when I would brag that "I knew her when...."


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## Boneman (Apr 4, 2014)

Fantastic news! Well done, thoroughly deserved, and have you got an agent yet? They should be clamouring to sign you up...


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## TheDustyZebra (Apr 4, 2014)

Yay, congratulations! How exciting!


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## Serendipity (Apr 4, 2014)

bbbrrrilliant - awesome - marvellous! Congratulations Mouse!


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## HareBrain (Apr 4, 2014)

Well done, Mouse!

I look forward to being able to tell some random passer-by, "I helped write her blurb, you know," as your carriage wheels splash me with filth.


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## Glisterspeck (Apr 4, 2014)

Awesome! And well deserved.


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## thaddeus6th (Apr 4, 2014)

Congrats, Mouse


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## Mouse (Apr 4, 2014)

Ooooh! Thanks, everyone! I've had my eye on Dreamspinner for a while, so I'm _thrilled_. 

Boneman - nah, not looking for an agent. I've not come across anything I can't deal with myself yet.


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## Juliana (Apr 4, 2014)

Once again, congratulations!!! Well done, so much exciting news!


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## Erin99 (Apr 4, 2014)

Wohoooo!!! About time. May this be the first of many. I hope it does well!


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## ratsy (Apr 4, 2014)

Congrats Mouse! That is awesome news.


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## Mouse (Apr 4, 2014)

Thanks, guys! Slowly sinking in. I can tell I'm going to be in a panic later in the year.


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## Ursa major (Apr 4, 2014)

Excellent news, Mouse. 


Well done!


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## alchemist (Apr 4, 2014)

Congratulations!

(again!)

(and again!)


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## Mouse (Apr 4, 2014)

Thank you.


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## Kylara (Apr 5, 2014)

Congrats Mouse! May it rush off the shelves and all that jazz  Congrats!


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## Mouse (Apr 5, 2014)

Ta, Kylara!

I'm quite excited that they've bought audiobook rights too, so it _may_ become an audiobook!


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## Ursa major (Apr 5, 2014)

Audiobooks are quite expensive to produce.

So on the negative side (sorry to be a party pooper), from a response (#12) by Charles Stross on his own blog::





> ...and recording an audiobook isn't cheap: unless you're a big seller, it's not economically viable to record an audiobook just for the UK. My understanding is that Orbit tried to buy the repub rights from Audible, but Audible wanted so much money that it would have cost as much to record locally ... i.e., Orbit would have made a loss on the deal (in view of anticipated low sales).
> 
> Two things changed. First, I acquired more fans. Second and more importantly, the Royal National Institute for the Blind's talking books readers started to request a lot more SF and fantasy over the past decades. So Hachette (Orbit's parent group) sorted out a cost-sharing deal with the RNIB: the RNIB would get free use of the recordings for their talking books for the blind service, and Hachette got to use their studio facilities.)


(Stross is talking about a UK audiobook; the US, being a bigger market, could more easily support an audiobook release. And another factor: Stross has separate contracts, with different imprints, for the UK and the US markets.)


On the positive side, there's no reason why your book won't be successful (and in that case, the RNIB might be interested; and perhaps specific LGBT funding might become available).


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## Mouse (Apr 5, 2014)

S'alright, you're not pooping my party! It did say in the contract that the audiobooks (and translations) only happen if the book sells well. 

They're a US publisher, so it'd weird me out to hear my characters with American accents.

They have got 143 audiobooks on their site, so who knows? I just have to hope lots of people enjoy reading about talking dogs.


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## Ursa major (Apr 5, 2014)

Well, with a US publisher, there's a much better chance of having an audiobook produced.


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## Stephen Palmer (Apr 5, 2014)

Many congratulations!


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## Mouse (Apr 5, 2014)

I'm just listening to some of the samples on Amazon and, you know, I'd be ok if it wasn't an audiobook! Heh. Very American. I should read it myself as it's set in the westcountry!

Thanks, Stephen!


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## SleepyDormouse (Apr 6, 2014)

Congratulations Mouse!


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## Mouse (Apr 6, 2014)

Ta very much.


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