March 2025 - remembering mix tapes
The Lost Star Chart is out this month!
Hi Everyone,
In my ongoing effort to improve my watercolour painting skills, I painted a cassette tape (see above). I’m not sure why I picked this subject, a part of it might be that I’ve been brainstorming for a new novel where part of it is set in the 1980s, or maybe because brains are just random and weird. The painting turned out quirky and nostalgic—especially since its labelled as a mix tape.
After seeing the painting my 12 year old child thought it was something I’d made up—in her world there are playlists but no physical music containment objects unconnected to the internet.
To prove cassette tapes exist, I dug out what remains of my tape collection—a handful of mix tapes. And here they are:
In the early 1990s (and even earlier) making mix tapes was a big part of my life. I was living away from home for the first time in university dorms. CD players existed, but only a few people had them and buying CDs were out of my budget. But I could borrow them and put together a collection of songs for my friends to enjoy.
How about you, did you ever curate your own collection of songs?
Among my collection of old tapes, I found five blank tapes still in their original wrapping—meaning I could make a new round of mix tapes.
The Lost Star Chart
Release day is fast approaching for The Lost Star Chart, and I can’t wait for everyone to get a chance to read it (it’s my favourite book that I’ve written).
Join a grumpy treasure hunter on a quest for an ancient secret in this gritty, sometimes silly, stand alone space adventure novel.
It’s available for pre-order in all the places and will be released in both ebook and paperback form on 10 March 2025. Pre-ordering books is really helpful to small-scale indie authors like me as it helps tell the algorithms that people are interested in the book, so please consider pre-ordering.
If you want to hear the first chapter read with a delightful Irish accent, check this out:
Writing update
I’m hard at work outlining my next novel, which involves many post-it notes (so many I’ve had to order more). It’s sort of a time travel novel, which requires a lot of planning for everything to work out. I’m excited to get to work on the first draft—especially the scenes set in the 1980s.
Cheers,
Jeannette
Looking for a book series to delve into? Here’s some great options for box sets (including one of mine).
Everything on Jessie Kwak’s store will be 35% off from March 7-10, including print books and bundles, using the code BIRTHDAYSALE - and her books are great.
My Books:
The Lost Star Chart - Preorder (release date is 10 March 2025—so very soon!)
Hope is the Thing With Feathers - direct or from the shops
Encoded Orbits Trilogy
Fractured Orbits - direct or from the shops
The Alien Algorithm - direct or from the shops
Subject 34 - direct or from the shops
Settler Chronicles
Day 115 on an Alien World - direct or from the shops
Far Side of the Moon - direct or from the shops
Abandoned Ships, Hijacked Minds - direct or from the shops
The Alien Artifact - direct or from the shops
And if you aren’t already a subscriber, what’s stopping you (especially if you have read this far)?
and as a final disclaimer - please take any typos and errors as proof this newsletter is entirely written by a human (and a flawed one at that!)