January was a very busy month here for us as Twelfth Planet Press offices moved across country. That’s right, we’re now an east coast based press! We spent January desperately trying to cull possessions (we were not very successful), reduce the warehouse inventory of Twelfth Planet Press stock (we were more successful) and then watched our house get packed by professional removalists in a speedily, but not orderly, manner.

We made it to Canberra just as the heat wave truly hit, leaving us wondering what everybody meant by, “it gets really cold in Canberra.” I must tell you, I am more than slightly bitter Perth is having a very mild summer this year, as we are sweltering here with inefficient air-conditioning. I’ve since spent the rest of January trying to find all my things, which are sprinkled throughout more incorrectly labelled boxes than ought to be legal, and vowing to never own 200+ boxes worth of possessions again. Meanwhile, now my office space overlooks a sprawling golf course and I’m thoroughly enjoying the relaxing view as retired golfers stroll across the greens at regular intervals.

But onto more exciting Twelfth Planet Press news!

Locus magazine has released its annual recommended reading list in the February issue. Our Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E. Butler edited by Alexandra Pierce and Mimi Mondal has been listed for Non Fiction book of the year. Locus invites subscribers and non-subscribers of their magazine to vote on the best in each category. More information can be found here: https://locusmag.com/2018/02/2017-locus-recommended-reading-list/. The ebook version of Luminescent Threads: Connections to Octavia E. Butler is on sale everywhere til the end of February.

We have been exploding with pride at the news that LeVar Burton handpicked Amal El-Mohtar’s “The Truth About Owls” to read on his podcast LeVar Burton Reads. “The Truth About Owls” was first published by Twelfth Planet Press in our YA anthology Kaleidoscope: Diverse YA Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories, edited by Alisa Krasnostein and Julia Rios. LeVar described Amal’s story as “wonder filled” on his tweet announcing the episode on January 23rd. You can listen to his reading in episode 14 of the LeVar Burton Reads: http://www.levarburtonpodcast.com/- You might also enjoy reading Amal’s blog post on finding out LeVar wanted to feature her story for his show: https://amalelmohtar.com/2018/01/23/levar-burton-reads-the-truth-about-owls/.

February heralds the launch of our new initiative: Author Spotlight of the Month. Each month we are will feature a Twelfth Planet Press author, and release e-singles of their writing (sometimes new, sometimes reprints). The month will also feature author interviews, and discussion of their work. We’ll be talking about why we love them and asking them to tell us more on why they write what they do. We’ll have prizes and giveaways so look out for us on all your favourite social media platforms.

Our first Author Spotlight is Deborah Biancotti. She is one of my favourite authors (obviously). Each week in February you will see something new about Deborah and her work so keep checking to see what’s new!

Lastly, I am delighted to have acquired a novella by Stephanie Gunn titled Icefall. Due to be released later this year, this novella was hard for me to put down and is a majestic and gripping story of extreme sports in outer space. Icefall will be the first in a recurring new novellas series from Twelfth Planet Press. We will be open to novella submissions for gritty pieces that challenge the system and punch the patriarchy in the face in September.

In the meantime, here’s a teaser for Icefall:

The Mountain on the planet of Icefall holds the mystery to a lost colony and an irresistible, fatal allure to the climbers of the universe. Maggie is determined to be the first to make the summit. Aisha, injured in a climbing incident herself, has always supported her wife, trusting Maggie would return from her adventures. But no one ever returns from the Mountain.