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"In the first novel in the Daughters of the Empty Throne trilogy, Lorel, a young trans girl, disguises herself in order to join a coven of witches and travels the kingdom in search of a solution to the magical blight that plagues it"--
A propos de l'auteur
Margaret Killjoy (she/they) is a transfeminine author, musician, and podcaster. Some of her other books include The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion, A Country of Ghosts, We Won’t Be Here Tomorrow, and Escape from Incel Island. She is the host of the radical history podcast Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff and the individual and community preparedness podcast Live Like the World is Dying. She is the principal songwriter for the atmospheric black metal band Feminazgûl. She lives in West Virginia.
Résumé
In the gripping first novel in the Daughters of the Empty Throne trilogy, author Margaret Killjoy spins a tale of earth magic, power struggle, and self-invention in an own-voices story of trans witchcraft.
Lorel has always dreamed of becoming a witch: learning magic, fighting monsters, and exploring the world beyond the small town where she and her mother run the stables. Even though a strange plague is killing the trees in the Kingdom of Cekon and witches are being blamed for it, Lorel wants nothing more than to join them. There’s only one problem: all witches are women, and she was born a boy.
When the coven comes to claim her best friend, Lorel disguises herself in a dress and joins in her friend’s place, leaving home and her old self behind. She soon discovers the dark powers threatening the kingdom: a magical blight scars the land, and the power-mad Duchess Helte is crushing everything between her and the crown. In spite of these dangers, Lorel makes friends and begins learning magic from the powerful witches in her coven. However, she fears that her new friends and mentors will find out her secret and kick her out of the coven, or worse.
Préface
- Multi-city regional tour of the Northeast, including Asheville, Richmond, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and New York City; plus sci-fi and fantasy conventions, including DragonCon in Atlanta. Presenting at NAIBA’s June Book Buzz Panel. Submitting for NVNR in August. Presented at Winter Institute and PLA.
- Digital and Print ARCs included in CBSD Galley Box, ABA Advance Access newsletter, and targeted librarian outreach.
- National print, radio, and online campaign targeted to outlets focused on sci-fi/fantasy, LGBTQ, feminist, YA/adult crossover. Guest spots on podcasts with large listenerships such as Behind the Bastards.
- Submission to major literary awards, focus on LGBTQ and sci-fi/fantasy.
- Promotion on Feminist Press e-newsletter, website, and social media channels as well as author’s social media channels (@margaretkilljoy on Instagram; @magpiekilljoy on X; combined 100K followers), newsletter (Margaret Killjoy on Substack with 6K followers), and podcasts.
- Kickstarter campaign running for 3 weeks in June 2024 with goal of generating pre-orders and increasing visibility for this series and for FP as a publisher of sci-fi/fantasy. Promotional merchandising rewards for Kickstarter backers will include prints and posters of cover art, book-branded vinyl stickers, postcards, and bookmarks.
- The following writers are planning to write blurbs: Nisi Shawl, Laurie Penny, Alan Moore, Kim Stanley Robinson, Nick Mamatas, Robert Evans, Nino Cipri, H.A. Clarke.
