Julia O’Connell
@juliajoyce.bsky.social
Publicity Director at Penzler Publishers; Freelance editor; Book blogger at The Gothic Library. She/her ✡️📚
It’s that time a year again! #RomancingTheGothic is holding their annual all-virtual Gothic literature conference on August 22-23. This year is themed around the works of Ann Radcliffe. As always, I’ll be running the cocktail hour. Ingredient list below if you want to follow along with the demo.
Are you interested in Ann Radcliffe? Women in Gothic and Horror? Trans horror? Writing workshops with amazing people? You can get it all for one online event. Come to as much or as little as you like! 22nd and 23rd August www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1993974113...
'More Terrors Than Her Reason Could Justify': An Online Gothic Conference
On 22nd and 23rd August we celebrate 200 years of Ann Radcliffe's posthumous publications and marginalised genders in the Gothic!
eventbrite.co.uk
New blog post! Check out my review of MOSS’D IN SPACE by @rebeccathorne.bsky.social, the latest in a growing trend of cozy sci-fi books! www.thegothiclibrary.com/review-of-mo... 💙📚 #scifi #sciencefiction
Review of Moss’d in Space—More Cozy Sci-fi - The Gothic Library
No space ship captain wants to discover that the ship they’ve been saving up for is already inhabited. But what do you do when that inhabitant is a moss-based organic computer with abandonment issues?...
thegothiclibrary.com
New blog post! Check out my review of DARKNESS AT SHADOWSIDE, a classicly Gothic haunted house tale from @amandadeweesauthor.bsky.social: www.thegothiclibrary.com/review-of-da... 💙📚 😱📚
Review of Darkness at Shadowside—Gothic Suspense - The Gothic Library
When Justine arrives at the house she’s been seeing in her dreams, it quickly becomes the house of her nightmares… Amanda DeWees is one of the few authors I can rely upon to regularly supply me with a...
thegothiclibrary.com
I made my first substack post! (yes, I’m aware of the issues with the platform. It seems to be where the publishing folks are, though) It may or may not be my only post, but since I wrote out this scam email PSA for my authors, I figured I’d share: juliajoycepublicity.substack.com/p/watch-out-...
Watch out for scam emails targeting authors
As a book publicist, here are some patterns I've seen in ai-generated scam emails
juliajoycepublicity.substack.com
New blog post! Check out my review of THE LAMB WILL SLAUGHTER THE LION by @margaret.bsky.social, a book that hasn’t left my brain since I first read it years ago: www.thegothiclibrary.com/review-of-th... 💙📚 😱📚
Review of The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion - The Gothic Library
“When the solstice sun rose, it drew Uliksi into the world. A spirit that turns the predator into the prey.” I’ve been thinking about this book since I first read it years ago. The Lamb Will Slaughter...
thegothiclibrary.com
#ALAAC26 Conference pro tip: stay hydrated! Especially as it gets hotter throughout the weekend. If you’re staying at the Hyatt, there are water bottle refill stations on every floor, near the ice machines.
Caffeinated and ready to mingle at #ALAAC26! Find me at the Penzler Publishers booth (3418) during marketplace hours. And just wandering around until then.
I’m attending the ALA Annual Conference for the first time this weekend! Come see me at the Penzler Publishers booth: 3418.
Penzler Publishers@penzlerpublishers.bsky.social · last mo.Librarians, will we see you in Chicago this weekend? Come visit us at booth 3418 at the ALA conference! #ALAAC26
Coming soon: LIARS IN PARADISE, the champagne-soaked followup to Olesya Lyuzna’s debut historical mystery, Glitter in the Dark. On a quest to clear her business partner’s name, party-girl flapper turned private detective Ginny Dugan explores the Gatsby-era decadence of Long Island’s Gold Coast.
New blog post! Check out my review of HELL’S HEART, Alexis Hall’s bizarre and clever reimagining of Moby-Dick in space: www.thegothiclibrary.com/review-of-he... 💙📚 🪐📚 #scifi 😱📚
Review of Hell’s Heart—Moby-Dick in Space - The Gothic Library
Romance authors pivoting to sci-fi seems to be a new trend, if Olivia Waite and now Alexis Hall are any indication. But while Olivia Waite leaned into her experience with cozy, uplifting stories to cr...
thegothiclibrary.com
New blog post! Check out these 3 Gothic literature discussion podcasts I’ve been enjoying lately: www.thegothiclibrary.com/three-gothic...
Three Gothic Literature Discussion Podcasts - The Gothic Library
I realized it’s been nearly four years since the last time I recommended some podcasts that readers of this blog might enjoy. In that time, there’s been a major surge of interest in the Gothic genre a...
thegothiclibrary.com
We’re hiring a summer intern!
Penzler Publishers@penzlerpublishers.bsky.social · 3mo agoPenzler Publishers is looking for a summer intern! Perfect for mystery/thriller lovers interested in starting a career in publishing. Paid; part-time; in-person at our offices in Tribeca, NYC For more information and instructions on how to apply, see penzlerpublishers.com/summer-publi...
“In the house behind the sword ferns, there was a man, and a murderer, and a stain.” New blog post! Check out my review of JAPANESE GOTHIC by Kylie Lee Baker: www.thegothiclibrary.com/review-of-ja... 💙📚 😱📚
Review of Japanese Gothic—Beautiful Hauntings - The Gothic Library
“In the house behind the sword ferns, there was a man, and a murderer, and a stain.” Kylie Lee Baker, the author of Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng, builds a beautifully haunting tale in her l...
thegothiclibrary.com
New blog post! Check out my recent of @carterkeane.bsky.social’s debut anti-Capitalist horror novella MORSEL: www.thegothiclibrary.com/review-of-mo... 💙📚 😱📚
Review of Morsel—Anti-Capitalist Folk Horror - The Gothic Library
Don’t let your job consume your life. That’s a good reminder we all could probably use, but for the protagonist of Carter Keane’s debut horror novella, Morsel, it’s a dire warning that should be taken...
thegothiclibrary.com
Spring is here, and you know what that means: Dracula season! For the last four years, I’ve made an annual tradition out of doing Dracula Daily, reading the text of Bram Stoker’s Dracula in real time from the day the story starts (May 3) until it ends (Nov 7).
New blog post! If you like intrepid lady scientists and surprising twists on classic Gothic tropes, check out my review of WOLF WORM by @tkingfisher.com: www.thegothiclibrary.com/review-of-wo... 💙📚 😱📚
Review of Wolf Worm—Entomological Horror - The Gothic Library
How much do you know about botflies? If you’ve got a squeamish stomach about bugs and body horror, don’t look them up. These creepy parasites—which are horrifying enough in real life—become true fodde...
thegothiclibrary.com
INDIE BOOKSTORE DAY OFFER Spring cleaning revealed a limited number of these old pins we made for the bookshop in the 1980s, so we will be giving the away on Indie Bookstore Day, SATURDAY APRIL 25, *in store only* with purchases of over $100. See you then!
#BookSky, make sure I'm on your radar if you like Gothic Historical Young Adult Romance with *a lot* of ghosts and many nods to Daphne du Maurier and The Brontës! 🖤
Leanna Renee Hieber@leannareneehieber.bsky.social · 4mo agoBack to RAVENFIELD HALL edits, full of (increasingly) haunted scenes, I've loved reworking every single one of them... (Coming 2027 from Union Square and Co.)
New blog post! Check out my review of NOBODY’S BABY, the second book in @oliviawaite.com’s new cozy sci-fi mystery series: www.thegothiclibrary.com/review-of-no... 💙📚 🔎💀📚 #scifi
Review of Nobody’s Baby—An Anti-Murder Mystery - The Gothic Library
What’s the opposite of a murder mystery? If murder is the criminal and unexpected loss of life, then the inverse must be the criminal and unexpected creation of life. Detective Dorothy Gentleman inves...
thegothiclibrary.com
This spring , you can take a Victorian True Crime tour with @boroughsofthedead.bsky.social, and then shop for your next true crime read at The Mysterious Bookshop!
The Mysterious Bookshop@mysteriousbookshop.com · 4mo agoWe're partnering with Boroughs of the Dead to promote their "Gotham by Gaslight" Victorian true crime walking tour, which ends right here at the shop. Details: boroughsofthedead.com/tours/gotham...
New blog post! Check out my review of NIGHT OF THE MANNEQUINS by @sgj.bsky.social: www.thegothiclibrary.com/review-of-ni... 💙📚 😱📚
Review of Night of the Mannequins—Slashers vs Superheroes - The Gothic Library
“We thought we’d play a fun prank on her, and now most of us are dead, and I’m really starting to feel kind of guilty about it all…” Stephen Graham Jones writes some killer opening lines. If you’ve be...
thegothiclibrary.com
Today is the start of the Trans Rights Readathon 🏳️⚧️ which raises money for various organizations supporting the trans community and encourages folks to read and amplify books by trans authors! (1/2)
Did you miss this Saturday's talk? It was a great introduction to one of the queen's of American Mystery writing in the 20th century Mary Roberts Rinehart Come find out more about her incredibly eventful life and writing youtu.be/sK6ANShtC18
An Introduction to Mary Roberts Rinehart with B. Rae Grosz
YouTube video by Romancing the Gothic
youtu.be
New blog post! Check out my review of A DARK AND DROWNING TIDE by Allison Saft, an excellent sapphic Jewish fantasy that plays with folklore and dark academia: www.thegothiclibrary.com/review-of-a-... 💙📚
Review of A Dark and Drowning Tide—Jewish Romantasy - The Gothic Library
Looking for some sapphic Jewish romantasy with a historical- and folklore-inspired setting and an edge of dark academia? A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft has it all! Somehow I missed reading t...
thegothiclibrary.com
This Saturday is the Goths for Breakfast charity day. Goths unite! We're raising money for Magic Breakfast to feed hungry kids with a teaching marathon of fascinating talks and writing workshops. Pop in and out as you like - the talks are recorded! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1982926549...
Goths for Breakfast: Charity Teach-a-thon
A full day of back to back classes and workshops on Gothic themes to raise money for the charity Magic Breakfast
eventbrite.co.uk
Coming soon: THE DAUGHTERS by Joanna Margaret When archivist Genevieve Tompkins moves to the small town of Wilton Springs to catalog the papers of the founding family, she discovers a strange connection between recent disappearances and the faded Victorian spa town’s history of witch trials. ⚡️📚
We're fundraising for public libraries again! 📚This week, when you donate $15 USD or more to your public library, friends of a library organization, or the @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social, you'll receive a free audiobook credit 💓 Last year, we raised $55,000. How much will we raise this year? ⏬
New blog post! Check out my review of Cameron Sullivan's excellent debut fantasy, THE RED WINTER (out tomorrow): www.thegothiclibrary.com/review-of-th... 💙📚 😱📚
Review of The Red Winter—Werewolves in Revolutionary France - The Gothic Library
A man-eating beast stalks the impoverished countryside of Gévaudan, France. Only Professor Sebastian Grave, who defeated it once before, knows the beast’s true nature and why it seems to have returned...
thegothiclibrary.com
