now you see her...
Bestselling author of historical fiction including THE ARCTIC FURY and the Five Queendoms epic fantasy series (SCORPICA, ARCA).
Another fun interview as we celebrate the release of SCORPICA (yaaaaay!) I talked with Female First to share five things I’d like my readers to know about me. So check it out if you want to know, for example, just how tiny my hometown was, or what the R in “G.R. Macallister” stands for.
You’ll see a lot of interviews popping up about SCORPICA as it hits shelves this week (!!!), and here’s one of my favorites: Take Five at Writer Unboxed. I’m a longtime contributor at the site, writing monthly about everything from gifts for the writer in your life to the responsibility of world-building to tips for a great cover reveal. But every once in a while, instead of writing a post, I get to be the interview subject! So I answered five questions about SCORPICA.
Hello! I know I’ve been nattering pretty nonstop about my new book coming out in a few weeks (SCORPICA SCORPICA SCORPICA) but it’s only been a year since THE ARCTIC FURY first came out, and especially now that it’s winter again, I’ve been doing more book clubs and interviews about it! The latest is a fabulous podcast called The Bent Biblios, and I have to say, Ashley and Tegan asked me so many insightful, in-depth questions that I was blown away.
Hope you have as much fun listening to the podcast as we did recording it!
The podcast is likely available wherever you like to get your podcasts, but here are direct links to a couple of the most likely locations. Enjoy!
Apple: Bent Biblios Podcast: Greer Macallister Talks The Arctic Fury on Apple Podcasts
Spotify: Greer Macallister Talks The Arctic Fury - Bent Biblios Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
You probably know me as a historical fiction writer, but have you heard I have an epic fantasy novel coming out in 2022? It’s the beginning of a series, even. BIG change. We’ll have a cover reveal soon, and I’ll tell you more about the book then (including its title, premise, all the good stuff!)
To go with that shift, I’m making some other changes, including expanding my beat at Chicago Review of Books to include more fantasy and sci-fi along with the historical fiction and thrillers I’ve been reading and review the past couple of years.
So I was thrilled to read Kerstin Hall’s STAR EATER and interview her about all the rich complexity of her novel, including the joys of world-building, the “minefield” of genre categorization, and why some readers insist on labeling books with no teenage characters as YA.
I also got to ask her one of my favorite questions about SFF:
Fantasy novels set in matriarchal worlds seem to be surprisingly few and far between, considering how open the genre is to invention and imagination. Why do you think that is?
Read Kerstin’s answer, and the complete interview, here.
After a few weeks off, I’m barnstorming the virtual event circuit again! Check out my Events page for details.
I kicked off a week of five (five!) events with a very fun hour talking to Julia Kelly, hosting me on Facebook Live for her Ask An Author series. Couldn’t make it live? No worries! Catch the replay here.
This is my second visit to the Des Moines Public Library’s podcast, and Aaron always asks such great questions! You can listen to just the first part if you haven’t read the book yet, but there’s a section full of spoilers (with a clear warning beforehand!) if you’ve read THE ARCTIC FURY and want to know all my secrets.
Listen to our super-fun conversation (including news about what I’m up to next!) here.
Just a quick note that Sarah Penner’s marvelous debut, THE LOST APOTHECARY, is out today! You’ll love this dual-timeframe novel that follows three fascinating women: an apothecary who only allows her poisons to be used to kill misbehaving men, a clever girl whose curiosity about the apothecary leads her to quickly get in over her head, and the modern-day woman whose discovery of an 18th-century apothecary vial spurs her to investigate the unknown as a distraction from her crumbling marriage. I can’t even list how many Most Anticipated lists this book is already on… expect to see it on more lists (like the bestseller lists) soon.
Yes, I have been spending an awful lot of time lately spiffing up with lipstick and eyeliner to appear on your computer screens via Zoom (and Crowdcast, and Streamyard, and Facebook Live, etc. etc.) And loving every minute, by the way. But! Sometimes I get to kick back, literally in my pajamas, and do a voice-only podcast, which is a bit more relaxing on my end and hopefully just as fun on yours.
And when we’re all really lucky, these podcasts involve talking to brilliant, book-loving people like Diana and Michele of Wine, Women and Words. So! Make sure you’ve read THE ARCTIC FURY before diving into this spoiler-filled discussion of my real-life inspirations, poor decision-making on the part of certain characters, and just how early on in the book the nature of the Very Bad Thing is revealed if you happen to catch the hint…
Listen to our wide-ranging, spoiler-filled conversation here.
I had an utterly fabulous time being interviewed by LibraryReads director Rebecca Vnuk for the Murder at the Library series — and it ended up being the biggest book event I’ve ever done, online or off. Amazing!
If you weren’t there to catch it live, good news! You can watch the replay here.
It’s a wide-ranging conversation that covers everything from my fourth-grade college prep program to what five genres I’m currently reading to why everybody cares so much about cannibalism. I had a hoot and I think you’ll be able to tell when you watch. Plus there are a couple of super-quick rounds of “Fast and Furious” Arctic trivia.
It’s a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning and I’m still smiling from the fun of Virtual Happy Hour with Garden District Book Shop last night!
If you missed the fun, you can catch the hour-long replay on either Facebook or YouTube! Both links here.
Discussion topics include:
how I ended up writing historical fiction in the first place
pandemic hair experiments
the weather (why not?)
just how bad I am at stage magic
the TV adaptation of Woman 99
much, much more
Check it out!