presto! ebook deal on THE MAGICIAN'S LIE

My wonderful publisher Sourcebooks has been bringing down the prices of some of my novels in e-book format to give new readers a chance to grab them at a discount for a limited time, and if you’ve been hoping THE MAGICIAN’S LIE would get a turn, you’re in luck! It’s on sale TODAY ONLY for $2.99 across multiple ebook platforms (Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Apple iBooks, Google Play Books, and Kobo.)

THE MAGICIAN’S LIE is my debut novel, the one that was optioned for film by Jessica Chastain’s Freckle Films, chosen by Whoopi Goldberg as a Book of the Month selection, and also picked for the Target Book Club, Indie Next, and LibraryReads honors. So, you know, some people liked it. Including the Washington Post, which said, “Macallister, like the Amazing Arden, mesmerizes her audience. No sleight of hand is necessary. An ambitious heroine and a captivating tale are all the magic she needs."

(I seriously should get that one framed, right?)

Snap it up today!

ebook deal: GIRL IN DISGUISE!

Hello world! Hope everyone’s hanging in there, taking these wild times day by day. Here at Macallister HQ the kids are reveling in all the extra screen time and the parents are grateful for ways to make that screen time educational (thank you for your service, Mo Willems.)

Whether you’re busier than usual or becalmed and bored, I hope you’re finding the time to escape into a book and read for pleasure. If so, here’s a deal for you: my novel about the first woman Pinkerton detective, GIRL IN DISGUISE, is $2.99 across multiple ebook platforms (Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Apple iBooks, Google Play Books, and Kobo) TODAY ONLY!

More on GIRL IN DISGUISE:

For the first female Pinkerton detective, respect is hard to come by. Danger, however, is not.

In the tumultuous years of the Civil War, the streets of Chicago offer a woman mostly danger and ruin―unless that woman is Kate Warne, the first female Pinkerton detective and a desperate widow with a knack for manipulation.

Descending into undercover operations, Kate is able to infiltrate the seedy side of the city in ways her fellow detectives can't. She's a seductress, an exotic foreign medium, a rich train passenger―all depending on the day and the robber, thief, or murderer she's been assigned to nab.

But is the woman she's becoming―capable of lies, swapping identities like dresses―the true Kate? Or has the real disguise been the good girl she always thought she was? As the tensions between the north and south escalate, Kate takes on a job in which the stakes have never been higher. The nation's future is at risk, even as the lines between disguise and reality begin to blur.

(Plus, it’s perfect for Women’s History Month!)

events update!

Just a quick note here — if you’re in the DC/Baltimore area, I have a few events coming up to promote the paperback of WOMAN 99!

I’ve got upcoming dates at Johns Hopkins, Catholic University, and Loyalty Bookstore in downtown Silver Spring.

Check out the details here.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog programming! (That’s right, mostly #read99women interviews.)

THE ARCTIC FURY cover is here!

I’ve been teasing this reveal for a week, and I won’t make you wait even a sentence longer. Here’s the utterly gorgeous cover for my next historical novel THE ARCTIC FURY, forthcoming from Sourcebooks in December 2020!

And here’s a little summary to whet your appetite:

In early 1853, experienced California Trail guide Virginia Reeve is summoned to Boston by a mysterious benefactor who offers her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: lead a party of 12 women into the wild, hazardous Arctic to search for the lost Franklin Expedition. It's an extraordinary request, but the party is made up of extraordinary women: mountaineers and battlefield nurses, interpreters and journalists, other adventurers. Each brings her own strengths and skills to the expedition--and her own unsettling secrets.

A year and a half later, back in Boston, Virginia is on trial for her life, accompanied by only five survivors. Represented by an incompetent attorney, persecuted by the rich parents of her supposed victim, and desperate to keep her own secrets, Virginia believes her trial is unwinnable. Told in alternating timelines that follow both the sensational murder trial in Boston and the dangerous, deadly progress of the women's expedition into the frozen North, this heart-pounding story will hold readers rapt as a chorus of voices answer the trial's all-consuming question: what happened out there on the ice?

Are you excited? I’m excited.

Click here to mark THE ARCTIC FURY as to-read on Goodreads.

Click here to get your pre-order in!

get ready for THE ARCTIC FURY!

I am so delighted to share this news: my next historical novel, THE ARCTIC FURY, is forthcoming from Sourcebooks in December 2020!

December seems simultaneously a long way away and just around the corner, and both are kind of true. The important things are that a) there’s a book and b) I’ve actually finished writing it and c) the cover and the title are both killer.

You know the title — and next week, you’ll get to see the full cover. It’ll be revealed on social media and here on the blog next Thursday, February 20.

In the meantime, here’s a lovely, haunting hint. (I’m already in love with the font. It feels like an appropriately chilly, foreboding font. Brrrrr.)

(And if this whets your appetite for the book, go ahead and add it to your to-read shelf right now on Goodreads!)

#read99women: Greer Macallister

That’s right, I’ve decided that in my epic #read99women project, one of the 99 authors I’m bringing to my blog to recommend a book by and/or about women will be… me!

I’ll dispense with my official bio (you can find it here) but will make one brief note before jumping into my recommendation: today’s the day that my newest novel, WOMAN 99, releases in paperback. Yay!

Now on with the fun.

Oh wait. I’ve used everyone else’s headshot in their recommendation blogpost. So I guess I need to include my headshot too? Here it is.

Greer Macallister

My recommendation is THE CONFESSIONS OF FRANNIE LANGTON by Sara Collins. I picked it up because, as I say in my BookBub review, “I'm a sucker for historical fiction about women who might or might not be guilty of murder.” (My first book, THE MAGICIAN’S LIE, and my upcoming book set in the Arctic both fit that description, and Margaret Atwood’s ALIAS GRACE is probably my favorite novel of all time.) THE CONFESSIONS OF FRANNIE LANGTON is an intense, haunting novel, and beautifully written. A bit more of my review: “Parts of this story, especially the horror of the Jamaica-set plotline that's only gradually revealed, are full of stomach-churning cruelty, but Collins's language and imagery are never gratuitous, only evocative.” You can read the full review here.

For more on, well, me, as well as WOMAN 99 and my other novels, plus other books I recommend, you can follow me on BookBub here.

deadlines, deals and diversions!

It’s a big day at Greer Macallister HQ! Yesterday was the deadline to turn in the updated draft of my next book (“Book 4” is what I’ve been calling it so far), and at 11:45pm, I did so. YAY! There are definitely a few more cycles to go through, including copy edits, but it feels like a major milestone, and I can’t wait to share this book with the world. Not to mention the title and cover, which I hope to reveal soon. Maybe while I’m doing events for the paperback release of WOMAN 99, coming February 4? Maybe!

Speaking of WOMAN 99, if you can’t wait for that paperback and you’re not a fan of hefty hardcovers, now’s a great time to snap up the e-book! It’s discounted for a limited time on all e-book platforms. So if you’re an e-reader, grab it for your Kindle or Nook or other preferred e-reading device before the price goes from less than a latte to more than a macchiato.

And I’m thrilled to announce that in lieu of #womenshistoryreads this year, I have another fun project that’ll be launching next week. Obviously one of the ways we find new books is through recommendations from friends — and how many book-loving, well-read authors would you like to hear from? 10? 50? How about… 99? Get ready for the hashtag #read99women, and prepare to see your TBR pile topple.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 -- Countdown Questions interview!

What do Daisy Jones and the Six, dried persimmons, and Whoopi Goldberg have in common? They’re all among my answers to The Chocolate Lady’s Countdown Questions!

Click to read here.

My essay on Charlotte Perkins Gilman is up at LitHub!

Behind-the-scenes glimpse: I wrote this essay, from scratch, twice. I spent a full week pulling research tidbits, choosing quotes from “The Yellow Wallpaper,” synthesizing my argument, citing my sources, tweaking every sentence — and one morning before boarding a plane for a book event, as I went to send it to my publicist so she could submit it for consideration, I went to attach the 1000-word file I’d worked so hard on, and then… nothing. All traces of the file had disappeared from my computer, somehow. I swore I’d saved as I went along, but the filename didn’t even appear in any of the directories on my Mac. All that work had vanished.

I was not happy.

But I’ve always wanted to have an essay on LitHub, and I desperately wanted to tell this Charlotte’s story (in addition to the fictional Charlotte Smith’s story that I tell in Woman 99, and you’ll see in the essay how these two are linked), so I went ahead and boarded my plane, and as soon as the voice over the loudspeaker said “We have reached cruising altitude… you may now use laptop computers,” I started all over again.

The good news was that it went faster the second time. The even better news was that LitHub accepted it for publication. It went live a few days ago and the response has been wonderful to see.

And now all you have to do is click here — once — to read it.

loving those WOMAN 99 reader reviews!

My goodness, the last 10 days have FLOWN. How is it possible that Woman 99 only came out last week? Last week! The warm reception has been so wonderful to see. Pictures of the book on Instagram, reader reviews all over the place, in-person discussion at events — I’m so glad to have readers’ support and enthusiasm, since that’s what it’s all about.

And those reader reviews have been pouring in! There are already 200 ratings and 130 reviews on Goodreads, not to mention 40 reviews on Amazon. (Yes, I read them all, even the negative ones — and I appreciate them all, even the negative ones! Though obviously I enjoy reading the positive ones a lot more.)

Book bloggers have been reading and reviewing on their own blogs too, and here are highlights from a few I really loved (click on the blog name for the full review!):

“Woman 99 is powerful, upsetting, and incredibly descriptive, showing us through Charlotte’s struggles the restricted roles available to women, the way certain women could be so easily discarded by society, and the shocking lack of value a woman was deemed to have if she dared step outside society’s norms.” — Bookshelf Fantasies

“WOMAN 99 is historical fiction, women’s fiction, mystery, and thriller all rolled into one.  If you enjoy those genres, some nasty characters, and strong female characters, you will want to read this book.” — Silver’s Reviews

“Beautifully crafted with rich historical detail, flawless and fleshed out characters as well as an engaging storyline, WOMAN 99 by Greer Macallister is an unforgettable treat to read and savor.” - Fresh Fiction

And now back to more WomensHistoryReads — we’ve got half of March still to go!