Danai's Dispatch: April 2026, a book is born

Welcome to Danai's Dispatch, where I pop into your inbox once a month whenever something exciting happens, bearing gifts: VILE LADY VILLAINS updates, writing resources, short story and book roundups, and exclusive giveaways! Thank you for reading. If you haven’t subscribed already, please consider signing up below.

April Fools? No! April Villains.

Please excuse the screaming, fellow villain. No, it doesn’t come from my cellar.

It comes from my heart.

I don’t even have the energy to comment on the state of the world right now (how is it possible that things get worse EVERY month? It should be statistically improbable by now) but amid the unraveling of EVERYTHING, my book was published.

VILE LADY VILLAINS is now officially out in the UK, and let me tell you, it’s been such a surreal experience debuting a book in a country you don’t live in. There is a level of detachment (sometimes) and a sense of panic (most often) about how little I can do to get my book out there, from my little witchy cottage in the Swedish forest. Debuting with a book that is so niche, and understandably not the most commercial (we’ve been hearing this sad refrain, “sapphic books don’t sell” for as long as I can remember), means I’ve learned to make the most of what I have and bootstrap the rest—but I have no way to bootstrap presence in the UK bookstores. Turns out, I needn’t worry. About this aspect of debuting, at least. My UK publisher has been amazing at getting the book in stores, and I’ve been so in awe of all the pictures people have been sending me of VLV being spotted across Europe. London! Edinburgh! Cardiff! Barcelona!!! I could look at these pictures forever, proof that my book is real, it exists, it’s out there, even if I can’t see it with my own eyes. So if you’re in the UK or in a European country, please ask for VLV in your local stores? And if you spot it in the wild, send me a picture?

An exclusive Ink & Edge edition with spredges!

But it’s not all about the UK edition: for my US-based friends, and any of you who prefer the US edition cover (it’s been so interesting to me, to see how opinions differ on which cover people prefer!), I have some very exciting news: my US publisher partnered with the good folks at Ink & Edge for an exclusive edition with badass sprayed edges! I mean, swords and skulls, what more can you ask for? Hurry up, the 50 first will also get a signed bookplate by yours truly — I just bought a new red pen for the occasion.

The audiobook is also out — and I’m in awe

And it’s an ensemble cast! Lois Chimimba as Lady Macbeth/Anassa and Kat Kourbeti as Klytemnestra/Claret. I spend this morning listening to it, and I have goosebumps.

Strangely enough, I’m not a big audiobook fan. My AuDHD brain needs words on the page (or indeed on the screen) in order to pay attention. I watch every movie and TV show with subtitles, regardless of whether they’re in English, Swedish or Greek. So when I was told my book will get an audiobook, and asked whether I had any requests the Penguin production team could try to make happen, all I said was that I wanted a Scottish person to read Lady Macbeth if possible—and a Greek to read Klytemnestra.

Deep down, I knew from the start there was only one person who could be the voice of my Klytemnestra. Apart from the importance of having a Greek narrator for her part, I’ve also had the pleasure of hearing my work narrated by her before (for my short story Bride of the Gulf in khōréō) and if it’s up to me, Kat Kourbeti would narrate all my stories! She has done an amazing job with Klytemnestra, and as an ESL person writing and existing mostly in English, I can’t explain to you what it means for someone to pronounce your name right, the names of your characters right. It’s a precious gift.

And what can I say about the brilliant Lois Chimimba? Not only did I recognize her from Doctor Who and several other shows, making my geek heart happy, but she has also played Lady Macbeth on stage! I’m incredibly honored that she agreed to narrate this part. A huge thank you to the Penguin Michael Joseph team for making this happen. This was the audiobook of my dreams, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do!

Join us for a VLV celebration, April 05 on IG

Remember how I said it’s weird, debuting a book in a country you don’t live in? One of the (several) tricky things to navigate has been my inability to have a proper book launch. It’s such a “look, I’m a real author” moment, isn’t it? Having a signing at a bookstore, doing an event in conversation with other authors, interacting with readers… But unfortunately the downside of living in the middle of a Swedish forest and currently being unable to travel (although I do have a hope this might change later in the year) means I don’t get to do any of these things. And apparently, online events, a beloved tradition and perhaps the only positive thing to come out of the COVID era, are now out of vogue with bookstores. People just don’t bother with them anymore. Sigh…

So I said fine, I’ll do it myself. And the amazing Kat Kourbeti, one half of our audiobook narrators, agreed to be my conversation partner along with my brilliant author friend,
A. J. Van Belle. It’s going to be a super informal thing over on Instagram, tomorrow Sunday, April 5th, at 5pm GMT (or 6pm CEST, or 12 noon EDT, what is time anyway). Kat will do a little reading from the book, A. J. will ask me some questions, and we will yap about Vile Lady Villains, the characters, the world, and what it means to publish queer books in these strange, regressive times. Hope you can join us!

Thank you for screaming with me

When shall we two meet again, in thunder, lightning or in rain? Perhaps, in the next instalment of this dispatch. So I hope you’ll subscribe, if you haven't already! And maybe help my ravens spread the word by sharing it on your social media?