Danai's Dispatch: The Vile Lady Villains cover is here!

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.

Look at them.

Felicitations, fellow villain. This is usually where I tell you about the weather in the Swedish forest (how the leaves are gone already, some rare gold hanging on still to otherwise bare branches, in this last gasp of autumn toward winter) but I honestly can’t think about anything else because LOOK. AT. THEM. My book has a cover. And it is as sapphic and stabby as I’ve always dreamed of, thanks to the magician who is Audrey Benjaminsen and my amazing team at Penguin Michael Joseph. This will be the cover of the UK edition, that comes out on April 02, 2026—and if you haven’t already preordered it, please do. In the US, it’s coming out on May 12, 2026, from Union Square & Co. I’m including all the links below, for both the UK and the US.

Preorders as so incredibly important, especially for debut authors. Especially especially for debut, marginalized authors. Please help me show publishing my sapphics have an audience because, I mean, LOOK AT THEM. Don’t they deserve several worlds?

PREORDER VILE LADY VILLAINS IN THE UK

PREORDER VILE LADY VILLAINS IN THE US/CAN

Cool things that happened since last we spoke:

Okay, I’ll take my eyes off that VILE LADY VILLAINS BOOK COVER for a few seconds to give you a quick catch up on my life, since I last wrote to you back in June.

• My essay for Writer’s Digest July/August issue on writing liminal spaces and the inspiration for Vile Lady Villains has been published. Super proud of it!

• I also wrote another essay, in my beloved khōréō for our 5-year anniversary issue, on the importance of Greek and BIPOC voices in Greek myth retellings. It’s probably the angriest, most raw thing I’ve ever written, and if you’re going to read one piece of my writing this year, I hope it’s this one.

• I got to announce more book deals for my ridiculously talented clients over at The Tobias Literary Agency, like a poetry collection and a short story collection for the SFF powerhouse that is Ai Jiang.

• My short story All the Labyrinths, a noir take on the myth of the Minotaur, was published in Cosmic Horror Monthly as a Patreon exclusive.

• I was invited on a Flights of Foundry panel, where I got to discuss with fellow ESL authors, editors and professionals on the Multilingual Life for Creatives.

And, speaking of the importance of Greek voices in Greek myth retellings, VILE LADY VILLAINS is coming to Greece!

Having my book translated to my native Greek language feels like the most surreal gift, and I’m immensely grateful to my team over at FinePrint, my Greek sub-agent and the awesome people over at Anubis books (the publisher who brought G. R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire to Greece!) for taking a chance on my and my stabby sapphics.

Author newsletters I’ve loved so far in 2025

No short stories roundup this time, but here are some author newsletters I always stop what I’m doing and read when they pop-up on my inbox:

• The Visible Life of V. E. Schwab: look, it’s no secret that I’m a huge V. E. Schwab fanthey and I will read everything they write, even the phone book. But I do objectively believe that this newsletter is a masterclass in balancing the personal with the professional, making us feel close to the author while at the same time delivering gems about the craft of writing and editing. Unmissable.

• Happy Dancing by Charlie Jane Anders: another fantastic author whose newsletter I devour, as I love the way she talks about everything from pop culture to the state of the world today, to queer and trans joy.

• The Epistle by S. T. Gibson: Saint altered my brain chemistry with A Dowry of Blood, and I have been following her ever since. Her newsletters often delve into what makes a piece of writing unique, and drip with the same intoxicating blend of spirituality and sensuality that makes her writing irresistible.

• Recipes for Writing by Sara Omer: the author of The Gryphon King (which absolutely should be in your TBR) has a super interesting newsletter where she interviews other authors—she even did an interview with yours truly!

• (Neurodivergent) Notes on Writing by Elspeth Wilson: the author of These Mortal Bodies has another interview-forward newsletter where she discusses with fellow neurodivergent authors on how our process is different when writing and editing—we did an interview together back in April.

• Secret Bookish Diary by Marve with an ‘e’: Marvellous Michael Anson is the author of the fantastic Firstborn of the Sun, and her newsletter is always full of joy, color, and glimpses of her writing life. Brings a smile to my face every time!

• The Decrypt by David Goodman: Dave writes awarded spy thrillers, which is admittedly a genre I don’t read a lot in, but I always find his newsletters fascinating as they talk about setting up a writing routine that works for you.

• Author + Agent + Human by Jenna Satterthwaite: granted, Jenna is my agent sibling and an absolute gem of a human being, but what I most appreciate in her newsletters is how frank and unflinching (but never unkind!) her takes are on the publishing industry and all of its many faults. A must.

Thank you for celebrating the VLV cover 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?