Jodi McIsaac

I LOVED this book.

One reviewer calls it "literary fan fiction," and I think that's an apt description. Beautifully written with characters you can't help but adore and just the right amount of angst. Worldbuilding is *chef's kiss*. (Mammoths! On Mars!)

This was one of those books I didn't know I needed but came along at exactly the right time. I listened to the audiobook (twice) then went out and bought the hardcover. 😆 In you need a little more wonder and delight and hope in your life (and who doesn't?), pick this one up. 🦣🚀

The many covers of Through the Door. 📚

Slide 1: Through the Door was my first novel, and I was nervous AF and had no idea what I was doing. I wanted as much feedback as possible, so I printed this draft version of the book, slapped a temporary title on it, and gave it to anyone who would read and critique it. Nowadays my beta readers get a word doc or, if they're lucky, a printout from Staples.

Slide 2: The self-published cover! In retrospect, maybe I should've made the title a bit bigger. 😆

Slide 3: When Through the Door was picked up by Amazon Publishing's imprint 47North, they produced these Advance Reader Copies, which they sent to reviewers and book bloggers to create some buzz before the book was re-released. (It worked!)

Slide 4: Ta-da! 47North re-released Through the Door with a new cover, which I still love. 🧡

Slides 5&6: Remember when audiobooks came on CDs? 💿 Brilliance Audio produced a set of CDs as well as an MP3 disk before the audiobook came out on Audible.

Super chuffed to see that my fave game store is carrying The Thin Veil series! These books may or may not have been stealthily signed. 👀

At last. This labour of love (emphasis on the labour) is now off to beta readers. What's it about, you ask? Think 'Juno' meets 'My Dark Vanessa' or, as I prefer to put it, Fleabag Goes to Bible College.

Fun fact: The Stone of Scone, which features prominently in my book INTO THE FIRE, has been moved from its home in Edinburgh castle to play its traditional role in the crowing of British monarchs.

Some believe this stone is the legendary Lia Fáil, the magical stone in Irish mythology which was brought to Ireland by the semi-divine Tuatha Dé Danann. When the rightful High King of Ireland stepped upon it, the Lia Fáil was said to roar with pleasure.

So how did it get to Scotland - and then London? In AD 500, the High King of Ireland Murtagh MacEirc loaned it to his great-uncle, Fergus, for the latter's coronation in Scotland. Unfortunately, Fergus and his company drowned off the coast of Antrim, and the stone was never returned to Ireland.

In Scotland, the Lia Fáil became known as the Stone of Scone. It was stolen from Scone Abbey by Edward I's forces during the English invasion of Scotland in 1293 -- and has been used in every English coronation since.

In 1996, Queen Elizabeth returned the stone to Scotland, with the caveat that it would still play a role in the coronation of future monarchs.

So if you're watching the coronation, keep an eye out for the ancient gift of the Tuatha Dé Danann under King Charles III's royal seat. :)

(File photo from 1937)