Grace Watson

Buy The Emerald Wars now!

[incorrectprideandprejudicequotes]

Mr. Darcy: [during his first proposal to Elizabeth Bennet] I’m not going to stand here and listen to you accusing me of things I clearly did.

[singing-fangirl]

Bit of a stupid question, but I need to know for sure: Lizzy accepted Darcy's proposal, right? (I was thinking about this during work, and I have to know, haha).

I was going to just give a yes or no, but then I accidentally wrote a thing. So here’s a thing!

“That was delicious,” said Lizzy, standing up and gatheringtheir plates together. “For someone who frequently burnt pasta a year ago, thisis a miracle!”

Darcy jumped up as Lizzy turned to take the plates to thesink. “No, don’t do that! I can clean up later, it’s fine.”

Lizzy rolled her eyes. “Nonsense! You cooked, so I’ll washup.” She went to turn away once more but stopped when she saw Darcy’s frustratedfrown. “Is everything okay? You seem… nervous? Or angry? I’m sorry, usually Ican tell them apart, but this one’s just sort of slap-bang in the middle.”

“I’m not angry!” Darcy said quickly. “And – and I’m notnervous, either.”

Setting down the plates once more, Lizzy took Darcy’s handsin hers. “You don’t sound particularly convincing on that one, babe.”

Darcy’s mouth twitched into a smile. “You know I can’t keepa straight face when you use pet-names.”

“Babycakes, I hate to break this to you, but your face isnever straight.”

Darcy burst out laughing, letting Lizzy pull her closer. “Babycakes?That’s a new one. I hate it.”

“Me too,” Lizzy laughed, wrapping her arms around Darcy’swaist and leaning up to kiss her on the cheek. “But now you’re smiling. I loveit when you smile.”

“I love you. All the time.”

“I love you too. All the time.”

Keep reading

[gracewatsonauthor]

The Story of Lizzy and Darcy is FREE on Amazon!

For one more day, The Story of Lizzy and Darcy is free to download on Amazon! After midnight PST tomorrow, it will continue to be available on Kindle Unlimited.

Download it here!

When Lizzy Bennet first meets Darcy Williams, there is an instant dislike between them. As much as they try to avoid it their paths keep crossing, and they each start to see a different side to the other. Their tentative friendship is soon tested, but will they realise how they really feel? The Story of Lizzy and Darcy is a modern day, same-sex adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

[gracewatsonauthor]

EXCITING NEWS!

All of my books are now available on Kindle Unlimited! You can start reading them all right now.

The Story of Lizzy and Darcy

This is a modern F/F re-telling of Pride and Prejudice. Lizzy Bennet meets Darcy Williams at her graduation party, and they instantly dislike each other. But, of course, circumstances change, and they begin to see another side of each other!

The Adventures of William Fitts

This companion to The Story of Lizzy and Darcy tells the story of one of Lizzy and Darcy’s friends, Will Fitts, as he begins to make his way in the world and work out who he truly is - with the help of an old bucket list.

The Emerald Wars

This steampunk Wizard-of-Oz-inspired tale follows our main character Leonie as she escapes from the Emerald City. She is soon taken in by renowned rebel Dorothy and her surly companion, the Tin Man. What starts as just a mission to overthrow the Wizard, however, turns into something much bigger as they realise Oz is being destroyed from the inside out.

Please do go and check them out, especially as you can now do so FOR FREE! (And if you don’t have Kindle Unlimited, watch this space for promotions...) 

Representation is really important to me, and so all these books are as diverse as possible. Lizzy and Darcy are gay and bi respectively, Darcy is mixed-race, Will is trans, Leonie is ace/aro and a woman of colour, and there’s also a non-binary character (TAOWF), a character with a disability (TEW) and many more characters of colour and queer characters. Please do check them out, and tell a friend you think might be interested!

Happy reading,

Grace xx

[gracewatsonauthor]

“Once upon a time, a house dropped out of the sky, killing the Wicked Witch of the East, and a little girl stepped out. That’s the narrative. That’s the story I was given. But everyone’s tired of it - I’m tired of it - and maybe the story was always meant to end this way.”

— The Emerald Wars by Grace Watson (Buy it here)

[gracewatsonauthor]

‘The Emerald Wars’ is now in paperback!

The Emerald Wars is now available in paperback! You can buy it here or add it on Goodreads.

When Leonie escapes from her life as a servant in the Emerald City, all she wants is to find her place in the outside world. After being saved by rebel fighter Dorothy, she finds herself drawn into a mission to retrieve the stolen heart of the Tin Man. But something much more sinister is happening in Oz, and before long they find themselves working with the exiled Professor Crow to save their home from being destroyed from the inside out. It’s a perilous journey that pushes them to their limits, but the four friends keep going in search of the things they need the most; wisdom, love, courage, and a home. 

[biandlesbianliterature]

[image description: a collage of the books listed below with the text “Lesbian & Bi Books New In June!”] 

Motor Crush Volume 1 by Brendon Fletcher, Cameron Stewart, and Babs Tarr (Comics)

The team behind the critically-acclaimed revamp of Batgirl returns with an exciting sci-fi action-adventure series! By day, Domino Swift competes for fame & fortune in a worldwide motorcycle racing league. By night, she cracks heads of rival gangs in brutal bike wars to gain possession of a rare, valuable contraband: an engine-boosting “machine narcotic” known as Crush.

Cottonmouths by Kelly J. Ford (Fiction)

From a compelling new voice in LGBTQ and Southern fiction, a gripping tale of crime and desire amid small-town America’s meth epidemic. This was Drear’s Bluff. Nothing bad happened here. People didn’t disappear. College was supposed to be an escape for Emily Skinner. But after failing out of school, she’s left with no choice but to return to her small Arkansas hometown, a place run on gossip and good Christian values. She’s not alone. Emily’s former best friend—and childhood crush—Jody Monroe is back with a baby. Emily can’t resist the opportunity to reconnect, despite the uncomfortable way things ended between them and her mom’s disapproval of their friendship. When Emily stumbles upon a meth lab on Jody’s property, she realizes just how far they’ve both fallen. Emily intends to keep her distance from Jody, but when she’s kicked out of her house with no money and nowhere to go, a paying job as Jody’s live-in babysitter is hard to pass up. As they grow closer, Emily glimpses a future for the first time since coming home. She dismisses her worries; after all, Jody is a single mom. The meth lab is a means to an end. And besides, for Emily, Jody is the real drug. But when Jody’s business partner goes missing, and the lies begin to pile up, Emily will learn just how far Jody is willing to go to save her own skin—and how much Emily herself has risked for the love of someone who may never truly love her back. Echoing the work of authors like Daniel Woodrell and Sarah Waters, Cottonmouths is an unflinching story about the ways in which the past pulls us back … despite our best efforts to leave it behind.

Marriage of a Thousand Lies by SJ Sindu (Fiction)

​A necessary and exciting addition to both the Sri Lankan-American and LGBTQ canons, SJ Sindu’s debut novel Marriage of a Thousand Lies offers a moving and sharply rendered​ exploration of friendship, family, love, and loss. Lucky and her husband, Krishna, are gay. They present an illusion of marital bliss to their conservative Sri Lankan–American families, while each dates on the side. It’s not ideal, but for Lucky, it seems to be working. She goes out dancing, she drinks a bit, she makes ends meet by doing digital art on commission. But when Lucky’s grandmother has a nasty fall, Lucky returns to her childhood home and unexpectedly reconnects with her former best friend and first lover, Nisha, who is preparing for her own arranged wedding with a man she’s never met. As the connection between the two women is rekindled, Lucky tries to save Nisha from entering a marriage based on a lie. But does Nisha really want to be saved? And after a decade’s worth of lying, can Lucky break free of her own circumstances and build a new life? Is she willing to walk away from all that she values about her parents and community to live in a new truth? As Lucky—an outsider no matter what choices she makes—is pushed to the breaking point, Marriage of a Thousand Lies offers a vivid exploration of a life lived at a complex intersection of race, sexuality, and nationality. The result is a profoundly American debut novel shot through with humor and loss, a story of love, family, and the truths that define us all.

Grrrls on the Side by Carrie Pack (Young Adult)

The year is 1994, and alternative is in. But not for alternative girl Tabitha Denton; she hates her life. She is uninterested in boys, lonely, and sidelined by former friends at her suburban high school. When she picks up a zine at a punk concert, she finds an escape—an advertisement for a Riot Grrrl meetup. At the meeting, Tabitha finds girls who are more like her and a place to belong. But just as Tabitha is settling in with her new friends and beginning to think she understands herself, eighteen-year-old Jackie Hardwick walks into a meeting and changes her world forever. The out-and-proud Jackie is unlike anyone Tabitha has ever known. As her feelings for Jackie grow, Tabitha begins to learn more about herself and the racial injustices of the punk scene, but to be with Jackie, she must also come to grips with her own privilege and stand up for what’s right.

Hunger by Roxane Gay (Memoir)

With the bracing candor, vulnerability, and authority that have made her one of the most admired voices of her generation, Roxane explores what it means to be overweight in a time when the bigger you are, the less you are seen. Hunger is a deeply personal memoir from one of our finest writers, and tells a story that hasn’t yet been told but needs to be.

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness by Kabi Nagata (Comics)

The Practitioner by Ronica Black (Romance)

Canvas for Love by Charlotte Greene (Romance)

The Story of Lizzy and Darcy: A ‘Pride and Prejudice’ Adaptation by Grace Watson (Romance)

Where Love Leads by Erin McKenzie (Romance)

Huntress by A.E. Radley (Romance)

[gracewatsonauthor]

‘The Emerald Wars’ is now in paperback!

The Emerald Wars is now available in paperback! You can buy it here or add it on Goodreads.

When Leonie escapes from her life as a servant in the Emerald City, all she wants is to find her place in the outside world. After being saved by rebel fighter Dorothy, she finds herself drawn into a mission to retrieve the stolen heart of the Tin Man. But something much more sinister is happening in Oz, and before long they find themselves working with the exiled Professor Crow to save their home from being destroyed from the inside out. It’s a perilous journey that pushes them to their limits, but the four friends keep going in search of the things they need the most; wisdom, love, courage, and a home. 

[gracewatsonauthor]

‘The Emerald Wars’ is now in paperback!

The Emerald Wars is now available in paperback! You can buy it here or add it on Goodreads.

When Leonie escapes from her life as a servant in the Emerald City, all she wants is to find her place in the outside world. After being saved by rebel fighter Dorothy, she finds herself drawn into a mission to retrieve the stolen heart of the Tin Man. But something much more sinister is happening in Oz, and before long they find themselves working with the exiled Professor Crow to save their home from being destroyed from the inside out. It’s a perilous journey that pushes them to their limits, but the four friends keep going in search of the things they need the most; wisdom, love, courage, and a home. 

[attack0npotato]

listen up guys

Oi guys, if you’ve got a sec i need to show you this.

See this??

The Story of Lizzy and Darcy is the most beautiful and heartwarming damn thing i’ve read in a long ass time. Its a modern day wlw retelling of pride and prejudice, and before i start, ive got some stats to add for you. 

time to read: about 8 hours, no stops man i was ride or die once i started Seating locations: 4, i could not put this mofo down, i went from sunshine to couch back to sunshine to bed  panadol because my dumb ass thought binge-reading in varying light with out my glasses on for hours on end was a good idea: 4 amount of hugs i want to give Grace Watson for writing this fluffy and angsty and mushy and warm story: all of them. all the hugs 

buckle up bitches we’re in for a ride. this story has pretty much everything. I’ll try to keep it mostly spoiler free

Keep reading

[gracewatsonauthor]

This is possibly the greatest review I’ve ever read 😍😍😍 thank you so much!! I’m so glad you loved the book :D

[gracewatsonauthor]

It’s nearly release day!

The Emerald Wars will be released TOMORROW! Pre-order it ready, add it on Goodreads, and tell your friends about all this queer fantasy steampunk Oz goodness!

When Leonie escapes from her life as a servant in the Emerald City, all she wants is to find her place in the outside world. After being saved by rebel fighter Dorothy, she finds herself drawn into a mission to retrieve the stolen heart of the Tin Man. But something much more sinister is happening in Oz, and before long they find themselves working with the exiled Professor Crow to save their home from being destroyed from the inside out. It’s a perilous journey that pushes them to their limits, but the four friends keep going in search of the things they need the most; wisdom, love, courage, and a home

[gracewatsonauthor]

Once upon a time, a house dropped out of the sky, killing the Wicked Witch of the East, and a little girl stepped out. That's the narrative. That's the story I was given. But everyone's tired of it - I'm tired of it - and maybe the story was always meant to end this way.

The Emerald Wars by Grace Watson (Buy it here)

[gracewatsonauthor]

3 days until release day!

Pre-order The Emerald Wars for Kindle here, or add it on Goodreads here.

When Leonie escapes from her life as a servant in the Emerald City, all she wants is to find her place in the outside world. After being saved by rebel fighter Dorothy, she finds herself drawn into a mission to retrieve the stolen heart of the Tin Man. But something much more sinister is happening in Oz, and before long they find themselves working with the exiled Professor Crow to save their home from being destroyed from the inside out. It’s a perilous journey that pushes them to their limits, but the four friends keep going in search of the things they need the most; wisdom, love, courage, and a home.

[gracewatsonauthor]

3 days until release day!

Pre-order The Emerald Wars for Kindle here, or add it on Goodreads here.

When Leonie escapes from her life as a servant in the Emerald City, all she wants is to find her place in the outside world. After being saved by rebel fighter Dorothy, she finds herself drawn into a mission to retrieve the stolen heart of the Tin Man. But something much more sinister is happening in Oz, and before long they find themselves working with the exiled Professor Crow to save their home from being destroyed from the inside out. It’s a perilous journey that pushes them to their limits, but the four friends keep going in search of the things they need the most; wisdom, love, courage, and a home.

[gracewatsonauthor]

April Book Recommendations: Retellings

Hello one and all! This month my new book The Emerald Wars is being released *happy dance*! As it was inspired by The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (but with more queer characters and extra steampunk), this month I’ll be recommending my favourite retellings of classics!

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

May as well start with one of my favourite books of all time! I’ve recommended it before and I’ll recommend it again (and again, and again, and again) because nothing matches up to the emotions this book made me feel. It’s a retelling of the story of Achilles from the point of view of his lover, Patroclus, and it makes you feel all the feelings. Please read it and then tell me over twitter all of your feelings (@GraceWhoWrites)

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

Beautifully illustrated by Chris Riddell, this fairytale, inspired by Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, tells the story of a kick-ass young queen. It’s stunning to look at, stunning to read, and has a great Gaiman twist!

The Beast That Never Was by Caren J. Werlinger

This is a Beauty and the Beast inspired F/F romance, with a fantastic twist: Beauty is the Beast. I loved the way Werlinger works the queer element into the fantasy and fairytale, and you will be on the edge of your seat!

Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

Many of the Discworld books directly parody ‘Roundworld’ stories, and Wyrd Sisters is one of the first. Pratchett somehow managed to make Macbeth hilarious, whilst poking gentle fun at many of our favourite theatre and fairytale tropes.

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

This retelling of Arabian Nights features a great heroine, a great romance, and lots of plotting and intrigue along with way. I never thought I would feel sorry for the King in Arabian Nights, but here we are!

There we go, there are my recommended retellings! Remember to pre-order The Emerald Wars and add it on Goodreads ahead of its release on April 26th!

Happy reading,

Grace xx

[gracewatsonauthor]

IWD and Mother’s Day: Book Recommendations

This Thursday saw International Women’s Day, and today in the UK we celebrate Mother’s Day. I decided to combine these two wonderful days for celebrating the women in our lives and give some more book recommendations!

Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth

Anyone who has seen the BBC drama series based on this book will know that the show (and the books it’s based on) is a celebration of women and mothers from all walks of life. The memoirs of a midwife working in some of the poorest parts of London in the 1950s, Call the Midwife celebrates the role that women and mothers play in both our individual lives and our society.

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

Set in Amsterdam in the 17th Century, The Miniaturist tells the story of Nella Oortman, an 18-year-old girl who is been sent to marry a merchant. As she uncovers the secrets of him, his house, and his family, we get to see how the prejudices and injustices of the time force their narrative.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Okay, so it’s no secret that I love Pride and Prejudice. (Cue shameless plug for The Story of Lizzy and Darcy). The fierce Lizzy Bennet, one of the best-loved literary heroines of all time, remains one of my favourite book characters, and her well-meaning if overbearing mother is one of the best-known mothers in literature. It truly is a timeless classic, and (like most classics written by women) never asks our heroines to compromise on their personality, their opinions, or their morals. Instead, we have a wonderful love story between two flawed people who, after a terrible first impression (and not much improvement on the second, or third, or fourth...) fall in love. Damn, it’s a good book.

Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett

I’m a huge Pratchett fan (Pratchetteer?) and this is one of my favourites of his. The book works on the principle that, if we hear all these stories about women dressing up as men to go to war, surely by this point all of the army are in fact men dressed up as women? Monstrous Regiment explores ideas of gender, expectations, family, love, identity, all wrapped up in a fantasy adventure as a group of women end a war. 

Room by Emma Donoghue

Told through the eyes of a five-year-old boy, Room tells the story of a captive mother, kept locked up in the garden shed of her abuser, raising her young son. The film is also fantastic, and I would highly recommend both. It’s a story of abuse, recovery, family, and resilience.

These are just some of my favourites, and I would love to read more books about fantastic women! Let me know which books you would recommend :)

Happy reading!

Grace xx

[gracewatsonauthor]

Things I should be doing: Finish writing this book because it’s nearly 1am and I’ve been putting off the last paragraph for too long

Things I am doing: Dancing at my desk to the Greatest Showman soundtrack