***Book news and cover reveal!***

Roughly a million years ago I promised book news and then didn’t deliver. But now I can finally tell you what’s been brewing all these many moonturns :)

The big news!

I’m so thrilled to let you know that my latest book, THE TRAITOR MOTH, is coming out with Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers in the Spring of next year. S&S US has so far acquired two books from me aimed at readers aged 8-12 (and anyone and everyone who enjoys middle grade fantasy). Both will be set in the same world – one of moths, mutants, and fiercely loyal clans.

More about The Traitor Moth:

A brave young moth sets off on an epic quest to save his clan and the kingdom from peril in this first book in the sweeping Moon Realm fantasy middle grade series—perfect for fans of Wilderlore and Erin Hunter’s Warriors series.

Catclaw dreams that one day he will have the gift of prophecy, just like his Dreamkin ancestors.

But many moons ago, the Dreamkins were exiled from the other noble moth clans for a crime too awful to even speak of, and their gift of prophecy was lost. No Dreamkin has seen the future in generations. So when Catclaw receives a vision telling him that all the moth clans are in terrible danger, he's branded a liar and exiled.

Catclaw knows it's the right thing to protect his fellow moths, even if his own clan doesn’t believe him, so he sets out alone on the long and treacherous journey back to Queen Adeia’s Kingdom, to warn them.

But there is more to the moth clans’ history than Catclaw ever knew, and the closer he gets to the kingdom, the more the danger grows.

* * * COVER REVEAL * * *

And without further ado, here is the (magnificent) cover illustrated by Cathleen McAllister, a remarkable talent and master at depicting gorgeous small world scenes.

Book cover for The Traitor Moth by Katharine Orton, illustrated by Cathleen McAllister. Shows a small brown moth standing in a humanistic way on two legs on a Rowan branch, holding a nettle tip. He is facing a big full moon and two other moths – a pale one and one with a skull shape on its back – are flying nearby. A wasp-like creature with big blue eyes lurks in the branches above, and many others are flying across the moon in a swarm.

Currently there are no plans for release outside the US, but that may change (fingers crossed!), and I’ll be keeping an eye on ways that people in the UK and elsewhere can get a copy. It might be as simple as ordering from a US book supplier, and it looks like Amazon will ship to the UK, but I’ll keep you updated.

This is an absolute dream come true for me. I am over the moon (pun intended, I’m so sorry) to be working on these books with the outstanding and supportive team at S&S in the US. From the first tentative email to my agent, titled “I hope you like moths… !” to the rounds of editorial graft with the inimitable Krista Vitola and Jessica Egan, this process has been a joy, and I can’t wait to bring Catclaw’s adventures to readers.

This first book, THE TRAITOR MOTH, is available to pre order now for 7th April 2026. Check the following links!

Barnes & Noble

Amazon.com

Amazon.co.uk

More from me soon :)

Kat

June mini-blog – the power of names

What’s in a name? asked Juliet. That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.

True, and beautiful, as is so much of Shakespeare, but what if the thing you’re naming isn’t real, being something you’ve just invented for a work of fiction? It has no smell to begin with, then, and can’t be experienced by any other features (except for those you describe on the page). In that case, the name needs to do a lot of heavy lifting. And finding a good, solid name for your imaginary thing can be absolutely golden.

In the book I just read – Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh – there was such a thing as ‘shadowspace’, which essentially described a hidden dimension with its own separate, fundamental laws. Shadowspace provided a means of rapid space travel from one distant point to another. Or at least that’s how I understood it. In fact it was the name that made me feel like I understood the concept a lot better than I probably did. (Pure brilliance, by the way – and I kinda wish I’d thought of it first).

As soon as you give something a good name it stops mattering as much how the thing actually works – you think you know what it is, even when the details are a bit hazy. I relate it to a lightbulb: I know what a lightbulb does in the vaguest sense, know that if I flip a switch it lights up the room, but I probably couldn’t give you a full and detailed explanation of how one works. I might mumble something about electricity and filaments, but that’s about as good as you’re going to get from me.

Naming stuff for fiction is fun. My first name for the mindless skeletal minions summoned by the Soldier in Glassheart, largely made of old sticks, stones and debris, were Upsticks, but an editor thought this sounded a bit comical. I rethought, and they became Rattlesticks. I liked it. Rattlesticks evoked rattlesnakes, to me, both the sound they make and the danger of them – as well as the old rhyme about ‘sticks and stones’. Names can be used for misdirection, too. In Mountainfell, magic is real and known as luma. However, to begin with we wanted to show that the villagers in the book hated magic, and thought it was evil and scary – something to be avoided. Luma just sounded too nice. So my editor suggested giving them a different name for it. That’s how I came up with hex magic, and the idea that someone could be ‘hex addled’.

Writing tip:

If you’re trying to name something in your writing, think about how the sound of the word makes you feel. Certain words just sound right for the thing they describe – check out this article for more if you’re interested. And something I’ve noticed many writers do (me included) is to reference current or old words, things that already exist, or cultural reference points like sayings or rhymes (as with the rattlesticks). Here’s something else to think about: will different groups have different names for the same thing, and if so, how will their name reflect how they feel about it? Have fun!

Writing news:

I’ve had some brilliant news this month, but (as with so much to do with publishing), I’m not allowed to share it yet. What it means for me however is that I’ll soon be back to work on a project. In the meantime I’m still trying to write my adult sci fi. I’ve had a few false starts with that one now, but I’m really happy so far with how this latest attempt is working out. More news on the news for you soon, I hope!

Recent reads:

My reading has been super slow lately, but I’m going to try to finish The Premonition by Banana Yoshimoto soon – an absolutely beautiful book but one that deserves a lot of thought and attention, I think, so I’ve been waiting until I can give it that. I’m also listening to the audiobook of Project: Hail Mary by Andy Weir, which has just gone off in a surprising new direction that I definitely wasn’t expecting!

Enough for now! I’m off to go see Inside Out 2 in the cinema with my kid soon. As ever please feel free to leave me a comment, or ask me anything. Until next month x

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