Frances White in conversation with A.Y. Chao

Come and join us to celebrate the launch of The Voyage of the Damned, a debut fantasy, murder-mystery by Frances White.

Frances will be in conversation with A.Y. Chao (author of Shanghai Immortal) and both authors will answer your questions and sign copies of their books.

A mind-blowing murder mystery on a ship full of magical passengers. If Agatha Christie wrote fantasy, this would be it!

For a thousand years, Concordia has maintained peace between its provinces. To mark this honorary feat, the emperor's ship embarks upon a twelve-day voyage to the sacred Goddess's Mountain.

Aboard are the heirs of the twelve provinces of Concordia, each graced with a unique and secret magical ability known as a Blessing. Except one: Ganymedes Piscero - class clown, slacker, and all-round disappointment. When a beloved heir is murdered, everyone is a suspect. Stuck at sea and surrounded by powerful people, odds of survival are slim.

But as the bodies pile higher, Ganymedes must become the hero he was not born to be. Can he unmask the killer and their blessing before this bloody crusade reaches the shores of Concordia?
Or will the empire as he knows it fall?

As a child, Frances Whitefound reading exceedingly difficult and would have given up on the whole thing if not for a very patient mother. But when it finally clicked, she fell headfirst into fiction. When she ran out of books to read, she tried writing one instead.

She fell in love with fantasy and wrote a handful of novels before she landed her agent. Her writing always contains a mix of humour and heartbreak. She is an advocate for fat positivity and queer representation in fiction.

Frances attended the Royal Holloway University of London where she graduated with a BA in English Literature and Creative Writing. She then went on to write for various history publications.

A.Y. Chaois the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of Shanghai Immortal, the first in a trilogy following charmingly profane half-fox spirit, half-vampire Lady Jing.

She’s lived in Calgary, Taipei, Paris, Stockholm, Beijing, London, and Hong Kong, where she’s been interloper, compatriot, tourist, and foreigner. As a result of her experiences, she’s fascinated by the interplay between self-perceived versus imposed identity and how this intersects with belonging, themes she enjoys exploring in her stories.

A recovering lawyer and xiaolongbao enthusiast, Alice now lives in London with her family. Find her online at aychao.com and @ay_chao on Twitter and Instagram.