Button pressed

After many months of work, possibly a year . . . I forget, we pressed the Findaway Voices, publish button, and the Londonia audiobook whizzed off into the net, and to somewhere in the USA where someone - I think a real being - will check it all meets their requirements and on the 3rd of February Londonia should emerge as an ear-engaging tale.

Of course, optimists like Mark and myself always assume doing such a project will be fairly straightforward, take a couple of months, bit of learning on the way . . . yeah, jobs a good'n. In fact the whole project has been a vast learning curve - a good one, but vast, for sure. Narrating, sound production, hours and hours of editing, composing and playing the compositions, and learning new software, working with our PR man, and much more. But it's been a brilliant journey, and one we shall embark on again very soon.

Press release by Will Gethin of Conscious Frontiers.

Londonia: Dystopian Drama Hits Close to Home

Dickens meets Mad Max in this stunning audiobook adaptation of Kate A. Hardy’s post-apocalyptic masterpiece

Mirroring the crises of today’s post-Covid world, the author’s vision for future London feels eerily prescient …

LONDONIA AUDIOBOOK RELEASE: MONDAY 03 February, 2025  

Londonia Podcast Launch: Monday 20 January, 2025  

“This is a beauty! I was captivated by the protagonist’s situation in a heartbeat. Kate A Hardy is a highly compelling storyteller.”  Sir Robin Millar, record producer and social commentator 

 

Monday 03 February 2025 heralds the launch of the spellbinding new Londonia audobook, adapted from Kate A. Hardy’s gripping dystopian novel, which envisions a post-apocalyptic London set in 2072 and imagines how people might survive in that future time. The audiobook will be available on Findaway Voices by Spotify, Audible and all major audiobook platforms.

Narrated by Kate A. Hardy, and with musician/composer Mark Lockett designing the immersive soundscape and musical score, the new audiobook brings the momentous satirical tale and visceral fantasy world of Londonia - with its time-altered language and outlandish cast of characters - vividly to life. 

Originally published by Tartarus Press in 2020, Londonia, recounts the adventures of sassy 30-something protagonist, Hoxton, who having lost her memory, takes up residence in a disused church in Shoreditch with her horse Kafka, and sets out to uncover her past, embarking on a precarious new work path as a ‘Finder’ (sourcer/trader of rare goods). As Hoxton weaves between the lawless sprawl of Londonia (the city’s outlying area) and the hyper-central power state, the Cincture, the story unfolds to the backdrop of an apocalyptic event of 2038, referred to as the “Final Curtain”.  Popularly held to have been caused by a global internet crash, the Final Curtain has plunged the world into a technological descent, which combined with the devastating effects of climate change has transmuted the formerly high-tech cityscapes of London into a visceral urban jungle, reminiscent of Mad Max meets Oliver Twist.

Kate A. Hardy, whose previous books include childrens’ story Alfi Beasti, don’t eat that! (published by Puffin) and the Going out in the Midday Sun trilogy, says: “The Londonia audiobook offers a deeper dive into the world I created. With Mark Lockett's bespoke sonic environment amplifying the tale’s mood and atmosphere, we’ve brought Londonia to life in a way I could only have dreamt of when writing the book.” 

This new audiobook adaptation invites listeners to fully immerse themselves in Hoxton's world, with the evocative narration and captivating soundscape capturing the essence of life in Londonia – a feral hinterland whose gun-toting inhabitants variously sleep in disused rail carriages, trade teeth fixing for sex, wash in bath houses, toast bread over fires, correspond via messenger pigeons and risk death from violence and poxes. Meanwhile, behind the towering metal walls of the Cincture, the wealthy elite continue their lavish, speed-fashion lifestyles in denial of the impoverished Dickensian quarter that surrounds them. 

As in real life, we face economic crisis and impending climate breakdown, the Final Curtain and the disordered post-internet world described in Londonia may be nearer than we like to think. Yet the book brings a message of hope, as Kate elucidates: “My aim has been to present Londonia as a dyst-hopian tale. There may be strife, hunger and plague but this harshness is placated by times of convivial community spirit, humanity and humour.”  

A raucous satire on our consumer society, the gap between haves and have-nots and the vacuous, fickle nature of fashion, Londonia is a rollicking romp of a ride, which also offers timely signposts for how we can live more lightly on our beleaguered planet - recycling and reusing, growing food and foraging, less immersed in screens and more connected to ourselves, to each other and to nature. “I hope the audiobook accentuates the book’s mission to explore what can emerge in the future while also satirising where we are now,” Kate concludes.

Providing a free taster for the audiobook, a Londonia podcast series will launch on Monday 20 January in advance of the audiobook’s release (03 February), sharing the first six chapters of the audiobook over a six-week period.

For more information about the new Londonia audiobook and podcast, visit: https://kateahardy.com

To listen to an introduction to Londonia, complete with visuals and a glossary of Londonia-speak, visit: https://youtu.be/NEiBJzKmMTk

Press preview copies of the full audiobook are available on request  

Press Images are available in this DROPBOX

Kate A. Hardy and Mark Lockett are available for interview

Biographies are attached  

For Media Enquiries contact Will Gethin at Conscious Frontiers: 07795 204 833 • will@consciousfrontiers.com

Notes to Editors:

• Narrated by Kate A. Hardy, with music and soundscapes by Mark Lockett, the Londonia audiobook will be released on Findaway Voices by Spotofy (and all major platforms) on Monday 03 February 
• To preview the first few chapters of the audiobook, visit: https://www.youtube.com/@londonia-e5b
• To watch the showreel for the audiobook, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP14XkBEBaI&t=53s
• The Londonia podcast, launching on Monday 20 January, will be available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube and all major podcasting platforms
• Smithi, Kate A. Hardy’s hotly anticipated sequel to Londonia, is coming soon – watch this space!

Critical praise for Londonia (the novel):

"A deeply engaging and always-entertaining novel, the author’s superb use and invention of future language is brilliant." Paula Guran, Locus magazine

"Enchanting . . . Hardy’s almost hopeful view of the world’s inevitably chaotic future lifts this entertaining and well-told tale.”  Publishers Weekly 

"Fantastical yet believable, it also shares hopeful messages for the future about how we can live more simply.”         Psychologies magazine

"This is a superbly written book retaining dialogue, place and characterisation to a masterful level. You believe in Hardy’s world and it should hardly be long before a producer is clamouring to make her highly visual future London into a film or series… it strikes at the heart of what we consider to be important in life – something all of us are thinking about at this strange time." Kindred Spirit

The teatime sessions cover version of: Radiohead's Sail to the Moon

Featuring improvisation by Bali the greyhound...

Look! I made some bread!

the huge bread, inspired by a loaf from a local wood-fired bakery

There's been a flurry of bread-making posts on all social media over the last year, and I salut this!! Make bread! it is really easy - honest, and you don't need a huge clunky plastic item to clutter your kitchen worktops; just a large bowl, a piece of marble for kneading (if possible) wooden spoon, flour, water, salt, bit of oil - if you like, plus extras if desired such as sunflower seeds, olives, dried tomatoes, marmite just kidding.... and an oven. Bread tins are good but Mark (king of bread-making - and has been doing so since student days back in the carboniferous period - he-he, just a joke, dearest) has just created this amazing medium cat-sized pain de campagne in an old pyrex baking dish as we can't find a metal oven 'sheet' that will fit in the ancient, 70s relic that we we cook on and in.

                               The 70s national-grid emptier - but actually the oven is very efficient 

We have an ancient bread-oven in the spider-filled not-yet-developed part of the house, or at least the surround and opening - sadly the actual huge igloo like oven of this region was taken away at some point - and I would dearly love to reconstruct it. There are people who can do this in the locality but as we have more pressing renovation to attend to it will have to wait. But it is nice to know that the ghosts of all those loaves still inhabit the room and maybe we can add to them with our own range of breads one day.

The bread oven waiting to live again...

the cat-sized loaf featuring an usual marbling effect due to a two dough experimental try-out

The Katbells Fishing Community.

A short story from my book: Dog and Other Tales.

Ink drawings by myself and soundtrack by Mark Lockett.

A few ink drawings

from my story 'The Katbells Fishing Community' which I'm about to make into a film for our 'Tales from the Vestry' Youtube channel.



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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsNqX-K0gxi8843EE3xCK3w

post for Mark's 50th

                                         

           Mark performing one of his 'Grand Haiku', pieces, recently at La Fabrique, Carcassonne


oops I mean 60th . . . it just doesn't seem possible. I still think of him being about thirty-five.
Early start to the day - 6.00 am with tea and presents, the main one being a painting I commissioned from  friend, Didier (wonderful); a flash fiction story from me and a grunt from Ezra - I think his offering will be later in the day.
The dogs hadn't peed in the house during the night, the doves were lined up waiting to be fed and the air outside had a definite tinge of real spring about it - bird song too.
Not a bad start to a birthday, even though he had to go off to teach all day. See you after work for the next instalment, (surprise) if you read this, Mark.
xx

                                              


               Mark with accordion, piano, cello, dogs and us - by Didier Bourdon

http://www.didierbourdon-painter.com

Moondog . . . featuring

Mark (husband) singing!

This wonderful piece - Westward Ho! - was performed recently by Ensemble 0 (zero) at La Folle Journée de Nantes.
One of the great musical mavericks, Louis Hardin (aka Moondog, and the"Viking of 6th Avenue") spent most of the 1950s and 60s living as a street musician in New York. Blind from the age of 16, he was an expert in counterpoint and musical canons, and was inspired by street sounds, jazz, Native American music and norse mythology.

Remarkable days

There are many un-remarkable days in life, okay-ish days, pleasant days and then some really special ones. Yesterday was one of those for me.
Not only was I about to embark on a few days of exploration of The Ariege with my son, but I received a message from 'Cracked Eye' to say that my story 'The Hundred and Eighty-Fifth Book' was live on their site - the audio version, as read by Mr (fabulous) Anton Lesser.
Throwing all else aside I sat and listened to his voice pronouncing MY words - wow.
His reading of it is perfect.
Thanks, Cracked Eye, Robert Rigby, for the production, Mark Lockett, my husband, for the superb accompanying music, and of course, Mr Lesser.

Fourteen hours

I woke up this morning with this melody in my mind.
Yesterday it was a nasty song from the 70's by Black Lace . . . God knows why I was using my brain cells up on storing that. Have deleted it now.
Mark played this tune - dirge, possibly - for over twenty two hours, only stopping for a pee twice, (just as well it wasn't me playing) and drinking occasional sips of black tea. It was very weird to see his clean-shaven face gradually changing to the dark shadow of stubble, and his eyes twitch slightly as his brain screamed for sleep.
This film was fourteen hours into the performance of Satie's Vexations, the tune beginning to shift slightly as Mark's concentration dipped in and out of reality. If you are interested, look at the other films on Youtube; he does make it to the end and doesn't collapse in a crumpled heap as I thought he might.
He's played 'Vexations' before, when he was about twenty, and he's threatening to do it a third time.
I think it aged me about three years. Please don't.