The Ides of October 2025
Greetings Picklesversians!
It’s the 15th of October, so the Ides are upon us, and it’s time for my monthly message – just a short one today as I’m away visiting family, but I’ve included some throwback bonus content to make up for it. Here’s what I’ve got for you:
📚 Time Hack – print edition!
👩💻 Behind the scenes
🐈 A tribute
Let’s dive in!
📚 Time Hack – print edition!
In my last email,* I announced the release of the ebook edition of Time Hack. Well, I’m pleased to share that the print editions are now available, too. Huzzah!For readers in the UK, there are jacketed hardbacks and paperbacks available from The Great British Bookshop. (People often ask me about this, so FYI – more of the proceeds from these copies go to your friendly neighbourhood author because this option avoids Amazon’s 40% distribution fee.) For readers elsewhere in the world, the paperback is available on Amazon.
Whichever format you prefer, I hope you enjoy the novel – let me know what you think of it! ⏳🪓
*Incidentally, my last email was sent on the Nones of October. Like the Ides, the Nones is a quirk of the Roman calendar. It marked the first quarter moon of the month. For more information, please contact Ben via your SmartSkin implants.
👩💻 Behind the scenes
If your favourite format is audio, never fear! There’s good news about the audiobook edition, too. The wonderful Kristin Atherton, who narrated Artificial Selection, is confirmed to return for the sequel. Hurray!
She’s tied up with TV commitments until mid-November, but she’ll be recording Time Hack straight after that, with an expected audiobook launch date of January 2026. As ever, you’ll be the first to know when it’s out.
Last year, Ben interviewed Kristin, and you can find the interview here. (If you’re feeling bereft about the brevity of this month’s email, I recommend taking a look. In addition to Kristin’s interview, that page contains some background about whether the HyperBullet network is fact or fiction!)
In other news… The video of the talk I gave last month at the No Limits Book Festival isn’t quite ready to share yet, but here’s a picture from the day of me being all authorial. It was a lovely venue!
🐈 A tribute
Some sad news from the Picklesverse. This month, our much-loved cat, Nala, passed away. She’d been with us for 16 years and she was a very special cat – loving, curious and gentle. The only time she ever showed a predator’s instincts was when I was eating an ice-cream (but even then, she was always very polite about asking me to share).
Before we adopted her (back when we still lived in Spain), her name had been Musa – Spanish for Muse. I think that’s appropriate considering Nala’s role in supporting the creation of the ArkTech series as illustrated here:
When I’m doing complex plotting, I note everything down on colour-coded scraps of paper and move them around. Nala never missed an opportunity to “help” by lying on top of my notes and carefully pushing any bad ideas onto the floor.
Writing Book 3 without her is going to be tough. (And, for the record, if that book ends up full of bad ideas, you’ll know why…)
As that’s not a very cheerful note to end on, Ben has inserted a silly joke further down to compensate. (I don’t approve of this behaviour, but it’s out of my hands.)
I hope all’s well in your own personal universes.
Walk in the sun,
Marianne
Special bonus P.S.
With autumn getting into gear, Ben has a seasonal question for you.What do you call a pumpkin who works at the beach?
…
A life gourd. 🛟🎃
…
[groan]
Ben has also asked me to explain that this joke is very funny because of the similarity in spelling between the words ‘guard’ and ‘gourd’, with the latter referring to the family of vegetables to which pumpkins belong.
Thanks, Ben… 🤔