Today is the 1st August 2025.

Happy Yorkshire Day!

& also happy one-year book-a-versary to ME and also to Jenny, Luc, Zillah and the many other devilish characters of THE DARK WITHIN US, which came out exactly 365 days ago today!

It has been a peculiar, but mostly joyful, year; full of book signings, panel discussions, and bookish events at which I’ve had the honour and the delight of meeting the coolest readers, the best booksellers and, of course, incredible new writerly friends from all across the country (and in some cases, across the world!)

To celebrate, I am running a special giveaway until the 8th August 2025 over on Instagram and TikTok (I’m on all the usual platforms as @jesspopps) - all you need to do is hit like on the giveaway video, repost it to your followers or your story (and if possible, drop me a message or a comment to let me know, so I can keep track of who’s on the list!).

The prize?

One unique, entirely hand-annotated copy of THE DARK WITHIN US, dedicated to you and including lots of behind-the-scenes thought processes, in-jokes and cultural references that make the book what it is. I will likely never annotate another copy quite like this, because it took SO MUCH TIME, but I hope wherever it lands, it’s of interest and maybe adds a little something to the reading experience.

Thank you so much to all the readers, event hosts and reviewers who have given the book your time and attention this year; you’re the point of all of this.