Winter has arrived in the warehouse, and none of us (mainly me, let's not pretend otherwise) are okay. The warehouse and I are currently engaged in a battle of wills, and so far the warehouse is winning.

As you likely know, Grim operates out of a warehouse. We really lean into the industrial chic styling: exposed rusting beams, concrete floors with decades' worth of paint, tyre marks and divots. Heaters and air conditioners from the building's creation in the 1960s—which definitely don't work—still hang above us as a constant reminder of what could have been. They're less climate control and more historical artefacts at this point.

It gives a strong Girl in a Garage vibe, and I am here for it... six months of the year.

The other six months of the year, I yearn for Woman in Warm Office.

Woman in Warm Office does not have to wear merino underwear and four-plus layers just to sit at her desk. Woman in Warm Office gets to wear beautiful trendy clothes. She glides across the warm room and gracefully sits at her desk like the elegant queen she is.

She has circulation in all ten fingers. She doesn't know how lucky she is.

Girl in a Garage wears two pairs of socks, merino underwear, long johns, thermals, sports bras (not for sport, but because sometimes the only thing standing between me and hypothermia is a vigorous round of warehouse aerobics), track pants, hoodies, jackets and gloves. She hunches over her desk like a gremlin, simply alternating which hand sits closer to the heater so she doesn't end up with one permanently frozen in a claw shape. Although that would probably speed up my book-unboxing times.

As much as I love being Girl in a Garage, every now and then I yearn for Woman in Warm Office vibes.

The perks of being a Girl in a Garage, however, are that I get to have fun with things like painting the exterior of my building to shout a little louder: "HEY. THERE ARE COOL THINGS OVER HERE."

On that note, I got to use the scissor lift after the wonderful maintenance team took pity on my ladder usage. Holy shit balls. It was exciting. It was thrilling. It was terrifying in an "I can't afford to replace this if I break it" kind of way.

I also get to build and install beautiful new bookcases in my office area and display some of the stunning editions Grim has sold over its 18 months (above image!). And I get to have a fire pole from the second level because I fluttered my eyelashes enough times at my husband. Frankly, this feels like a better investment than insulation.

If you haven't seen the 30-second reel of what was actually over two hours of putting books on bookcases, I suggest you go troll through our Instagram. It is aesthetically pleasing in many ways.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I did want to stop at the one-and-a-half-hour mark, but Matthew (honouring his Virgo self) pushed us through to completion.

Outside of freezing my tits off, my kiddos finally succumbed to their first winter illness. How we made it this far into June before we did is a Christmas miracle, but we shall not dwell on that too much in anticipation that karma will inevitably catch up with us later in the year.

As horrible as this is going to make me sound as a mother, there is something soul-warming about your four-year-old—who can't sit still for more than five minutes—wanting to do nothing but snuggle on the couch all day under blankets watching Disney movies.

It's amazing how quickly "Mum, watch this!" transforms into "Mum, don't move for six hours."

So I took one for the team and sacrificed my work days, staying home with him and teaching him the joys of KPop Demon Hunters, Tangled (my favourite), Aladdin, and comfort food.

And for those of you on wall watch from my last newsletter—still no walls. 😉

But do you know what does have walls? The new golf simulator going into the office.

Apparently, golf simulation walls are considered a higher priority than walls in our house. I have questions, but unfortunately they echo around my wall-less home and remain unanswered.

Anyway, that's enough from me before I start another argument about walls.

WE'VE BEEN NOMINATED! 🖤

We have some pretty exciting news... The Grimoire has been nominated for the Spark Retail NZ People's Choice Award! 

Honestly, we're still a little bit in shock. We have absolutely no idea who nominated us, but whoever you are... thank you. It means the world to our little team that someone thought we were worthy of putting us forward.

Voting is now open, and we'd absolutely love your support! If The Grimoire has been your happy place, helped you discover your next favourite read, or simply fuelled your special edition obsession, we'd be so grateful if you could VOTE FOR US HERE.

We're crossing everything we've got that our incredible GRIM fam will get behind us and help us bring this one home.

Behind the Pages | Bookish Updates

News

Sarah A. Parker joined us earlier today!

She chatted, signed books, and talked about the important things in life, such as her favourite childhood candy.

I don't think there will be enough time to write about it before this newsletter heads out, so keep an eye on our socials for all the updates.

July Releases to Get Amped About

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me: We are almost sold out of our first drop (which is exciting for you and mildly stressful for me), with a restock hitting our shelves in October.

He Who Fights With Monsters: For those currently nursing a Dungeon Crawler Carl hangover and wondering what on earth to do with themselves next.

A Forsaken Prophecy: The sequel to Australian author Stacey McEwan's A Forbidden Alchemy. We've got both the sprayed-edge paperback and the US deluxe hardcover because apparently choosing between editions wasn't difficult enough already.

Daggermouth: Daggermouth blew up the indie world, and people all over the world are salivating over the special editions – what is your favourite: the UK or US edition?

Court of Ravens and Ruins: Another previously indie-published, turned-traditional series. I read this series when it was first released years ago and I LOVED IT! I loved it so much that I went through and read the author's entire back catalogue like an addict looking for their next hit. If you haven't read anything by this author, well, here's your homework! And yes—they're on KU too.

Releases Coming in Hot This July!

Thank You Grim Fam!

Thanks for spending another month with us in this wonderfully bookish corner of the internet. We hope your TBR grows only slightly faster than you can read it, your special editions arrive in perfect condition, and your next five-star read finds you sooner rather than later.

Until next time, keep collecting stories, supporting the authors you love, and embracing a little literary chaos.

Anastasia
Book Nerd & Founder of The Grimoire