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Kate Armstrong

@katejarmstrong.bsky.social
935 followers 452 following 161 posts

Memoir ‘I AM HERE: On Staying Alive’ coming 21st January. Available to pre-order now. linktr.ee/beyondthemountain

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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Happy to belay you any time.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
???
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
My memoir ‘I AM HERE: On Staying Alive’ will be out on 21st January. It’s available to pre-order now.
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Reposted by Kate Armstrong
The Alpine Club @alpineclub.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
We have up to £3,000 in funding available for academics, writers and other creatives carrying out research into alpinism, mountaineering and the mountain environment in 2027. Applications close on 1 December, so you have just 8 weeks to submit your application. Details here ➡️ tinyurl.com/5cxa9hyc
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
(Refound my account!)
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
I was astonished when my mark up from my editor came back in the post, in pencil - but it made going through it feel remarkably relaxed and old-school.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Feels a long time since I was workshopping the synopsis at Birkbeck...
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
I’m doing well, thanks. A day at a time, and all of that.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Ronan! - this has only just popped up in my feed. Congrats. There’s a Birkbeck-Bridport pipeline, it seems… (I won runner up for memoir last year, and anotjer Birkbeck alum did the same the year before.) Hope the querying is going well.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
I went to visit my favourite London one yesterday, and found it already over. (Definitely tulip season here now.)
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
After three and a half months, my book is currently back with my editor (hooray). I now have a fortnight off from it. Yesterday I lolled around. Today I’ve been for a run in the sunshine, and am people-watching/tree inspecting on the Southbank with a novel I’ve fancied for a while. And breathe.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Really enjoyed this, by @snowhydro.bsky.social - on bodies, how they change, and how we can move with that:
psyche.co
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Not the snowy scenes that friends are sharing from Scotland and the Lakes, but I also went out hunting for vitamin D yesterday and found it in the North Downs, until inevitably the sun went down and I discovered that nowadays I’m actually pretty comfortable walking in the woods alone after dark.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
V keen to read the Sara Baume.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never been to Cornwall!
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
The 8th installment of all that’s going on as my memoir moves along the conveyor belt towards publication in Jan '27. This time it’s the confrontation between the rhythms of writing and those of publishing, and what it feels like to be caught between the two. open.substack.com/pub/exposure...
open.substack.com
The shift to having deadlines
Obviously I knew that putting my book onto the publishing conveyor belt would mean the appearance of deadlines.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
I recently spent 3 months listening to War And Peace as my bedtime audiobook. It was glorious. (Now on Middlemarch.)
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
I somehow missed this at the time, and am v glad to be pointed towards it now. All hail the articles about anxiety (or depression, or [insert other mental health diagnosis]) that don’t posit a miracle redemptive cure.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
I requested (and received) a bird watching guide from my mother-in-law for Christmas - as a bid to start looking more closely and thereby reducing a bit of stress.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Thanks for sharing!
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
As promised: publishing a memoir is known for messing with writers’ heads. Here’s how I’m trying to prepare for that in advance. (My memoir’s due out in Jan 2027.) #booksky #memoir #writingcommunity
open.substack.com
Psychological prep for publishing a memoir
(Part one. Of many)
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Apparently publishing a memoir can really mess with your head. Newsletter coming later today on how I’m trying to prepare for that - and for smooth delivery you can subscribe here to receive it: Exposurememoir.Substack.com/subscribe #booksky #writingcommunity #memoir #mentalhealth
exposurememoir.su
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
I dread to think what my hourly rate would be if I factored in the hours spent writing the book. Some things it is better not to know.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Musing on books contracts - and how (unexpectedly, and surprisingly unglamorously) signing mine has had a lot of similarities with getting a traditional part-time job. #writingcommunity #memoir
open.substack.com
Signing a book contract is basically getting a job
I hadn’t expected this.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Such a wonderful thing to have been involved with.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
In a better stat (i.e., true and frankly astonishing, if not about books) The Economist points out that there are only 33m passenger train journeys per year in the US, against 1.7b in the UK.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Boom. (She says, failing to find a decent pun in return.)
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Process of publishing my memoir, post two: editor emailed to say we’re now on a one-year countdown. Here’s how we’ve got to this point: exposurememoir.substack.com/p/how-weve-g... #writingcommunity #memoir
exposurememoir.substack.com
How we’ve got to here
Or: what’s been usual, and what has not.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
I don’t believe that P&P number.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Hooray!
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
Thank you! (I know your standards are high, so I’m very pleased with this.)
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
I’ve definitely earned it.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
I have edited two chapters this morning (mini-edits, it has to be said), and am now eating a vat of beef stew. If I run 5k later as well, then I have officially won 2026.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
If you want to read, you can find the first post here: exposurememoir.substack.com/p/welcome-to... If you like the sound of it, do feel free to share.
exposurememoir.substack.com
Welcome to Exposure...
...where I'm tracking the process of publishing a memoir
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
… to ensure my own continued mental stability as I put a very personal story out into the world. I've started up a newsletter specifically to share this process. It's called 'Exposure'. It's designed for writers. It's going to be pretty technical…
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
For the writers among you (or the writing-interested): I'm finding the process of publishing my memoir fascinating. Working with a big publisher for the first time. Going through the editing process. Upcoming discussions about publicity, covers. Thinking through the personal psychological prep…
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
Happy birthday Ronan. Wishing you an excellent second half-century to come.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Not mountains. Instead, London winter beaches at their best.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 09/11/2025
On that basis I’m on 3,650 kms a year. How’s your Achilles doing?
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 05/11/2025
Okay, October, you were pretty good.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Two hands in the air, waving; rest of person on the ground: The corner did not go well.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
I’ve recently started spending writing time in the foyer of the National Theatre. It’s not mountains, obviously, but somehow the textures, solidity, lines, height offer something akin.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Glad I’m not the only one who needs to lie down for 48 hours after a really good writing day…
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
Congratulations, and what a beautiful place.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 29/10/2025
My very wonderful mother-in-law periodically sends me newspaper cuttings she thinks I might like. Here’s the most recent, and frankly gorgeous, selection, with Jannu East taking centre stage.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Thank you!
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Thanks very much. I'm extremely pleased.
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Insufficient space here to say it in detail - BUT - the high level is that I’ve just signed a book deal: My memoir of ‘grief, collapse, recovery and big mountains’ will be published by Chatto & Windus (part of PRH) in Jan/Feb 2027. I’m ecstatic. (Here’s one of the mountains.)
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
Thanks!
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Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 18/10/2025
Exciting day out today at the prize giving for the @bridportprize Memoir Award where I won runner up back in March. Lesson for life: always prepare a mini-speech for this type of event, or you’ll get caught on the hop, be over-caffeinated, be fazed by the stage lighting, and will gabble.
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