Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 13/10/2026My memoir ‘I AM HERE: On Staying Alive’ will be out on 21st January. It’s available to pre-order now. 031
Reposted by Kate ArmstrongThe Alpine Club @alpineclub.bsky.social · 05/10/2026We 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 0613
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 01/06/2026I 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. 020
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 06/05/2026Feels a long time since I was workshopping the synopsis at Birkbeck... 110
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 05/05/2026I’m doing well, thanks. A day at a time, and all of that. 100
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 05/05/2026Ronan! - 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. 100
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 25/03/2026I went to visit my favourite London one yesterday, and found it already over. (Definitely tulip season here now.) 010
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 17/03/2026After 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. 020
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 06/03/2026Really enjoyed this, by @snowhydro.bsky.social - on bodies, how they change, and how we can move with that:psyche.co 133
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 15/02/2026Not 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. 030
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 13/02/2026I’m embarrassed to say I’ve never been to Cornwall! 110
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 13/02/2026The 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.comThe shift to having deadlinesObviously I knew that putting my book onto the publishing conveyor belt would mean the appearance of deadlines. 020
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 09/02/2026I recently spent 3 months listening to War And Peace as my bedtime audiobook. It was glorious. (Now on Middlemarch.) 020
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 09/02/2026I 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. 010
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 01/02/2026I 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. 020
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 30/01/2026As 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 #writingcommunityopen.substack.comPsychological prep for publishing a memoir(Part one. Of many) 172
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 28/01/2026Apparently 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 #mentalhealthexposurememoir.su 060
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 26/01/2026I 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. 110
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 26/01/2026Musing 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 #memoiropen.substack.comSigning a book contract is basically getting a jobI hadn’t expected this. 120
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 16/01/2026Such a wonderful thing to have been involved with. 010
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 08/01/2026In 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. 010
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 07/01/2026Boom. (She says, failing to find a decent pun in return.) 110
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 07/01/2026Process 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 #memoirexposurememoir.substack.comHow we’ve got to hereOr: what’s been usual, and what has not. 020
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/01/2026Thank you! (I know your standards are high, so I’m very pleased with this.) 010
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/01/2026I 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. 120
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/01/2026If 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.comWelcome to Exposure......where I'm tracking the process of publishing a memoir 132
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… 120
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/01/2026For 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… 140
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 27/12/2025Happy birthday Ronan. Wishing you an excellent second half-century to come. 010
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 27/11/2025Not mountains. Instead, London winter beaches at their best. 140
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 09/11/2025On that basis I’m on 3,650 kms a year. How’s your Achilles doing? 120
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/11/2025Two hands in the air, waving; rest of person on the ground: The corner did not go well. 010
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 04/11/2025I’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. 050
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 03/11/2025Glad I’m not the only one who needs to lie down for 48 hours after a really good writing day… 000
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 02/11/2025Congratulations, and what a beautiful place. 110
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 29/10/2025My 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. 040
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 23/10/2025Insufficient 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.) 160
Kate Armstrong @katejarmstrong.bsky.social · 18/10/2025Exciting 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. 180