Issue 23

Happy fall! I’m currently off deadline for the first time since May! I’ve been spending my break brainstorming a historical fantasy novella and crocheting a hat. I have never crocheted a hat before—I actually haven’t crocheted in years and had completely forgotten how. It feels good to do something creative that I do not have to be good at and cannot (or at least will not) monetize.

Other recent things: I’m taking an aerial silks class, which is something I’ve wanted to try for years, and I’m having a great time. I also chopped off all my hair and now have a pixie cut for the first time in my life. TBD whether I will maintain it (it might be too many haircuts, too often), but after an initial panic at it not behaving as expected, I quite like it.

All this to say: I’m trying to embrace the new, the low-pressure, the exploratory. I struggle with feeling like I must be good at everything I try, and I’m working on shucking that idea and just letting myself be.

Case in point: ¾ of the way through crocheting said hat, I realized it was just a bit too small, to the point where I would be frustrated every time I wore it, and unraveled the whole thing to start over. Sad to do—but this way I get an end result I actually love and use, and really it’s just loops of yarn.

I’m sure there’s a metaphor in there about writing.

News

I’ve joined the Writers Against Hunger campaign with Feed America. No one should have to go hungry, especially not in a country as wealthy as the USA. If you have a couple dollars (or euros, or pounds, etc) to spare to help me reach my fundraising goal, you can chip in here.

As a bonus, anyone who donates $10 or more will get a sneak peek of the novella I’m working on… more on that below!

Writing updates

In October, I finished and turned in the initial draft (not the first draft I wrote, but the first my editors have seen) of adult fantasy rom com #2. I am now anxiously waiting to hear my editors’ thoughts. Hopefully I will be able to share more about this book soon, but for now I’m keeping it very close to the chest while I wait for notes.

I’ve also just turned in my second round of edits for This Treacherous Night! This round of developmental edits was quite light by comparison to the first. It’s also the last round of developmental edits—so in other words, this book has almost reached its final form!

I’ve also been working on edits and art for the Enter Here anthology. We’re getting close to production time! This part will be new for me, and I’m excited to put it all together. The stories are so good, y’all.

And finally, I’m working on a novella as a side project while I wait for the next round of editorial notes. If you support the fundraiser above, I’ll share a sneak peek once I’ve written more! For now, I’ll share that it’s a historical fantasy set in California in 1853, in the same universe I’ve written in once before (although that book has yet to be published!), and it involves mythical creatures, mining, and a dash of romance. I am having so much fun doing research for it!

If that sounds like a busy month to you… yes, you’d be absolutely correct! I’m enjoying a bit of a breather at the moment, though, and the novella feels like refilling the well since it’s a project with zero pressure attached.

Also, This Treacherous Night has reached 100 adds on Goodreads, an arbitrary number that gave me an excuse to share character art. Thank you so much to everyone who’s added it! Here is the art, and as a bonus for you wonderful subscribers, a snippet from the scene it depicts (the first lines I’ve ever shared from this book!) featuring our main character being oblivious and some character dynamics. I hope you enjoy them—I’ve never shared a snippet via newsletter before, so if you like it and want more please let me know!

Events and appearances

My episode with The Mythic Mic podcast is out! I think this was the most fun I’ve ever had doing an interview. You can give it a listen here!

Additionally, the recording of the panel I did on humor in fantasy romance is now up and free to watch on YouTube! I had a great time doing this one with some of my favorite authors (an absolute “pinch me” moment).

Crafty Corner

Rather than a craft topic, I thought it might be fun to share a bit about how the cover of Behooved came together behind the scenes this month!

There’s a common belief that authors don’t get any control over their cover if they’re traditionally published, but I was actually much more involved than I expected to be and am thrilled with the final result. Here’s more or less how it went!

Sometimes fairly soon after the deal was finalized, my editors asked me if I had any cover thoughts I’d like to share. Being the overprepared person I am, I’d already put together an entire slideshow of my thoughts on covers, which I sent along to them. It included things like color palettes I liked, examples of covers I liked and disliked (with explanations or why—that part was critical!), and symbolic motifs in the book. I also included a design concept—because of the day/night transformation, I suggested having a mirrored cover with a day/night scene (and, of course, the horse/man dichotomy). Which, to my delight, Bramble immediately approved!

From there, my editors came back and suggested a cover artist—actually one of the artists whose covers I’d included on my slideshow (obviously in the category of covers I liked). The artist was Kelly Chong, who I actually hadn’t realized was the artist for multiple of my favorite covers. Obviously I said yes to their suggestion! And then waited anxiously until they confirmed Kelly was available.

Next Kelly sent in two rough sketches, both of which were variations on the day/night concept. I picked my favorite, and my publishers agreed with the choice. We then got a color sketch of that illustration. The initial version was a bit too dark in tone and atmosphere, giving the wrong impression of the book, so the publisher and I sent back notes for a revision (as in, I sent mine to my editor and the marketing team sent their own comments separately—I do not know exactly what they said). Fortunately, once again we were in close agreement!

From there I was sent a revised color sketch, which was extremely close to what ended up being the final. I asked for a few more minor changes (apparently, among other things, I’m very picky about swords). The marketing team at Bramble disagreed with one of my requests (I’d asked to make the day/night division a little less sharp), but the rest of the changes were made without issue. And from there, I was sent both the final art and the cover version that appears on the book itself!

I’m not really a happy crier, but seeing an official cover with my name on it was definitely a moment I came close.

I haven’t been asked for any cover thoughts for This Treacherous Night yet, but I’m ready to go with another slideshow when we get there—I expect it will be soon! I actually didn’t think I’d have strong cover opinions before going through the process, since I’ve never been someone who can visualize a cover for my books, but it was a surprisingly informative exercise identifying what I like and don’t.

Is there a craft or publishing topic you’d like me to cover? Hit reply or leave a comment!

Book recommendation

This month’s book rec is Voidwalker by S.A. Maclean! It’s got a bi4bi monster romance, it’s got smuggling and heists, it’s got delightful banter and immaculate aesthetics—overall, it’s a super fun book, and its almost 600(!) pages flew by. Which is saying something, since lately my reading attention span has been deeply lacking. (Side note: kudos to authors who can write books this long, because I would cry if I had to edit that many pages.)

To see all my newsletter recommendations, visit the full list here!

Until next time!

~M.