Here in the Finger Lakes, it is finally spring. I’m really excited for flowers, good weather for going running, and to get back on the water—after my sailing lessons last summer, I’m very eager to get a lot of practice in! I have a refresher lesson this week that I’m really looking forward to to start things off.

May is going to be a busy month because on top of several events, we’re supposed to be closing on a house at the end of this month! Please send good energy that everything goes smoothly. I should have an update in the next edition!

I have a bunch of exciting stuff to share this month, so I’ll get right to it. As always, thank you for reading and subscribing!

This month is the one year anniversary of Behooved! It feels simultaneously like my debut came out ages ago and like no time at all has passed. It’s been a wonderful debut year with so many author dreams I never thought I’d achieve—and I am so, so grateful to every reader and bookseller who has made that possible. With all my heart, thank you for being here and for loving Aric and Bianca!

Speaking of Behooved, the UK paperback edition is releasing this month! It’s pretty and pink and I’m very excited for it. My author copies have arrived and they are gorgeous! If you’d like to snag this edition for yourself, it should be available at any UK retailer, and Blackwells ships free internationally for non-UK-based readers. (Their books are often cheaper than the US version, too.) Or keep reading for your chance at a signed copy…

The Bookbinder & the Thief is up for preorder! The US edition should now be live wherever you get your books; the UK version is coming soon. We also have an official release date: February 9! (Save your receipts if you preorder! It’ll be a bit before I announce details, but there will be a preorder campaign.) It’s also available to add on Goodreads!

Of Plagues and Blasphemy releases tomorrow. If you’d like to grab a copy and read my sapphic medieval horror short, you can do so here! I got my author copy and it’s beautiful! It never gets old seeing my words in print.

And now, most excitingly:

I’m super excited to announce that I have a book coming out this year! Surprise—I’m publishing a craft book! It’s called It Depends: an author’s practical guide to debut year. It releases in ebook and paperback August 25th (of this year). Here’s the full description!

My hope is that this book will be a valuable resource for any authors with an upcoming traditionally published release—especially debuts! It’s basically the result of me taking notes on what all the most common debut year questions are (and I do mean all) and writing up detailed answers. It’s the book I wish I’d had before getting a book deal.

I’d be super grateful if you help spread the word and/or add it on Goodreads or StoryGraph! Preorder links are also starting to go live—right now the ebook is available on Amazon!

The cover is by Jess at Limberlost Creative. It’s been so much fun brainstorming with her to bring it to fruition, and if you’re looking for a cover of your own, she’s taking clients! I’m so thrilled with how it turned out and how she turned my rambling thoughts into a beautiful, cohesive vision.

Most of my energy and time in April was taken up with drafting This Ruthless Day (the sequel to This Treacherous Night and the conclusion to the duology). The book continues to be a huge struggle. I’ve had some fun moments, but also a lot of despair over how far it is from the beautiful, perfect sequel I envisioned. But I finished the first draft! Yay! Now I have something to work with, even if that something is a disaster.

I’m now doing a complete rewrite of the draft, start to finish. I still have awhile before it’s due to my editor, fortunately, so hopefully I can figure out how to fix it all by then.

I did another round of revision on It Depends (this is the craft book I’ve previously mentioned working on), incorporating beta reader notes, and then line edited it and sent it to my copy editor. Next steps are finalizing the interior files once I have my copy edits back!

I didn’t work on either The Bookbinder & the Thief or This Treacherous Night last month, because both books are back with my respective publishing teams—but I will be doing copy edits and pass pages for them soon!

I also avoided edits entertained myself by dabbling with a few side projects for fun this month—a new novella and an attempt at writing a song for a book. I’m really enjoying letting myself play with novellas as a fun outlet, and I’m excited to tell you my plans for them soon! (Hint: if you like free books, stick around!)

I have three events coming up—all free to attend!

On May 9 at 4:45pm, I’ll be on a Spring Writes panel “Writing through the Hard Times: fantasy, YA, & romance authors discuss finding joy, catharsis and survival through writing.” Spring Writes is an annual literary festival in Ithaca, NY. Details and registration on the website!

On June 19 at 5pm, I’ll be discussing getting a book deal at Protagonist Books in Dryden, NY.

In July, I’ll be participating in the annual virtual WriteHive conference! I’ll be on a panel talking about healthy agent-author relationships. I don’t believe the schedule is live quite yet, but mark your calendars for July 10-12!

I now have 20 (!!) copies of the gorgeous UK paperback edition of Behooved—which is frankly too many for my shelf. So I’m giving two away to newsletter subscribers! To enter, just enter your email in the form below. Open internationally!

I’m happy to sign and/or personalize the copies, too! I’ll be reaching out to winners before the end of the month and will leave the form open for a week or so.

This month’s book recommendation is The Killing Spell by Shay Kauwe, which I already know is going to be one of my favorite reads of the year. It’s billed as a fantasy murder mystery, but I found it to have more of an urban fantasy flavor, complete with ballroom scenes, lots of action, and a pretty epic duel featuring language spells (I’m still cackling at how it ended). The magic system is based on language and the author is Hawaiian. It’s both clever and super enjoyable!

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