On Exploration, Community, and More

Bonus: Free video game access inside!

I’ve always loved autumn; my birthday kicks off the freedom from the sweltering hot summer months; the leaves start to fall; everything from peppermint coffee to warm sweaters creates a coziness for the lovely gray days outside.

Lately, through a combination of deadlines and desperation, the fall has been a frantic time for me. I wrote the entirety of The Princess and the Scoundrel during fall of last year, and the year before that I was wrapping up the fourth novel I drafted in one year, and the year before that I was adjusting with my family in new medical conditions, and…well…much as I love fall, it’s not really been a peaceful time lately.

I’m so thrilled that will be changing this fall. I’ll be taking a hiatus in November—and I’ll be fleeing the country to ensure that I actually get some rest, haha. I’m going on a trip to Europe which, yes, is partially to research for a book, but also a way to step out of the constant pressure to create content for immediate consumption, at least for a month.

Join me on social media where, if I have cell service, I’ll be posting trip pictures and videos as I journey from Paris to Prague, cutting through the heart of Europe. I’ll likely try to post on TikTok and Instagram, but I’m frankly not sure of what I’ll be able to post and when.

(As a caveat, I feel obliged to say that while this is a huge trip, I was only able to afford it through a combination of luck, carefully tracking discounts, and taking on an overtime work-for-hire job I hated. I feel like often people assume writers are rolling in wealth, and this trip feels uncomfortably close to pretending to be that when the very opposite is true. This is not a whim, but a year in the making through careful and strategic sacrifices. I opted to go on a trip rather than own a dishwasher, lol.)

I’m hoping that this trip is refreshing and revitalizing in a way my soul has needed; travel is where I am happiest. I’m currently most excited about seeing Trier, the setting for the book I wrote with Sara Raasch, Night of the Witch, coming next fall, but also very, very stoked to finally be visiting Kutna Hora’s Sedlec Ossuary.

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A Haunted Reading

Recently, I started writing for StoryLoom, the people behind the wildly popular and fun video game app, Choices: Stories You Play. StoryLoom is a unique, interactive storytelling video game (you can read online or mobile). As the story unfolds, you can make choices determining where the characters go and what they uncover.

My story on the app is called “Ghost in the Machine,” and it’s about a girl who slowly becomes obsessed with a YouTube star who may or may not be haunted by a poltergeist. Is the star doing it for fame as she launches a new brand? Or is this an actual case of a haunting happening on Live social media? Perfect timing for Halloween!

StoryLoom is still in beta, and every author on the team only gets to invite thirty readers per month. Everything’s free—you don’t need a credit card or anything to sign up—but you do have to have permission to access. If you’d like to join in, just fill out this Google Form and note that the author referring you is me, Beth Revis. The first thirty people to sign up with my name get free access to the beta launch of the game.

It’s going to go wider in the coming months, so if you miss out, don’t worry—but I think the platform is a lot of fun, and I foresee this becoming something like a video-game version of Wattpad (with a stronger emphasis on original fic) in the future, so if you’re even a little curious, check it out now! The Google form is super easy, and if you don’t get on immediately, you have another shot in a week when November rolls around.

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TONIGHT: “The Writer as Human Series” in a discussion on “Navigating the Unknown”

Join me tonight with Gold Leaf Literary and a discussion on navigating the unknown in a part of a special series casting humanity on writing!

You can find out more information and register for this special class here!

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Catch Up Now to Join In Later

One of the highlights of the year has been the community we’ve built around Museum of Magic. What started out as an experiment—one I wasn’t sure I’d succeed in accomplishing—has turned into a fantastic group of people who I look forward to chatting with each week as the story unfolds around us.

With the upcoming travel and the end of Museum of Magic officially posting on October 30th, now is the perfect time for you to join us. I will not be posting anything new in November at all, so you’re welcome to hop on and read everything to get the complete story, and then you’ll be primed for the sequel release in December, one chapter a time, done in the same interactive style. Beyond just reading, I want you to join the community! Follow the book as it develops one episode at a time, vote on the outcomes of the character choices, and influence the story!

You can read the entire story right now on Kindle Vella, with the epilogue posting on October 30. BUT you can ALSO read the entire story on Patreon…and the month of November is free. Because I’m taking a hiatus for that month, I will not be charging any Patreon for November. Feel free to sign up, use the whole month to peruse Patreon and determine if it’s for you, and if it’s not, you can disconnect before being charged in December. But if you like it, know that there are tiers as low as $2 a month, and that beyond just getting the full text of Museum of Magic and the sequel as it develops, there’s also the full text of Blood and Feathers and The Future Collection available for download for your e-reader, as well as monthly posts on writing and other bonuses—such as coupon codes and first access to things—that happen periodically.

Bascially:

If you are a reader who really wants to participate in the interactiveness of the community around Museum of Magic and get to vote and discuss with this really fun book development, join Patreon right now to get the full text of the book for free and catch up in time for December’s launch of the first episode of the sequel.

Or:

If you’re a writer who’s ever wanted to watch a story develop in front of your eyes the same way you can watch an artist Bob-Ross through a painting and who also wants weekly posts going into high detail on the nitty-gritty of being an author (with practical, actionable advice on both the craft of writing and the business side of publishing), now’s the perfect time to scroll through the archives for free and see if it’s worth your while.

(And, of course, is Patreon isn’t your thing, you can still easily access the story via Kindle Vella, or pre-order the ebook now on Amazon! Paperback and non-Amazon links will be coming soon.)

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A Little About Fate

Last week, I had a super fun Instagram Live session with fellow author Andrea Hannah—you can see the replay here. Andrea did a star chart reading for both me AND my book, which was fascinating. I’ll let you watch the video for yourself, but one thing that I found amazing was that Andrea kept emphasizing how the stars aligned for the building of community—which really is what I hoped to do the most in the past few years, whether it be in the form of Wordsmith or building an interactive novel with you all.

At the end of the session, Andrea drew a card for me—the Four of Cups. Then, in a twist of fate that I’ll never be able to prove because who would believe me?!—I picked up my own tarot cards, which I’d shown during the video, and they slipped out of my hands, spilling out on my computer. I was in shock—the card at the top of the deck was the Four of Cups, the same card Andrea had just drawn.

(I did spread out the four spilled cards a bit to show them, full disclosure, but this is the picture I snapped immediately after.)

The Four of Cup is a card of optimism, with new relationships, excitement, and a positive turn of events on the horizon. Which, of course, I hope means that the book my agent is currently reading becomes a blockbuster that sells so well I get to buy a castle/haunted house and you all can come and visit me and we’ll have a party together. (By party, I mean a quiet time in the reading room where we introverts can eat cookies and drink coffee and pet puppies and kittens.)

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Book Recommendation

With a big flight on my horizon, I’ve been stockpiling books to read on the plane. Top of the list is Scott Tracey’s newest book, The Final Girls, which is perfect for a creepy Halloween read!

A vicious supernatural killer methodically hunts and murders seven friends during what was supposed to be a fun-filled weekend at a fancy ski lodge. It sounds like a classic horror movie, but this is Nicole's real life. Against all odds, she fights back and emerges as the sole survivor.

She is the Final Girl.

Enter Jordan Grey. A Final Girl who has spent the last twenty years standing up for survivors like Nicole, steps in to help her navigate the horrific aftermath of surviving a monster the rest of the world can't understand. In addition to her help, she offers Nicole a safe place to heal. A sanctuary known as the Parlor, a halfway home for the Final Girls under her care. There Nicole meets a group of girls who know exactly what she’s been through.

Except it seems none of their nightmares are over yet. Strange events begin to haunt each of the girls, bringing back memories of their own hard-fought victories, and questions begin to rise. Has Nicole’s monster followed her to Jordan’s sanctuary? Or is there something darker hunting all of the Final Girls until none remain?

Doesn’t it sound like a cool twist on a horror movie?! It’s giving Mira Grant meets Grady Hendrix, and I can’t wait to dive in!! It’s on a super ebook sale right now, plus it’s free for Kindle Unlimited readers, so grab it right now!

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What I’m working on now…

• Museum of Magic, a YA fantasy with witches and witch bottles. Available on Patreon and Kindle Vella.

• Secret adult science fiction project: complete draft, waiting on agent feedback.

• Night of the Witch: Moving on to copy-edits soon.

• YA ghost story: Still trying to find the right opening.

• “Ghost in the Machine,” an interactive story told on the StoryLoom video game platform: Chapters 1-4 published. Read now! (If you have beta access.)

• Side gigs!

  • Weekly posts and videos about writing at Patreon

  • SNHU as an online adjunct in the MFA writing program

  • Accepting critique and coaching jobs with Wordsmith Workshops—in addition to doing Word Lab in person retreats!

  • Actively doing in-person school, library, and book fair events—book me for panels, signings, and workshops for both adults and teens on writing! If you’d like to get an idea of some of the programming I do, I describe it a bit here.