One Book Launched & Another Announced

It has been an eventful week!

Keep reading to find out all about my next book, a Fall 2023 book coming from Sourcebooks that I hope you’re as excited about as I am!

My life this week was dominated by the long anticipated release of The Princess and the Scoundrel!

I know I’ve been writing about this book a lot, but wow has it been a balm to my troubled soul, and I hope that it can be a joy for you all as well! If you’re still on the fence about it, please know that this story includes:

• Kissing, and a lot of it

• Drunk Ewoks

• Leia losing her temper

• Han putting on something other than that damn vest

• A lizard that crashes a wedding

• A very tense sabacc game

• Someone who tests Han’s last nerve and also showcases my opinion on whether or not Han shot first (spoiler: he did)

• Banter!

• Bickering!

• More kissing!

• An ice moon with crystal palaces and underwater marvels

• Leia nearly exploding everything

• Space battles!

Basically, this book is just a lot of fun. It was a delight to write, and it hope it’s a delight to read. There’s a lot of Star Wars stuff that’s about hope, but this is a book that goes a little past hope, into the realm of joy.

Speaking of joy, Entertainment Weekly debuted this gorgeous piece of art showcasing the joy and beauty of Han and Leia’s wedding, illustrated by artist Geneva Bowers.

Isn’t it dreamy?! I’ve held off on emailing this newsletter in part because….there may be even more coming. Check out my social media to be sure to see the next thing coming!

Me, at Malaprops, with a big ol’ rack of books, all signed and ready to ship!

Buy Links:

• Signed copy from Adventure Bound (they ship!)

  • Note--come see me this Saturday in Morganton, NC at Adventure Bound!

• Signed copy from Malaprops (they ship!)

• BN Excusive edition with special poster inside

• All other retailers available here

• I’m also going to be dropping by the WNC Barnes and Noble stores as time allows; follow my social media to find more! As of Wednesday, there were about a dozen signed copies at the BN on Tunnel Road in Asheville.

Events:

• Saturday, August 20: 12-2pm, at Adventure Bound Books in Morganton, NC

• Sunday, August 21: 3pm until end, at the Plott Library, 47 Gazebo Court in Canton, NC

  

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NEW BOOK NEWS!!!

I’m thrilled!!!!!!! to tell you about the new book I’ve got coming out! During the pandemic, I connected with NY Times bestselling author and general bad-ass Sara Raasch. We had both written historical books, but neither of our historical books dealt with witches, and we lamented about how cool it would be to explore witch trials, particularly the one in Trier. And then, as we were talking about how much we wanted to write a book about witch trials…

It clicked.

We could write a book about the Trier witch trials.

Together.

And then….

We did.

We wrote the book during the height of the pandemic, using obscure historical maps, Google Street View, and more to get a feel of the land. Meanwhile, in a stroke of huge luck, I ended up getting a chance to go with my mother as her plus-one on a trip to Germany. While we didn’t get to go to Trier on the tour, we did get to go to the Black Forest…and I was able to walk through the snowy Black Forest with the knowledge that Fritzi and Otto had just sold in auction, finding a home with Sourcebooks, a publisher Sara and I both truly wished from the start we could be with.

I think you can see the barely restrained joy and the secrets behind my eyes here. Night of the Witch starts at the beginning of advent—meaning our witch and witch hunter go through the Christkindlemarkt!—and having the snow start to gently fall on my shoulders as I stood among the towering trees of the Black Forest…it was magical.

And so is this book.

Night of the Witch is going to be a story I talk about a lot between now and October 2023, when it’s released (the perfect time for a witchy book, no?). It’s about Otto, a witch hunter, assigned in part to take down Fritzi, a real life witch hiding in plain sight. It has all your favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, one bed, road tripping (past castles!), grumpy/sunshine, evil adorable demon child, and so much more! Plus?

The Bath Scene ™️

You are not ready for the bath scene.

Anyway! Add to GoodReads here!

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What I’m working on now…

• Museum of Magic, a YA fantasy with witches and witch bottles. A new chapter every week. Available on Patreon and Kindle Vella. Subscribe to my Crown Clubfor weekly reminders of the new chapters posted on Sunday and to be entered in give-aways!

• The Princess and the Scoundrel—out NOW!

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

• YA historical co-written fantasy: Now known as Night of the Witch and working on edits soon!

• YA ghost story: Lots of starts and stops as I find the footing for it.

• 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! Also, we’re starting live and in person retreats again!

  • 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.