A book out in paperback, a new preorder–let’s dive in!

What’s New

No official releases, and this is six months after Yampellec’s Idol came out–believe me, I am feeling the hit (I’ve not sold a single ebook yet in January on Kindle lol). But I don’t like to rush things, and if I bumped up the new book to now, I’d then have that big gap until Charon’s Gold comes out (which definitely won’t move up), so I’ll take the hit now rather than later.

That being said…actually the new book is out early for print readers!

Meet Norah and her cats in paperback or hardcover now!

Amidst the 2020 pandemic, Norah Sloane has been sheltering in place with her ex-boyfriend—the equivalent of three toddlers in a trench coat pretending to be an adult—who abruptly informs her he thinks she needs to move out. Coincidentally, her estranged father has just died and left his family’s home to her, and in a fit of defiant frustration, she packs her bags, her cats, and all the toilet paper, and drives five hours north to the tiny village of Hope Falls to claim her inheritance.

Selling the big, partially renovated old house during a global pandemic is out of the question, but the bills are paid for a few months to give her time to get on her feet. It’s the best solution, all things considered.

So what if it’s haunted?

What’s Upcoming

Dweller on the Threshold is out in ebook on April 5 and you can preorder everywhere: Kindle – Kobo – iBooks – Nook

Charon’s Gold, Livi #6, is also up for preorder, coming October 25: Kindle  –  Kobo  –  iBooks  –  Nook 

Livi Talbot is no longer the woman she once was.

She has suffered great loss. She has been betrayed.

And after failing to stop the greatest villain she has ever faced, she’s determined to never be blindsided again.

Her first priority is to rescue a suffering soul from the underworld itself. Though fellow adventurer Iluka Grantham is at her side to hunt down the gold coins that will allow her to cross the river Styx, entering the underworld through the deadly Pluto’s Gate in Turkey remans solely on her shoulders. Survival in the world of the dead isn’t guaranteed, even for Livi Talbot, and this journey will bring her face to face with her greatest failures, her biggest losses, and her inability to save those she loves.

And if she survives? The next goal is to go after every person responsible for the death that caused magic to bleed back into the human realm.

Even if they’re family.

Summer should see Witch Hunt get a paperback wide release and Hell Fire will start at Patreon. Elis gets arrested for one murder she didn’t commit, there’s some dimension-hopping with her growing misandrist girl gang, and shenanigans ensue.

March 2023 will also see the launch of Waverly Jones Mysteries with The Killing Beach! No preorder yet–those can’t be more than a year in advance–but it’s coming.

What I’m Working On

Hell Fire has to be my priority right now, though I also am working on the third Waverly Jones book, and a bunch of West POV stuff I’m readying for Patreon. I did manage to take most of December off after so many months of crazy productivity and I’m still pretty tired, though sticking to my Wednesdays and Saturday nights is a good way to ease into things.

Because the process of writing a book and publishing it takes so long–generally whatever you read from me I’ve written one to four years in advance–writers constantly have to be looking ahead. Even if a series end is three or more years away, there comes the question of what next? What should be in the pipeline?

So with Livi planning to end, and Elis ending right around the corner after that, I’m looking at what to fill my time with. Release-wise, I can then start scheduling Elis’s novels for ebook release (I decided I won’t consider doing so until the series is totally written), but writing-wise?

Waverly’s series will probably be six or seven books, and I need to stagger releases to have one every six months so I’ll need something to alternate with it. I’ve got a zombie apocalypse novel I want to write, and I might be good enough now to write the Nairobi Spy Trilogy that’s been in my head for several years though it’s also like a futuristic UF. And another post-apocalyptic dystopia thing circling my brain without landing yet.

But also…I kind of want to get out of writing UF?

I’ve spent so much time with the genre and I truly love it but, as a writer, it’s getting really frustrating how urban fantasy is conflated with paranormal romance. I have no problem with PNR! But it’s not what I write and I do not follow the genre conventions. I never will. Especially writing female protagonists and having a girly name like Skyla, I get put in that box no matter how careful I am to never label my books as that.

Some people sometimes getting involved and kissing does not equal genre Romance and HEAs. I want the freedom to write women who date but end up single. I want to kill off love interests. And I get tired of accusations and hatemail that I’ve misled romance readers when I’ve never advertised to them in the first place.

Tack onto that the issue with readers of self-pub books expecting all series to be swiftly churned out back to back and the amount of pressure that places on me–even knowing I can never be that kind of writer with the books I write–and I really don’t feel like this is the genre for me anymore.

I refuse to use a pen name (because fuck misogyny, that’s why). So I’m left wondering how things might go moving into other genres. I love domestic thrillers, mysteries, and horror–these are all things I’d enjoy writing more of. I’m curious how Waverly’s books will do and what the reception will be, and what genre expectations mystery readers will bring to the books. More standalones like The Silent Places or mysteries might definitely be in my future. And horror. Lots of horror.

I haven’t decided anything yet, but that’s where my thoughts are right now!

I hope y’all are staying safe and taking care out there.

This little monster is recovering nicely after having nine teeth removed two weeks ago! The surgery cost a little less than expected so there’s a chunk of money ready for his next emergency in “his” bank account. We have to stay on top of the dental stuff and he might need more out next year or the year after. Still got those big fangs, though, which he’s happy to bite me with.