It’s the end of the calendar year, and that means it’s time for a roundup of the year. Read on for what was published, what I’ve written, the extras shared this year, and what’s on the Patreon!
(more…)2024 in review
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Mysterious Fields is coming!
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Elemental Truth (out December 13th)
It’s my first trilogy! One romance – and substantial plot – playing out over three books. I’m so excited to share Thessaly and Vitus’s stories with you – along with everyone else in these novels.
This trilogy is about finding the difference between what you’re told to want and what you actually desire. It’s full of siblings making different choices about how to love and support their brother or sister (or in one case, not.) It’s about the patterns that families make and uphold – some much better for everyone than others. And it’s about falling in love, finding a way through the difficult times together, and coming out into the sun with hope for the future. And it’s about how the spirit of invention and experimentation brings both great delights – and new threats.
Oh, and it’s also full of Council politics, six deaths, and a wedding.
(more…)Victorian Albion
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I’ve written a few things set in the Victorian era (Forged in Combat takes place mostly in 1882 and Four Walls and a Heart in 1884). But with the Mysterious Fields trilogy, I got to spend quite a lot more time in the period. These three books are set between March of 1889 and June of 1890 (with the last chapter in October of that year).
In Character: Elizabeth Mason
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I adore Mason (everyone calls Elizabeth Mason that.) Her background and the role she has in my books has grown over the years.
In Character: Orion Sisley
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Welcome to our next character study piece, this time about Orion Sisley.
Orion is the stroppiest character I’ve ever written. He has good cause – especially in Illusion of a Boar when he’s coming out a completely horrific six months or so. For those not familiar with the term, it’s slang. The term became more common in the 80s, but is dated to use starting in 1943. It means rebellious, with an edge of ‘just plain difficult’, sometimes for baffling reasons. (Here’s the Etymology Online entry.)
This post contains plot spoilers for Illusion of a Boar, Orion’s romance. (Stop at “The War” of you want to avoid those.)
Cover Design: Mysterious Fields
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For the last of our current series of posts about cover design, it’s time to share the covers for the Mysterious Fields trilogy. I love the elements Augusta pulled together to evoke just the right feeling for these covers.
Overall design : Mysterious Fields
Because these three books form a tight continuous trilogy (unlike any of my other books!) we really wanted the covers to fit well together. All three have the same basic elements:
- Damask background (for the late Victorian feel)
- Appropriate clothing! Augusta worked off a number of reference images for this.
- Electricity (a key theme in the books)
- An inset item
- Silhouetted figures who – over the course of the trilogy – move from distance to togetherness.
And then we have the pipes, to lean a bit more into the gaslamp feel of these books. People are exploring the intersection of science and magic, not always with the best results.
(more…)Cover design : Land Mysteries
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I’m back this post to talk about some of the choices that went into the cover design of the Land Mysteries books. As is visible, they take a different direction in some ways from my 1920s books. There are also a number of details you might not have spotted that I’ve been wanting to highlight!
One note that this post contains spoilers for key moments in the books (since that’s relevant to what’s on the cover). I’m avoiding talking about details here, as much as feasible. But if you want to avoid all spoilers, go have fun reading and come back when you’ve read the relevant books!
Covers : Mysterious Arts
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I absolutely adore my covers. Augusta Scarlett does a fantastic job figuring out how to come up with something that fits the genre, the historical period, and the feel of the book. Welcome to the first of three upcoming posts about our cover design, focusing on the Mysterious Arts covers.
Later this summer, we’ll have one about the Land Mysteries series. And finally, we’ll have a post about the covers for the Mysterious Fields trilogy. We’re starting with Mysterious Arts because they’re the simplest to talk about in several ways.
I’ve put the cover images in at Large size to make it easier to look at the details. Depending on your reading habits for this blog, opening them in a new tab might be easier.
(more…)Summer reading challenges 2024
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Adult summer reading programs are getting going (at least up here in the United States…) As I’ve done twice before, here’s a list of my books that fit into specific categories. If you’ve got another category, let me know! Sometimes it’s a lot easier for me to pull a list than it is for readers to figure out all the books that might fit quickly.
For example, I recently added a list of characters by age to my wiki. Easy for me to pull together, involves more math for everyone else!
You can find previous related posts at Up for a 2024 reading challenge? and Summer (any time) reading for lists from 2023. Jump down to specific kinds of bingo squares with the links here.
Author | Type of book | Colours on the cover | Title | Characters | Setting | Other
If you’re looking for a challenge, I’m drawing from items on the following lists:
- The 2024 Carterhaugh School Summer Reading Challenge (that’s a public post, but more resources for patrons).
- The Boston Public Library 2024 bingo card (fillable PDF)
- The Westbrook, Maine adult reading bingo card
Happy Pride! LGBTQIA+ Books
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It’s June again, and that means it’s Pride Month. As you likely know if you’re reading this, most of my books are M/F romances. But more than a few of them have queer or LGBTQIA+ content and characters!
Several include demisexuality (most of my books are also slow burn). A couple have main characters who are asexual and/or aromantic. There’s an F/F romance, a M/M one, and a couple with a MMF polyamorous relationship. And of course the “Enemies to it’s complicated” Best Foot Forward.
I’ve avoided big plot spoilers below. But of course there are some in talking both about people’s identities and orientations, and about which books that’s relevant in. Some additional characters can easily be read as fitting in the following categories. If they do for you, please read them that way!
I’ve a few more ideas coming! This post covers all of that. Plus it ends with a couple of recs of where to find other great queer romances.
Want a handy list of my books that are particularly LGBTQIA+?
Showing books 1-9 of 9
Showing books 1-9 of 9
Or here’s Geoffrey, commenting on the state of his relationships and the people he loves, not always in easy to label ways.
(more…)“As I keep saying, if I am lucky, he will to the end of our days. See, I am already experienced in complicated relationships that no one understands. We’ve muddled along, far better than fine, for going on twenty years now.”
Geoffrey Carillon, Best Foot Forward, chapter 41