March Newsletter
Happy March, everyone!
First up, some of you maaaaaay have noticed that I missed sending out a February newsletter (oops!). I swear I had the best of intentions, but the end of the month snuck up on me while I was buried in drafting the final chapters of my new YA fantasy book (more on that below), and I decided that took priority over everything else. Sorry! (But also kinda not sorry? Again, see more further below!)
Honestly, the first 2-3 months of this year have been a total blackout for me since I was so deep in writing-mode, and I genuinely have no idea how we can nearly be at the end of March already. Someone please explain the science behind time to me, because I DO NOT UNDERSTAND IT. I have such vivid memories of being in school as a kid and starting the first day of a new term and thinking the next 10-12 weeks were going to take forever until the next holiday break, and that was EXACTLY what happened — they passed SO SLOWLY! (And then, of course, the holidays passed so quickly!) But now that I’m an adult (-ish, lol), all I have to do is blink and I’ve lost an entire month. I wish I was kidding, but I am NOT. Anyone else with me on this?
Time rants aside, I was about to jump straight into the news-y part of this newsletter, but I thought, eh, why not share a nice moment from the last few months as well! For context, I’ve never had a great work–life balance, but that balance gets even worse when I’m drafting a new book. I’m usually semi-okay with balance if I’m editing, or at any other stage in the book-creating process, but drafting is an all-consuming thing for me while I try to wrangle my characters into cooperating as much as they’ll let me.
Now, I mentioned in my last newsletter that I was finding my “new normal” when it comes to how my brain chemistry is working these days, especially in regards to writing, and that I was struggling a bit to accept how slowly (for me) the book was coming together. Before that realisation, back when I assumed I’d still be drafting at a relatively normal (for me) speed, I was absolutely certain that my new book would be done by the end of February, so I bought tickets to go see the Beauty and the Beast musical in Brisbane while I was in the city for GenreCon at the end of Feb. It was going to be a little treat for myself, a reward for finishing the book.
But. I hadn’t finished the book by then, and because of that, I was really torn about going to the show (despite having the tickets), and almost felt as if I needed to lock myself in my hotel room and just keep writing.
Thankfully, wisdom prevailed (also known as me giving myself a mental lecture that it’s okay to be human and have a balance around work), and I ended up going to the musical with one of my closest friends, someone who used to be my housemate back when we were in university centuries ago, so we’ve known each other for aaaaages. It was perhaps the hottest Brisbane night in eternity (the humidity was INSANE), and it was raining as well, but it ended up being such a fun night with yummy food and a delightful show to watch (would highly recommend!). I’m so glad I gave myself that “reward” even if I hadn’t (at that point) finished the book, since it did wonders for my weary little author heart.
Here’s a pic of me and my friend after the show, mid-laughter (I’m pretty sure this was just as a car passed us and splashed water all up our legs). Also, remember how I said it was insanely hot? And note that my friend is wearing an outrageously fluffy coat? Well, the only reason she put it on was because she liked that it matched the colour of my umbrella, so she wore it for a total of 5 seconds to take the photo before she started melting and had to take it off again. Gotta love the need to coordinate colours for pics, haha.
All right, let’s get to the reason you’re all here — for the news! Here we go!
THE BLOOD TRAITOR - US HARDCOVER EDITION
I mentioned in my last newsletter that there had been a large demand for the hardcover edition of The Blood Traitor to be made available again in the US, so I’m thrilled to report that you can order it now! I’m pretty sure it won’t be on shelves in bookstores (though the paperback edition should be), but you’ll be able to order it online through all the usual retailers (chains, indies, etc.). Thank you for loving this book enough to make this reprint happen!
EVENTS:
I’m so happy to share that I’ll be heading back to Melbourne next week (April 6-7) for Supanova Comic-Con, and then the following week for the same event but on the Gold Coast (April 13-14). You can book tickets on the Supanova website here and you can find my panel sessions and times listed in the graphic below.
Note that books will be available to purchase on the day from the QBD Books stand (where I’ll be signing), or you can bring your own from home. Aside from the ticket entry price into the convention, there’s no cost to have me sign your books, or to take photos with me, or to listen to the panel sessions. At this stage, there’s no limit on how many books I’ll sign, but sometimes if a large queue happens, the Supanova volunteers will ask that I only sign a certain amount at once (usually 4), but if that happens, you just need to pop back to the end of the queue and I can sign the rest if you’re willing to line up again.
I’m also speaking at Brisbane Writers’ Festival in June on a fun solo session called “Return to Medora” but that session sold out in less than a day (eeek!), so I’m currently trying to find out if there’s a waitlist or maybe even potentially another session that might open up (cross your fingers!). Once I hear anything, I’ll share over social media, so keep an eye on my feeds in the coming weeks!
THE GILDED CAGE - BONUS SCENE
Last newsletter, I shared the Jaren bonus scene from The Prison Healer, which means it’s time to share the Torell bonus scene from The Gilded Cage! (And next month will be the Caldon bonus scene from The Blood Traitor, which I have to admit is my favourite of all three!)
To find Tor’s scene (or if you missed Jaren’s scene and want to read it, too), click the link below — but PLEASE NOTE that there are massive spoilers for both the first two books, so don’t read either of these scenes (or the snippet below) if you haven’t read up to the end of The Gilded Cage.
Please also note that there’s an “Author’s Note” at the beginning of Tor’s scene that explains how I had originally considered writing books two and three as multi-POV and this bonus scene was going to be the opening chapter of The Gilded Cage until I decided to keep everything from Kiva’s POV only.
You can find the scene/s by clicking here.
KALDORAS ARTWORK AND SCENE COMMENTARY:
Ever since the release of Kaldoras at the end of last year, I’ve slowly been sharing five gorgeous artwork scenes created by Ismael González, and I revealed the last of them recently. If you missed any of the five, you can find them by clicking the link below, but note that they contain massive spoilers for the entirety of The Medoran Chronicles.
I’ve also included some light-hearted commentary about my thoughts/feelings when writing these five scenes, which you can find along with the artwork by clicking here.
INTERNATIONAL RELEASES
As ever, I continue to love seeing foreign translations of my books make their way out in the world — it’s honestly the coolest thing ever to see my words written in other languages, and even cooler to “meet” so many new readers all across the globe!
Recently, the following books have released, though I also think there might have been a few others that came out while I was drafting, so apologies for any I’ve missed here!
UK E-BOOK SALE
Staying on the international books topic for a moment (or at least international to me), Amazon UK has chosen The Prison Healer as one of its Kindle Monthly Deal books, which means that for the month of April, UK readers can buy the e-book for just 99p! This sale goes from April 1st right through to April 30th and it’s a massive bargain (the normal price is £9.99) so grab it while it’s hot! And tell your friends!
WRITING AND PUBLISHING UPDATE:
I mentioned in my opening that I’ve finished writing my new YA fantasy book, so pretty much all I want to say here is EEEEEEEEEE IT’S DONE!!!!!!!! *Sobs with unending relief*
But to add a little more detail: I’m so, SO thrilled with how this book came together! I was basically rocking in a corner as I came to the end of it, since ::certain things:: needed to happen in very meticulous ways, and I genuinely wasn’t sure if I would be able to pull it all off, to the point that I almost convinced myself I wouldn’t be able to write the ending the way I envisioned. BUT I’m so happy to report that I (somehow!?!?) managed it, and I nearly burst into relieved tears when I wrote the final line just from how perfect (to me) it turned out to be. Don’t get me wrong — it still needs to go through a full editing process, but it’s reached the point where I can’t do any more without editorial help, and I feel a deep sense of contentment knowing that I’ve done all I could and it turned out just as I hoped.
I likely won’t be able to say much more about this book for a long while since it’s ready to enter its weird secrecy stage while it’s with my agent, then back to me to do a round of edits, then off on submission to publishers… and these things take time — lots and lots of time, these days. The publishing industry is struggling globally in too many ways to mention here, but all that means editors are extremely burnt out and (generally speaking) need considerably more time to get through their massive piles of submissions than they did in previous years. So all this is to say, I know you’re eager for this book to hit shelves, but best temper your expectations — it definitely won’t be out this year, and, given how slow publishing is, it may not even be out next year (though we can all hope!!!). Most likely, it’ll be releasing in 2026, but again, cross your fingers about next year — we might get lucky!
Once I’m allowed to share more, I definitely will, but until then, here’s what I imagine will be your last teaser for this book for a very long time:
I honestly can’t tell you how much I adore these characters, and I can’t WAIT for you to meet them when the time comes!
And speaking of time coming… I know I’ve been saying this for aggggggeeees, but I’m hoping that next month I’ll be able to share news about the other new book I’ve written — the YA contemporary/action/adventure/survival/romance book. Things are clicking into place for that, and I’m looking forward to finally being able to tell you about it!
WHAT I’M READING:
Given my aforementioned black hole of writing for the last few months, I haven’t actually had a chance to read anything since my Christmas break (*cries into the void*) since I don’t like to write while I’m drafting as I find it can mess with my writing “voice” a bit. Because of that, I don’t have any book recs to share with you, but I CAN say these four have been to sent to me to consider blurbing them (ie. offering endorsement quotes), and I’ll be working my way through them over the coming weeks. I’m pretty sure they’re all releasing this year, so go check them out and add them to your TBRs if they sound like your cup of tea! (I’m looking forward to reading them all!!)
WHAT I’M WATCHING:
Similar to the above, I haven’t had a lot of free time for watching anything (or the concentration span to do so), so my usual fallback when I’m on a difficult deadline is to re-watch something I’ve seen in the past so I don’t have to pay a huge amount of attention to it. This time, I chose Suits, and it was so nostalgic to be back in that world again, since I haven’t watched it since it ended five (?) years ago.
I also managed to sneak in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters which is on AppleTV+ and I have to say I really enjoyed it! I’m not a big Godzilla franchise fan, but I loved these characters and had fun following them on their adventures, so would recommend for anyone who enjoys action/fantasy/monster shows!
On the movie front, I really haven’t watched many at all since Christmas, but in the time since I finished drafting, I watched both Wonka and Damsel — with Damsel surprising me by how much I enjoyed it. (That said, I went in with extremely low expectations, haha. It’s def not the best fantasy film I’ve ever seen, but I would still recommend it to people who like fantasy/action/adventure/girl-power movies!
I’m really going to try to prioritise resting for the next couple of weeks around my upcoming events while I wait for news on some hush-hush bookish stuff, so hit me with your TV and movie recommendations in the comment box below! (Nothing horror, please! I’m a chicken!!)
All right, I think that’s everything! Another newsletter done and dusted! Looking forward to seeing some of you in Melbourne and on the Gold Coast in a couple of weeks, and for everyone else, I’ll catch you on social media and in my next newsletter!
Oh, and Happy Easter to all who celebrate!
